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Stages of development of primitive art. The Birth of Primitive Art

Primitive art, that is, the art of the era of the primitive communal system, developed over a very long time, and in some parts of the world - in Australia and Oceania, in many areas of Africa and America - it existed until modern times. In Europe and Asia, its origins date back to the Ice Age, when much of Europe was covered in ice and tundra lay in what is now southern France and Spain. In the 4th - 1st millennia BC. The primitive communal system, first in northern Africa and Western Asia, and then in southern and eastern Asia and southern Europe, was gradually replaced by slaveholding.

The most ancient stages of the development of primitive culture, when art first appeared, belong to the Paleolithic, and art, as already mentioned, appeared only in the late (or upper) Paleolithic, in the Aurignacian-Solutrean time, that is, 40 - 20 thousand years BC . It reached great prosperity in Magdalenian times (20 - 12 millennia BC. Later stages of the development of primitive culture date back to the Mesolithic (Middle Stone Age), Neolithic (New Stone Age) and to the time of the spread of the first metal tools (Copper-Bronze Age ).

Examples of the first works of primitive art are schematic outline drawings of animal heads on limestone slabs found in the caves of La Ferrassie (France).

These ancient images are extremely primitive and conventional. But in them, without a doubt, one can see the beginnings of those ideas in the minds of primitive people that were associated with hunting and hunting magic.

With the advent of settled life, while continuing to use rock overhangs, grottoes and caves for living, people began to establish long-term settlements - sites consisting of several dwellings. The so-called “big house” of the tribal community from the settlement of Kostenki I, near Voronezh, was of considerable size (35x16 m) and apparently had a roof made of poles.

It was in this kind of dwellings, in a number of settlements of mammoth and wild horse hunters dating back to the Aurignacian-Solutrean period, that small-sized (5-10 cm) sculptural figurines depicting women were found carved from bone, horn or soft stone. Most of the figurines found depict a naked, standing female figure; they clearly show the desire of the primitive artist to convey the features of a woman-mother (the breasts, huge belly, wide hips are emphasized).

Relatively correctly conveying the general proportions of the figure, primitive sculptors usually depicted the hands of these figurines as thin, small, most often folded on the chest or stomach; they did not depict facial features at all, although they rather carefully conveyed the details of hairstyles, tattoos, etc.

Paleolithic in Western Europe

Good examples of such figurines were found in Western Europe (figurines from Willendorf in Austria, from Menton and Lespug in southern France, etc.), and in the Soviet Union - in the Paleolithic sites of the V villages of Kostenki and Gagarino on the Don, Avdeevo near Kursk, etc. The figurines of eastern Siberia from the sites of Malta and Buret, dating back to the transitional Solutrean-Magdalenian time, are more schematically executed.


Neighborhood Les Eisys

To understand the role and place of human images in the life of a primitive tribal community, the reliefs carved on limestone slabs from the Lossel site in France are especially interesting. One of these slabs depicts a hunter throwing a spear, the other three slabs depict women whose appearance resembles figurines from Willendorf, Kostenki or Gagarin, and, finally, the fifth slab shows an animal being hunted. The hunter is shown in living and natural movement, the female figures and, in particular, their hands are depicted anatomically more correctly than in the figurines. On one of the better preserved slabs, a woman holds in her hand, bent at the elbow and raised up, a bull (turium) horn. S. Zamyatnin put forward a plausible hypothesis that in this case a scene of witchcraft associated with preparations for a hunt is depicted, in which a woman played an important role.


1 a. Female figurine from Willendorf (Austria). Limestone. Upper Paleolithic, Aurignacian time. Vein. Natural History Museum.

Judging by the fact that figurines of this kind were found inside the dwelling, they were of great importance in the life of primitive people. They also testify to the great social role that women played during the period of matriarchy.

Much more often, primitive artists turned to the depiction of animals. The most ancient of these images are still very schematic. These are, for example, small and very simplified figurines of animals carved from soft stone or ivory - a mammoth, a cave bear, a cave lion (from the Kostenki I site), as well as drawings of animals made in a single-color contour line on the walls of a number of caves in France and Spain ( Nindal, La Mut, Castillo). Typically, these outline images are carved into stone or drawn into wet clay. Both in sculpture and in painting during this period only the most important features of animals are conveyed: the general shape of the body and head, the most noticeable external features.

On the basis of such initial, primitive experiments, skill was gradually developed, clearly manifested in the art of the Magdalenian time.

Primitive artists mastered the technique of processing bone and horn, and invented more advanced means of conveying the forms of the surrounding reality (mainly the animal world). Magdalenian art expressed a deeper understanding and perception of life. Remarkable wall paintings from this time have been found from the 80s - 90s. 19th century in the caves of southern France (Fond de Gaume, Lascaux, Montignac, Combarelles, the cave of the Three Brothers, Nio, etc.) and northern Spain (Al-Tamira cave). It is possible that contour drawings of animals, albeit more primitive in execution, found in Siberia on the banks of the Lena near the village of Shishkino date back to the Paleolithic. Along with paintings, usually done in red, yellow and black colors, among the works of Magdalenian art there are drawings carved on stone, bone and horn, bas-relief images, and sometimes round sculpture. Hunting played an extremely important role in the life of the primitive tribal community, and therefore images of animals occupied such a significant place in art. Among them you can see a variety of European animals of that time: bison, reindeer and red deer, woolly rhinoceros, mammoth, cave lion, bear, wild pig, etc.; Various birds, fish and snakes are less common. Plants were depicted extremely rarely.

The main stages in the development of primitive art

Introduction. 3

Petroglyphs of Karelia. 15

Monuments of primitive art. 24

Features of primitive art. 26

The first stage of human history itself is considered to be the primitive communal era. During this period, the formation of man as a special biological species is completed. At the turn of the Early and Late Paleolithic, the zoological, herd organization gradually transformed into a clan structure, which already represented the original human collective. Further evolution leads to the formation of a communal tribal way of life and the development of various methods of social life.

According to existing ideas in historical science, chronologically this era begins in the late (upper) Paleolithic and covers a period of time up to the beginning of the Neolithic. In “social space” it corresponds to the movement of humanity from the first forms of social organization (clan) to the emergence of a primitive neighboring community.

Particularly characteristic of primitiveness is the high degree of combination of human existence with everything that happens in the surrounding nature. Relationships to earth and sky, climate change, water and fire, flora and fauna in the conditions of an appropriating (gathering-hunting) economy were not only objectively necessary factors of existence, but also constituted the direct content of the life process.

The inseparability of the existence of man and nature, obviously, should have been expressed in the identification of both already at the level of “living contemplation.” The ideas arising on the basis of the received sensations consolidated and stored the impression of sensory perception, and thought and feeling acted as something integral, inseparable from each other. It is quite possible that the result could be the endowment of a mental image with the properties of a natural phenomenon perceived through the senses. Such a “fusion” of nature and its sensory-figurative reflection expresses the qualitative originality of primitive consciousness.

Primitiveness becomes characterized by such features of the archaic worldview as the identification of human existence with nature and the overwhelming predominance of collective ideas in individual thinking. In unity, they form a specific state of mind, which is designated by the concept of primitive syncretism. The content of this type of mental activity lies in the undifferentiated perception of nature, human life (in its communal-tribal quality) and the sensory-figurative picture of the world. Ancient people were so included in their environment that they thought of themselves as participating in absolutely everything, without standing out from the world, much less opposing themselves to it. The primitive integrity of being corresponds to a primitive holistic consciousness, undivided into special forms, for which, to put it simply, “everything is everything.”

Such an interpretation of the archaic stage of consciousness can serve as a methodological key to understanding the origins, content and role of early beliefs and rituals in primitive society.

It can be assumed that the most common version of primitive beliefs was the transfer of human, intraclan relationships, ideas and experiences to the processes and elements of nature. Simultaneously and inextricably with this, a “reverse” process of transfer occurred: natural properties into the area of ​​life of the human community.

Thus, the world appeared in the primitive consciousness not only as integral, when any phenomenon and people themselves are “woven” into the fabric of generalized existence, but also possessing vital qualities, humanized. Since the human in this case is communal and tribal, everything captured by the perception of ancient man is identified with the familiar and customary tribal way of life.

Among the archaic beliefs, the first in importance is the attitude towards nature as a living being that has the same properties as humans. In religious studies, there is a well-known point of view according to which the early stage of such beliefs, animatism (from the Latin animatus - animate), assumed that the world was permeated by a universal, ubiquitous, but impersonal, life-giving force.

Gradually, with the development of objective-practical activity, the image of the life-giving principle differentiated. It began to correlate with specific phenomena of nature and human life, with those aspects of them, the real development of which was beyond the reach. Each creature or sensory object was, if necessary, dualized, endowed with a kind of double. They could be presented in a bodily or some other material form (breath, blood, shadow, reflection in water, etc.). At the same time, they were essentially devoid of materiality and were thought of as ideal entities. The contradiction between ideality and objectivity was overcome thanks to the syncretism of primitive thinking: any object of the material world could at the same time act both in real and incorporeal, a kind of spiritualistic quality. In the end, the double could lead an independent life, leaving the person, for example, during sleep or in the event of death.

The general concept that has entered scientific circulation to denote such beliefs is the term animism. Its content is quite extensive. First of all, it is associated with the belief in the existence of souls, that is, supersensible formations inherent in objects and natural phenomena, as well as in humans.

The removal of souls beyond the limits of a limited objective state could occur. These are the so-called perfumes. In this case, the capabilities of ideal entities increased sharply: they could move freely in the material world, inhabit any object and gain the ability to influence various objects, plants, animals, climate and people themselves.

The multiplicity of spirits also implies the diversity of their habitats. Almost the entire world around us is filled with them. Therefore, most of the acts of everyday life of the clan community were carried out, probably, taking into account the existing views on relations with spirits, and the consequences associated with the influence of spirits are not always favorable. Difficulties and failures, individual and collective, are understood as manifestations of the cunning of evil spirits. The way out of this situation is to search for reliable mechanisms to counteract malicious machinations. The use of amulets, that is, objects whose presence was considered as protection from the harmful influence of evil spirits, was widespread. As a rule, these are pieces of wood, stones, bones, teeth, animal skins, etc.

Similar types of objects could also be used for the purpose of positive interaction as mediators. In all cases, the intermediary object served as a conductor of human needs; with its help, people actually replenished the meager arsenal of means for exploring the natural world. The ability to store, protect from harm or bring good luck was explained by the presence of magical, miraculous power in the object or the presence of some spirit in it.

Such beliefs are called the concept of fetishism (“fetish” is an enchanted thing; the term was proposed by the Dutch traveler W. Bosman in the early 18th century).

It is known that fetishes were often the embodiment of a person’s personal patrons. However, those who carried a social burden were considered more important and respected - defenders of the entire clan collective, ensuring the survival and continuation of the clan. Sometimes fetishism was associated with the cult of ancestors, in a unique way reinforcing the idea of ​​continuity of generations.

A natural consequence of the fetishistic attitude of consciousness should have been the transfer of magical and miraculous properties not only to natural or specially produced objects, but also to people themselves. Proximity to the fetish enhanced the real significance of the person (sorcerer, elder or leader), who with his experience ensured the unity and well-being of the clan. Over time, the sacralization of the clan elite took place, especially the leaders, who became living fetishes when they were endowed with miraculous abilities.

Perceiving nature in the images of a tribal community that were understandable to him, primitive man treated any natural phenomenon as more or less “related.” The inclusion of ancestral connections in the process of interaction with the spheres of the animal and plant world creates the prerequisites for the development of faith in the common origin of human beings with some animals or, which was much less common, plants.

These beliefs, called totemism, are rooted in the consanguineous relationships and living conditions of early human groups that developed at the primitive stage. The lack of reliability and the fairly frequent change of fetishes gave rise to a desire for a more stable foundation that would stabilize the vital activity of generic structures.

The common origin and blood relationship with the totem were understood in the most direct way. People sought to become similar in their behavior to the habits of “totemic relatives”, to acquire their properties and appearance. At the same time, the life of animals chosen by totems and the attitude towards them was considered from the position of human communal tribal existence.

In addition to its kinship status, the totem had the function of a patron and protector. Common to totemic beliefs is the fetishization of the totem.

Numerous studies of primitive culture indicate that all the named forms of behavior and orientation of archaic consciousness - animism, fetishism, totemism - are of a stage-global nature. Arranging them in a certain sequence according to the degree of “development” would be unlawful. As necessary moments of mastering the world, they arise and unfold in the context of a single, holistic worldview, which is characteristic of primitive syncretism.

The general cultural significance of these phenomena lies in their focus on satisfying the vital needs of human existence; they reflect the real, practical interests of the communal clan organization.

At the primitive stage of culture, combined forms of rituals and beliefs arose, called by the general concept of magic (from Greek and Latin words translated as witchcraft, sorcery, sorcery).

The magical perception of the world is based on the idea of ​​universal similarity and interconnection, which makes it possible for a person who feels “involvement in everything” to influence any objects and phenomena.

Magical actions are common among all peoples of the world and are extremely diverse. In ethnography and studies in the history of religion, there are many classifications and typological schemes of magical beliefs and techniques.

The most common is the division of magic into well-intentioned, saving magic, performed openly and for benefit - “white”, and harmful, causing damage and misfortune - “black”.

The typology that distinguishes offensive-aggressive and defensive-protective magic has a similar character.

In the latter case, taboos play an important role - prohibitions on actions, objects and words, which are endowed with the ability to automatically cause all sorts of troubles for a person. The elimination of taboos expresses the instinctive desire of the entire community-tribal collective to protect itself from contact with factors that threaten survival.

Often types of magic are classified according to spheres of human activity where they are one way or another necessary (agricultural, fishing, hunting, healing, meteorological, love, military types of magic). They are aimed at very real everyday aspects of life.

The scale of magical actions varies, which can be individual, group, or mass. Magic becomes the main professional occupation of sorcerers, shamans, priests, etc. (institutionalization of magic).

So, a feature of the existence and consciousness of people of the primitive era is a unique integrity, uniting in a complex the natural and the human, the sensual and the speculative, the material and the figurative, the objective and the subjective.

Direct dependence on the immediate conditions of existence stimulated a mentality in which adaptation to the world should probably consist of maximum self-identification with the environment. The collective organization of life extended the identity of man and nature to the entire clan community. As a result, the dominant position of supra-individual attitudes of consciousness is established, which have mandatory and indisputable significance for everyone. The best way to secure them in such a status could be, first of all, a reference to unquestionable absolute authority. They become the symbols of the clan - totems or other fetishized objects, up to the sacralization of the clan elite.

There are many reasons to believe that it was practical needs that determined the content of primitive beliefs. Ancient beliefs recorded the aspects of life necessary for organizing and preserving the communal-clan way of life (in work and life, marriage, hunting, fighting hostile groups).

The syncretism of consciousness determines the combination of these real relations with irrationalistic views, bringing them to interpenetration and complete fusion. The word becomes identical to the deed, the sign to the object, ideas receive a personified appearance. The emerging ideas and images were experienced and “lived” by man primarily as reality itself.

It can be assumed that the social consciousness of the primitive tribal formation did not know the opposition of the earthly to the unearthly. There were no characters or phenomena in it that stood outside this world, in the realm of transcendental entities. This consciousness did not allow the doubling of the world. The environment was perceived in its involvement with a person, without breaking up into what can be mastered and what cannot be mastered. In addition, vital needs did not allow a passive-contemplative attitude towards the world to settle, directing it into an active direction and strengthening it with the help of magic.

Thus, in the primitive era a special type of consciousness develops. There is no clear distinction between the real and the ideal, fantasy is inseparable from genuine events, the generalization of reality is expressed in sensory-concrete images and implies their direct interaction with a person, the collective prevails over the individual and almost completely replaces it. The reproduction of this type of mental activity should have led to the emergence of “constructions” that made it possible to convey the collective experience of ancient people in a form adequate to the primitive worldview. This form, which combines sensuality and emotionality with didacticism, and understandability and accessibility of assimilation with motivating-volitional motivation for action, becomes myth (from the Greek legend, legend).

In our time, this word and its derivatives (mythical, myth-making, mythologem, etc.) designate, sometimes unjustifiably, a wide class of phenomena: from individual fiction in some everyday situation to ideological concepts and political doctrines. But in some areas the concepts of “myth” and “mythology” are necessary. For example, in science, the concept of mythology denotes forms of social consciousness of the primitive era and areas of scientific knowledge related to myths and methods of studying them.

The phenomenon of myth first appears at the archaic stage of history. For a community-tribal collective, a myth is not only a story about some natural-human relationships, but also an undeniable reality. In this sense, myth and world are identical. It is quite appropriate, therefore, to define the awareness of the world in the primitive communal era as mythological consciousness.

Through myth, certain aspects of the interaction of people within the clan and their relationship to the environment were learned. However, the absence of the basic condition for the process of cognition - the distinction between the subject and the object of cognitive activity - calls into question the epistemological function of the archaic myth. Neither material production nor nature are perceived by mythological consciousness in this period as opposing man, and therefore are not an object of knowledge.

In an archaic myth, to explain means to describe in some images that evoke absolute confidence (the etiological meaning of the myth). This description does not require rational activity. A sensually concrete idea of ​​reality is sufficient, which by the mere fact of its existence is elevated to the status of reality itself. For mythological consciousness, ideas about the environment are identical to what they reflect. A myth is capable of explaining the origin, structure, properties of things or phenomena, but it does this outside the logic of cause-and-effect relationships, replacing them either with a story about the emergence of an object of interest at some “original” time through an “primary action,” or simply by referring to a precedent.

The unconditional truth of a myth for the “owner” of mythological consciousness eliminates the problem of separating knowledge and faith. In archaic myth, the generalizing image is always endowed with sensory properties and therefore is an integral part, obvious and reliable, of the reality perceived by man.

In their original state, animism, fetishism, totemism, magic and their various combinations reflect this general property of archaic mythological consciousness and are, in essence, its specific embodiments.

With the expansion of the range of human activity, more and more diverse natural and social material is drawn into its orbit, and it is society that becomes the main sphere of application of efforts. The institution of private property is emerging. Structurally complex formations arise (crafts, military affairs, systems of land use and cattle breeding), which can no longer be identified with any single basis (spirit, fetish, totem) within the boundaries of earthly existence.

At the level of mythological ideas, these processes also cause a series of evolutions. The ubiquitous animation of objects and phenomena is transformed into multifaceted generalizing images of certain areas of life. Being an extremely general expression of reality, these images are identical to it, that is, they themselves are reality, but in people’s perception they enter individualized, with specific features of appearance, character, and proper names. Personified characters are increasingly acquiring an anthropomorphic appearance and endowed with understandable human qualities. In developed mythologies, they turn into various deities that displace and replace spirits, totemic ancestors, and various fetishes.

This state is called polytheism (polytheism). Typically, the transition to polytheistic beliefs was accompanied by the collapse of tribal structures and the formation of early statehood.

Each deity was assigned a certain sphere of control in nature and society, a pantheon (collection of gods) and a hierarchy of gods were formed. Myths arise that explain the origin of the gods, their pedigree and relationships within the pantheon (theogony).

Polytheism involves a rather complex system of cult actions addressed to specific gods and the pantheon as a whole. This significantly increases the importance of the priesthood, which has professional knowledge of the ritual.

With the development of states, gods are increasingly assigned the role of the highest sanction of socio-political orders established by people. The organization of earthly power is reflected in the pantheon. What stands out, in particular, is the cult of the main, supreme god. The rest lose their former position until their functions and properties are transformed into the qualities of the only god. Monotheism (monotheism) arises.

It should be emphasized that the previous orientations of consciousness towards magical and miraculous ways of solving human problems both under polytheism and monotheism are preserved. Most beliefs and rituals still enter people's lives through the “mechanisms” of mythological consciousness. However, in general, the role of myths and their relative weight in the public consciousness is undergoing significant changes.

Social relations in society change, and the person himself changes. Mastering nature, he develops ways to satisfy his needs that do not need to be supplemented by a magical operation.

But the most fundamental change is that people begin to perceive the world around them differently. Little by little it loses its mystery and inaccessibility. Having mastered the world, a person treats it as an external force. To some extent, this became a confirmation of the growing capabilities, power and relative freedom of the human community from the natural elements.

However, having separated themselves from nature and made it the object of their activity, people have lost their former integrity of being. The feeling of unity with the entire universe is replaced by the awareness of oneself as something different from nature and opposed to it.

The gap does not only arise with nature. With a new type of social organization (neighborhood community, early class relations), the way of life that was cultivated from generation to generation and determined the content of primitive consciousness becomes a thing of the past. The connection with the family is severed. Life is individualized, a distinction arises between one’s own “I” among other human beings.

What was understood directly and “humanized” by archaic mythological consciousness turns out to be something external to people. It is becoming increasingly difficult to perceive myth literally as the true content of the life process. It is no coincidence that the allegorical tradition is emerging and strengthening - the interpretation of ancient myth as a shell convenient for transmitting knowledge about nature, ethical, philosophical and other ideas.

Mythology itself is moving into a new quality. It loses its universality and ceases to be the dominant form of social consciousness. There is a gradual differentiation of the “spiritual” sphere. Natural scientific knowledge is being accumulated and processed, a philosophical and artistic understanding of the world is developing, and political and legal institutions are being formed. At the same time, there is the formation of such an orientation in beliefs and cult, which delimits the areas of the worldly (natural and human) and the sacred. The idea of ​​a special, mystical connection between the earthly and unearthly, understood as the supernatural, that is, religion, is affirmed.

Primitive art geographically covers all continents except Antarctica, and in time - the entire era of human existence, preserved by some peoples living in remote corners of the planet to this day. The conversion of primitive people to a new type of activity for them - art - is one of the greatest events in the history of mankind. Primitive art reflected man’s first ideas about the world around him; thanks to it, knowledge and skills were preserved and passed on, and people communicated with each other. In the spiritual culture of the primitive world, art began to play the same universal role that a pointed stone played in labor activity.

Ancient people could come up with the idea of ​​depicting objects not in one, but in many ways.

Until recently, scientists adhered to two opposing views on the history of primitive art. Some experts considered cave naturalistic painting and sculpture to be the most ancient, while others considered schematic signs and geometric figures. Now most researchers express the opinion that both forms appeared at approximately the same time. For example, among the most ancient images on the walls of caves of the Paleolithic era are imprints of a person’s hand, and random interweaving of wavy lines pressed into damp clay by the fingers of the same hand.

Features of primitive art

Man's transition to a new way of life and a different relationship with the surrounding nature than before occurred simultaneously with the formation of a different perception of the world. Behind every concept there was an image, a living action. In ancient times, the role of art was even more important than it is now: in the absence of science, it contained almost the entire experience of understanding the world.

People of the ancient Stone Age did not know ornament. In images of animals and people made of bone, rhythmically repeating strokes or zigzags are sometimes visible, as if similar to an ornament. But, looking closely, you see that this is a symbol for wool, bird feathers or hair. Just as the image of an animal “continues” the rocky background, so these ornament-like motifs have not yet become independent, conventional figures separated from the thing, which can be applied to any surface.

The same connection with natural forms is found in tools and other products. The oldest of them were simply broken stones. Gradually, the tools began to take on forms that were only vaguely reminiscent of what can be seen in nature. Often people kept what nature created unchanged.

Thus, the predominant thing in the perception of nature was following it, attention to changing forms, specific phenomena, and not to the common features between them, not to constantly repeating features that we now call patterns. The world of settled farmers became different. It is characteristic that in their fine arts ornament begins to play a leading role. Rhythmically repeating figures cover the smooth walls of vessels and the walls of dwellings. It is likely that carpets and fabrics that have not survived to this day were also decorated with ornaments. Ornament appeared when people discovered stable features in the structure of the things they created.

Ornamental motifs often depicted images of people, animals, and birds in a conventional form. But many of them were geometric, and over time there are more and more such ornaments. Geometric shapes were given to both decorations and stamp seals, which were used to apply images to plastic materials (clay, dough). The figures of people sculpted from clay approached geometric shapes in their outlines. All this shows that they began to look at the world differently than before: after all, in nature there are not many objects and creatures that look like strict geometric figures.

In the ornaments, still distant signs of written signs began to appear: after all, it is known that the signs of the most ancient writings were pictorial. Their meaning is closely related to what they depicted

Paleolithic Art

The first works of primitive art were created about thirty thousand years ago, at the end of the Paleolithic era, or the ancient Stone Age.

The most ancient sculptural images today are the so-called “Paleolithic Venuses” - primitive female figurines. All of them have some common features: enlarged hips, stomach and breasts, absence of feet. Primitive sculptors were not even interested in facial features. Their task was not to reproduce a specific nature, but to create a certain generalized image of a woman-mother, a symbol of fertility and keeper of the hearth. Male images in the Paleolithic era are very rare. Almost all Paleolithic sculpture is made of stone or bone.

In the history of cave painting of the Paleolithic era, experts distinguish several periods. In ancient times (from about the 30th millennium BC), primitive artists filled the surface inside the outline of the drawing with black or red paint.

Later (from about the 18th to 15th millennia BC), primitive craftsmen began to pay more attention to details: they depicted wool with oblique parallel strokes, learned to use additional colors (various shades of yellow and red paint) to paint spots on the skins of bulls, horses and bison. The contour line also changed: it became brighter and darker, marking the light and shadow parts of the figure, folds of skin and thick hair (for example, the manes of horses, the massive scruff of bison), thus conveying volume. In some cases, ancient artists emphasized contours or the most expressive details with a carved line.

In 1868, in Spain, in the province of Santander, the Altamira cave was discovered, the entrance to which had previously been covered with a landslide.

An outstanding discovery was made completely by accident in September 1940. The Lascaux cave in France, which became even more famous than Altamira, was discovered by four boys who, while playing, climbed into a hole that opened under the roots of a tree that had fallen after a storm. Subsequently, the cave images lost their vividness and volume; stylization (generalization and schematization of objects) intensified. In the last period, realistic images are completely absent

Mesolithic art

During the Mesolithic era, or the Middle Stone Age (XII-VIII millennium BC), the climatic conditions on the planet changed. Some animals that were hunted have disappeared; they were replaced by others. Fishing began to develop. People created new types of tools, weapons (bows and arrows), and tamed the dog.

Previously, the focus of the ancient artist’s attention was on the animals he hunted, now on human figures depicted in rapid movement. If the Paleolithic cave paintings represented separate, unrelated figures, then in the Mesolithic rock paintings, multi-figure compositions and scenes began to predominate, which vividly reproduce various episodes from the life of hunters of that time. In addition to various shades of red paint, black and occasionally white were used, and egg white, blood and, possibly, honey served as a persistent binder.

Central to the rock art were hunting scenes, in which hunters and animals are linked by energetically unfolding action.

Large paintings were replaced by small ones. Human figures are very conventional; they are rather symbols that serve to depict crowd scenes.

Neolithic art

The melting of glaciers in the Neolithic, or New Stone Age (5000-3000 BC), set in motion peoples who began to populate new spaces. The intertribal struggle for possession of the most favorable hunting grounds and for the seizure of new lands intensified. In the Neolithic era, man was threatened by the worst of dangers - another man! Cave painting in the Neolithic era became more and more schematic and conventional: the images only slightly resembled a person or animal.

Rock art existed in all parts of the world, but nowhere was it as widespread as in Africa.

In the III-II millennia BC. e. structures appeared from huge blocks of stone - megaliths (from the Greek “megas” - “big” and “lithos” - “stone”). Megalithic structures include menhirs - vertically standing stones more than two meters high; dolmens - several stones dug into the ground, covered with a stone slab; cromlechs are complex buildings in the form of circular fences with a diameter of up to one hundred meters made of huge stone blocks.

The most famous of them is the cromlech of Stonehenge (2nd millennium BC), near the city of Salisbury in England.

In addition to schematism, they are distinguished by careless execution. Along with stylized drawings of people and animals, there are various geometric shapes (circles, rectangles, rhombuses and spirals, etc.), images of weapons (axes and daggers) and vehicles (boats and ships). Reproduction of wildlife fades into the background. Having learned to create images (sculptural, graphic, painting), man acquired some power over time.

Art(from church glory. art(lat. experimentum- experience, trial); Art. - glory iskous - experience, less often torture, torture) - figurative understanding of reality; the process or result of expressing the inner or outer world of the creator in an (artistic) image; creativity directed in such a way that it reflects interests not only of the author himself, but also of other people.
Art (along with science) is one of the ways of cognition, both in the natural sciences and in the religious picture of perception of the world.

The concept of art is extremely broad - it can manifest itself as extremely developed skill in a particular area. For a long time, art was considered a type of cultural activity that satisfies a person’s love for beauty. Along with the evolution of social aesthetic norms and assessments, any activity aimed at creating aesthetically expressive forms has acquired the right to be called art.

On the scale of the entire society, art is a special way of knowing and reflecting reality, one of the forms of artistic activity of public consciousness and part of the spiritual culture of both an individual and all of humanity, a diverse result of the creative activity of all generations.

The term art can be used in different senses: the process of using talent, the work of a gifted master, the consumption of works of art by an audience, and the study of art (art criticism). “Fine arts” is a set of disciplines (arts) that produce works of art(objects) created by gifted craftsmen (art as an activity) and evoking a response, mood, conveying symbolism and other information to the public (art as consumption). Works of art are deliberate, talented interpretations of an unlimited variety of concepts and ideas with the goal of communicating them to others. They may be created specifically for a specified purpose or represented by images and objects. Art stimulates thoughts, feelings, ideas and ideas through sensations. It expresses ideas, takes many different forms, and serves many different purposes.

Story

Currently, the world cultural tradition uses concepts of art that originate in Mediterranean antiquity, especially in the Greco-Roman understanding of this term.

Appearance

In primitive society primitive visual arts originates with the species Homo sapiens as a method of human activity to solve practical problems. Having emerged in the Middle Paleolithic era, primitive art reached its peak in the Upper Paleolithic, about 40 thousand years ago, and could have been a social product of society, embodying a new stage in the development of reality. The oldest works of art, such as a shell necklace found in South Africa, date back to the 75th millennium BC. e. and more. In the Stone Age, art was represented by primitive rituals, music, dances, all kinds of body decorations, geoglyphs - images on the ground, dendrographs - images on the bark of trees, images on animal skins, cave paintings, rock paintings, petroglyphs and sculpture.

The emergence of art is associated with games, rituals and ceremonies, including those based on mythological and magical ideas.

Primitive art was syncretic. According to some authors, it originates in pre-speech skills and techniques for transmitting, perceiving and storing linguistic information in memory. The communicative utilitarianism of primitive creativity, along with the development of the aesthetic aspect, is clearly observed in the pre-printing folklore period of cultures of all peoples. There are also theories about art as a biological function (artistic instinct).

Arts in the ancient world

The foundations of art in the modern sense of the word were laid by ancient civilizations: Egyptian, Babylonian, Persian, Indian, Chinese, Greek, Roman, as well as Arabian (ancient Yemen and Oman) and others. Each of the mentioned centers of early civilizations created its own unique style in art, which survived centuries and exerted its influence on later cultures. They also left the first descriptions of the artists’ work. For example, ancient Greek masters in many ways surpassed others in depicting the human body and were able to show muscles, posture, correct proportions and the beauty of nature.

Arts in the Middle Ages

Byzantine art and the Gothic art of the Western Middle Ages focused on spiritual truths and biblical subjects. They emphasized the invisible sublime grandeur of the heavenly world, using golden backgrounds in painting and mosaics, and representing human figures in flat, idealized forms.

In the east, in Islamic countries, it was widely believed that the image of a person borders on the prohibited creation of idols, as a result of which fine art was mainly limited to architecture, ornament, sculpture, calligraphy, jewelry and other types of decorative and applied arts (see Islamic art). In India and Tibet, art centered on religious dance and sculpture, which was imitated by painting, which tended toward bright, contrasting colors and clear outlines. A highly diverse range of arts flourished in China: stone carving, bronze sculpture, ceramics (including the famous Terracotta Army of the Qin Emperor), poetry, calligraphy, music, painting, drama, fantasy, etc. The style of Chinese art varied from era to era. era and is traditionally named after the ruling dynasty. For example, the painting of the Tang era, refined and monochrome, depicts an idealized landscape, and in the Ming era thick, rich colors and genre compositions were in fashion. Japanese art styles also bear the names of local imperial dynasties, and there is significant interconnection and interaction in their painting and calligraphy. Since the 17th century, wood engraving has also spread here.

From the Renaissance to the present

The Western Renaissance returned to the values ​​of the material world and humanism, which was again accompanied by a change in the paradigm of fine art, in the space of which perspective appeared, and human figures regained their lost physicality. During the Enlightenment, artists sought to reflect the physical and rational certainty of the Universe, which appeared to be a complex and perfect clockwork mechanism, as well as the revolutionary ideas of their time. Thus, William Blake painted a portrait of Newton as a divine geometer, and Jacques-Louis David put his talent to the service of political propaganda. Artists of the Romantic era gravitated toward the emotional side of life and human individuality, inspired by Goethe's poems. By the end of the 19th century, a number of artistic styles appeared, such as academicism, symbolism, impressionism, and fauvism.

However, their century was short-lived, and the end of previous directions was brought closer not only by new discoveries of relativity by Einstein and Freud's subconscious, but also by the unprecedented development of technology, spurred by the nightmare of two world wars. The history of art of the 20th century is full of searches for new artistic possibilities and new standards of beauty, each of which came into conflict with the previous ones. The norms of impressionism, fauvism, expressionism, cubism, dadaism, surrealism, etc. did not survive their creators. Growing globalization has led to the interpenetration and mutual influence of cultures. Thus, the work of Matisse and Pablo Picasso was greatly influenced by African art, and Japanese prints (themselves appeared under the influence of the Western Renaissance) served as a source of inspiration for the Impressionists. The ideas of communism and postmodernism, which were Western in origin, also had a colossal influence on art.

Modernism with its idealistic search for truth in the second half of the 20th century. paved the way for the realization of his own unattainability. Relativity was accepted as an immutable truth, which marked the advent of the period of modern art and postmodern criticism. World culture and history also became relative and transitory categories, which began to be treated with irony, and the blurring of the boundaries of regional cultures led to their understanding as parts of a single global culture.

Classification

The arts can be classified according to different criteria. The subject of fine art is external reality, while non-fine art embodies the inner world. Based on the type of expression and perception, non-visual arts are divided into musical, dance and literary, and mixed types are also possible. Genre differentiation is inherent in different types of art.

According to the dynamics of art, art can be divided into spatial and temporal. Based on their utility, the arts are divided into applied and fine (pure).

Based on materials, art can be divided into types that use

  • traditional and modern materials (paints, canvas, clay, wood, metal, granite, marble, plaster, chemical materials, mass-produced products, etc.)
  • modern methods of storing information (modern electrical engineering, digital computers)

Media art: computer art, digital painting, net art, etc.

  • sound (audible air vibrations)

Music: classical, academic, electronic (see musical genres and styles)

  • word (unit of language)

calligraphy, songs, literature (prose, poetry)

  • human intermediary (performer: actor, singer, clown, etc.)

Any type of activity can be conditionally called art if the performer puts his feelings into a new, original and meaningful form. So, for example, ikebana, martial arts, computer games, etc. can be classified as art based on the aesthetic perception of the elements of this activity associated with graphics, sound, movement and on the basis of the degree of skill in execution.

The manifestation of entrepreneurial talent is manifested in the art of building a business system. Creating a new business cannot be reduced to a predetermined sequence of actions and has long been recognized as a special art form in the socio-economic environment.

Sometimes instead of the term art use a synonym for foreign origin art: pixel art, ORFO art, art therapy, body art (one of the types of avant-garde art), video art, sound art, net art.

fine arts

Fine art is characterized by works whose aesthetic value and imagery are perceived purely visually. Works of fine art can be non-objective and even intangible (screen saver, book typeface), but, regardless of materiality and objectivity, typical works of fine art have the features of an object (limitedness in space, stability in time). The ability to generate objects is the most important property of fine art, associated with its origin, which determined its history and determines its development. Fine art either creates independent objects that have no utilitarian value (sculpture, painting, graphics, photography), or aesthetically organizes utilitarian objects and information arrays (decorative and applied arts, design). Fine art actively influences the perception of the object environment and virtual reality.

Types of fine arts:

  • Architecture
  • Painting
  • Graphics
  • Sculpture
  • Arts and crafts
  • Theatrical and decorative arts
  • Design

Architecture

Architecture is the art of constructing buildings and structures for the life and activities of people. The word “architecture” comes from the Greek “Arhus” - main, highest; "Tectonico" - construction. Requires three-dimensional space.. It also has internal space - the interior.

Painting

Painting is a type of fine art whose works are created using paints (tempera, oil paints, acrylic, gouache, ...).

Graphics

Graphics is a type of fine art that includes drawing and printed images. “Grapho” - I write, draw, draw. Drawings are made in pencil, ink, sepia, sanguine... Printed images - engravings, lithographs, woodcuts, monotypes. Graphics are divided into easel, book and applied. Watercolor, gouache and pastel stand on the verge of painting and graphics. The first works of graphics were rock paintings of primitive art. In Ancient Greece, graphic art was at the highest level - vase painting.

Sculpture

The term comes from the Latin “sculpere” - to cut, carve. Unlike painting and graphics, sculpture has volume. A sculpture is a three-dimensional image. Materials: bone, stone, wood, clay, metal, wax... Sculpture is one of the most ancient forms of art. The first sculptural works were idols, amulets, and depicted ancient gods. A distinction is made between round sculpture (viewed from different sides) and relief (high, medium, low, counter-relief). Sculpture is divided into types: easel and monumental (monuments, monuments) and monumental-decorative (architectural decoration).

Decorative and applied arts (DAI)

In every home, various objects live and serve us. And if they are touched by the hand of an artist, jeweler or folk craftsman, then they become a work of decorative and applied art. The term appeared in the 18th century. from the French word "decor" - decoration everywhere. Applied means something to which skill or art is applied.

Design

Starting from the primitive period, one can trace the development of this type of art.

Theatrical and decorative art

This type of art includes the creation of scenery, props, costumes, and makeup.

GENRES

The term " genre" comes from French - species, genus. The first independent genres appeared in the Netherlands in the 16th century. Historical Mythological, religious Battle Portrait Landscape Still Life Household Marina Animalistic Interior

Historical genre– these are works of art that reflect real historical characters or events.

Mythological genre- These are works of art that reflect mythological subjects.

Battle genre are works of art that reflect military episodes. An artist who writes on battle themes is called a battle painter.

Portrait is the image of a person in sculpture, painting and graphics. Portraits painted by artists bring to us images of people of past eras.

Scenery- a picture in which nature has become its main content. The term “landscape” (paysage) comes from the French language, which means “nature”. Landscape as an independent genre originated in Holland. Landscape painting is varied. There are landscapes that accurately convey certain corners of nature, while others subtly convey the state. There are also fantastic landscapes.

The term " still life" comes from a French word literally meaning "dead nature". These are paintings whose heroes are various household items, fruits, flowers or food (fish, game, and so on). Still lifes tell us not only about things, but also about their owners, about their life, way of life and habits.

The everyday genre is paintings that reflect episodes from people’s everyday lives.

Marina are works of art that depict the sea. An artist who paints the sea is called a marine painter.

Animalistic genre- These are works of art that depict animals.

Interior- image of the interior decoration of an architectural structure.

Art style

The concept of “style” is a uniqueness that allows you to immediately determine in what historical era the work was created. An artistic (high) style is a direction that includes all types of art. For example, Baroque is a high style, and Rococo is a direction. The great or high styles include the classics of antiquity, the Romanesque style and Gothic in the Middle Ages, the Renaissance style, which marked the transition period from the Middle Ages to the Modern Age, Baroque and Classicism in the Modern Age. The last major style at the turn of the 19th – 20th centuries. became Art Nouveau, in which an attempt was made to revive the unity of architecture, decorative and fine arts. The combination of several types of art in one work is called a synthesis of arts. In other words, an artistic style reaches its highest level when it includes all types of art. Having developed in a certain historical era, high styles were continuously transformed and revived at the next stage in a new quality. For example, classicism of the 17th century. in France, it took its basis from ancient classics, while it is very different from neoclassicism of the second half of the 18th century. and, of course, from neoclassicism as one of the eclecticism trends of the second half of the 19th – early 20th centuries.

Homework:

Prepare examples for each type and genre of fine art.

Prehistoric society is the period in the development of human society before the advent of writing. Since the ability to write appeared among different peoples at different times, it is impossible to apply the concept “prehistoric” to some cultures due to the mismatch of time boundaries. Therefore, the social unit of that era is archaeological culture.

Periods of development of human society

The first stage of the emergence of primitive culture and art is attributed to the Paleolithic. Late characteristic stages are dated to the Stone and Bronze Ages. In the Paleolithic, the art of primitive man was expressed through music, dances and songs, which were more of a ritual nature, images of animals on bark, stones, skins, and the creation of jewelry in the form of beads from natural materials. Unfortunately, small fragments have survived to this day.

The purpose of the art of that period is to preserve and transmit to descendants the accumulated experience, skills and knowledge at the level of social society. The dance is a reflection of the honing of fighting techniques, familiarization with animal leashes, and a demonstration of the daily concerns of the community. Music emphasizes the rhythms of the labor processes of community members; such accompaniment of collective activities was of no small importance in uniting the tribe around its leaders. In the development of primitive art, several important stages can be noted:

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  • Late Paleolithic;
  • Mesolithic;
  • Neolithic.

The first stages of the emergence of art

Due to the fact that primitive society developed unevenly, and in some corners the remnants of wild tribes still live, scientists argue about the criteria for dividing primitive art into certain periods. The strip dividing the first and second stages of cultural development of primitive society is so symbolic that modern scientists come to a consensus about the technical division of time periods. The most significant guidelines in this case are considered to be the development of methods for making tools. The beginning of the emergence of art among primitive people is usually called the Stone Age period 40-20 thousand years ago. The main part of the finds demonstrates schematic images of animals; the sculpture is distinguished by primitivism and minimalism.

In each interval, archaeologists find the same variety of images - from primitive to highly artistic. Some changes can be observed in the technique of execution. Gradually, primitive artists begin to pre-carve the contours of the future drawing, and in the process of creating a picture they use a more expanded color gamut. The dynamics of development can be highlighted in sculptural images - animal figures are made from bone and all the details are carefully worked out.

The stage of the emergence of civilization

Thanks to carefully carried out excavations over many years, it can be noted that the third stage of the development of primitive art stands out most against the general background. During this stage, primitive society learned to make ceramics, which scientists call the most important part of the art of that time. The development of pottery art is distinguished as a separate layer; it is characterized by the production of vessels of various shapes, sizes, with decorative patterns and details.

Fine art in the third stage acquired new parameters, becoming more abstract:

  • symbols;
  • ornaments and more.

There are fewer and fewer cave paintings, and emerging cults begin to occupy human thinking, forcing people to believe in the existence of the supernatural. From generation to generation, artists of that period passed on their gradually accumulated experience in creating stone sculptures and bone miniatures, which became more elegant and subtle.

Features of primitive art

Art is an exceptional phenomenon in the life of human society, which is based on fairly broad functions. Primitive art had the character of a certain individuality, thanks to which it was designated a separate area. Despite the fact that some consider primitive art primitive, it helped people of that period solve a number of problems and has preserved to this day a real reflection of the perception of the surrounding world of primitive man.

Conclusion

It should be noted that the art of those times carried the function of transmitting information from old people to young people, thus preserving the experience of ancestors accumulated over centuries. Therefore, we can confidently say that primitive art contributed to the development of society, preserving and transmitting accumulated knowledge as a full-fledged art. But this transaction took place in a unique way, which was well understood by the people of that period, but little accessible to modern scientists.