ART HISTORY TIMELINE

Traces of art history correlates on the entire

history of humankind, from prehistoric to
twenty-first century. Human history and the
history of art began about 10,000 B.C. Visual
representation was essential to people of the
prehistoric era. Other artistic endeavors of
early human had a shape tolls with form and
functions . The earliest evidence of tool
making was two million years ago and
improved during the Paleolithic period
(40,000 to 8,000 B.C.)
Stone Age cave dwellers were artists who
represents animals with which they came
into daily contact in their cave paintings. In
the prehistoric period, ways of life and the
quality life was greatly influenced by art. The
art helps explain meaning, truth, spirit, social
values, religion, and other foundations of
human culture. In the early history, the arts
were not viewed as separate disciplines, such
as dance, painting, and music, but rather as
integrated with each other and with life.
The arts were objects and performance
combined with rituals and customs that
identified the beliefs and values of a society’s
culture. Thus, art from all historical periods
reveals insights about man’s thoughts, his
imagination, and his perceptions of the world.
The Egyptian Civilization flourished with their
architectural structure decorated with
sculptures and paintings that give high
regards to terrestrial world, religion and
spiritual activities.
Throughout history, the ancient Greek and
Roman Art have exercised and enormous
influence on the culture of many countries
all over the world with their strong desire
for realism, perfection and balance. Art has
been an integral part of European history,
Christian and Medieval arts, Gothic,
Renaissance, Baroque and Rococo, Neo
Classicism, Modern Art and succeeding
period aimed to promote the standards of
beauty and arts innovation that is embedded
in the affairs of the society and its culture.
In the history of arts,
prehistoric art is all art
produced in preliterate,
pre-historical cultures
beginning somewhere in Cave painting , Hall of Bulls
very late geological (Lascaux, France 15,000 BC)

history, and generally

continuing until that
culture either develops
writing or other methods
of record-keeping, or
makes significant
contact with another
culture that has, and
makes some record of
major historical events
Ancient Egyptian arts
refers art produced in
Egyptian Tomb Paintings.
ancient Egypt between The Queen playing chess,
the 31st century BC and (Tomb Nefertari, Thebes, c1255BC)

the 4th century. It

includes paintings,
sculptures, drawings on
papyrus, jewelry,
ivories, architecture,
and other art media. It
is also very
conservative; the art
style changed very little
over time.
Ancient Greek art Myrons Discus Thrower
stands out among (450BC)replica

that of other ancient

cultures for its
development of
naturalistics but
idealized depictions
of the human body,
in which largely
nude male figures
were generally the
focus of innovation.
The art of Ancient
Rome and its Empire
includes architecture,
painting, sculpture Colosseum, (70-80 AD, Temple of
and mosaic work. Peace, Rome

Luxury objects in
metal-work, gem
engraving, ivory
carvings, and glass
are sometimes
considered to be
minor forms of
Roman art, although
they were not
considered as such at
The Renaissance
was a period in Giotto, The Deposition,
European history (c1304, fresco, Arena Chapel Padua,
Italy)
marking the
transition from the
Middle Ages to
Modernity and
covering the 15th
and 16th centuries. It
occurred after the
Crisis of the Late
Middle Ages and
was associated with
The Baroque
is a style of Caravaggio, The Supper at
architecture, Emmaus, (1600-01, oil canvas, National
music, dance, Gallery London)

painting,
sculpture and
other arts that
flourished in
Europe from
the early 17th
century until
the 1440s
Rococo, less commonly
Rococo or Late Baroque,
is an exceptionally Francois Boucher, Diane
ornamental and theatrical Bathing, (1742, oil on canvas, Louvre,
style of architecture, art Paris)
and decoration which
combines asymmetry,
scrolling curves, gilding,
white and pastel colors,
sculptured molding, and
trompe l’oeil frescoes to
create surprise and the
illusion of motion and
drama
Neo-Classicism Jacques-Louis David, The Oath
was a western of the Horatii, (1784, Oil on canvas,
cultural Louvre, Paris
movement in the
decorative and
visual arts,
literature, theatre,
music, and
architecture that
drew inspiration
from the art and
culture of
classical
antiquity.
Modern art includes
artistic work produced
during the period extending The Large Bathers
roughly from the 1860s to by Paul Cezanne
the 1970s, and denotes the
styles and philosophies of
the art produced during that
era.[1] The term is usually
associated with art in
which the traditions of the
past have been thrown
aside in a spirit of
experimentation.[2] Modern
artists experimented with
new ways of seeing and
with fresh ideas about the
nature of materials and
functions of art.
EVOLUTION OF ART
PALEOLITHIC PERIOD
also known Old Stone Age

This period is known as the ancient cultural

stage or level which emphasizes human
development and the use of rudimentary
chipped stone tools. These said tools predate
the existence of Homo by almost 400,000
years and gives rise to the possibility that
Australopithecus originated the tool-making.
Example of Old Stone Artwork
Drawings on
Chauvet- Pont of’ Arc Venus of Willendorf
Neolithic Period
This period is the final stage of the Stone Age. It
was known for polishing or grinding of stone
tools and the domestication of plants and
animals. This period was also marked by the
use of refined weapons and tools to be used not
only for digging the ground, hunting animals,
or rock painting but also for sculpting , creating
pottery, painting, etc.
Middle Stone Age
(Europe: 10,000-5,000 BCE)

-This period is also known as ‘Epipaleolithic’

which means the final upper paleolithic
industries occurring at the end of the final
glaciation.
New Stone Age
(8,000-1,500 BCE)

  New Stone Age, is characterized by the beginning

of a settled human lifestyle. People learned to
cultivate plants and domesticate animals for
food, rather than rely solely on hunting and
gathering.
Mesolithic Period
This period between the Paleolithic and
Neolithic Period wherein its material
culture is characterized by greater
innovation and diversity. Mesolithic
Paintings were schematic: no realistic
figures are present and only the color red
is used. The improved chipped stones
presented are called microliths.
Ancient Greek and Roman Art

The Geometric period was a time of

starting innovation and transformation in
Greek society and characterized by
geometric mastitis in vase painting that
flourished towards the end of the Greek
Dark Ages. It was also subsequently
divided into four different periods
namely the Protogeometric, Early,
Middle and Late Period.
Egyptian Art
The Ancient Egyptian are known for their obsession for
accuracy and precision. The people behind the
prestigious works of the Egyptian at supervised
rigorously the multitude of workers and the constructive
details to ensure that they comply with the expected
levels and standards. Also, the Egyptians were interested
mainly in architecture and sculpture. Egyptian art is
known for its distinctive figure convention used for
the main figures in both relief and painting, with
parted legs (where not seated) and head shown as seen
from the side, but the torso seen as from the front.
Greek Art: The Geometric Period
(900-700 BC)

Ancient Greek art stands out among that of other ancient

cultures for its development of naturalistic but idealized
depictions of the human body, in which largely nude male
figures were generally the focus of innovation. The rate of
stylistic development between about 750 and 300 BC was
remarkable by ancient standards, and in surviving works is
best seen in sculpture. There were important innovations
in painting, which have to be essentially reconstructed due
to the lack of original survivals of quality, other than the
distinct field of painted pottery.
Pottery and Vase Painting
Greek Art : The Archaic Period
(700-500 BC)

The Archaic Period, from the word itself was

considered as the old fashioned style of sculpture
and other forms of art and crafts. By the this period,
artists began working to recreate more realistic
human forms. The images depicted some Egyptian
influence but much of it seems to be originated by
the Greeks. One point of originality is the smile seen
on the Archaic Statues, almost staring back to the
viewer.
Archaic Statues
Greek Art: The Classical Period
(5th Century BC)

Greek artist of this time attained a manner of

representation that conveys a vitality of life as well
as a sense of permanence, clarity and harmony.
They also began consciously to attempt to render
human and animal forms realistically. This entailed
careful observation of the model as well as
understanding the mechanics of anatomy how a
body adjusts to a pose which is not stiffly frontal
but with the weight shifted to one side of the body
behaves in violent motion.
Gold Box Ring Calyx-Krater
Hellenistic Art
(323-23 BC)

Dating from the death of Alexander the Great,

he had extended his Empire as the Middle
East, conquering Greece’s old enemies:
Persia and Egypt. The term Hellenistic is a
modem invention which not only included a
huge are covering the whole of the Aegean
and also a huge time of range. In artistic
terms, this means that there is a huge variety
which is often put under the heading of
Pergamum Altar

Alexander Mosaic
Bust

Fresco
Portraying the Human Form
Portraying the Human Form
The sculpture which showed how Greek
depicted the human body had a
significant influence on the development
of not only Roman Art, but even in all
later Western Art. It is where ancient
artist relied referring to the progress of
the human nude. Great example of this
are the Kritos Boy and Discus Thrower.
Roman Art
(500BC- AD 476)

Roman Art refers to the visual arts made in Ancient

Rome and in the territories of the Roman Empire.
Roman art includes architecture, painting,
sculpture, painting, architecture and mosaic
work. Luxury objects in metal- work, gem
engraving, ivory carvings, and glass, are
sometimes considered in modern terms to be
minor forms of Roman Art.
Trajan’s Column Arch of Constantine
Medieval Art

The Medieval Art of the Western World

embraces a huge scope including major
art movements and periods, national and
regional art, genres, revivals, artists
crafts, and artists themselves. This
period emphasized the making of
sculpture, illuminated manuscripts,
stained glass, metal works and mosaics.
Medieval Art can be subsequently
divided into phases namely:
•Christian Art
•Byzantine Art
•Gothic Art
Christian Art (4th Century)

From being the persecuted sect, Christianity

turned to be the official religion of the
Roman Empire in the course of the 4th
Century. Christian Art adapt a certain
Roman styles like iconography but its main
survivals are the tomb-paintings and lavish
mosaic churches built under imperial
patronage.
Byzantine Art
Byzantine Art is set standard of imperial elegance and
artistic quality for both contemporary Europe and the
Islamic East. Byzantine Empire was marked by
periodic revivals of a classical aesthetic, it was above
all marked by the development of a new aesthetic
defined by its salient "abstract", or anti-naturalistic
character. If classical art was marked by the attempt to
create representations that mimicked reality as closely
as possible, Byzantine art seems to have abandoned
this attempt in favor of a more symbolic approach.
Hagia Sophia
Gothic Art was a style
of medieval art that
developed in Northern Chatres Cathedral, (1193-
France out of 1250, central portal, France)
Romanesque art in the
12th century AD, led by
the concurrent
development of Gothic
architecture. It spread to
all of Western Europe,
and much of Southern
and Central Europe,
never quite effacing
more classical styles in
Italy.
Italian Renaissance Art
(700-500 BC)

Renaissance is the rebirth of Art and Science

and represents the principle of artistic
achievement, revived and confidently
executed after a thousand years in the
wilderness. It was one of the most productive
periods in the history o art, with large
numbers of outstanding masters; Giotto,
Masaccio, Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci
and Raphael.
Monalisa
Neoclassicism Art
(middle 18th Century)

Neoclassicism is a restoration of the

influences and styles at classic antiquity
which reflected the developments in
different areas of the Age of
Enlightenment and was born out of
rejection of the Rococo style. It can also be
referred to as the Neoclassical Art.
Cupid & Psyche
Romanticism Art
(late 18th Century)

Romanticism Art can be characterized as an

artistic and intellectual movement which
stressed strong emotion, imagination,
freedom from classical art forms and
rebellion against social conventions. It also
emphasized wildness and expression rather
than control.
Cimabue’s Celebrated Madonna
Impressionism Art
(19th Century)

Impressionism Art emphasized the essence

of modernity-its faster pace and various
movements in the quality of daily life. It is
about the nature of fugitive light falling on
surfaces. Also it is about the temporary
and not about the timeless.
Le dejeuner sur l’herbe
Realism Art

Realism also known as Naturalism, is the kind of

art which represents: subject matter truthfully;
rejecting imaginative idealization in favor of a
close observation of outward appearances.
Without artificiality and avoiding artistic
conventions., realism is very precise detailed
and accurate representation of scenes and
objects. It also took reality with new alertness.
Stone Breakers
Post-Impressionism Art
(1886-1910)

This so called Post-Impressionism Art is a

predominantly French art movement led by Paul
Cezanne, Paul Gauguin, Vincent Van Gogh. It
emerged as a reaction against impressionists
concern for the naturalistic depiction of light and
color. Impressionists destroy forever an artistic
belief in the objective truth of nature. This is also
a sign that art was moving close to abstraction.
The Centenary of Independence
The Starry Night
Fauvism
(1900-1910)

Fauvism is the style of Les Fauves (the

wild beasts) which is a loose group of
artists whose works focused on painterly
qualities and strong color over the
representational or realistic values. The
leader of this movement were Henri
Matisse and Andre Derain.
The River Siene of Chatou
Expressionism
(1905-1920)

Expressionism was a modernist movement

with a typically trait to present the world
solely from frome perspective to evoke
moods or ideas, the artist involved with
this kind of art sought to express
meaning or experience rather than
physical reality.
The Scream
Cubism
(1907-1914)

Cubism was created by Pablo Picasso and

George Braque which became one of the
most influential visual art styles of the early
twentieth century. It was the French art critic.
Louis Vauxcelles who coined the term
cubism, after seeing the landscapes painted
by Braque and called the geometric forms in
the highly abstracted works “cubes”.
Deux Nus
Pop Art
(mid 1950’s-early 1970’s)

Pop Art is an art movement which presented

a challenge of fine art by including
imagery from popular culture such as
advertising and news. It is not a
mainstream type of art for there may be
instance when materials visually removed
from its known contest, isolated, and
combined with unrelated material, its
concept is not focused too much with art
Whaam!
By Roy Lichtenste
TIME FOR