The Evolution of Art Throughout the History of Mankind

Art has been in existence for many years and it has also evolved a great deal. The history of art is massive; the earliest cave paintings were documented almost 27,000 years ago. The art history can therefore be subdivided into different categories that depict periods where art underwent huge changes basing on the artists who participated at the time, the character traits and the major events that took place at these times. This paper therefore provides a detailed analysis into different art historical evolution putting into consideration major artistic periods until today.

The Stone Age earliest art period to be documented, it contains some of the famous artistic works to be presented in the history of art as some of its carvings and megalithic structures are still visible. The Stone Age period includes some common art eras in history including the Paleolithic art which is believed to have been in place between c.2, 500,000 and 10,000 BCE. Some of it curve paintings were found in the Auditorium cave in central India.

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Another oldest art structures in history is the Venus of Berekhat Ram that was discovered on the Golan Heights and the Venus of Tan-Tan that were discovered in Morocco (Dickerson, 2013, p. 34).

Until very recently paleoarcheologists and renowned art historians considered that neither homo errectus nor any of the early sub species of Homo sapiens were capable of coming up with any paintings or artwork in general. They considered that the earliest paintings and parietal art was created by anatomical modern man after 40,000 BCE.

This view is now changing due to various analyses being done especially from the Berekaht Ram illustrating that it was shaped by a human hand. Another assertion has been made from the conclusive dating of the cupules at Bhimbetka which is being considered currently as the oldest art.

The major works that were exhibited during the Stone Age period included Lascaux Cave paintings, Stonehenge and the woman of willendorf. Some other arts during the stone age included Mesolithic art which was created by the Meolithic hunters and gatherers some of the art work done during this period include the hand stencils, petroglyphs and cave paintings. Neolithic art was also exhibited through this period. It was mainly influenced by the development of the agriculture sector and animal husbandry. During this time the art work exhibited employed the use of copper and designed using new tools. The greatest example of the Neolithic art to have been found is the Thinker of Cernavoda which was found in Romania (Dickerson, 2013, p. 39).

The Bronze Age was influenced by the start of civilization which influenced the growth of cities at the time. During this time, people started using written language and further development of greater tools to be used in artistic works. The art began serving as representative of various communities as they used art to glorify their culture and religion. The two major art groups that were exhibited through this time were the Egyptian art and the Minoan art. The Egyptian art was a versatile type of art as it focused more on afterlife through its numerous pyramids and tomb painting.

Ancient Egypt is the most famous for its unique structure and setup where the artist provided different dimension of art to have ever existed. It is also recognized as the first civilization with a recognizable style of art. The Egyptian art took place from 3100 BCE. The major art works that took place during this period include Imhotep, Step Pyramid, Great pyramids and the Bust of Nefert which were more recognizable. Another art work to have existed within the Bronze Age is the Minoan art at around c.1600 BCE. It was the first strand of Aegean art and it was named after King Minos. Their artwork included precious metals including bronze.

The Minoan culture was specifically known for its art and culture. The most common art works during the Minoan art were fresco paintings and seal stones (Dickerson, 2013, p. 72). The Iron Age was a period when there was there was huge growth in artistic skills especially in Greece and the eastern Mediterranean region. This period coincided with the Hellenic period. Different period's evolved around this age including the Mycenaean art which were basically Greek arts which portrayed their culture in artistic form. This art included ceramics, carved gemstones, jewelry, glass ornaments and also tomb and palace e murals.

Celtic art was also a different period within the Iron Age. The Celts included the Indo-European group of tribes that had essentially established themselves in controlling the trade routes along various rivers. Their art designs were hugely influenced by the Mediterranean culture of the Greek and Etruscan civilizations. Other periods that were heavily and monumental in the field of art were the Classical Greek art, Hellenistic art, and the art of the ancient Rome (Gardner and Kleiner, 2013, p. 53). During the early 1900s Fauvism, cubism and futurism arts were common.

The most common type of arts that were exhibited at the time was mainly with use of harsh colors, flat surface as they embraced changes to express the modern world. Abstract expressionism and pop arts have been the most recent type of arts before the post modernism art. These types of art were known during the post-world war II as they were used to express the events in painting (Gardner and Kleiner, 2013, p. 80). Post modernism art is the latest art in the modern world. This art period involves creating a mixture of appealing art structures by generally reworking and mixing the past styles and it is bets considered as the art without a center.