art periods

space and illusionism

Linear perspective:

• having a linear approach where the orthogonals meet to a singular vanishing point on the horizon line

• massive in the renaissance period

• mathematic

Multiple viewpoint perspective

• one image multiple viewpoints

• one work multiple images

• does not follow linear perspective

distortion of space

• ignoring the middle-ground

• jean-francois Millet, the gleaners, 1857

  • ignores the middleground by placing the figures in the foreground which covers it and only allows for suggestions of background

physical space

• robert smithson, spiral jetty, 1970

  • physical art

  • need to experience and feel the sensory aspect of it

  • changes with the earth and environment around it

landscape

time and narritives

time to make

time to look at

historical time

allegorical and symbolic (clocks, timepeices, calander, memento mori), metaphorical depiction (river, ect.)

felix gonzales-torres, ‘untitled’ (perfect lovers), 1991

• literally two clocks

• passage of time and sync of clocks

• clocks will eventually go out of sync

• regeneration of the work

singular moment

• snapshot of a narritive, story familiar to contemporary viewers

• usually a moment of movement

renaissance

humanisation and naturalism → moving away from abstraction of italo-byzantine

• more human focus rather than deity focus → or bringing the deity down to earth

• secular v sacred → religious v greek/roman mythology

• anatomy and realism of human depictions

inspiration from classical antiquity

artist as the individual

colonialism → expansion of geography

Perspectives

• giotto, last gudgement, 1304-5

  • moving away from italo-byzantine abstraction and bringing a more linear approach to art

  • linear approach to set out

  • some dimension → layering of the angels and of the saved

• raphael, school of athens, 1509-1511

  • linear perspective → vanishing point above/ between aristotle and plato

  • dimension → inserting the viewer within the scene

  • realism in depicton of humans

• heironymus bosch, the garden of earthly delights, 1505-1510

  • less focus on linear perspective in the north

  • dimension and receeding in the tryptich

  • bringing the divine/deity into the earth/painting

  • abstraction but different to that of italo-byzantine

modernism

modernism looks more at everyday life rather than aristocracy

• rise in middle class and bougeois

french acedemy

• focus on academic art and heighrarchy of genres

  • history painitng

  • portaits

  • genre painting

  • landscape

  • still life

  • lower down the list the smaller the canvas

modernist and realists rebel from the academy and start making genre paintng, lanscape art and still life on a bigger scale

a modern mainter was a man of the world, impressionism → “ childlike wonder”

the hand of the artist is seen

less realistic more abstract → moving from realsitic to cartoonish and then abstract

less focus on linear perspective in some cases

art and identity: feminism

no feminine art but feminine style → theres no destinct style but destinct content

• oftent political or making a statement on the oppression of women artists by the narritive and cannon

• feminine → lanscape and genre painting

• feminist → make a political statement

crosscultural identity

the cannon vs reality

• the cannon is linear european structure when in reality the cannon was influenced by other cultures art many times to progress not hemetically sealed (airtight)

• recpirocity

  • cross-cultural sharing of technique, process and ideas

    • trade, colonisation, literature

• structural affinity

  • despite not really being in contact two cultures can have similarities (specifically in this case artistic styles can be similar despite little to no cultural overlap)

• semiotic systems

  • different cultures ways of inperpreting symbolism within an artwork

  • message within works could be misenterpeted

  • importance of understanding

contemporary art

1960’s to the present

theres more of a wider range of artmaking and styles

Terry pratchet’s three threads of art

1. continuation of modernism and prior art practises

2. art focusing on the worlds affairs (political)

3. smaller scale artists and community-based practices.

art concerned with social relationships with people

difficult art: performative and takes a moment for the viewer to unpack what the meaning is