Transcript Arts Through the Ages

Arts
Through the Ages
A look at
Important Periods
in
Art History
©2006 EvaMedia, Inc.
Ancient Egypt
3100 - 30 BCE
Oldest recorded civilization
Egyptians invent papyrus (paper) and
hieroglyphics (written language)
Great Pyramid of Giza – one of
several monumental tombs for kings
Sphinx – enormous symbolic statue
guarding one of the pyramids
Romans conquer Egypt and ‘borrow’
much of their culture from this early
civilization
Classical Greece & Rome
800 BCE-500 CE
Greeks value high morals, ethics, order,
beauty and aesthetics
Drama invented in Greece (Drama’s ‘Golden Age’)
All citizens expected to attend
(government provided free admission)
Festival of Dionysus = drama competitions
for comedies & tragedies
Philosophies, architectural techniques &
ideas emerge to influence later eras
Romans conquer Greece and ‘borrow’
much of their culture from this civilization
Roman drama favors large spectacle and
low comedy
Romans make great advancements in
architecture (Coliseum = sports arena)
Medieval era – 500-1400
Also called the “Middle Ages”
Politics & religion are united in power
over the people
Religious emotion is used to
manipulate the uneducated
Church controls work of artists,
thinkers, writers, composers
Artists allowed to work are mandated
to create art for religious purposes
Arts & sciences are suppressed
In part, known as the “Dark Ages”
Renaissance – 1400-1600
Values individual creativity
Rebels against Medieval church’s
control over artists & thinkers
‘Rebirth’ of Classical era ideals
Visual artists = Leonardo da Vinci,
Michelangelo, Raphael, Botticelli
Drama = Commedia dell’arte,
Shakespeare & Elizabethan theatre
(late Renaissance)
Music composers =
Palestrina, des Prez
Dance = court dances
Baroque – 1580-1750
‘The Gilded Age’
Composers =
Bach, Handel, Vivaldi
Dance, Drama, Music =
Ballet and Opera develop
Church & monarchy jointly
control arts & artists again
Social class distinctions very
obvious & strictly enforced
Courtly life is valued
Neo-Classic era – 1720-1830
 ‘Age of Reason’ or ‘Enlightenment’
Era of French & American revolutions
Returns to ideals of Classical era
Values individual freedom, independence
Important era in world philosophy
English entertainers tour U.S. colonies
After Revolution, American arts develop
unique styles
200 years of slave trade abolished in U.S.
Drama = satire (Moliere)
This is called the ‘classical music’ era
Composers = Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven
Romanticism – 1820-1900
Rebels against logic & order of
Neo-Classic era
Values nature, supernatural, emotion,
imagination, sentimentality
Music = Strauss (waltz), Wagner
(opera), Tchaikovsky (ballet)
Drama = melodrama
Dance = ‘Golden Age of Ballet’
Visual Arts = European art influences
American landscape painters;
Matthew Brady photographically
documents U.S. Civil War
Realism – 1830-1900
Realism painters, such as Courbet,
revolt against Romanticism’s idealized
world view
Realism seeks to show ‘real life,’
even its ugliness, in truth & detail
Focus on the common person and on
industrial urban scenes
In drama, Henrik Ibsen redefines
theatre toward Modern movement
Impressionism/
Post-Impressionism – 1860-1910
Impressionist painters begin their
movement in France in 1860s
Impressionism is concerned with
capturing the moment quickly &
exploring the effects of light
In music, Debussy and Ravel explore
symbolism, inspired by Symbolist
writers such as Verlaine and Poe
Post-Impressionists are influenced by
Impressionists, but their experiments
move them toward the coming Modern
movement
Modern/Contemporary
Begins around 1900
Visual artists = break all the ‘rules’; create
abstract, non-objective, ‘pop’ art,
surrealism, cubism, expressionism,
Drama = Plays by Shaw, Chekov, Miller
+ continuation of techniques from Ibsen
(‘Father of Modern Drama’)
Music styles invented = ragtime, blues,
jazz, rock & roll, country, bluegrass, rap,
hip hop … and more. Global music grows.
Dance – Isadora Duncan invents a
performance dance style named for its
era: ‘Modern’ dance