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Roshan Ali
Hakkim
Introduction
Art is the process or product of deliberately and creatively arranging
elements in a way that appeals to the senses or emotions, especially beauty. In
its narrow sense, the word art most often refers specifically to the visual arts,
including media such as painting, sculpture, and printmaking. However, "the
arts" may also encompass a diverse range of human activities, creations, and
modes of expression, including music and literature. Aesthetics is the branch of
philosophy which studies art.
The definition and evaluation of art has become especially problematic since
the 20th century. Richard Wollheim distinguishes three approaches: the Realist,
whereby aesthetic quality is an absolute value independent of any human view;
the Objectivist, whereby it is also an absolute value, but is dependent on
general human experience; and the Relativist position, whereby it is not an
absolute value, but depends on, and varies with, the human experience of
different humans.
Traditionally the term art was used to refer to any skill or mastery. This
conception changed during the Romantic period, when art came to be seen as
"a special faculty of the human mind to be classified with religion and science".
Generally, art is a human activity, made with the intention of stimulating
thoughts and emotions. Beyond this description, there is no general agreed-
upon definition of art.
Painting vs Sculpture
2- Dimensional 3- Dimensional
• Ancient - There are few remaining examples with early art often favouring
drawing over colour. Work has been found recently in tombs, Egyptian frescoes,
pottery and metalwork.
In the visual arts the European movement called "neoclassicism" began after
A.D. 1765, as a reaction against both the surviving Baroque and Rococo styles,
and as a desire to return to the perceived "purity" of the arts of Rome, the more
vague perception ("ideal") of Ancient Greek arts, and, to a lesser extent, 16th
century Renaissance Classicism.
Neo-classical paintings are devoid of pastel colors and
haziness; instead, they have sharp colors with Chiaroscuro.
In the case of Neo-classicism in France, a prime example is
Jacques Louis David whose paintings often use Greek
elements to extol the French Revolution's virtues
(state before family).
Gothic Architecture
Originating in 12th-century France
and lasting into the 16th century,
Gothic architecture was known during
the period as "the French Style", with
the term Gothic first appearing during
the latter part of the Renaissance as a
stylistic insult. Its characteristic
features include the pointed arch, the
ribbed vault and the flying buttress.
Gothic architecture is most familiar as
the architecture of many of the great
cathedrals, abbeys and parish
churches of Europe. It is also the
architecture of many castles, palaces,
town halls, guild halls, universities,
and to a less prominent extent,
private dwellings.
Medieval Art
Medieval art in Europe grew out of the artistic heritage of the Roman
Empire and the legacy of the early Christian church. These sources were mixed with
the vigorous "Barbarian" artistic culture of Northern Europe to produce a remarkable
artistic legacy. Indeed the history of medieval art can be seen as the history of the
interplay between the elements of classical, early Christian and "pagan" art.
Medieval art covers a vast scope of time and place, over 1000 years of
art history in Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa. It includes major art
movements and periods, national and regional art, genres, revivals, the artists crafts,
and the artists themselves.
Art historians classify Medieval art into major periods and movements. They are
Early Christian art, Migration Period art, Celtic art, Byzantine art, Islamic art, Pre-
Romanesque and Romanesque art, and Gothic art. In addition each "nation" or
culture in the Middle Ages had its own distinct artistic style and these are looked at
individually, such as Anglo-Saxon art or Viking art. Medieval art includes many
mediums, and was especially strong in sculpture, Illuminated manuscripts and
mosaics. There were many unique genres of art, such as Crusade art or animal style.
Medieval Art
Michelangelo,
was an Italian
Renaissance painter,
sculptor, architect, poet
and engineer. Despite
making few forays
beyond the arts, his
versatility in the
disciplines he took up
was of such a high
order that he is often
considered a contender The Creation of Adam, Michelangelo's
for the title of the work in the Sistine Chapel.
archetypal Renaissance
man, along with his
rival and fellow Italian
Leonardo da Vinci.
Leonardo Di Ser Piero Da
Vinci
Leonardo da Vinci (April 15, 1452
– May 2, 1519) was a Florentine
polymath, who worked as a scientist,
mathematician, engineer, inventor,
anatomist, painter, sculptor, architect,
botanist, musician and writer. His works,
the Mona Lisa and The Last Supper, are
the most famous, most reproduced and
most parodied portrait and religious
painting of all time.
He is widely considered to be one
of the greatest painters of all time and
perhaps the most diversely talented
person ever to have lived, Leonardo has
often been described as the archetype of
the "Renaissance man", a man whose
seemingly infinite curiosity was equaled
only by his powers of invention.
Raphael Sanzio
Above: “La mort du fossoyeur” ("The death of the gravedigger") by Carlos Schwabe -
1895 is a visual summary of Symbolist motifs. Death, angels, pristine snow, and the
dramatic poses of the characters all express Symbolist longings for transfiguration
"anywhere, out of the world."
Romanticism
Romanticism is a complex artistic, literary, and
intellectual movement that originated in the
second half of the 18th century in Western
Europe, and gained strength during the
Industrial Revolution. It was partly a revolt
against aristocratic social and political
norms of the Age of Enlightenment and a
reaction against the scientific rationalization
of nature, and was embodied most strongly
in the visual arts, music, and literature.
The movement stressed strong emotion as a
source of aesthetic experience, placing new
emphasis on such emotions as trepidation,
horror and awe—especially that which is
experienced in confronting the sublimity of
untamed nature and its picturesque
qualities, both new aesthetic categories. It
elevated folk art and custom to something
noble.
La Fileuse (1874)
DADA
An international movement among European artists and writers
between 1915 and 1922, characterised by a spirit of anarchic
revolt. Dada revelled in absurdity, and emphasised the role of
the unpredictable in artistic creation.
It began in Zürich with the French poet Tristan Tzara thrusting a
penknife into the pages of a dictionary to randomly find a name
for the movement. This act in itself displays the importance of
chance in Dada art. Irreverence was another key feature: in one
of Dada's most notorious exhibitions, organised by Max Ernst,
axes were provided for visitors to smash the works on show.
While perhaps seeming flippant on the surface, the Dada artists
were actually fuelled by disillusionment and moral outrage at
the unprecedented carnage of World War One, and the ultimate
aim of the movement was to shock people out of complacency.
The movement had a strong influence on Pop Art, which was
sometimes called neo-Dada.
INDIANRIVERSCHOOL
Key dates: 1950s
Gaganendranath Tagore
(September 18, 1867--1938) was an Indian
painter and cartoonist of the Bengal school.
He belongs to the Tagore family and was born at
Jorasanko.
Along with his brother Abanindranath Tagore, he
was counted as one of the earliest modern
artists in India.
He was a nephew of Nobel Prize winning poet
Rabindranath Tagore
AMRITA SHER-GIL
Amrita Sher-Gil was an eminent Indian painter, sometimes known as
India's Frida Kahlo.
Today considered an important women painter of 21st century India.
Her whose legacy stands at par with that of the Masters of Bengal
Renaissance.
She is also the 'most expensive' woman painter of India.
Today, she is amongst Nine Masters, whose work was declared as art
treasures by The Archaeological Survey of India, in 1976 and 1979.
The Government of India has declared her works as National Art Treasures.
Most of them are housed in the National Gallery of Modern Art in New Delhi.
A postage stamp depicting her painting 'Hill Women' was released in 1978 in India.
A road in Lutyens' Delhi, was named after her, Amrita Shergill Marg
TYEB MEHTA
• Tyeb Mehta is an Indian artist from Mumbai.
• He holds the record for the highest price an Indian painting
has ever sold in a public auction ($317,500 USD or 15
million Indian rupees) for Celebration at Christie's in 2002.
• He received the Padma Bhushan award in 2007.
• Apart from several solo exhibitions Mehta has participated
in international shows like Ten Contemporary Indian
Painters at Trenton in the U.S. in 1965
• Mehta's preoccupation with formalist means of expression
have led to matt surfaces, broken with diagonals and
imagery which while expressing a deep anguish is
specifically painterly.
Mahishasura, Oil on Canvas(1996)
Thank You