Where it all started… I needed an elective to fulfill my senior year credits. Psychology? Done. Drawing? Done. Even photography, done. But art history? Interestingly not done. So, basically that is how I embarked on a journey that made me fall in love with the mystery and uncertainty of prehistoric art and what it narrates about the earliest peoples. There is a void in this specific time period that allows for the interpreter and apprentice to imagine, analyze, and critically develop theories or ideas in order to find an explanation to something that cannot be explained, read, or researched anywhere. This is what makes me passionate about prehistoric art, every time you are appreciating a piece, it gives you an imminent urge to jump in a time machine and travel back to where it all started.
Great Hall of the Bulls, Lascaux, France. Part of the six-hundred and fifty paintings in this specific cave. Made with natural products such as iron ore, charcoal, and plants.Woman of Willendorf. Made of Limestone, approximately 5 inches tall. Was found in Willendorf, Austria, but can now be found in a museum in Vienna.
From cave paintings deep down in the caves of Lascaux, France, the tiny Woman of Willendorf figure, to the mystery of Stonehenge in England, these art pieces do not only represent what we can see in surface but carry with them the culture of the earliest peoples, their life styles, their beliefs, and they way the innovated and evolved to become the newer and modern version of the Homo sapiens sapiens, well, us. Even-though, prehistoric art is so questionable due to its lack of written information, it manages to explain many aspects of daily life during the Paleolithic, Mesolithic, and Neolithic time periods.
Stonehenge, Located in England. Built with massive stone slabs that were brought from Wales, England, way before the invention of the wheel, which incentivized myriad of researchers to try and guess how these early peoples created an architectural feat with little to none transportation resources. Also, the hidden purpose of Stonehenge has led to theories, excavations, and study of ashes of bones found at the site.COOL FACT: My art history professor here at PSU brought to class a 3D printed replica of the figurine, so we could hold in our hands and feel the actual tiny scale of the Woman of Willendorf. Something you cannot visualize or experience by merely looking at a picture of the art piece in an isolated space.
Video on the Chauvet Cave, which is now, sadly, closed to the public due to humidity, light, and human activity’s damaging effect on the paintings and carving, it contains the largest variety of animal paintings out of all the prehistoric caves.
Throughout this passion blog I will be posting entries about prehistoric art pieces, write about how was it created, in what setting and utilize the content, context, form, and function format in order to break down the piece’s background, importance, and role in early prehistoric society. Also, about my opinions and experiences with the art pieces. With links to fun and interesting, videos, readings, pictures, and documentaries!
One thought on “Introducing: MY PASSION: PRE HISTORIC ART”
Really liked the way you introduced the topic of your blog. Most people when they think of an art history class, they think of it as some class they are required to take or a class that is easy so people take it because it boosts their GPA. It’s pretty cool how you went into the class with somewhat of a similar mindset but came out of the class in love with the subject and now you have an entire blog devoted to art history.
Really liked the way you introduced the topic of your blog. Most people when they think of an art history class, they think of it as some class they are required to take or a class that is easy so people take it because it boosts their GPA. It’s pretty cool how you went into the class with somewhat of a similar mindset but came out of the class in love with the subject and now you have an entire blog devoted to art history.