Art Periods/History
polycounter lvl 12
Recently I was getting some critic on my work when a friend mentioned how similar it was to Rococo. My response was "what's that?". This made me realise I have very little knowledge of art periods and history. I'm typically one to shun away education, but it made me realised how valuable knowing the different periods of art history could be. Not just to help communicate but to start thinking about mixing periods together to create dramatic art styles.
So anyway I started using this website as reference http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Art_periods but was wondering if anyone had any book recommendations? It would be great to flick through lots of pictures and small bits of reading while slugging on the sofa watching horrible TV.
If not a book, has anyone found an awesome website that everyone needs to checkout. Please share as I'm very much coming up empty
Thanks
So anyway I started using this website as reference http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Art_periods but was wondering if anyone had any book recommendations? It would be great to flick through lots of pictures and small bits of reading while slugging on the sofa watching horrible TV.
If not a book, has anyone found an awesome website that everyone needs to checkout. Please share as I'm very much coming up empty
Thanks
Replies
At any case, it seems to me to be a genuine problem now that we're forgetting things. There are things, especially in art, that have already been solved and figured out, books have been written, and yet we make those mistakes today.
http://www.artrenewal.org/
I would also suggest finding pics to go along with all that btw just from google, Just every period as you read it google some images. in my art history 1 class I finished just a month ago I can not remember a single word the teacher said to me (it was a 9 AM class too so theres that) but I remember the pictures and can see the different periods in my head a little bit.
Um...What???
Please don't do this, you'd be missing out on some of the greatest painters, art eras and most fascinating paintings, techniques, etc.
I've got a bunch of Art books but they all sort of revolve around either one period or one artist in particular. I know there are some anthologies chronicling the whole history of art which could serve as a good introduction.
Books revolving around one artist can be good too as they will usually have a long introduction revolving around other painters who may have served as an influence and this can sort of give you a good overview of a specific era or lead you down a long rabbit hole of buying a lot of books on various artists. You could try finding a few artists from each period you really like and then get a book on each one, which should give you a good overview.
I also visit this site often: http://www.wikipaintings.org/
There's a lot not there though.
If you really want to learn about it, the best way would be to go to an Art Museum and start taking down names of artists you like, researching when they lived, etc. That's also probably the most enjoyable as it will open you up to a lot of artists that are hard to come by.
Eh, not only talking about paintings here dude. I wouldnt say you are even close to being right about painting EITHER, but theres also architechture, you know...
Studying the history and styles of architechture throughout history (atleast from roman times until today) is great not only for your sense of understanding architechture etc, but also great inspiration.
http://www.tendreams.org/symbolism-art.htm
The wiki doesnt really describe it that well. It's cool cause it creates a really empty mood when you look at art in that period.
This was the textbook for basically all my art history classes, if you want something that covers all the eras and hist most of the major paintings/artists from each movement its the best.
Its huge , but written well
Defiantly, this is exactly what I hope to get out of understanding history a lot more. As an environment artist its a very powerful thing to have the scope and knowledge to ground and theme yourself within minutes simply by having the knowledge of art history/eras.
An example would be saying this room is going to be Rococo Science Fiction or how about we make this building Neoclassical Futurism. Straight away simply by saying a few words you already have a fairly bold vision.
Environments such as the ones in Bioshock are fantastic but if you break it down from a direction stand point its simply a mixture of eras and styles. It becomes new when they are put together and evolved.
Just look at Baroque and Rococo, they are both similar and evolved one after the other, yet different enough to be new for there time.
For sort of an overview of architecture, I got these a long time ago to begin studying the subject, and they've sort of stayed with me ever since.
There are better books out there regarding specific periods but these are great for an introduction to all the various styles.
This one is a small book (lots of info though!) you can carry around with you:[ame="http://www.amazon.com/How-Read-Buildings-Course-Architectural/dp/0847831124/ref=pd_sim_b_27"] http://www.amazon.com/How-Read-Buildings-Course-Architectural/dp/0847831124/ref=pd_sim_b_27[/ame]
No pretty pictures of different buildings but filled with little diagrams of architectural features. It goes through each style and picks out the defining features, shows various drawings of those features and concisely explains what is inherent in each 'type' of building.
It's a fantastic starting place for you to be able to instinctively understand and deconstruct a style of a building and why it is made that way.
The next two are more overviews of the various styles with real life examples, pretty pictures, etc.
[ame="http://www.amazon.com/Story-Architecture-Jonathan-Glancey/dp/0789493349/ref=pd_sim_b_13"]http://www.amazon.com/Story-Architecture-Jonathan-Glancey/dp/0789493349/ref=pd_sim_b_13[/ame]
http://www.amazon.com/World-History-Architecture-Michael-Fazio/dp/0071544798/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1340875724&sr=8-6&keywords=architecture
These are, again, meant to be introductions and cover large spans of time.
Also, this book is huge but awesome: [ame="http://www.amazon.com/ISLAM-LCT-Architecture-Markus-Hattstein/dp/3833135344/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1340876256&sr=1-2&keywords=islam+art+and+architecture"]http://www.amazon.com/ISLAM-LCT-Architecture-Markus-Hattstein/dp/3833135344/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1340876256&sr=1-2&keywords=islam+art+and+architecture[/ame]
You know, it's is situations like these that I regret not having a Art degree, some say it's a waste of time, others say it's a must to know the background of art per-se, I say knowledge is the most important thing we can have after creativity, it doesn't matter where it comes from.
Anywhooooo, great links posted here, deffo will be bookmarking this thread as well.
Even though there's tons of "Jesus-paintings", there are different approaches how artists portray their subject. From lighting, stylization, setting, poses. Actually it's quite interesting in how many ways the same thing can be presented. As for subject matter - sure, it's essentially the same. But just going by that isn't a good guide when trying to learn more about art history, because for long times the subject stays the same while technique and the approach to the subject matter will change drastically (e.g. notice how Velasquez treats his royal subjects vs. earlier painters).
You will see even better how art progresses (and sometimes makes a step back) when you look at how exactly the same subject is treated differently in different periods.
I'm in the same boat. I'm sure there are good art history videos on youtube. Would anyone recommend a specific channel?
For architecture, I've got Understanding Architecture. Its elements, history, and meaning by Leland M. Roth. It's a great book in that it explains the necessities and techniques, and goes on with a chronological analysis, always linking the aesthetics and functions to the zeitgeist. Despite it being about architecture, it's not a bad start for art history alltogether, in my opinion.
As far as art in general goes, I have A World History of Art by Hugh Honour and John Fleming. It spans art from cave paintings to a Second Life documentary, with all kinds of cultures in between. The drawback is that it's a gargantuan and expensive book of nearly 1000 A4 pages. Still, I like how it clearly presents the virtues of every style. I don't like modern art, but now I can at least understand what it's trying to do.
Neither, mind, are really lots of pictures with little text in between. The text portion is dominant in both. But there's a difference between knowing what historical art looks like and understanding it, and pictures can only get you to the former.
Also, don't listen to DeadlyFreeze. Have a look at this in-depth analysis of a painting by Jan van Eyck. A portrait of the donator praying to the Virgin is one of the most common medieval themes, but it turns out that Van Eyck expresses an entire view on life and references several theologians in the painting's subtleties.
(More features can be found on the Louvre website -> Learning about art -> A closer look. The Winged victory and Bertin are really good ones too)
As an aside the content of a painting isn't necessarily the value, especially for inspiration. Getting overly caught up in what a painting is trying to 'say' is probably the biggest problem with art today; a great work of visual art should be able to stand on its own and be experienced without the need of commentary. If it can't do that then it's novelty work that won't stand the test of time. Artists of the past understood that well, you see it in the great compositions, lighting, beauty, subtlety, detail, wonder and awe (religious work has value beyond the religious message; there is the 'experience'), and it's why you shouldn't ignore their work.
edit: also for art history topics you may be able to find things on academicearth or other free university sites, I found this on Roman architecture http://www.academicearth.org/courses/roman-architecture
No offense dude but this must be one of the most ignorant post I ever read on polycount.
You make a great point, I think no matter what discipline you are, be that environment or character. There is a wealth of knowledge out there and inspiration from the past. I would rather see more character designs from history over another man in camo with pouch problems.
still better then donatellos milkface
Ummm.. you do realise the iconographic references from the works of David (Napoleon's Court Painter) helped forge the idealism that lead to the french revolution.
The political and social shifts were presented MUCH differently than how Picasso, or Duchamp would have done it, but they were there.
A Virgin Mary painted in Red (rather than Blue) with hands crossed the other way, looking AWAY from the baby Jesus, would often mean a social revolt against the bourgeois. You just have to be a lot more well versed in the iconographic references of the time to understand what is being portrayed.
Books on archiology are worth a glance too. Love anything on ancient civilizations like Graham Hancock's Fingerprints of the Gods and Underworld.
This is stupid, ignorant, incorrect, and should be ignored and shunned under all possible circumstances.
If anything, skipping the 19th century and forward would be a safer bet if you want to make good art. Much of art output of the 19th century and forward did nothing to push art forward in either medium or technique, but only in how it comments on socio-political issues. All the most exciting developments in painting, sculpture, music and poetry happened hundreds of years earlier in the late middle ages, the Renaissance and subsequent art movements not long after. Oil paints were invented, sculpture went beyond the previous highs of the Greeks, music was codified, standardized and given serious study, and the works of authors such as Shakespeare redefined what literature could do.
Later periods of art focused more and more on social and political commentary and less on actually developing the craft. Certainly older artists placed great importance on commentary (hell, just look at what Dante did with the Divine Comedy and its inclusion of huge numbers of Florentine intellectuals and nobles), but there were huge revolutions in the art world during earlier centuries that have gone unmatched in five hundred years.
By studying the history of art, you can make your own art better by learning the techniques of master artists who redefined what their medium could do. Certainly there are thousands of incredible artists alive today (just as there have always been), but none of them are matching the revolutionary genius of Da Vinci, Michelangelo, Bernini, Rembrandt, or any number of others.
love rembrandt though and leonardo
Actually I find modern art way less engaging than ancient art. Egypt, Greece, Rome, Mesopotamia, Pre-Christian Alpine Traditions, Aztec and Native American art, even really really ancient stuff like the monoliths at Göbekli Tepe. Sure glad I didn't skip to the 19th century ...
Also the Brutalist and Futurist architecture movements are pretty cool.
It also equipped me with a copy of Jansen's history of art, which also makes for a great weapon in the zombie apocalypse
I guess just ad it to the list of subject within academia whose enjoyability is entirely contingent on the teacher.
I didn't like my Eastern Art History class as much, mainly because the teacher had no idea what she was doing. She couldnt even pronounce have the names/locations correctly. But I just had a great interest in Eastern Art so it kinda helped make my experience tolerable.
And my Modern Art History teacher was probably one of the better teachers I've had. We went to art museums at least every month. And he really knew his stuff.
So I guess while it does come down to the teacher, at least having an interest in history will help as well.
Youtube, domestika, etc, are all great ways to see how different crafts are done, and to increase knowledge about the arts and crafts that make up our world.
Heck, some artists just have a way of looking at the world that can make us completely reevaluate how we see it, ourselves. Which has its own value, but also artistic value.
Now, enjoy a work by Ivan Rabuzin:
And one by Charles Burchfield:
Combining aspects of modern reference with Ancient reference in aspects of humanity that doesn't change might lead to some fascinating resutls. Do you think that soldiers painted medieval tits on their armour in the same way that pilots painted pin-ups of girls on their War planes? I'm certain they did.