the history of art...

a thought has sort of crossed my mind...

if we look back through history from very early cave paintings to modern day art, i was just wondering why some very early art looks so unlike what they must have been observing.

take perspective for instance, i believe (correct me if i'm wrong) that it was sort of discovered and used to great effect during the renaissance.

surely before that time people would have noticed that things look smaller further away and larger if they were nearer?

generally an artist is trying to portray what they observe, so why would they not naturally display things like proportion and perspective?

i understand that for certain things, a style had developed and so i suppose artists would all conform to that style, for example the egyptian hieroglyphs and those paintings, much like today we have cartoons.

do you think that the seemingly lack of realism in older art was just a result of conforming to the style of that day, or perhaps a simpler mind and lesser dexterity, although i think that this probably would only apply to the very ancient pieces of art such as cave paintings.

Reply 1

ttx

13

choongsta

a thought has sort of crossed my mind...

if we look back through history from very early cave paintings to modern day art, i was just wondering why some very early art looks so unlike what they must have been observing.

take perspective for instance, i believe (correct me if i'm wrong) that it was sort of discovered and used to great effect during the renaissance.

Modern perspective techniques were invented then, art before that time still used perspective though. Google for Skenographia if you want to see some early greek perspective works.

Reply 2

geetar

16

You shouldn't assume that in the past 'realism' has been a big deal in art. If you take medieval art (for example) which was almost all religious, the artist was concerned with investing the picture with a religious quality, to illustrate religious stories - which was very important in a world where most people were illiterate - and to make the viewer feel awed. Realism probably wasn't as important to them as it is to us.

Reply 3

DreamGirlx

choongsta

a thought has sort of crossed my mind...

if we look back through history from very early cave paintings to modern day art, i was just wondering why some very early art looks so unlike what they must have been observing.

take perspective for instance, i believe (correct me if i'm wrong) that it was sort of discovered and used to great effect during the renaissance.

surely before that time people would have noticed that things look smaller further away and larger if they were nearer?

generally an artist is trying to portray what they observe, so why would they not naturally display things like proportion and perspective?

i understand that for certain things, a style had developed and so i suppose artists would all conform to that style, for example the egyptian hieroglyphs and those paintings, much like today we have cartoons.

do you think that the seemingly lack of realism in older art was just a result of conforming to the style of that day, or perhaps a simpler mind and lesser dexterity, although i think that this probably would only apply to the very ancient pieces of art such as cave paintings.

If you read 'Art and Illusion' by Gombrich he deals with this exact question.. I actually really enjoyed reading it :smile:

v long though, but worth reading if your interested

Reply 4

choongsta

OP

DreamGirlx

If you read 'Art and Illusion' by Gombrich he deals with this exact question.. I actually really enjoyed reading it :smile:

v long though, but worth reading if your interested

Ah very good, thanks. Sounds like something to read that will make me sound smart. I ought to read more really...

Reply 5

la_chérie

choongsta

a thought has sort of crossed my mind...

if we look back through history from very early cave paintings to modern day art, i was just wondering why some very early art looks so unlike what they must have been observing.

take perspective for instance, i believe (correct me if i'm wrong) that it was sort of discovered and used to great effect during the renaissance.

surely before that time people would have noticed that things look smaller further away and larger if they were nearer?

generally an artist is trying to portray what they observe, so why would they not naturally display things like proportion and perspective?

i understand that for certain things, a style had developed and so i suppose artists would all conform to that style, for example the egyptian hieroglyphs and those paintings, much like today we have cartoons.

do you think that the seemingly lack of realism in older art was just a result of conforming to the style of that day, or perhaps a simpler mind and lesser dexterity, although i think that this probably would only apply to the very ancient pieces of art such as cave paintings.

I asked myself the same thing lately! After a bit of thought I figured that as a small child I sketched around a lot, and everything looked two dimensional and, well, typically "childish", I didn't get the colours right or anything ( e.g. making snow yelllow because one wouldn't be able to see white, things like that), not because I couldn't tell that it was not what I could see, but because I didn't know how to put it to paper. Drawing exactly what you see is by no means obvious, it does take some technique, and I suppose what may seem totally obvious to us today may really have been groundbreaking back then. Although i do agree that style will have been an influence... what is the point in doing things differently if the whole 2D thing is popular anway? :biggrin:

And son't forget that cavemen had almost no materials!!! very few colours and nothing to compare to our paintbrushes :smile:

you try making a turner replica with earth, water and your hands on a stone wall hahha I know I couldn't do it :wink:

the history of art...

Related discussions

Latest

Trending

Trending

Articles for you