A Brief Art History Primer
When discussing art history, there are some fundamental ideas and guidelines that are important to know in order to understand its purpose. The first of these is a question that is often posed at the beginning of art history textbooks. What is art? Once you understand why this question is important to ask, you will be able to think about and understand art history.
Here are two questions that can get you started on the path to better understanding art history:
What is art?
Take a second and contemplate that question. How would you define art? Is it easy to define, or do you find yourself struggling to come up with a specific definition? I can reassure you that even my definition of art is flexible and continually changing. However, some definitions that have been given in answer to the question "what is art" define it as an "objectification of feeling" (Suzanne K. Langer), or a "culturally significant meaning, skillfully encoded in an affecting, sensuous medium" (Richard L. Anderson). These answers are more academic and try to capture how complex and difficult it is to define what art is. On the other hand, there are people like Donald Judd who answered this question by saying "if someone calls it art, it's art", and my favorite response is Andy Warhol's who said when asked what is art, "isn't it a man's name?" These responses, although lighthearted, even better support the idea that maybe the best way to answer that question is by leaving the real answer undefined.
The real reason why it is so difficult to answer the question "what is art" is because as time progressed the motivations for creating art changed, which in turn made for widely different artistic movements. Art began in pre-historic times as a functional medium like the Hall of the Bulls in the cave at Lascaux [figure 1]. Even cave paintings are lumped into this idea of functional art because they served as a navigational tool as well as a chronicle of hunting history and, possibly, a religious space. As civilizations continued to grow they also continued to make art and this art evolved its purpose. Once we encounter ancient art we see it become a symbol of status and remained a way to record history. For example, the statues of the pharaohs of Egypt and the Great Pyramids [figures 2 and 3]. Then, once the Italian Renaissance began the world of art shifted once again as artists began to explore symbolism and had the freedom to create while earning an income. Artists like Leonardo da Vinci developed mathematical and scientific approaches to art, like the use of perspective which made it possible for artists to create three-dimensional space in their paintings and frescoes.
[figure 1] Hall of Bulls, c. 15,000 - 13,000 BCE, Ochre paint on limestone, Lascaux Caves, Dordogne, France
[figure 2] Khafra, c. 2500 BCE, Diorite, 136.4m, Giza
[figure 3] Hemiunu, The Great Pyramids of Menkaure, Khafra, and Khufu, c. 2533-2515, 2570-2544, and 2601-2528 BCE, limestone and granite, Giza Necropolis, Egypt
From the turn towards commissioned art during the Renaissance, being an artist became a career, and those with the talent to pursue it made their mark on the history of art. The next large change in the purpose of art seems to fall around the 1890s with the beginning of Impressionism. Monet's Impression, Sunrise created a new movement that was about how the artist portrayed their impression of the world to help the viewer grasp how it feels instead of depicting a realistic subject to explain the world to the viewer [figure 4]. This switch to emotional expression creates a shift in how the artists defined their work as well. More contemporary artists, like Jackson Pollock, took an emotion or their mental state and allowed that to influence the work. This resulted in art that only truly makes sense to the artist, like One: Number 31, 1950 which, among other works by Pollock continues to make people wonder why Pollock became famous when they could do this exact same thing - which is a discussion for another day [figure 5].
[figure 4] Claude Monet, Impression, Sunrise, 1872, oil on canvas, 53 x 46cm, Musée Marmottan Monet
[figure 5] Jackson Pollock, One: Number 31, 1950, 1950, oil and enamel paint on canvas, 269.5 x 530.8cm, Museum of Modern Art
Another facet of art as it continued to evolve is its cultural implications. In our current world, an important part of answering the question "what is art" is centered in understand the cultural, and political, situation of the world. Contemporary art focuses on creating works that can serve as a commentary on the state of the world, which is always been an underlying theme within art but is now the central purpose.
Long story short, it seems like art has never been definable as one thing. It changed as it grew in the past and it will continue to change as time moves forward. The important thing to understand is that art will always be art, and maybe we can define it as undefinable.
Why do we study art history?
This is probably best answered with another question; why does art history exist? We've already been through a brief overview of how art history developed, but it exists because people wanted to answer the question "why?" We ask why an artist chose the colors, setting, and symbolism they did. We try to find why an artist gathered specific perspectives, or maybe multiple perspectives before creating a work of art. We study art history because there are so many "whys" and not enough answers.
If you would like a more concrete answer as to why we study art history, it is the same reason we study "regular" history, to learn from the past and understand how it impacts our future. However, with art history, we have tangible examples of culture and conflict within history. Through art, scientific findings have been preserved, battles have been documented, and changing mindsets recorded. The underlying usefulness of art is that it records what happens in the world, whether the artists intend to do so or not. One clear example of this is, once again, Impressionism because it came about during a time period where the world was going through industrial revolutions. The way the people perceived their reality was completely changing, and in response to that, the Impressionists chose to return to nature, reminding people that although change is good, we must also remember where we come from. They did this by capturing their impressions of nature and showing them to others, as we saw in Monet's Impression, Sunrise [figure 4]. We can read Impressionism the same way today because it still applies to our situation, and even more so now. Sometimes we really should take a break and reconnect with nature and maybe form some impressions for ourselves.
[figure 6] Andy Warhol, Details of Renaissance Paintings (Sandro Botticelli, Birth of Venus, 1485), 1964, portfolio of four screenprints on Arches Aquarelle (cold pressed) paper, individual images; 81.3 x 111.8, location unknown.
Another reason to study art is that it can teach us things about history, ourselves, and the world that we never expected to encounter or learn. My favorite part of art history is uncovering the untold stories that hide beneath layers of other important historical moments and works of art. Andy Warhol's Exploration of the Italian Renaissance is a great example of this because when we really consider what was going through Warhol's head when he decided to pick out pieces from the Renaissance and make them his own [figure 6]. By taking a deeper look at works of art we can learn so much more about how the artist approaches their progression and we can begin to understand how this falls into the larger scheme of things.
If you really commit to studying art, you also learn a lot about yourself. Within the realm of art history, you learn what art you like and what art you dislike - and yes it is ok to dislike art. It can also be interesting to see how different the art you like can be, and track how your interests change over time. My personal example is that I am a huge fan of the Italian Renaissance but I also find Contemporary art, especially Abstract Expressionism, particularly interesting. These two movements are significantly different, but the fact that I like both helps me better understand where art came from and why it is so confusing and interesting in our current moment. In creating these distinctions for yourself art often becomes a more integrated part of your life and, in my opinion, that is very important.
The last reason I would give for the importance of studying art is that it’s entertaining. There are some crazy works of art out there and some crazier artists. The stories that come from art can be amazing, funny, heartbreaking, and motivational. If nothing else can convince you to learn a little bit more about art, hopefully, the idea that you can relate to some part of art history will let you give art history a chance.
~
I hope this article was helpful! This is meant to serve as a bit of a guide for those readers who do not have as much experience with art history. This blog isn't only intended for people who know and like art, it seeks to make art accessible to anyone. That being said, feel free to use the contact button and ask questions or share what you think art is!
“A Brief Art History Primer” was written using Sylvan Barnet's A Short Guide to Writing About Art and Janson's History of Art, Eighth Edition for reference.
