Pre-Historic Art
The artistic desire to make images without any function surfaced from the beginning of man. The earliest surviving nonfunctional objects come from the Paleolithic period, 30000 BC to 8000 BC. Comprised primarily of small stone sculptures and engraving on bones depicting stylized human figures and animals. The women figures are generally depicted as voluptuous and well rounded, clearly representing the Paleolithic female ideal. These early European artisans demonstrate remarkable sophistication and a wealth of talent. According to John W. Bradley, "The desire for decoration is probably as old as the human race. Nature, of course, is the source of beauty, and this natural beauty affects something within us which has or is the faculty of reproducing the cause of its emotion in a material form. Whether the reproduction be such as to appeal to the eye or the ear depends on the cast of the faculty. In a mild or elementary form, probably both casts of faculty exist in every animated creature, and especially in the human being."
The earliest paintings date
back to 15000 BC. and can be
found almost exclusively in
caves located throughout
France and Spain. The
initial paintings were
limited to primitive
outlines of hands and crude,
almost stick figure animals.
Within a few thousand years
the cave painters were
creating sophisticated
compositions and forms in
vivid colors. The caves
where the painting were
found are dark, without any
outside light source and had
to illuminated with torches.
This is suggestive of a
sacred space where
primordial magical or
sacrificial rites were
performed.
The Neolith (c. 5,000 -
1,500 BC) culture is
characterized by small clay
painted figurines, ceramic
vessels and primitive
weavings. The patterning on
the objects is geometric and
abstract. It was during this
period that European man
stopped roaming and took up
the plow.
The Paleolithic period,
or Old Stone Age, was the
longest phase of human
history. Prehistoric periods
are divided into three
parts: Paleolithic (c.
35,000 - 8,000 BC);
Mesolithic (c. 8,000 - 3,500
BC); Neolithic (c. 5,000 -
1,500 BC). There is a huge
diversity of techniques and
art of such sophistication
and aesthetic quality, that
many of these pieces would
fit right in a contemporary
gallery
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References: Illuminated Manuscripts by John William Bradley