HISTORY OF ART

March 2023
 Why do we study history of art?
 Art, whether made in the past, is part of the PRESENT. As a
persisting event. The role of ART HISTORY is, in part to
discover the historical context of a work of art. By looking at a
work of art's symbolism, colors, and materials, we can learn
about the culture that produced it.
 Art Historians ask the same questions whether their definition
of art is narrow or inclusive. How OLD is it? What is its
STYLE? What is its SUBJECT? Who MADE it? Who PAID
for it?
 Art history provides a means by which we can understand our
human past and its relationship to our present, because the act
of making art is one of humanity’s most ubiquitous activities.
Art of the FAR EAST
About 3,ooo B.C. the Chinese culture began to emerge half
a world away from Egypt.
China and Egypt were too far away from each other to
exchange ideas or influence each other.

CHINA
Egypt
 A culture’s RELIGION will always have great
influence on their ART
BUDDHISM- Is the religion that unifies the Asian
cultures
- Stresses the “oneness of humans with
nature”
-Is a gentle religion closely tied to nature
NATURAL and GENTLE
Are two adjectives that most aptly
describe the ART of the Far East
Egyptian Art was
Stiff and powerful
The religion
looking was all about
power and
strength-
An afterlife
to go on
forever
Buddhism is man living in harmony and peace
with nature. Man is just a part of this world, not
more important than his surroundings.
MEDITATION- is an important part of
Buddhism
- means to clear the mind of all
but one thought or idea.
 The GOAL of the Asian painter was
to capture the SPIRIT as well as the
FORM of what they were painting.
• The SPIRIT (or MOOD) of the
subject is very important to the
artist

• Paintings were created

to stimulate deep
thought.
(meditation)
• To PERCEIVE is to become aware of objects through
the senses. (sight, touch, hearing, taste, smell…)
• Artists think about and study their subjects to notice
what might otherwise go unnoticed.
• Asian artists, being greatly influenced by BUDDHISM
and MEDITATION are masters at using their
PERCEPTUAL skills.

American seascape by Winslow Homer Seascape by an Asian painter

The most obvious elements
used in Art of the far east
are LINE and SPACE
• Chinese painting was
not cluttered with
big figures, bold
shapes or bright
colors and patterns
like Egyptian art

• Chinese painting
uses ORGANIC
lines and shapes
as opposed to
the GEOMETRIC
style of the
Egyptians
 LINE
• Artists used line to capture the
mood of people and places.
• They simplified their pictures
and used only the necessary
organic lines
 SPACE
• Space is used to show DEPTH in their
paintings. (foreground, middle
ground and background)
• Artists want to show the vast beauty
of the world.
• Artists want to show how
man lives peacefully with
nature.
 SPACE
• Nature is a very
important part of
Buddhism.
• Notice how the
Asian architecture
“fits" into the
landscape unlike
Egyptian
architecture which it
tends to overpower
the landscape.
• A SCROLL is a long illustrated roll of silk or
parchment. It can be unrolled and “read” like a
book.
• A SCROLL has pictures and beautiful,
decorative writing called CALLIGRAPHY
• Calligraphy Is the art of lettering. It is
decorative writing
Chinese history is divided into Dynasties.
A Dynasty is a family of rulers.
1. The Ming Dynasty is famous for its PORCELAIN
• PORCELAIN- is a high quality form of Pottery.
• It is made from hard to find white clay called KAOLIN
• A GLAZE is a glasslike finish on pottery

KAOLIN
2. The HAN Dynasty was noted for
their horse sculpture
 JAPAN

JAPAN is an island group in the

North Pacific off the coast of
CHINA
 JAPANESE Art
Japanese culture, Religion, and
ART were strongly influenced by
the Chinese.
 JAPANESE Art
Like the Chinese, the Japanese culture is
also influenced by

BUDDHISM
A PAGODA is a tower
several stories high with roofs
curving upward at the edges
Japanese temples were built of
wood. They were built to “fit”
into the landscape.
A SCREEN is a partition used
as a wall to divide a room.
They were beautifully painted.
WOODBLOCK PRINTING
• Woodblock printing was a huge
development in the art world.
• It allowed artists to
REPRODUCE/

MASS PRODUCE their art

work for the first time in
history.
JAPANESE WOODBLOCK PRINTS
European
WOOD
BLOCK
PRINTS
 CONTOUR
• A contour drawing
captures the
interior and
exterior details.
• It is a line drawing
that takes
concentration and
time.