FREE A WORLD HISTORY OF ART PDF Hugh Honour,John Fleming | 996 pages | 08 Oct 2009 | Laurence King Publishing | 9781856695848 | English | London, United Kingdom History of Art: History of Photography The history of art focuses on objects made by humans in visual form for aesthetic purposes. Visual art can be classified in diverse wayssuch as separating fine arts from applied arts ; inclusively focusing on human creativity; or focusing on different media such as architecturesculpturepaintingfilmphotographyand graphic arts. In recent years, technological advances have led to video art, computer artperformance A World History of Artanimationtelevisionand videogames. The history of art is often told as a chronology of masterpieces created during each civilization. It can thus be framed as a story of high cultureepitomized by the Wonders of the World. On A World History of Art other hand, vernacular art expressions can also be integrated into art historical narratives, referred to as folk arts or craft. The more closely that an art historian engages with these latter forms of low culturethe more likely it is that they will identify their work as examining visual culture or material cultureor as contributing to fields related A World History of Art art history, such as anthropology or archaeology. In the latter cases, art objects may be referred to as archeological artifacts. The oldest secure human art that has been found dates to the Late Stone Age during the Upper Paleolithicpossibly from around 70, BC [8] but with certainty from around 40, BC, when the first creative works were made from shell, stone, and paint by Homo sapiensusing symbolic thought. A World History of Art appearance of creative capacity within these early societies exemplifies A World History of Art evolutionarily selective advantage for artistic individuals. Since survival is not A World History of Art on the production of art, art-producing individuals demonstrated agency over their environments in that they had spare time to create once their essential duties, like hunting and gathering were completed. However, the earliest human artifacts showing evidence of workmanship with an artistic purpose are the subject of some debate. It is clear that such workmanship existed by 40, years ago in the Upper Paleolithic era, although it is quite possible that it began earlier. This surge in creative outpourings is known as the "Upper Paleolithic Revolution" or the "Creative Explosion". These first traces are generally worked stone flintobsidianwood or bone tools. To paint in rediron oxide was used. Color, pattern, and visual likeness were components of Paleolithic art. Patterns used included zig-zag, criss cross, and parallel lines. A World History of Art paintings have been found in the Franco-Cantabrian region. There are pictures that are abstract as well as pictures that are naturalistic. Cave paintings were symbolically representative of activities that required learned participants — they were used as teaching tools and showcase an increased need for communication and specialized skills for early humans. Sculpture is represented by the so-called Venus figurinesfeminine figures which may have been used in fertility cultssuch as the Venus of Willendorf. A function of Paleolithic art was magical, being used in rituals. Paleolithic artists were particular people, respected in the community because their artworks were linked with religious beliefs. In this way, artifacts were symbols of certain deities or A World History of Art. Possibly the "oldest known drawing by human hands", discovered in Blombos Cave in South Africa. Estimated to be 73, years old. Vogelherd horse ; c. Cave paintings from Lascaux caves Montignac, DordogneFrance. Venus of Willendorf ; c. Venus of Brassempouy ; c. The term Epipaleolithic is often used synonymously, especially for outside A World History of Art Europeand for the corresponding period in the Levant and Caucasus. A World History of Art Mesolithic has different time spans in different parts of Eurasia. It refers to the final period of hunter-gatherer cultures in Europe and West Asia, between the end of the Last Glacial Maximum and the Neolithic Revolution. The term is less used of areas further east, and not at all beyond Eurasia and North Africa. The Neolithic period began about 10, BC. The rock art of the Iberian Mediterranean Basin —dated between the Mesolithic and Neolithic eras— contained small, schematic paintings of human figures, with notable examples in El CogulValltorta, Alpera and Minateda. Neolithic painting is similar to paintings found in northern Africa AtlasSahara and in the area of modern Zimbabwe. Neolithic painting is often schematic, made with basic strokes men in the form of a cross and women in a triangular shape. In portable arta style called Cardium pottery was produced, decorated with imprints of seashells. New materials were used in art, such as ambercrystaland jasper. Common materials of Neolithic sculptures from Anatoliaare ivory, stone, clay and bone. Many are A World History of Artespecially female, zoomorphic ones being rare. Female figurines are both fat and slender. Both zoomorphic and anthropomorphic carvings have been discovered in SiberiaAfghanistanPakistan and China. The Urfa Man ; from modern-day Turkey ; c. Fragment of a bowl; by Halaf culture from Mesopotamia ; BC; cermaic; A World History of Art. The Thinker ; by Hamangia culture from Romania; c. The last prehistoric phase is the Metal Age or Three-age systemduring which the use of copperbronze and iron transformed ancient societies. When humans A World History of Art smelt and forge, A World History of Art implements could be used to make new tools, weapons, and art. In the Chalcolithic Copper Agemegaliths emerged. Examples include the dolmenmenhir and the English cromlechas can be seen in the complexes at Newgrange and Stonehenge. In the Balearic Islandsnotable megalithic cultures were developed, with different types of monuments: the navetaa tomb shaped like a truncated pyramidwith an elongated burial chamber; the taulatwo large stones, one put vertically and the other horizontally A World History of Art each other; and the talaiotA World History of Art tower with a covered chamber and a false dome. The former A World History of Art developed between the 7th and 5th century BC, featured by the necropoleis with tumular tombs and a wooden burial chamber in the form of a house, often accompanied by a four-wheeled cart. The pottery was polychromicwith geometric decorations and applications of metallic ornaments. It produced many iron objects such as swords and spearswhich have not survived well to the s due to rust. The Bronze Age refers to the period when bronze was the best material available. Bronze was used for highly decorated shieldsfibulasand other objects, with different stages of evolution of the style. Decoration was influenced by GreekEtruscan and Scythian art. In the first period of recorded history, art coincided with writing. The great civilizations of the Near East : Egypt and Mesopotamia arose. Globally, during this period the first great cities appeared near major rivers: the NileTigris and EuphratesIndus and Yellow River. One of the great advances of this period was writing, which was developed from the tradition of communication using pictures. The first form of writing were the Jiahu symbols from Neolithic Chinabut the first true writing was cuneiform scriptwhich emerged in Mesopotamia c. It was based on pictographic and ideographic elements, while later Sumerians developed syllables for writing, reflecting the phonology and syntax of the Sumerian language. The Indus Valley Civilization sculpted seals with short texts and decorated with representations of animals and people. Meanwhile, the Olmecs sculpted colossal heads and decorated other sculptures with their own hieroglyphs. In these times, writing was accessible only for the elites. Mesopotamian art was developed in the area between Tigris and Euphrates Rivers in modern-day Syria and Iraq, where since the 4th millennium BC many different cultures existed such as SumerAkkadAmorite and Chaldea. Mesopotamian architecture was characterized A World History of Art the use of brickslintelsand cone mosaic. Notable examples are the zigguratslarge temples in the form of step pyramids. The tomb was a chamber covered with a false domeas in some examples found at Ur. There were also palaces walled with a terrace in the form of a ziggurat, where gardens were an important feature. Relief sculpture was developed in wood and stone. Sculpture depicted religious, military, and hunting scenes, including both human and animal figures. In the Sumerian periodsmall statues of people were produced. These statues had an angular form and were produced from colored stone. The figures typically had bald head with hands folded on the chest. In the Akkadian periodstatues depicted figures with long hair and beards, such as the stele of Naram-Sin. In the Amorite period or Neosumerianstatues represented kings from Gudea of Lagashwith their mantles and a turbans on their heads, and their hands on their chests. During Babylonian rule, the stele of Hammurabi was important, as it depicted the great king Hammurabi above a written copy of the laws that he introduced. Assyrian sculpture is notable for its anthropomorphism of cattle and the winged geniewhich is depicted flying in many reliefs depicting war and hunting scenes, such as in the Black Obelisk of Shalmaneser III. Standing male worshipper, one of the twelve statues in the Tell Asmar Hoard ; BC; gypsum alabaster, shell, black limestone and bitumen; Bull's head ornament from a lyre; BC; bronze inlaid with shell and lapis lazuli ; height: A A World History of Art in a Thicket ; — BC; gold, copper, shell, lapis lazuli and limestone ; height: The Statue of Ebih-Il ; c. Seal of Hash-hamer, showing enthroned king Ur-Nammuwith modern impression; circa BC; greenstone; height: 5. Assyrian relief with a winged genie with bucket and cone A World History of Art BC; height: 3. One of the first great civilizations arose in Egyptwhich had elaborate and complex works of art produced by professional artists and craftspeople.