The Earliest "Artists"

Lecture given Thursday October 4, 2012.

Transcript

1. The  Earliest  “Ar.sts”   Reading:   Ar,orms,  214-­‐223.     Range   ~77,000  BCE-­‐1000  BCE   Paleolithic,  Mesolithic  and   Neolithic  Periods     Terms/Concepts:   decora.ve  impulse,  framing   devices,  “Venuses,”   sympathe.c  magic,  composite   pose,  henge,  post  and  lintel.   Key  Monuments:     Ceiling  with  Bison,  Altamira   Spain,  Paleolithic,  12,500   BCE     Woman  from  Willendorf,   Paleolithic,  24,000  BCE     Hall  of  the  Bulls,  Lascaux   Cave,  Paleolithic,  15,000   BCE     Jomon  Vessel,  Paleolithic,   12,000  BCE     Stonehenge,  Salisbury  Plain,   Neolithic,  2900-­‐  1500  BCE  
2. Denver  Art  Museum  Free  Day:  This  Saturday  October  6th     Direc.ons  to  the   museum  and   transporta.on   op.ons  are  on   Blackboard.  
3. Use  this  worksheet  to  guide  your  visit.   Download   Worksheet  from   Blackboard!   From  your  worksheet  write  your  3-­‐4  page  paper  
4. Interroga.ng  the  Museum  is  due  October  23rd    
5. Reminder   Quiz  3  is  due  NEXT  THURSDAY   on  Blackboard.  
8. Earliest  Cultural  Products   Hand  Axe,   Tanzania,  60,000   years  ago   Inscribed  Ocher,   South  Africa,  77,000   years  agoI   Perforated  Shells,     South  Africa,  75,000  years  ago  
9. “Characteris.cs”  of  Paleolithic   •  Nomadic  Lifestyle   •  Sustaining  life  through  gathering  plants  and   hun.ng   •  Development  of  abstract  thinking  and  basic   problem  solving  skills.   •  Developing  means  of  manipula.ng  the   environment  and  forming  tools.  
10. “Prehistoric  art  is  _________,  maybe…”  
11. What  we’re  working  with…   Mammoth  Hut,  excava.on  at  Mezhirich,   Ukraine,  c.  16,000-­‐10,000  BCE.   Mammoth  Hut,  reconstruc.on  at   Mezhirich,  Ukraine,  c.  16,000-­‐10,000  
12. Making  “Venuses”   Woman  (“Venus”)  of   Willendorf,  Austria,  c.   24,000  BCE   Woman  (“Venus”)  of   Dolni  Vestonice,  Czech   Republic,  c.  23,000  BCE   Woman  (“Venus”)  of   Lespugue,  France,  c.   25,000  BCE  
13. Making  “Venuses”   =   Woman  (“Venus”)  of   Willendorf,  Austria,  c.   24,000  BCE  
14. Photographic simulation of what a six-months-pregnant 26-year-old Caucasian female of average weight sees when looking down while standing. Woman from Willendorf (Austria). c. 24,000 BCE. Limestone, height approx. 4z. Cast of Figurine, Naturhistorisches Museum, Vienna. Arms  
15. Making  “Venuses”   Woman  (“Venus”)  of   Willendorf,  Austria,  c.   24,000  BCE   ≠  
16. Discovered in 1879. Altamira
17. María, daughter of Marcelino Sanz de Sautuola, who participated in discovery of paintings at Altamira in November 1879.
18. “Bison”  or  Aurochs,  Altamira,  Spain,  12,500  BCE  
19. Major  Theories  about  Cave  Pain.ngs   •  “Art  for  Art’s   Sake”  (Picasso)   •  Sympathe.c  Magic   (Salomon  Reinach/Abbe   Henri  Breuil)   •  Symbolic  Systems  (Andre   Leroi-­‐Gourhan)   •  Cross-­‐Chronological   Comparison  (J.G.  Frazer  &   David  Lewis-­‐Williams)   •  Neuropsychological   Model   “Cave  Opening  Art”  The  New  Yorker   March  15,  1999  
20. Lascaux  
21. Map of Major Paintings Lascaux, France c.15,000 BCE
22. “Hall  of  the  Bulls,”  Lascaux,  France,  15,000  BCE  
23. “Bird-­‐headed  man  with  bison”  Lascaux,  France,  c.  15,000  BCE,  
24. Deer  Fat  Lamp  from  Lascaux,   Dordogne,  France,  c.  17,000  BP    
25. Film still. Fantastic Mr. Fox. 2009. Directed by Wes Anderson. Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation. “We  have  invented  nothing  in  12,000  years.”  Anributed  to  Picasso   “Art  for  Art’s  Sake”  
26. Pablo  Picasso,  Bull:  Stages  I-­‐VIII,  1945.     “Bison”  or  Aurochs,  Altamira,  Spain,  12,500   BCE   “Aoer  Altamira,  all  is  decadence.”  
27. Characteris.cs  of  Neolithic   •  Widespread  development  of  permanent   senlements  that  lasted  longer  than  a  single   genera.on.   •  More  care  taken  with  burial.   •  Development  of  more  permanent   architecture.   •  Development  of  trade  networks.   •  Domes.ca.on  of  plants  and  animals.  
28. Partial map of Prehistoric Europe and Near East.
29. Houses,  Çatalhöyük,  Turkey,  c.  7400-­‐6200.  
30. Reconstruction drawing of Çatalhöyük, with tending of goats. Schematic reconstruction drawing of a section of Level VI. Çatalhöyük (Turkey). c.6000-5000 BCE.
31. Reconstruction drawing of a house in Çatalhöyük. c.7400-6200 BCE. (illustrated on Stokstad page 15) House,  Çatalhöyük,  Turkey,  c.  7400-­‐6200.  
32. Landscape with volcanic eruption (?), from copy of wall painting at Çatalhöyük. c.6150 BCE. View of Mt. Hasan (Hasan Dağ), Turkey.
33. Partial map of Prehistoric Europe and Near East.
34. Great stone tower built into the settlement wall Jericho c.8000-7000 BCE
35. Plastered  Skull,  Jericho,7000-­‐6000  BCE  
36. Jericho,  Israel,  c.  7000  BCE.    
37. Jericho   Çatalhöyük  
39. Stonehenge,  Salisbury  Plain,  2900-­‐1500  BCE  
40. Post Post Lintel Post Post Lintel 24  Feet   15  Feet   3  Feet   Each  Stone  =  ~40-­‐50  Tons   30  Megaliths,  60  Stones  Total   Stonehenge,  Salisbury   Plain,  2900-­‐1500  BCE  
41. start   end   Moving  the  Bluestone,  Hypothe.cal   Reconstruc.on  
42. Stonehenge,  Salisbury  Plain,  2900-­‐1500  BCE  
43. figure  1  Labels:     1.  Midsummer  sunrise     2.  Winter  moonrise   low  point     3.  Midwinter  Sunrise     4.  Southern  moonrise   (minimum)     5.  Southern  moonrise   (maximum)     6.  Midwinter  sunset     7.  Northern  moonset   (minimum)     8.  Northern  moonset   (maximum)     9.  Midsummer  sunset     10.  Winter  moonrise   high  point