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  
   

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2. Denver  Art  Museum  Free  Day:  This  Saturday  October  6th    
   Direc.ons  to  the  
   museum  and  
   transporta.on  
   op.ons  are  on  
   Blackboard.  
   

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3. Use  this  worksheet  to  guide  your  visit.  
   Download  
   Worksheet  from  
   Blackboard!  
   From  your  worksheet  write  your  3-­‐4  page  paper  
   

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4. Interroga.ng  the  Museum  is  due  October  23rd    
   

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5. Reminder  
   Quiz  3  is  due  NEXT  THURSDAY  
   on  Blackboard.  
   

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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  
   

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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.  
   

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10. “Prehistoric  art  is  _________,  maybe…”  
    

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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  
    

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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  
    

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13. Making  “Venuses”  
    =  
    Woman  (“Venus”)  of  
    Willendorf,  Austria,  c.  
    24,000  BCE  
    

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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  
    

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15. Making  “Venuses”  
    Woman  (“Venus”)  of  
    Willendorf,  Austria,  c.  
    24,000  BCE  
    ≠  
    

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16. Discovered in 1879.
    Altamira
    

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17. María, daughter of Marcelino Sanz de Sautuola, who participated in discovery
    of paintings at Altamira in November 1879.
    

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18. “Bison”  or  Aurochs,  Altamira,  Spain,  12,500  BCE  
    

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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  
    

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20. Lascaux  
    

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21. Map of Major Paintings
    Lascaux, France
    c.15,000 BCE
    

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22. “Hall  of  the  Bulls,”  Lascaux,  France,  15,000  BCE  
    

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23. “Bird-­‐headed  man  with  bison”  Lascaux,  France,  c.  15,000  BCE,  
    

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24. Deer  Fat  Lamp  from  Lascaux,  
    Dordogne,  France,  c.  17,000  BP    
    

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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”  
    

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26. Pablo  Picasso,  Bull:  Stages  I-­‐VIII,  1945.  
     
    “Bison”  or  Aurochs,  Altamira,  Spain,  12,500  
    BCE  
    “Aoer  Altamira,  all  is  decadence.”  
    

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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.  
    

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28. Partial map of Prehistoric Europe and Near East.
    

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29. Houses,  Çatalhöyük,  Turkey,  c.  7400-­‐6200.  
    

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30. Reconstruction drawing of Çatalhöyük,
    with tending of goats.
    Schematic reconstruction drawing of
    a section of Level VI. Çatalhöyük
    (Turkey). c.6000-5000 BCE.
    

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31. Reconstruction drawing of a house in Çatalhöyük. c.7400-6200 BCE.
    (illustrated on Stokstad page 15)
    House,  Çatalhöyük,  Turkey,  c.  7400-­‐6200.  
    

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32. Landscape with volcanic eruption (?), from copy of wall painting at Çatalhöyük.
    c.6150 BCE.
    View of Mt. Hasan (Hasan Dağ), Turkey.
    

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33. Partial map of Prehistoric Europe and Near East.
    

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34. Great stone tower built into
    the settlement wall
    Jericho
    c.8000-7000 BCE
    

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35. Plastered  Skull,  Jericho,7000-­‐6000  BCE  
    

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36. Jericho,  Israel,  c.  7000  BCE.    
    

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37. Jericho   Çatalhöyük  
    

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39. Stonehenge,  Salisbury  Plain,  2900-­‐1500  BCE  
    

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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  
    

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41. start  
    end  
    Moving  the  Bluestone,  Hypothe.cal  
    Reconstruc.on  
    

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42. Stonehenge,  Salisbury  Plain,  2900-­‐1500  BCE  
    

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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    
    

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