The art of the Arab countries is complex in its origins. In South Arabia, they date back to the cultures of the Sabaean, Minean and Himyarite states (1st millennium BC - 6th century AD), associated with the Mediterranean and the East. Africa. Ancient traditions can be traced in the architecture of the tower-shaped houses of Hadhramawt and the multi-storey buildings of Yemen, the facades of which are decorated with a colored relief pattern. In Syria, Mesopotamia, Egypt and the Maghreb, the styles of medieval Arabic art were also formed on a local basis, experiencing some influence from Iranian, Byzantine and other cultures.
Architecture. The main religious building of Islam was the mosque, where the followers of the prophet gathered for prayer. Mosques, consisting of a fenced courtyard and a colonnade (which marked the beginning of the "yard" or "column" type of mosque), in the 1st half of the 7th century. were created in Basra (635), Kufa (638) and Fustat (40s of the 7th century). The column type for a long time remained the main one in the monumental religious architecture of the Arab countries (mosques: Ibn Tulun in Cairo, 9th century; Mutawakkil in Samarra, 9th century; Hassan in Rabat and Koutoubia in Marrakesh, both 12th century; Great Mosque in Algiers, 11th century, etc.) and influenced the Muslim architecture of Iran, the Caucasus, Wed. Asia, India. In architecture, domed structures were also developed, an early example of which is the octagonal mosque Kubbat As-Sahra in Jerusalem (687-691). In the future, various religious and memorial buildings were completed with domes, most often they were crowned with mausoleums over the graves of famous people.
From the 13th century until the beginning of the 16th century. The architecture of Egypt and Syria was closely interconnected. A large fortification was carried out: citadels in Cairo, Aleppo (Aleppo), etc. In the monumental architecture of this time, the spatial principle that dominated the previous stage (the courtyard mosque) gave way to grandiose architectural volumes: over the smooth surface of powerful walls and large portals with deep niches rise tall drums carrying domes. The majestic buildings of the four-aivan are being built (see. Ivan) of the type (previously known in Iran): the maristan (hospital) of Kalauna (13th century) and the mosque of Hassan (14th century) in Cairo, mosques and madrasahs (spiritual schools) in Damascus and other cities of Syria. Numerous domed mausoleums are being built, sometimes forming a picturesque ensemble (the Mamluk cemetery in Cairo, 15-16 centuries). To decorate the walls outside and in the interior, along with carving, inlay with multi-colored stone is widely used. In Iraq in the 15th-16th centuries. the decor uses colored glaze and gilding (mosques: Musa al-Kadima in Baghdad, Hussein in Karbala, Imam Ali in Najaf).
It flourished in the 10th-15th centuries. Arabic architecture of the Maghreb and Spain. In large cities (Rabat, Marrakesh, Fes, etc.), kasbahs were built - citadels, fortified with powerful walls with gates and towers, and medinas - trade and craft quarters. The large columned mosques of the Maghreb with multi-tiered, square minarets are distinguished by an abundance of intersecting naves, a wealth of carved ornaments (mosques in Tlemcen, Taza, etc.) and are magnificently decorated with carved wood, marble and mosaics of multi-colored stones, like numerous madrasas 13-14 centuries in Marocco. In Spain, along with the mosque in Cordoba, other outstanding monuments of Arab architecture have been preserved: the La Giralda minaret, erected in Seville by the architect Jeber in 1184-96, the gate to Toledo, the palace Alhambra in Granada - a masterpiece of Arabic architecture and decorative art of the 13th-15th centuries. Arab architecture influenced the Romanesque and Gothic architecture of Spain ("Mudéjar style"), Sicily and other Mediterranean countries.
Decorative-applied and fine arts. In Arabic art, the principle of decorativeness, characteristic of the artistic thinking of the Middle Ages, was vividly embodied, giving rise to the richest ornament, special in each of the regions of the Arab world, but connected by general laws of development. Arabesque, dating back to antique motifs, is created by the Arabs new type a pattern in which the mathematical rigor of construction is combined with free artistic imagination. The epigraphic ornament was also developed - calligraphically executed inscriptions included in the decorative pattern.
Ornament and calligraphy, widely used in architectural decoration (carving on stone, wood, knocking), are also characteristic of applied art, which has reached a high flourishing and especially fully expressed the decorative specificity of Arab art. Pottery was decorated with a colorful pattern: glazed household utensils in Mesopotamia (centers - Rakka, Samarra); vessels painted with golden chandeliers of different shades, made in Fatimid Egypt; Spanish-Moorish luster ceramics of the 14th-15th centuries, which had a great influence on European applied art. Arab patterned silk fabrics - Syrian, Egyptian, Moorish - also enjoyed world fame; Arabs also made pile carpets. The finest chasing, engraving and inlay of silver and gold are used to decorate artistic bronze items (bowls, jugs, incense burners and other utensils); products of the 12th-14th centuries are distinguished by special craftsmanship. Mosul in Iraq and some handicraft centers in Syria. The Syrian glass covered with the finest enamel painting and Egyptian products made of rock crystal, ivory, and expensive woods decorated with exquisite carved patterns were famous.
Art in the countries of Islam developed, interacting with religion in a complex way. Mosques, as well as the holy book of the Koran, were decorated with geometric, floral and epigraphic patterns. However, Islam, unlike Christianity and Buddhism, refused to make extensive use of fine arts to promote religious ideas. Moreover, in the so-called. authentic hadiths, legalized in the 9th century, contain a prohibition to portray living beings, and especially humans. Theologians of the 11th-13th centuries (Ghazali and others) these images were declared the gravest sin. However, artists throughout the Middle Ages depicted people and animals, real and mythological scenes. In the first centuries of Islam, while theology had not yet developed its aesthetic canons, the abundance of realistic paintings and sculptures in the interpretation of paintings and sculptures in the palaces of the Umayyads testified to the strength of pre-Islamic artistic traditions. In the future, the depiction in Arabic art is explained by the presence of essentially anti-clerical aesthetic views. For example, in the "Messages of the Brothers of Purity" (10th century), the art of artists is defined "as the imitation of the images of existing objects, both artificial and natural, both people and animals."
Mosque in Damascus. 8th c. Interior. Syrian Arab Republic.
Mausoleums in the Mamluk cemetery near Cairo. 15 - beg. 16th centuries United Arab Republic.
Painting. Fine art flourished in Egypt in the 10th-12th centuries: images of people and genre scenes adorned the walls of buildings in Fustat, ceramic dishes and vases (master Saad, etc.), woven into the pattern of bone and wood carving (panel 11 century from the Fatimid palace in Cairo, etc.), as well as linen and silk fabrics; Bronze vessels were made in the form of figures of animals and birds. Similar phenomena took place in the art of Syria and Mesopotamia in the 10th-14th centuries: court and other scenes are included in the exquisite chased ornament of bronze items with inlay, in the pattern of paintings on glass and ceramics.
The fine beginning was less developed in the art of the Arab West. However, decorative sculpture in the form of animals, patterns with motifs of living creatures, as well as miniatures were also created here (manuscript "The History of Bayad and Riyad", 13th century, Vatican Library). Arab art as a whole was a bright, original phenomenon in the history of the world artistic culture of the Middle Ages. His influence extended to the entire Muslim world and went far beyond its borders.
4. Architecture as an art form
Architecture is one of the oldest forms of art, expressing in religious and public buildings the worldview of the people in a particular historical era, a certain artistic style. ARCHITECTURE (lat. , an artistically organized environment of human life. Also, the art of forming this spatial environment, creating a new reality that has a functional meaning, brings benefits to a person and delivers aesthetic pleasure. The term covers the design of the appearance of a structure; organization of internal space; selection of materials for outdoor and indoor use, design of natural and artificial lighting systems, as well as engineering support systems; electricity and water supply; decorative design. Each of the buildings has a specific purpose: for life or work, recreation or study, trade or transport. All of them are durable, comfortable and necessary for people - these are their mandatory properties.
Types of architecture
There are three main types of architecture:
The architecture of three-dimensional structures. It includes religious and fortified buildings, residential buildings, public buildings (schools, theaters, stadiums, shops, etc.), industrial buildings (factories, factories, etc.);
Landscape architecture associated with the organization of landscape gardening space (squares, boulevards and parks with "small" architecture - gazebos, fountains, bridges, stairs)
Urban planning, covering the construction of new cities and towns and the reconstruction of old urban areas.
Styles of architecture
Architecture is closely connected with the life of society, its views and ideology. Ancient Greek architecture is based on the idea of a perfect, physically and spiritually developed person. Ancient architects built all their buildings according to the proportions of the human body, embodying harmony, opposition to the elements of nature, majestic clarity and humanity. "Era style" (Romanesque, Gothic, etc.) occurs mainly in those historical periods when the perception of works of art is different comparative inflexibility, when it still easily adapts to a change in style.
The great styles - Romanesque, Gothic, Renaissance, Baroque, Classicism, Empire / a variation of late classicism / - are usually recognized as equal and equivalent. The development of styles is asymmetrical, which is outwardly expressed in the fact that each style gradually changes from simple to complex; however, from complex to simple, it returns only as a result of a jump. Therefore, style changes occur in different ways: slowly - from simple to complex, and abruptly - from complex to simple. The Romanesque style is replaced by the Gothic for more than a hundred years - from the middle of the 12th century. until the middle of the thirteenth century. simple forms of Romanesque architecture gradually turn into a complicated Gothic style. Within the Gothic, then the Renaissance matures. With the advent of the Renaissance, a period of ideological quests again began, the emergence of an integral system of worldview. And at the same time, the process of gradual complication and disintegration of the simple begins again: the Renaissance becomes more complicated, and after it comes the Baroque. Baroque, in turn, becoming more complex, turns into rococo in some types of art (architecture, painting, applied art). Then again there is a return to the simple, and as a result of the jump, the baroque is replaced by classicism, the development of which in some countries was replaced by the empire.
The reasons for changing pairs of styles are as follows: reality does not choose a style among the existing ones, but creates a new style and transforms the old one. The created style is the primary style, and the transformed style is the secondary style.
Architecture of the native land
Architecture of the Grodno region
Borisoglebskaya (Kolozhskaya) Church, a monument of ancient Russian architecture of the second half of the 12th century.
Mir Castle, included in the UNESCO List, Lida Castle (XIV-XV centuries)
Architecture of the Minsk region
Archcathedral Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary (second half of the 17th – early 18th centuries)
Church of Saints Simeon and Helena (Red Church) - a monument of neo-Gothic architecture with Art Nouveau features (1908 - 1910)
Nesvizh Palace and Park Complex (XVII–XVIII centuries)
Church of the Bernardines in the village of Budslav, Myadel district, a monument of baroque architecture (XVIII century)
Architecture of the Vitebsk region
Sophia Cathedral, an architectural monument of the XI-XVIII centuries.
Church of the Savior Euphrosyne, a monument of ancient Russian architecture (1152 - 1161). Unique frescoes have been preserved on its walls and columns.
Literature:
1. Gerchuk Yu.L. Fundamentals of artistic literacy. –M., 1998
2. Danilov V.N. Methods of teaching fine arts and artistic work. Mn., 2004
3. Kasterin N.P. educational drawing. –M.: Enlightenment, 1996
4. Lazuka B. Sloўnіk terminaў pa arhіtektury, vyyaўlenchamu dekaratyўna-prykladnomu mastatstvu. - Mn., 2001
5. Nemensky B.M. Pedagogy of art. –M.: Enlightenment, 2007
Architecture, design, arts and crafts belong to the utilitarian art forms of creativity. That is, they solve utilitarian problems - movement, organization of everyday life, cities, dwellings, various types of human life and society. Unlike artistic creativity(fine arts, literature, theater, cinema, poetry, sculpture) that create only spiritual, cultural and aesthetic values without utilitarian value.
The design is different from the decorative applied arts technological mass production, in contrast to handicraft in Dec. applied art. Architecture and design, being related concepts, differ only in spatial scale; city, microdistrict, complex, building in the architecture and environment of the street interior, industrial design, art. design in "design", but for example the interior and landscaping is the subject of both architecture and design.
Design and architecture are utilitarian and artistic activities aimed at creating a subject-spatial environment. Architecture is an older concept, design is more modern, but the difference between them is minimal, often indistinguishable.
The designer forms - a landscape, a square, an element of the urban environment - a kiosk, a fountain, a stop, a clock lamp, a vestibule /, a room, furniture, an office, an interior.
The interior spaces are formed by the architect, and the saturation of the designer is often done by one or the other, this practically manifests the closeness, and often indistinguishability, of the profession of architect. and designer.
Architecture and design belong to expressive arts, which do not directly reflect reality, but create it. Unlike fine arts(painting, graphics, literature, theater, sculpture) in an artistic way reflecting material and spiritual reality.
Lecture 1. Design methodology
1. The relationship between the social and ideological state of society and design.
Modern practice of "new eclecticism"
2. Creative method - professional method - "individual manner".
Interaction of methods at different stages of creativity.
Interaction of method and steps professional activity
Examples are different
3. Subjective and objective in the creative process.
- Any activity, and to a greater extent creative as design, is connected and reflects the social organization of society by its means, cultural development, aesthetic ideals……. Egypt reflects the complete deification of the objective world and architecture, the Middle Ages, Objection, Classicism, Constructivism. In the 20th century, we experienced the collapse of historicism, the birth of modernism and constructivism in the art of architecture and design. The rejection of traditional forms of composition of details, the principle of free planning was perceived as a revolution and as if reflecting a social revolution, but there was no revolution in the West, and a related movement was born called the modern movement between them there was a real connection (Group Style Holland and the leader of constructivism in Russia). However, this revolution was prepared both by new technologies and materials (zh.b) of the beam truss and by new artistic trends - cubism, futurism, expressionism, but also by social upheavals (revolutions, 1 World War), new philosophical currents (socialism. Communism, national socialism-fascism)…………., the crisis of bourgeois morality. There was a lot of talk about truthfulness as opposed to bourgeois decorating and decorativism. Changes in the subject and spatial environment were prepared both by the development of philosophical and scientific thought and new artistic abstract currents and the development of technology, but also by social upheavals that gave a certain ideological pathos and formed and developed a life-building principle - which said that reality can be changed based on artistic and spatial ideas and concepts. already formed ideas modern movement and constructivism
Art Nouveau as a fashionable trend of the new bourgeoisie and merchants (Morozov's mansion).
Opposite the House of the Commune, the idea of social. cities, the socialization of everyday life as a manifestation in the objective world of the ideas of socialism. The utopian idea that by changing the environment you can change the person himself.
Of course, the objective world of environment and architecture reflects by its means the economic system and the level of development of both society and the ideology and value system prevailing in society, but this dependence is not direct but complex, often the ideas of art for art's sake are adapted and rethought to objective realities.
Architecture and civil engineering, interior decoration and landscaping have occupied Renaissance culture visible place. Construction methods, layout and decoration of dwellings are changing.
In simple houses, due to internal partitions, the number of rooms increases. In cities and in family estates, entire palaces in the Renaissance style are being built. The development of the absolutist regime was inextricably linked with the construction of castles-residences of the king and, at the same time, fortifications. The spread of Renaissance ideas in architecture led to the development of projects for "ideal" buildings and entire settlements. There are imported, translated, local treatises on architecture and construction. Outstanding masters of various specialties are discharged from abroad, mainly from the Netherlands: Adrian de Fries, Hans van Steenwinkel the Elder (c.1550-1601) and his sons - Lawrence, Hans, Mortens, as well as Hans van Oberberk and other Scandinavians borrowed examples of architectural style from Germany, the Netherlands, Italy, France. Danish Renaissance architecture, with its red-brick coloring, massive rectangular buildings, and unobtrusive decor, was usually oriented towards North German architecture.
Construction in Denmark reached its highest take-off during the 60-year reign of Christian IV, especially until 1617. It went simultaneously in different directions. Entire cities were built with a new layout and regular building-geometric or radial shape. In total, at the initiative of the king, 14 new cities appeared - in Skane, Zeeland, South Jutland, Norway.
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Mighty fortresses were erected: Frederiksborg in Hillered (1602-1625), Kronborg in Helsingor and others, which included a castle, office buildings, warehouses and barracks, were surrounded by ramparts, ditches and bastions. The king himself was well versed in architecture and supervised the construction of structures. Planned building in the XVII century. completely changed the face of Copenhagen and significantly expanded its size. A palace, a military port, a Renaissance Stock Exchange (1619-1625) were built or laid under Christian IV. Architects L. and X. van Steenwinkel were given the task of building it as a "temple of the new economic policy." As a result of the building enthusiasm, Copenhagen turned into a 17th century city. in one of the most beautiful capitals of Europe. Different stylistic lines coexist here: Gothic, Mannerism, the emerging Baroque.
In Sweden, this period is also marked by the alteration of old buildings and the erection of new ones. In the Renaissance style, the castles of Gripsholm, Vadstena and Uppsala, palaces, town halls and private houses in cities are being built. Church building, on the other hand, is in decline.
The buildings of that time corresponded to rich interior decoration, more magnificent in Sweden, more restrained in Denmark: chests, benches, secretaries, cabinets. Wooden furniture and panels were covered with the most complex plot painting or carvings on biblical and secular subjects, lined with products made of expensive stones and metals, faience, and wood. The walls were hung with original secular tapestries, a mass of portraits, and paintings. Sculptures appear in the halls, courtyards and gardens, often entire groups, usually in the antique-mythological spirit. There was a special fashion for painted and figured stove tiles, as well as stoves made of iron and cast iron, with cast carvings.
The engineering and construction innovations of that time include plumbing: pipes with taps and complex fountains appeared in castles and palaces. Palaces and castles were decorated by both individual masters and entire workshops. The combination of Western European influence, especially from the Netherlands and Germany, and local traditions have formed examples that are unique in style.
During this period, art was primarily applied in nature. As an important part of the interior, it served to express and consolidate prestige. Hence, for example, the unusual distribution at that time of magnificent epitaphs, ceremonial portraits (sculptural and pictorial), allegorical images.
The most impressive and prestigious form of art was sculpture, which flourished later, with the establishment of the Baroque. Most of the sculptors were foreigners who carried out mainly the orders of the king. "Royal Builder" Hans Steenwinkel led the creation of a number of sculptural rooms
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positions for fountains. Commissioned by Christian IV in Amsterdam, Hendrik de Keyser made sculptures. The famous Neptune Fountain in Frederiksborg was made by the Dutchman Adrian de Fries (1546-1626).
Bas-reliefs, mostly tombstones, but also decorative, were widely used.
Interest in the depiction of a person, in particular in family portraits, became one of the features of the painting of this period. Often portraits were still made according to old models: static, conditional, without psychological characteristics. Ceremonial images of sovereigns and members of their families that came into fashion - solemn, with symbols of power - from the 17th century. were sustained most often in the manner of classicism. The period is also characterized by the abundance of portraits of urban patricians and scholars; they all display black robes and signs of their occupations. Perhaps the earliest portrait of a burgher scholar is that of the humanist Wedel (1578). The portrait of Rodman's family from Flensborg (1591) is expressive, where he himself, his two wives and 14 children stand around the crucifix. Rodman himself, one of his wives and four children, as already deceased, are marked with a cross above their heads. Some other family portraits-epitaphs of burghers were made in the same manner. The connection of the dead and the living undoubtedly reflects the ideas of that time about the unity of life and death, about the inseparable connection between the two worlds. The authors of these portraits are unknown; in general, most of the portraits of burghers and provincial nobility were made anonymously. On the contrary, the royal family and the nobility resorted to the services of famous masters. Approximately 200 portraits of royal and noble persons were painted by the Dutchman Jacob van Doordt, many by the Dutchman Joost Verheiden.
Gradually, a new type of artist is emerging in Denmark - an educated and cultured person, quite rich and close to humanist scientists, often a hereditary artist and collector. Such was, in particular, the prolific portrait painter, the Dutchman Karel van Mander, whose self-portrait with his wife and mother-in-law is a rare image of an intellectual artist for that time. Approximately the same was the artistic family of Isaakz, who made a significant contribution to the culture of the Danish Renaissance; its founder is a descendant of an emigrant from Amsterdam, an art dealer, and one of the grandsons is a humanist and historian, Johann Pontanus. Among the artists there were special specialists in historical canvases, in church painting, etc., but the majority had a broad specialization.
An important type of decorative art was then tapestries, both imported and local, sketches for which were made by prominent
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artists, and the production was carried out in foreign or Danish palace workshops.
In the then decor, as already noted, a prominent place was occupied by woodcarving, traditional and developed in Scandinavia. In churches, altars were decorated with carvings depicting scenes from the Bible, as well as scenes from classical authors characteristic of the Danish Renaissance. Carvings with Gothic and Renaissance ornaments with secular subjects were used to decorate furniture in dwellings. In Norway and Finland, folk wood carvings, which adorned provincial buildings and household items, achieved great success.
The variety of art forms allows us to aesthetically explore the world in all its complexity and richness. There are no major or minor arts, but each art has its own strengths and weaknesses compared to other arts.
Architecture. When a person learned to make tools, his dwelling was no longer a hole or a nest, but an expedient building, which gradually acquired an aesthetic appearance. Construction has become architecture.
Architecture is the formation of reality according to the laws of beauty when creating buildings and structures designed to serve human needs in housing and public spaces. Architecture creates a closed utilitarian-artistic developed world, delimited from nature, resisting the natural environment and allowing people to use the humanized space in accordance with their material and spiritual needs. The architectural image expresses the purpose of the building and the artistic concept of the world and personality, a person's idea of himself and the essence of his era.
Architecture is art and buildings have a certain style. Lomonosov, defining the features of architecture, wrote that architectural art "will erect buildings that are comfortable for habitation, beautiful for sight, solid for longevity." Thanks to architecture, an integral part of the "second nature" arises - the material environment, which is created by the labor of a person and in which his life and activity take place.
Forms of architecture are determined: 1) naturally (depend on geographical and climatic conditions, on the nature of the landscape, the intensity of sunlight, seismic safety); 2) socially (depending on the nature of the social system, aesthetic ideals, utilitarian and artistic needs of society; architecture is more closely connected with the development of productive forces, with the development of technology than other arts).
Applied art. One of the oldest and still developing types of artistic creativity is applied art. It is carried out in household items created according to the laws of beauty. Applied art is things that surround and serve us, create our life and comfort, things made not only as useful, but also as beautiful, having a style and artistic image that expresses their purpose and carries generalized information about the type of life, about the era about the worldview of the people. The aesthetic impact of applied art is daily, hourly, every minute. Works of applied art can rise to the heights of art.
Applied art is national by its very nature, it is born from the customs, habits, beliefs of the people and is directly close to their production activities and everyday life. The pinnacle of applied art is jewelry, which retains its independent significance and is developing today.
Decorative art. Decorative art - aesthetic development of the environment surrounding a person, artistic design of a “second nature” created by a person: buildings, structures, premises, squares, streets, roads. This art invades everyday life, creating beauty and comfort in and around residential and public spaces. Works of decorative art can be a doorknob and a fence, a stained-glass window and a lamp that enter into a synthesis with architecture.
Decorative art incorporates the achievements of other arts, especially painting and sculpture. Painting at first existed in the form of rock and wall art, and only then was it formed as easel painting. Monumental painting on the wall - fresco (the name comes from its technique: "al fresco" - painting with paints on wet plaster) - a genre of decorative art.
Architecture . The architecture of Rome is fundamentally different from Greek. The Greeks carved from solid marble blocks, and the Romans erected walls of brick and concrete, and then with the help of brackets they hung marble cladding, attached columns and profiles. Architectural monuments conquer with their power. Designed for huge numbers of people: basilicas, baths, theaters, amphitheaters, circuses, libraries, markets and places of worship: temples, altars, tombs. The Romans introduced engineering structures (aqueducts, bridges, roads, harbors, fortresses, canals). The ideological center was the temple, located in the middle of the narrow side of a rectangular square on its main axis. City squares were decorated triumphal arches in honor of military victories, statues of emperors and prominent public people of the state. Arched and vaulted forms have become common in bridges and aqueducts. The Colosseum (75-80 AD) is the largest amphitheater in Rome, intended for gladiator fights and other competitions.
Sculpture . In the field of monumental sculpture, the Romans were left behind the Greeks. The best was the sculptural portrait. It has developed since the beginning of the 1st century. BC e. The Romans closely studied the face of a person with its unique features. The Greeks sought to depict the ideal, the Romans - to accurately convey the features of the original. The eyes of many statues are made of colored enamel. The Romans were the first to use monumental sculpture for propaganda purposes: they installed equestrian and foot statues in the forums (squares) - monuments to outstanding personalities.
Painting . Little has survived. Palaces and public buildings were decorated with wall paintings and paintings, stories of mythology, landscape sketches. The walls were painted to look like colored marble and jasper. A common type was mosaics and processing, precious metals and bronze. Artists depicted scenes from everyday life and still lifes. Frescoes that covered the walls of the houses of the nobility Ornamental painting of interiors (1st century BC). The Romans painted household furniture and utensils. In the 3rd century Christian art appears in the form of murals in the catacombs in Rome. According to the plot, the paintings are connected with the Christian religion - biblical scenes, images of Christ and the Mother of God, but art form they are at the level of ancient paintings. During the construction of Christian churches, development continued monumental painting. Frescoes and mosaics adorned the apses, domes, end walls of the main nave of basilicas. The art of mosaics was widely developed; it was used to decorate walls and floors in the houses of wealthy Romans, and later Christian churches. The easel pictorial portrait was very common, but we know this only from literary sources, since the works of the republican artists Maya, Sapolis and Dionysiades and the works of others have not been preserved. Portraits fit into a round frame and looked like medallions
If we outline the main stages in the history of ancient Roman art, then in general terms they can be represented as follows. The most ancient (VII - V centuries BC) and republican eras (V century BC, I century BC) - the period of formation of Roman art.
The heyday of Roman art falls on the I-II centuries. AD From the end of the reign of Septimius Severus, the crisis of Roman art begins.
Romanesque art
In the 10th century, at the turn of the millennium, a single pan-European style, Romanesque, first appeared in art. It remained dominant in medieval Western Europe throughout the 11th and 12th centuries. The term "Romanesque style" appeared in the 19th century. (by analogy with the concept of "Romance languages") and meant "Roman". The Romanesque style in art inherited a lot from Byzantine architecture. architectural the buildings of this time were mostly stone, with vaulted ceilings, and in the Middle Ages such structures were considered Romanesque (built according to the Roman method), in contrast to wooden buildings. It was most classically distributed in the art of Germany and France. Raids and battles were the elements of life at that time. This harsh era gave rise to moods of militant ecstasy and a constant need for self-defense. It is a castle-fortress or a temple-fortress. The artistic concept is simple and strict. Three large churches on the Rhine are considered examples of late and perfect Romanesque architecture: the city cathedrals in Worms, Speyer and Mainz. The architectural decor is very restrained, the plastic is rather heavy. But, having entered the temple, a whole world of exciting images opens up, capturing the soul of the Middle Ages. Art in medieval Europe became the work of people from the lower class. They introduced a religious feeling into their creations, but it was not the same for the "higher" and "lower". We will understand little in medieval art if we do not feel its connection with the whole system of life of the "lower classes". They sympathized with Christ because he suffered, the Mother of God was loved because they saw in her an intercessor for people, in the terrible judgment they saw the ideal of an earthly judgment over oppressors and deceivers.
Terrible Judgment. Tympanum of Saint Lazare Cathedral in Autun (1130-1140);
Eve. Fragment of the relief of the bronze doors of the Church of St. Michael in Gildesheim (1008-1015)
Royal Portal of the Cathedral of Chartres (circa 1135-1155)
Architectural monuments of the Romanesque style are scattered throughout Western Europe, but most of them are in France. These are the church of Saint Martin in Tours, the church of Notre Dame in Clermont, the masterpiece of Romanesque architecture - the church of Notre Dame la Grande in Poitiers. In the French Romance, several local schools have developed. So the Burgundian school was distinguished by the monumentality of the composition, the Poitou school was rich in sculptural decoration, and the Norman school was distinguished by strict decoration.
Sculptures of saints in Romanesque churches are devoid of of any canons, often unprepossessing and squat, have simple and expressive faces. In this, Romanesque sculpture differs from Byzantine sculpture, which created more refined and spiritualized images. Along with gospel images and scenes in Romanesque sculpture, scenes from ancient and medieval history, there were images of real people. At the same time, sculptural compositions were sometimes saturated with the fruits of folk fantasy - then they contained images of various fantastic creatures and forces of evil (for example, asps).
Fine examples of applied art have been preserved from the Romanesque era. A place of honor among them is occupied by the famous 70-meter carpet from Bayeux, which is associated with the name of the English Queen Matilda. The scenes embroidered on it tell of the conquest of England by the Normans in 1066.
Painting Romanesque style was exclusively ecclesiastical in content and flat, denying the three-dimensionality of space and figures. She, like sculpture, was subordinated to architecture. The most common type of painting technique was fresco, and stained glass (painting from colored pieces of glass) also began to spread.
9. Gothic -Gothic replaced the Romanesque style, gradually replacing it. Gothic originated in the middle of the 12th century in northern France, in the 13th century it spread to the territory of modern Germany, Austria, the Czech Republic, Spain, and England. Gothic penetrated into Italy later, with great difficulty and a strong transformation, which led to the emergence of "Italian Gothic". At the end of the 14th century, Europe was engulfed by the so-called international Gothic. Gothic penetrated into the countries of Eastern Europe later and stayed there a little longer - until the 16th century.
Architecture. The city cathedral became the leading architectural type: the frame system of Gothic architecture (lancet arches rest on pillars; the lateral thrust of the cross vaults laid out on ribs is transmitted by flying buttresses to buttresses) made it possible to create interiors of cathedrals unprecedented in height and vastness, to cut through the walls with huge windows with multi-colored stained-glass windows. The aspiration of the cathedral upward is expressed by giant openwork towers, lancet windows and portals, curved statues, and complex ornamentation. Portals and altar barriers were completely decorated with statues, sculptural groups, and ornaments. The portals were dominated by three themes of sculptural decoration: the Last Judgment, the cycle dedicated to Mary, and the cycle associated with the patron of the temple or the most revered local saint. Sculptures of fantastic animals (chimeras, gargoyles) were placed on the facades and roof. All this had a strong emotional impact on believers. Lyricism and tragedy, sublime spirituality and social satire, fantastic grotesque and accurate life observations were organically intertwined in the art of Gothic. Outstanding works of Gothic architecture are: in France - the cathedral Notre Dame of Paris, cathedrals in Reims, Amiens, Chartres; in Germany - the cathedral in Cologne; in England - Westminster Abbey (London), etc.
Sculpture. The main features that characterize Gothic sculpture can be summarized as follows: firstly, the dominance in artistic concepts of the abstract beginning is replaced by interest in the phenomena of the real world, religious themes retain their dominant position, but its images change, endowed with features of deep humanity.
At the same time, the role of secular plots is increasing, and the plot begins to occupy an important place, although not immediately. Secondly, round plastic appears and plays a dominant role, although relief also exists.
The Last Judgment remained one of the most common subjects in Gothic, but the iconographic program is expanding. Interest in man and attraction to the anecdotal of the story found expression in the depiction of scenes from the life of the saints. An outstanding example of depicting legends about saints is the tympanum "The History of St. Stephen" dated from the last quarter of the 13th century on the portal of Notre Dame Cathedral.
The inclusion of real motifs is also characteristic of many small reliefs. As in Romanesque churches, images of monsters and fantastic creatures, the so-called chimeras, occupy a large place in Gothic cathedrals.
Painting. In the Middle Ages, painting became one of the most important forms of art. Changes in the life of society and new techniques gave artists the opportunity to create realistic works imbued with deep humanism, which were destined to make a real revolution in Western European art. The cheerful and graceful style in the visual arts was most clearly manifested in the portrait (painting and pencil) of such remarkable masters as J. Fouquet (also known as an outstanding master of miniature), J. and F. Clouet, Cornel de Lyon.
ARCHITECTURE, SCULPTURE AND PAINTING
The spiritual atmosphere of the life of classical Greece with its civic consciousness and harmony was most fully reflected architecture. The political and social structure of the Greek polis of the classical era required an adequate organization of the center of the entire life of the civil community. The architect Hippodames from Miletus (5th century BC) proposed to abandon the chaotic development of cities and introduce them regular planning. It was based on the breakdown of the urban area into rectangular blocks with streets intersecting at right angles and the allocation of several functional centers. In accordance with the theory of Hippodamus, Olynthus was built up, Miletus was revived after the Persian destruction, and the Athenian port of Piraeus was rebuilt.
The most important part of the policy was sacred sites, in the center of which majestic temples were erected to the patron gods. The most significant buildings created in the Doric order were the temple of Poseidon in Paestum and the temple of Athena Aphaia on the island of Aegina. In the sanctuary of Zeus at Olympia, on the sacred site (Altis), there were a number of temples, the most majestic of which was dedicated to the god of thunder. The pediment of the temple, built by the architect Libon, was decorated with a sculptural group depicting centauromachia - battle of centaurs with lapiths. And inside was famous sculpture Zeus by Phidias. Made of wood inlaid with gold and ivory, it was recognized as one of the seven wonders of the world.
Plan of Milet: 1, 2 - markets; 3 - stadium; 4 - theatre; 5 - Temple of Athena 6 - Temple of Serapis
Paestum. Temple of Poseidon (V century BC). Photo
Phidias. Zeus Olympian. Reconstruction
The best architectural complex of the classical era is the Athenian Acropolis - the religious center of the policy, where the city's shrines were located. Destroyed during the invasion of Xerxes in 480 BC. e. At the initiative of Perikla, the Acropolis began to be rebuilt according to a single plan. The work was carried out under the leadership of the great Phidias. Conceived as a monument to the victory of the Greeks over the Persian state, the ensemble of the Acropolis most fully expressed the greatness and triumph of Greek civilization and its leader, Athens. In the words of Plutarch, in Athens "at this time, works were created that were extraordinary in their grandeur and inimitable in simplicity and grace."
Olympia. Holy area. Reconstruction
Soothsayer and servant. Sculpture from the pediment of the Temple of Zeus at Olympia(5th century BC)
The passage to the Acropolis led through the Propylaea - the main entrance, decorated with a Doric portico. On the one hand, the graceful temple of the goddess of victory, Nike, adjoined the Propylaea, and on the other, the Pinakothek (art gallery). The center of the ensemble was the Parthenon, built by Iktin and Kallikrates from Pentelian marble. Temple, dedicated to Athena Parthenos (i.e., Athena the Virgin) was surrounded by a Doric colonnade, but the architects managed to create a feeling of lightness and solemnity of the structure.
Apollo. Fragment of a sculpture from the pediment of the Temple of Zeus at Olympia(5th century BC)
The sculptural decor by Phidias glorified the goddess Athena and her city. In the temple stood a wooden sculpture of Athena inlaid with gold and ivory. The pediments of the temple were decorated with sculptures on the themes of two myths - about the dispute between Athena and Poseidon for the possession of Attica and about the birth of Athena from the head of Zeus. The reliefs on the metopes (frieze plates) depicted the battles of the Greeks with the Amazons and centaurs, which symbolized the struggle between good and progress against evil and backwardness. The walls were decorated with a sculptural image of the majestic procession on the Great Panathenaic. The frieze of the Parthenon is considered the pinnacle of Greek art of the High Classical era. It amazes with the plasticity and dynamism of the image of more than 500 figures, none of which is repeated. Phidias also created a bronze sculpture of Athena the Warrior, which was installed on the square in front of the Parthenon.
Propylaea on the Athenian Acropolis (5th century BC). Photo
Propylaea on the Athenian Acropolis Photo
Athens. Parthenon (5th century BC). Photo
The Acropolis ensemble also includes Erechtein, a small temple with an asymmetric layout and three different porticoes, one of which is supported by caryatids. It was built on the site where, according to legend, there was a dispute between Athena and Poseidon, and is dedicated to Athena, Poseidon and the legendary king Erechtheus. A sacred olive tree, donated by Athena, grew near the wall of the temple, and there was a recess in the rock, allegedly left by the trident of Posendon. Architectural ensemble the Athenian Acropolis became the standard of beauty and harmony for centuries.
Outstanding sculptors of the classical era glorified ideal citizens and the greatness of the Hellenic world with their works. They overcame the conventions of archaic sculpture and created the image of a harmonious, physically perfect man with a rich spiritual world. In addition to the brilliant Phidias, in Athens in the 5th century. BC. Myron worked. His most famous statue is the Disco Thrower. The sculptor masterfully conveyed the complex dynamics of the athlete's body at the moment of the throw.
Parthenon interior, Reconstruction
Athens. Erechtheion (5th century BC) Photo
The sculptor Polykleitos from Argos not only depicted the physically perfect bodies of athletes, but also calculated the ideal proportions of the male body, which became the canon for Greek sculptors. His figures “Dorifor” (spear-bearer) and “Diadumen” (athlete putting on the armband of the winner) became world famous. Greek sculptors of the 5th century. BC e. associated the flourishing of the polis civilization with the images of a man full of harmonious grandeur and clear calmness.
Art of Ancient Greece IV century. BC e., on the one hand, it was marked by a number of important achievements (in particular, during this period the Corinthian order was created), and on the other hand, a decrease in the pathos of heroism and citizenship, an appeal to the individual world of man, which was associated with the general crisis of the policy. The works of Scopas reflected strong, passionate human feelings, splashed out in an energetic movement ("Maenad").
Athens. Portico of the Caryatids of the Erechtheion Photo
Athens. Temple of Nike Apteros (5th century BC) Photo
The subtle transfer of the inner world of a person, the beauty of a resting body, is characteristic of the work of Praxiteles (“The Resting Satyr”, “Hermes with the Infant Dionysus”). He was the first to show the sublime beauty of the naked female body: his "Aphrodite of Cnidus" was already considered in antiquity " the best work of existence in the universe."
The desire to capture fleeting movement in sculpture (“Apokspomen”) marked the work of Lysippus. He was the court sculptor of Alexander the Great and created a number of expressive portraits of the great commander. Sculptors of the 4th century BC, having completed the development of classical art, opened the way for a new type of art, non-classical.
Miron. Discus thrower (5th century BC)
Polykleitos. Doryphorus (5th century BC)
Scopas. Maenad, or Bacchante (4th century BC)
Praxitel. Aphrodite of Knidos (4th century BC)
Praxiteles. Hermes with the baby Dionysus (4th century BC)
Lysippos. Resting Hermes (4th century BC)
One of the most famous Artists V in. BC. was Polygnotus, whose work is associated with Athens. He created paintings in the encaustic technique - he worked with liquid wax paints. Using only four colors, Polygnot was the first painter who learned to recreate the volume of space and figures, the expressiveness of gestures. His contemporary Apollodorus was the first to apply the effect of chiaroscuro in painting and tried to convey perspective.
Although the works of ancient Greek painters have not survived, an idea of the achievements of the artists gives vase painting, where at that time the red-figure style dominated, which made it possible to quite realistically convey the volume of bodies and create multi-figure compositions, in the center of which stood a person.
Red-figure stamnos (5th century BC)
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Two weeks ago in New York, I visited an exhibition dedicated to Italian Futurism. The avant-garde movements of the early 20th century are my special love. The world was changing rapidly, people tried to keep up with the times, sometimes ahead, sometimes not keeping up with progress, and all this chaos gave rise to many interesting artistic decisions and directions. To understand futurism, you need to know the history of its creation, as well as remember the historical context of the countries in which this movement was especially developed: Italy and Russia of those years.
Destroy the old, wash away museums, old experience and authorities to open the world to the new: cars, speed, aggression. In order to present at once the basic postulates of this new movement, here are a few quotations from Marinetti's Manifesto, published in Le Figaro, February 20, 1909:
We say our beautiful world became even more beautiful - now it has speed. Under the trunk of a racing car, exhaust pipes snake and spit fire. Its roar is like a machine-gun burst, and no Nika of Samothrace can be compared in beauty with it.
- We want to sing of a man at the helm of a car who throws a spear of his spirit over the Earth, in its orbit.
We will destroy museums, libraries, educational establishments of all types, we will fight against moralism, feminism, against any opportunistic or utilitarian cowardice.
To be a futurist is to be modern, young and rebellious. An industrial metropolis, cars and speed - adherents of futurism celebrate destruction and glorify war. They seek to breathe new life into an old, static culture.
In Russia, in 1912, a manifesto also appeared, accompanying the first poetry collection Slap in the Face of Public Taste, which accompanied the Russian Manifesto of the same name. Compare postulates:
- The past is tight. The Academy and Pushkin are more incomprehensible than hieroglyphs. Throw Pushkin, Dostoevsky, Tolstoy and so on. and so on. from the ship Modernity.
- Wash your hands that have touched the filthy slime of books written by those innumerable Leonid Andreevs. To all these Maxim Gorky, Kuprin, Blok, Sologub, Averchenko, Cherny, Kuzmin, Bunin and so on. and so on. - All you need is a cottage on the river. Such an award is given by fate to tailors. From the height of skyscrapers we look at their insignificance!
In my opinion, the Russian manifesto carries a more destructive charge than the Italian one, and it is not surprising - such were the moods in the country before the revolution.
Futurism originates in literature, but very soon it takes on other forms: painting, politics, even advertising. The energy of youth and speed overflows with these young revolutionaries; it is impossible to remain indifferent to the charge of energy that they carry. If it seems to you that you think progressively, relax - the futurists have already thought of everything before you.
And with this knowledge I come to the exhibition of Italian Futurism at the Guggenheim, 1909-1944.
In total, the exhibition presents seven themes, I will show the most memorable fragments from each of them presented at the exhibition.
Theme one: Heroic futurism. This phase lasted until 1916. The beginning of the futuristic movement is distinguished by an atmosphere of optimism, dynamism and rhythm. Futurists sought to convey dynamics in different ways. For example, Giacomo Balla studied in detail and tried to depict the universal dynamics through the stratification of movement, for example, through the image of the dispersion of light (the picture is not shown in the exhibition):
Giacommo Balla, Iridescent Interpenetration No. 7, 1912
The visual vocabulary of Giacomo Balla consisted of combining the principles of dynamics and synchronicity, with an attempt to convey an atmosphere of light, sound and smells.
Two other futurists, Umberto Boccioni and Gino Severini, sought to depict the effect of movement through an object. Boccioni conveyed movement through a sports body, combining the figure of a person and the surrounding landscape. Move away from the screen and you will see how the picture below will turn into the image of a cyclist flying at great speed (the picture is not shown in the exhibition):
Umberto Boccioni, Dinamismo di un ciclista” 1913
Severini, my favorite Italian futurist, creates his concept of depicting dynamics through the shifting of space in the picture, through fragmentation, connecting displaced and disproportionate space, adding a fragmented mosaic effect to everyday objects (he borrowed this idea from the cubists).
I can admire this picture for hours, looking at the bizarre interweaving of the landscape, the rushing train and the village. Even if the magic of the fragments doesn't grab you the first time, consider how you would portray the movement of a high-speed train (not high-speed train, namely his movement) and compare with what Severini did:
G. Severini "Ambulance train rushing through the city", 1915
I also want to mention the picture of Carr, the funeral of the anarchist Galli. The subject of the picture was a skirmish at the funeral of Angelo Galli, who was killed by the police in a strike. The government feared that the anarchists would make a political demonstration out of the funeral and forbade them from entering the cemetery. Skirmishes could not be avoided, the anarchists began to resist, and the police brutally cracked down on them. The artist was present at this scene; and his work is full of vivid memories of a cruel scene and chaos: the movement of bodies, the clash of anarchists and police, black flags flying in the air. The artist would later write in his memoirs: “I saw before me a coffin covered with red carnations, swaying dangerously on the shoulders of the people carrying the coffin. I saw restless horses, clubs and spears, clashes, and it seemed to me that at any moment the corpse would fall to the ground and be trampled by the horses”…
Carlo Carrà, Funeral of the Anarchist Galli (Funerali dell'anarchico Galli), 1910–11
Theme two. Words-in-freedom, or, as in the Russian manifesto, “word-innovation”. As I already wrote, futurism began with poetry and its key invention is the free form of poetry. Following Marinetti, the Futurists free words from their usual form, destroy syntax, cancel punctuation, eliminate adjectives and adverbs, use verbs in an indefinite form, insert musical and mathematical symbols into poetry, use onomatopoeia (onomatopoeia). Such poems are read as literature, experienced as visual art, and performed as dramatic works. Futurists publish them in a variety of formats and recite at special evenings (Futurist serate). Marinetti introduced the idea of form-free poetry, many futurists invented their own interpretations. Mayakovsky’s “Ladder” is most familiar to us as this part of the Futurists’ work, but there were others: Balla with phonovisual constructions, Fortunato Depero and the abstract language of sounds (onomalingua), Carlo Carr’s circular structure with a whirlwind of voices and sounds.
Francesco Cangiullo, Piedigrotta. Book (Milan: Edizioni futuriste di Poesia, 1916)
Theme three. Architecture. Futurism, with its rejection of tradition and outrageousness, could only exist within the city, and the Futurists reveled in the modern city. Many architects proposed their designs for metropolitan areas, using new materials and industrial methods. Futuristic projects have a soaring look, lightness, modernity, with an emphasis on speed and the smooth operation of transport systems (air and rail transport should seamlessly fit into urban architecture). Their projects were not destined to become reality, with the exception of a few futuristic structures erected for temporary fairs according to sketches by Enrico Prampolini. Compare sketch and reality:
Enrico Prampolini, Design for hall, decorations, and furnishings for Aeronautica Company: Plan for Milan Triennial Installation, ca. 1932–33
The Futurist Pavilion at the exhibition in the Parco Valentino in Turin (1928) was designed by Enrico Prampolini.
Then their ideas were not destined to come true, but now look at modern cities - is this not the dream of the futurists?
Theme four. Reconstructing the universe. Poetry, literature, painting - this was not enough. In order to move the old ideals and live in the new time, it was necessary to change every detail of the everyday world. In 1915, Balla and Depero, already familiar to us, write another manifesto, which I especially love for its title: "Reconstruction of the Universe." Using habitually aggressive language, they call for the reconstruction of every object in the world around them, demanding even futuristic toys. A futurist should be surrounded by a futuristic environment, new clothes, new design of premises, new furniture, dishes and clothes. Balla and Depero created such spaces in their lives: one rebuilt a house in Rome, the other a studio in his hometown of Roverto. The exhibition featured many items in futuristic design: ceramics, services, vests and suits. Now it all looks pretty funny and certainly does not correspond to the futuristic vision of design that we are used to. For me, futuristic design is Dutch and Scandinavian. But if the futurists hadn't turned to such minutiae then, who knows if we would have got modern design (as well as architecture) in the form in which it is now?
What surprises me most here is the scale: from speeds and planes to tea sets. How can so much and so little coexist in one idea? I think here great importance has a national identity, the aesthetics of everyday life are important to Italians, but in Russian futurism everything ended at the level of global ideas, without tea sets.
Gerardo Dottori, Cimino home dining room set, early 1930s
Theme five. Arte meccanica, or the aesthetics of machines. After the First World War, new artists came to futurism, bringing new qualities, one of which was the aesthetics of mechanical objects. I can’t say that this is something fundamentally new in futurism, since initially the movement was based on the glorification of progress and speed. The new members of the movement emphasized the Futurists' enduring interest in mechanical objects. The powerful train depicted in the painting by Ivo Panadji rolls diagonally at you, which enhances the effect of presence (hello 3D fans!), You hear the deafening whistle of the train, the loud work of the motor. Panaji doesn't paint a picture, he conveys a sensory experience. The artistic techniques used here convey movement, speed and power. Look at this picture, it conveys the trajectory of the train in fragments (like Severini), or, more simply, as in animation, in parts:
Ivo Pannaggi, Speeding Train (Treno in corsa), 1922
Topic six. Aeropittura or painting inspired by flight. Soaring or diving, sometimes simply abstract, aerial painting appeared in 1930, at a late stage of futurism. Airplanes fit perfectly into the idea of the cult of cars in futurism, both as a symbol of progress and as the embodiment of speed, so they immediately shift the focus to themselves, leaving cars and trains behind. In addition, aircraft open up new perspectives on familiar objects due to new, previously unseen viewing angles. Air painting starts with a simple documenting of flights, and moves on to the depiction of soaring in space. It represents a new approach to the world, which combined speed, technology, war, and national pride. In the early thirties in Italy, it is clear that nationalist sentiments were very strong, and the power and technical equipment of the Italian army spurred the futurists to increase national pride. It would seem that the futurists had everything to become official art in fascist Italy - this is the glorification of progress, and the worship of aggression and war, and the denial of the old world, and destruction. One nuance interfered: Hitler could not stand “degenerate art” (any non-classical art), and eventually forced Mussolini to get rid of the favoritism of the futurists.
Gerardo Dottori, Aerial Battle over the Gulf of Naples or Infernal Battle over the Paradise of the Gulf, 1942
Topic seven. Photo. Futurists could not ignore the photograph, which they began to adapt from 1911. The Bragaglia brothers sought to bring the painting to life and developed a whole method of capturing movement: photodynamism. The movement of the figure in their photographs usually goes from right to left, with blurred stages of the beginning of the movement. After these experiments, the futurists left photography until the 1930s, until Marinetti, in collaboration with Tato, in his next manifesto (no one else had so many manifestos!) declared photography an excellent tool for eliminating barriers between art and life, since with using a camera you can both create art and explore it social function(however, Tato used the camera for diametrically opposed purposes, his works expressed ideological support for the fascist regime).
Anton Giulio Bragaglia, Waving (Salutando), 1911
In 1944, the founder and ideological inspirer of futurism, Marinetti, dies. With his death, futurism also ceases to exist. Russian futurism began to disappear even earlier, in the late 1920s, with the establishment of Soviet power in Russia, and finally outlived itself with the death of Mayakovsky and the emigration of the main authors (nevertheless, futurism in Russia was more literary direction than picturesque). Authors who started with futurism joined other trends.
What did futurism bring to mankind? Outrageous and aggressive manner, characteristic of futurism, helped to popularize and glorify progress. Modern development art owes a lot to futurism: their merits include the liberation of poetry from the usual form, poetic performances, a new look at the image of movement, the fragmentation of speed. The denial of authority is always a search for something new, always an extension of the familiar view of the world. The search for new ideals and the creation of new norms helps humanity not to stand still, it helps to develop. And of course - the chanting of the “beautiful far away”, progress, the power of human thought, for this desire for an ideal world, special thanks to them.
From 2800 BC e. until 2300 BC e. in the Cyclades, thirty tiny islands in the Aegean Sea in Greece, a style defined as "Cycladic art" was born. Characteristic features of this style were predominantly female figures with slightly bent knees, hands folded under the chest, with flat heads. The dimensions of Cycladic art ranged from human-sized statues to small figurines, no more than a few centimeters in height. It is reasonable to assume that idolatry was very common.
Cycladic sculptures at the National Archaeological Museum of Athens
Cycladic idol
"Flute Player", National Archaeological Museum. Athens
"Violin", 2800 BC, British museum, London
Cycladic art has become a source of inspiration for many contemporary artists who appreciated the restraint and sophistication of simple lines and geometry, minimalism. The influence of Cycladic art can be seen in the works of Modigliani, especially in his sculpture "Female Head", as well as in the work of other artists, including Picasso.
Amedeo Modigliani, Head, 1910, National Gallery of Art, Washington
Cycladic figurine and Modigliani
Pablo Picasso, Woman, 1907, Picasso Museum, Paris
Giorgio de Chirico, Hector and Andromache
Henry Moore
Constantin Brancusi, Muse, 1912
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Hans Arp
Barbara Hepworth
Alberto Giacometti