Art 102A: History of Western Art—Prehistoric to Gothic El Camino College

Study Sheet 1 J. Wolfgram

WHAT IS ART?

Issues:
What is art? How is art?
What are the limitations of current art vocabulary?
What makes a work of art authentic to its culture?
Why should we be aware of Eurocentricism?

Terms:
abstraction: emphasizing a derived essential character having little visual
reference to objects in nature.
aesthetics: determining recurrent patterns, standards of evaluation, and complex
interrelationships to evolve a non-historical theory of art; philosophy of art
aniconic: where images of divine beings are in other than human form.
archaistic: term applied to art that seeks to emulate compositions, styles, motifs,
etc. of the past; aesthetic nostalgia.
art criticism: description, interpretation, and evaluation of works within historical,
re-creative (unique qualities), and judicial (canon) constructs; judicial
criticism can interpret/evaluate visual art analogous to other arts, in relation
to values, and in terms of significance and greatness
art history: study of individual works of art outside time and place and the study of
art in its historical and cultural context
art theory: preoccupied with ideas that shape and influence art
closed form: form that is visually self-contained and not interacting with its
surroundings.
connoisseurship: study and evaluation of art based primarily on formal, visual, and
stylistic analysis
content: all that is contained in a work of art which includes form, subject matter,
and underlying meanings
contextualism: the study of art in its historical and cultural context
expressionism: distortion of forms to create emotional intensity.
form: the totality of a work of art which includes the elements (line, shape, light,
value, color, texture, space, time, and motion), design principles (balance,
unity, emphasis, rhythm, scale, and proportion), and composition
(organization of elements and principles).

Wolfgram Fa18 Study Sheet ECC 102A/1

 formal analysis: understanding, appreciation and valuation of art based almost
solely on considerations of form
hieratic (Hierarchical) Scale: Depicting elements as large or small depending on
their relative importance.
iconic: where images of divine beings are in human form.
iconography: the study dealing with the symbolic (often religious) meaning of
objects, persons, or events depicted in works of art; or more generally, the
study of subject matter and symbolism.
idealization: the representation of things according to a preconception of ideal form
or type; a kind of aesthetic distortion to produce "perfect" form.
linear: where form is sought in the outline; representation captured by line.
medium: material from which a work of art is made
motif: a thematic or visual element in a work of art, usually recurring.
naturalism/realism: representation of things as closely as possible to their
appearance in the natural world without distortion or idealization.
non-representational: art in which the depiction of recognizable objects is
completely absent.
open form: form that is visually interacting with its surroundings, that moves the
viewer’s eyes away from itself.
painterly: where form is sought through light and shade, unstressed edges, and
tactile surfaces; representation is a visual semblance.
perspective: A system for representing three-dimensional space on a two-
dimensional surface.
Postmodern: Reacting against formalist methodologies by accommodating a wide
range of styles, formats, subjects, and theories that includes a self
conscious awareness of the artist, of art making processes, and of the
audience that receives them. Some postmodern theoretical approaches to
art include social history, postcolonialism, semiotics, poststructuralism,
deconstructionism, gender studies, cultural criticism, and psychoanalysis.
style: a consistent use of certain forms (line, color, space, texture, light, shadow,
etc.) and composition (organization of forms) that is characteristic of a
chronological period, a geographical area, or an individual.
stylize: to cause an object, figure, or scene to conform to a set style or convention.
symbology: the study or interpretation of symbols; and the representation of
expression by means of symbols
technique: process used to make a work of art

Wolfgram Fa18 Study Sheet ECC 102A/2

Art 102A: History of Western Art—Prehistoric to Gothic El Camino College
Study Sheet 2 J. Wolfgram

ART BEFORE HISTORY

Issues:
Why might prehistoric humans have painted on cave walls?
What is the impact of Neolithic culture on the production of art?
In what different ways did prehistoric humans represent the human form?
What may megalithic architecture reveal about the human experience?
What are the major sources revealing past civilizations?
What are the limitations of history? How does it record memory?
Does material have meaning?

Important Works of Art:

Lion-Human from Hohlenstein-Stadel, Germany Kleiner-15e, Fig. 1-3
Nude Woman from Willendorf Fig. 3.1a,b
Woman from Brassempouy Kleiner-15e, Fig. 1-4a
Bison Reliefs Kleiner-15e, Fig. 1-14
Lascaux Cave Paintings Fig. 3.4–3.6
Altamira Cave Paintings Kleiner-15e, Fig. 1-8
Human Figure from Ain Ghazal, Jordan Kleiner-15e, Fig. 1-14
Göbekli Tepe
Çatal Höyük Fig.4.2
Men Taunting a Deer? from Level III, Çatal Höyük, Turkey Kleiner-15e, Fig. 1-15
Hagar Qim Megalithic Ruins Kleiner-15e, 1-18
Hagar Qim Nude Woman
Stonehenge Fig. 3.10–3.14

Terms:
animism: belief in impersonal forces that animate the world; these are linked to the
dead who are eventually regarded as gods, thus incorporating aspects of
ancestor worship
corbel: A projecting wall member used as a support for some element in the
superstructure. Also, courses of stone or brick in which each course projects
beyond the one beneath it. Two such walls, meeting at the topmost course,
create a corbeled arch or corbeled vault.
henge: a circle of monoliths, also called cromlech
incise: to cut into a surface with a sharp instrument; also, a method of decoration,
especially on metal and pottery
lintel: beam used to span an opening
megalith: Greek, “great stone.” A large, roughly hewn stone used in the
construction of monumental prehistoric structures.

Wolfgram Fa18 Study Sheet ECC 102A/3

 Neolithic: “New” Stone Age
radiocarbon dating: method of measuring the decay rate of carbon isotopes in
organic matter to provide dates for organic materials such as wood and fiber
tectiform: describing paintings or carvings whose forms relate to surface structure,
also tectonic
terracotta: hard-baked clay, used for sculpture and as building material
trilithons: a pair of monoliths topped with a lintel; found in megalithic structures
twisted perspective: a convention of representation in which part of a figure is
shown in profile and another part of the same figure is shown frontally; a
composite view

Websites:
La Grotte Cosquer: http://www.culture.gouv.fr/Regions/Drac-Provence-Alpes-
Cote-d-Azur/Politique-et-actions-culturelles/Archeologie/La-grotte-Cosquer
The Cave of Chauvet-Pont-d’Arc: http://archeologie.culture.fr/chauvet/
Lascaux: http://www.culture.gouv.fr/culture/arcnat/lascaux/en/
Göbekli Tepe http://www.gobeklitepe.info
Stonehenge: http://www.stonehenge.co.uk/
NOVA Ghosts of Stonehenge 53:36 2017

Wolfgram Fa18 Study Sheet ECC 102A/4

Art 102A: History of Western Art—Prehistoric to Gothic El Camino College
Study Sheet 3 J. Wolfgram

THE FORMATION OF STATE IN THE ANCIENT NEAR EAST

Issues:
How is the evolution of government revealed through art?
How does art reflect the relationship between religion and politics?
What is the significance of environment in the making of art?
What forms of architecture develop in the Near East? Why?
What is the treatment of the human form in Mesopotamia? In Persia?
How is narrative expressed visually? How does it record memory?
What defines portraiture?
Does material have meaning?

Important Works of Art:

Anu Ziggurat and White Temple Fig. 4.4–4.5
Female Head from Uruk Kleiner-15e, Fig. 2-4
Warka Vase Fig. 4.3
Eshnunna Statuettes Fig. 4.8
Standard of Ur Kleiner-15e, Fig. 2-7–2-8
Bull-headed Lyre from Royal Cemetery at Ur Fig. 4.9
Head of Akkadian ruler Fig. 4.10
Victory Stele of Naram-Sin Fig. 4.11
Seated Gudea from Girsu Fig. 4.13
Stele with Hammurabi’s Law Code Fig. 4.16
Lamassu from Citadel of Sargon II at Dur Sharrukin Fig. 4.20
Assyrian palace narrative reliefs Fig. 4.19
Ishtar Gate of Babylon Fig. 4.21
Persepolis and apadana columns and friezes Fig. 4.25–4.27

Terms:
apadana: the great audience hall in ancient Persian palaces
citadel: fortress that commands a city
city-state: independent, self-governing city
cuneiform: Latin, “wedgeshaped.” A system of writing used in ancient
Mesopotamia, in which wedge-shaped characters were produced by
pressing a stylus into a soft clay tablet, which was then baked or otherwise
allowed to harden
cylinder seal: a cylindrical piece of stone usually about an inch or so in height,
decorated with an incised design, so that a raised pattern was left when the
seal was rolled over soft clay. In the ancient Near East, documents, storage

Wolfgram Fa18 Study Sheet ECC 102A/5

 jars, and other important possessions were signed, sealed, and identified in
this way
hieratic scale: an artistic convention in which greater size indicates greater
importance
lamassus: Assyrian guardian in the form of a man-headed winged bull
register: one of a series of superimposed bands or friezes in a pictorial narrative,
or the particular levels on which motifs are placed
stele: a carved stone slab used to mark graves or to commemorate historical
events
ziggurat: in ancient Mesopotamian architecture, a monumental platform for a
temple
Zoroaster: (aka Zarathustra): Persian prophet whose teachings laid the foundation
for Zoroastrianism whose god is known as Ahura Mazdā, “Wise Lord.”

Resources:
The British Museum, The Penn Museum, University of Pennsylvania Museum of
Archaeology and Anthropology, and the Leon Levy Foundation. Ur Online.
2015.
The British Museum. The Cyrus Cylinder. 2014.

Primary Sources:
Epic of Gilgamesh, 2nd millennium BCE
Code of Hammurabi, ca. 1780 BCE
Inscriptions on seals, sculpture, painting, and architecture

Wolfgram Fa18 Study Sheet ECC 102A/6