Module 3

Various Art Movements

Introduction:
Art knows no bound. It was well nourished and developed but still
evolves and develops as the time goes by.

This is the 3rd module in GEC 006: Art Appreciation. In this module,
you will learn what art movement is and the different art movements from
ancient times.

Intended learning outcomes:

At the end of this module, you are expected to:

 compare Ancient Egyptian Art and Greek art, Japanese art and Chinese
art, Photorealism and Body art;
 write an essay explaining why Egyptian art is important;
 summarize your learning about various art movements; and
 demonstrate calligraphy.

MOTIVATION
Handprint. In a clean sheet of paper, do a hand
stencil using paint or charcoal. On the side of
your handprint, write your name and your motto
in life.

THIS MODULE IS FOR THE EXCLUSIVE USE OF THE UNIVERSITY OF LA SALETTE, INC. ANY FORM OF REPRODUCTION, DISTRIBUTION, UPLOADING,
OR POSTING ONLINE IN ANY FORM OR BY ANY MEANS WITHOUT THE WRITTEN PERMISSION OF THE UNIVERSITY IS STRICTLY PROHIBITED. 1
  Art movement refers to the tendency of style in art that has a
specific common philosophy or goal.
 Art movement is followed by a group of artists during a restricted
period of time (from few months to a decade) with the heyday of
such movement.
 Art movement are very important in modern art when “each consecutive
movement is considered a new avant-garde.

1. Cave Painting
These are painted drawings on a cave walls or ceilings, mainly of
prehistoric origin, dated some 40,000 years ago (around 38,000 BCE) in
Eurasia. The exact purpose of Paleolithic cave paintings is not known.
Evidence suggests that they were merely decorations of living areas since
the caves in which they have been found do not have signs of ongoing
habitation. They are also often located in areas of caves that are not
easily accessible. Some theories hold that cave paintings may have been
a way of communicating with others, while other theories ascribe a
religious or ceremonial purpose to them. The paintings are remarkably
similar around the world, with animals being common subjects that give
the most impressive images.
Humans mainly appear as images of hands, mostly hand stencils made by
blowing pigment on a hand held to the wall. Most cave art consists of
paintings made with either red or black pigment. The reds were made with
iron oxides (hematite), whereas manganese dioxide and charcoal were used
for the blacks.
In 2018, researched announced the discovery of the oldest known cave
paintings, made by Neanderthals at least 64,000 years ago, in the Spanish
caves of La Pasiega, Maltravieso and Ardales. Like some other early cave
art, it was abstract. Archaeologists who study these caves have
discovered drawings of ladder-like lines, hand stencils and a stalagmite
structure decorated with ochre.

THIS MODULE IS FOR THE EXCLUSIVE USE OF THE UNIVERSITY OF LA SALETTE, INC. ANY FORM OF REPRODUCTION, DISTRIBUTION, UPLOADING,
OR POSTING ONLINE IN ANY FORM OR BY ANY MEANS WITHOUT THE WRITTEN PERMISSION OF THE UNIVERSITY IS STRICTLY PROHIBITED. 2
 Neanderthal cave paintings inside the Andalusian cave of Ardales, pictured March 1, 2018.
The cave paintings were created between 43,000 and 65,000 years ago, 20,000 years
before modern humans arrived in Europe.

The oldest known prehistoric art wasn't created in a cave. Drawn on a

rock face in South Africa 73,000 years ago, it predates any known cave
art. However, caves themselves help to protect and preserve the art on
their walls, making them rich historical records for archaeologists to
study. And because humans added to cave art over time, many have layers—
depicting an evolution in artistic expression.

2. Ancient Egyptian Art

Visual arts like painting, sculpture, architecture, and other arts were
produced by the civilization of ancient Egypt in the lower Nile Valley
from about 3000 BC to 30 AD. Ancient Egyptian art reached a high level

THIS MODULE IS FOR THE EXCLUSIVE USE OF THE UNIVERSITY OF LA SALETTE, INC. ANY FORM OF REPRODUCTION, DISTRIBUTION, UPLOADING,
OR POSTING ONLINE IN ANY FORM OR BY ANY MEANS WITHOUT THE WRITTEN PERMISSION OF THE UNIVERSITY IS STRICTLY PROHIBITED. 3
 in painting and sculpture, and was both highly stylized and symbolic. It
was famously conservative, and Egyptian styles changed remarkably little
over more than three thousand years. Much of the surviving art comes
from tombs and monuments and thus there is an emphasis on life after
death and the preservation of knowledge of the past.
Ancient Egyptian art included paintings, sculpture in wood (now rarely
surviving), stone and ceramics, drawings on papyrus, faience, jewelry,
ivories, and other art media. It displays an extraordinarily vivid
representation of the ancient Egyptian's socioeconomic status and belief
systems.

3. Greek Art
Ancient Greek art proper "emerged" during the 8th century BCE (700-800),
as things calmed down around the Aegean. About this time, iron was made
into weapons/tools, people started using an alphabet, the first Olympic
Games took place.

Greek art began in the Cycladic and Minoan civilization and gave birth
to Western classical art in the subsequent Geometric, Archaic and
Classical periods (with further developments during the Hellenistic
Period). It absorbed, influences of Eastern civilizations, of Roman art
and its patrons, and the new religion of Orthodox Christianity in the
Byzantine era and absorbed Italian and European ideas during the period
of Romanticism (with the invigoration of the Greek Revolution), until
the Modernist and Postmodernist. Greek art is mainly five forms:
architecture, sculpture, painting, pottery and jewelry making.

THIS MODULE IS FOR THE EXCLUSIVE USE OF THE UNIVERSITY OF LA SALETTE, INC. ANY FORM OF REPRODUCTION, DISTRIBUTION, UPLOADING,
OR POSTING ONLINE IN ANY FORM OR BY ANY MEANS WITHOUT THE WRITTEN PERMISSION OF THE UNIVERSITY IS STRICTLY PROHIBITED. 4
 Artistic production in Greece began in the prehistoric pre-Greek Cycladic
and the Minoan civilizations, both of which were influenced by local
traditions and the art of ancient Egypt.

4. Roman Art

The prehistoric Roman Art encompasses two periods, Etruscan Period (2000-
1000 BC). The subject matter of paintings was ancestor Worship catacombs,
and sarcophages. In the Roman Period (2000 BC400 AD), art was
characterized by commemorative statue, sarcophage, frescoes, and design
with vine motifs. Art in these periods served the cult of ancestors and
defied emperors.

Roman art includes architectures, painting, sculpture, 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
although this would not necessarily have been the case for
contemporaries. Sculpture was perhaps considered as the highest form of
art by Romans, but figure painting was also very highly regarded. The
two forms have had very contrasting rates of survival, with a very large
body of sculpture surviving from about the 1* century BC onward, though
very little from before, but very little painting at all remains, and
probably nothing that a contemporary would have considered to be of the
highest quality.

THIS MODULE IS FOR THE EXCLUSIVE USE OF THE UNIVERSITY OF LA SALETTE, INC. ANY FORM OF REPRODUCTION, DISTRIBUTION, UPLOADING,
OR POSTING ONLINE IN ANY FORM OR BY ANY MEANS WITHOUT THE WRITTEN PERMISSION OF THE UNIVERSITY IS STRICTLY PROHIBITED. 5
 5. Chinese Painting (oldest artistic traditions in the world)

The traditional painting involves essentially the same techniques as

calligraphy and is done with a brush dipped in black ink or colored
pigments; oils are not used. As with calligraphy, the most popular
materials on which paintings are made are paper and silk. The finished
work can be mounted on scrolls, such as hanging scrolls or handscrolls.
Traditional painting can also be done on album sheets, walls,
lacquerware, folding screens, and other media.

Main Techniques in Chinese Painting:

1. Gongbi which means “meticulous” uses highly detailed brush strokes

that delimits details very precisely. It is often highly colored and
usually depicts figural or narrative subjects. It is often practiced by
artists working for the royal court or in independent workshops.

2. Ink and wash painting, in Chinese shui-mo "water and ink" also loosely
termed watercolor or brush painting, and also known as "literati
painting", as it was one of the "Four Arts" of the Chinese Scholar-
official class. In theory this was an art practiced by gentlemen, a
distinction that begins to be made in writings on art from the Song
dynasty, though in fact the careers of leading exponents could benefit
considerably. This style is also referred to as "xieyi or freehand style.

THIS MODULE IS FOR THE EXCLUSIVE USE OF THE UNIVERSITY OF LA SALETTE, INC. ANY FORM OF REPRODUCTION, DISTRIBUTION, UPLOADING,
OR POSTING ONLINE IN ANY FORM OR BY ANY MEANS WITHOUT THE WRITTEN PERMISSION OF THE UNIVERSITY IS STRICTLY PROHIBITED. 6
 The highest form of Chinese painting is the landscape painting and still
generally used today.

THIS MODULE IS FOR THE EXCLUSIVE USE OF THE UNIVERSITY OF LA SALETTE, INC. ANY FORM OF REPRODUCTION, DISTRIBUTION, UPLOADING,
OR POSTING ONLINE IN ANY FORM OR BY ANY MEANS WITHOUT THE WRITTEN PERMISSION OF THE UNIVERSITY IS STRICTLY PROHIBITED. 7
 6. Japanese Art
The Japanese painting encompasses a wide variety of genres and styles.
The long history of Japanese painting exhibits synthesis.

Japanese painting (kaiga, also gado) is one of the oldest and most highly
refined of the Japanese visual arts, encompassing a wide variety of
genres and styles. As with the history of Japanese arts in general, the
long history of Japanese painting exhibits synthesis and competition
between native Japanese aesthetics and the adaptation of imported ideas,
mainly from Chinese painting which was especially influential at a number
of points; significant Western influence only comes from the later 16"
century onwards, beginning at the same time as Japanese art was
influencing that of the West.

Areas of subject matter where Chinese influence has been repeatedly

significant include Buddhist religious painting, ink-wash painting of
landscapes in the Chinese literati painting tradition, calligraphy of
ideographs, and the painting of animals and plants, especially birds and
flowers. However distinctively Japanese traditions have developed in all
these fields. The subject matter that is widely regarded as most
characteristic of Japanese painting, and later printmaking, is the
depiction of scenes from everyday life and narrative scenes that are
often crowded with figures and detail. This tradition no doubt began in
the early medieval period under Chinese influence that is now beyond
tracing except in the most general terms, but from the period of the
earliest surviving works had developed into a specifically Japanese
tradition that lasted until the modern period.

In Japan, there were 158 works or sets of works in painting listed in

the Official List of National Treasures. These works were done in the
8th to the 9th century that includes a number of Chinese paintings which
have long been in Japan. These painting works represent peaks of
achievement or very rare Survival from the early period in Japan.

THIS MODULE IS FOR THE EXCLUSIVE USE OF THE UNIVERSITY OF LA SALETTE, INC. ANY FORM OF REPRODUCTION, DISTRIBUTION, UPLOADING,
OR POSTING ONLINE IN ANY FORM OR BY ANY MEANS WITHOUT THE WRITTEN PERMISSION OF THE UNIVERSITY IS STRICTLY PROHIBITED. 8
 7. Photorealism

Photorealism is a genre of art that encompasses Painting, drawing, and

other graphic media, in which an artist studies a photograph and then
attempts to reproduce the image as realistically as possible in another
medium. Although the term can be used broadly to describe artworks in
many different media, it is also used to refer specifically to a group
of paintings and painters of the American art movement that began in the
late 1960s and early 1970s.

The name Photorealism (also known as Hyperrealism or Super realism) was

coined in reference to those artists whose work depended heavily on
photographs, which they often projected onto canvas allowing images to
be replicated with precision and accuracy. The exactness was often aided
further by the use of an airbrush, which was originally designed to
retouch photographs. The movement came about within the same period and
context as Conceptual art, Pop art, and Minimalism and expressed a
strong interest in realism in art, over that of idealism and abstraction.

THIS MODULE IS FOR THE EXCLUSIVE USE OF THE UNIVERSITY OF LA SALETTE, INC. ANY FORM OF REPRODUCTION, DISTRIBUTION, UPLOADING,
OR POSTING ONLINE IN ANY FORM OR BY ANY MEANS WITHOUT THE WRITTEN PERMISSION OF THE UNIVERSITY IS STRICTLY PROHIBITED. 9
 “Self-Portrait” –Chuck Close

“McDonalds Pickup” – Ralph Goings

8. Body Art

Body art is a form of body painting, using the body as a canvas or

artwork employing color pigments for cultural motives. Face painting,
body painting, and tattoo art are forms of body art that dates back from
pre-historic times. These art forms during the early times were employed
to identify prominent personalities like tribal chiefs. Modern body art
is utilized as a cosmetic, make-up as shown in stage plays, television
programs, in circuses and movie characters.

Body art diffused the veil between artist and artwork by placing the
body front and center as actor, medium, performance, and canvas. Lines
were erased between message and messenger or creator and creation, giving
new meaning to, and amplifying the idea of, authentic first person
perspective.

In the post-1960s atmosphere of changing social mores and thawed

attitudes toward nudity, the body became a perfect tool to make the
political personal. What else could be more demonstrative of an artist's

THIS MODULE IS FOR THE EXCLUSIVE USE OF THE UNIVERSITY OF LA SALETTE, INC. ANY FORM OF REPRODUCTION, DISTRIBUTION, UPLOADING,
OR POSTING ONLINE IN ANY FORM OR BY ANY MEANS WITHOUT THE WRITTEN PERMISSION OF THE UNIVERSITY IS STRICTLY PROHIBITED. 10
 passions, opinions, and voice than
a direct, literal representation
of the self as the prime channel
of communication in making a
point? Especially in matters of
the hot button issues of the time,
using the body became a way for an
artist to connect the individual
with the universal human
experience - one person asking
others to resonate as a whole.

Body art can be seen as a forebear

to today's general mainstream
acceptance of tattooing,
piercing, scarring, or otherwise
adorning the body as a means to
establish one's own individuality
as well as connections to certain
forms of community and likeminded
mentality.

THIS MODULE IS FOR THE EXCLUSIVE USE OF THE UNIVERSITY OF LA SALETTE, INC. ANY FORM OF REPRODUCTION, DISTRIBUTION, UPLOADING,
OR POSTING ONLINE IN ANY FORM OR BY ANY MEANS WITHOUT THE WRITTEN PERMISSION OF THE UNIVERSITY IS STRICTLY PROHIBITED. 11
References:
Textbooks

 Ariola, Mariano M. (2018) Art Appreciation. Unlimited Books Library

Services & Publishing Inc.
Websites

 Artincontext. (2021, July 19). Egyptian art - An exploration of

Ancient Egyptian art and its influences.
artincontext.org. https://artincontext.org/egyptian-art/
 Greek art: History, characteristics. (n.d.). Visual Arts
Encyclopedia. https://www.visual-arts-cork.com/greek-art.htm
 History.com Editors. (2010, May 17). Ancient Greek art.
HISTORY. https://www.history.com/topics/ancient-history/ancient-
greek-art
 Little, B. (2021, October 5). What prehistoric cave paintings reveal
about early human life.
 HISTORY. https://www.history.com/news/prehistoric-cave-paintings-
early-humans
 Body art movement overview. (n.d.). The Art
Story. https://www.theartstory.org/movement/body-art/
 Photorealism movement overview. (n.d.). The Art
Story. https://www.theartstory.org/movement/photorealism/

Links

 https://www.artranked.com/topic/Chinese+Calligraphy
 https://www.123rf.com/photo_147778646_chinese-landscape-artistic-
landscape-painting.html
 https://www.pinterest.ph/pin/554083560382775229/

THIS MODULE IS FOR THE EXCLUSIVE USE OF THE UNIVERSITY OF LA SALETTE, INC. ANY FORM OF REPRODUCTION, DISTRIBUTION, UPLOADING,
OR POSTING ONLINE IN ANY FORM OR BY ANY MEANS WITHOUT THE WRITTEN PERMISSION OF THE UNIVERSITY IS STRICTLY PROHIBITED. 12