History of Art From the British Museum - Essay Example

Visual Arts Introduction Visual Arts are objects of art that naturally can be seen. They includecarvings, paintings, drawings, photography, and filmmaking, among others. Visual arts can be used to present an event that existed in history to the current world. Artists used to describe their works by giving titles to them, adding dates and time they were created. Histories of art can be accessed in museums, which act as appropriate sources of information regarding many forms of art. The essay that follows focuses on works of art from the British Museum and answers questions regarding works of visual art. The British Museum is a house of art that houses a wide collection of world art and artefacts free to all visitors. Giovanni Antonio Canaletto drawing of London at around 1751 Image Location: http://www.britishmuseum.org/images/ps355425_m.jpg The picture shows a favorite eighteenth century view of London from high ground. The cathedral is the tallest building in the drawing, as it is seen high in the sky. The middle ground on the right hand edge of the picture presents a building with its walled forecourt, which the artist calls The Founding Hospital at the north of the tow. These make the landmarks of the town among the mass of smaller buildings surrounded by a number of parish churches. The fact that the drawing served as a model for the engraver explains the careful outlines and the slightly labored appearance of the drawing. Although the artist’s characteristic of penwork is evident in the free drawing of the plants in the foreground, which brings out the liveliness of sketches and drawings which represented a finished work. The visual evidences the artist presents about London are evident in the drawing. Even the color used represents the period during which the drawing was made. Lucas Van Leyden’s Copperplate Engraving of Christ Presented to the People Image Location: http://www.britishmuseum.org/images/ps141709_m.jpg The engraving shows a group of people gathering in a crowd, with some holding swords. The picture shows dressing codes of people during the era when Jesus was crucified. The buildings too represent palace buildings of the time. To bring out the presentation of the time, the artist has used linear perspective to create a detailed sequence of space between multifaceted and magnificent buildings (Griffiths 1510). The background of the engraving shows a clear appearance of clouds, which show the sky background of any good work of art. This work of art also shows the characteristics of a good picture in the way the grounds are arranged. The foreground, middle ground and the back ground all show differentiated arrangement of views. The sizes of the buildings differ according to the grounds. The engraving is clearly a representation of the period brought out by the artist. Thomas Gainsborough‘s watercolor of A cart Passing along a winding road Image Location: http://www.britishmuseum.org/images/ps219472_m.jpg The image according to its title shows people with a cart journeying on a road with trees depicting a windy weather. These are visually evident characteristics of the image. The artist has used paint to bring out the theme of the picture in the drawing. The watercolor paint used over black chalk heightened with white bodycolor brings the light and shade, which are the most noticeable features in the picture (Royalton-Kisch 1999). The light pool brings illumination to the road, the horses, and gaps appearing between the trees. The picture shows a clear image of nature as the title depicts. The artist brings out work of landscape artists who can make a good representation of landscape. Wenceslaus Hollar drawing View of The Tower of London Image Location: http://www.britishmuseum.org/images/ps219443_m.jpg The picture, as is visual has a ship in the foreground, in the middle foreground are small boats and at the background is the tower. This drawing was made in pen and brown ink with watercolor over black lead. The foreground shows three-masted ship with English flag of St. George’ s Cross, which was a custom for merchant ships (Stainton and White 1987). The small boats row up the river as a reminder of how the river was used for transporting goods and people. The artist wanted to bring out the views of London, which were to be sold in the English market. There are suggestions that the artist’s drawing influenced other artists like Canaletto, an Italian artist who made a landscape drawing of London a year later. Wax Model of the Laocoon Image Location: https://www.britishmuseum.org/images/ps357419_m.jpg The group shows a Laocoon, a Trojan prince and priest of Apollo and his two sons. According to the legend, they tried to stop the Trojans from opening the city gates to Greek’s gift of a wooden horse, but snakes killed them. The model is a copy of a late Greek marble group rediscovered in Rome in January 1506. Pope Julius II brought it to be displayed in the Belvedere with other sculptures to which represented Greek idealistic art’s essence. It ranked as one of the finest surviving sculptures for the ancient world for several centuries. Copies of different sizes and media, often bronze of the sculpture were made, but the date and for whom this wax copy was made are unknown. Thomas Hollis brought it to the British museum in May 1758. The sculpture is a fair copy of the sculpture described by Pliny the Elder. Pliny describes in is “History of our Times” a father and two sons, which he says to have written about it in a whole volume, when speaking in his epistle to T. Vespasian (Pliny 2008:20). Mary Beard and John Henderson face the challenge of deciding on the date of the Laocoon because it is not clear when the sculpture was made. There are also uncertainties about the position of the middle raised right hand, and whether it is a copy or it is an original work of Art. Understanding these aspects would help the authors agree on dating the sculpture because it would be easy to trace the period following transitions in periods of Greek and Roman arts. Factors involved in trying to date the statue include the differences in Greek and Roman art, and the differing periods in which the arts existed. 1. Differences in Greek and Roman art The Fourth and fifth century B.C Greek artists acquired a manner of representing life vitality and sense of permanence, harmony, and clarity in their art. For example, Polykleitos of Argos was famous for formulating a system of proportions that acquired this artistic effect and gave allowance for others to do its reproduction. However, the bronze material used in sculpturing could not survive for long, but one of his sculptural works survives in numerous antique marble copies. Bronze has tensile strength and an appealing beauty, which caused artists to use it for creating freestanding statuary. The middle of the fifth century made a golden age in Greece where significant achievements were made in Attic vase painting. The red-figure technique replaced black-figure technique, and with this advancement, great changes were made in displaying the human body, whether, in motion or at rest or naked or clothed (Beard and Henderson 2001). These classical expressions lasted for a short time, but can help gauge the date the Laocoon was sculpted because it occurred during the Persian Wars between 490 and 479 B.C. On the other hand, while Greek artists invented original works of art, the Roman artists made an imitation of Greek art and decorated it. In other words, Roman art is an imitation of Greek original art. The two differed because the goal of Greek art was to fabricate an ideal artistic form while the Roman artists aimed at creating realistic portraits mainly for decoration. 2. The Difference in Period of Art In the 8th century B.C, artists produced ceramic vessels as grave markers. The original decorations of these works had repeated angular patterns, which gave it the name Geometric art period. Greek art had another period called the archaic period. This existed between 700 to 500 BC where the two major arts of the time were vase-painting and sculpture. The archaic vase-painting is the black-figure painting technique. There was also the classical period of Greek art, which started at the beginning of 5th century BC. Just as its name suggests, it made the golden age in Greek art with advancement from black-figure to red-figure. The last period in Greek art was the Hellenistic period which began around 330 BC with Alexander the Great’s conquests. During this time Greek art and culture stretched to other lands with more active and intense sculptures of groups engaging in violent activities. Roman art Pompeii period continued the trends of Greek Hellenistic period with multi-figure groups with great detail and emotional intensity. Most of Roman important artworks were discovered in or around the famous city of Pompeii. However, the Romans were skilled at mosaic and could make attractive pictorial scenes from minute colored stone pieces. It became hard for authors to date the Laocoon because of these differences in Roman and Greek art periods. The other challenge was that most of Roman art was an imitation of Greek art, and it made it difficult to differentiate between Hellenistic works, roman works copied from Greek, and the original Roman works. Difference it brings on our understanding of the statue According to the British Museum, the red wax Laocoon is a copy of the Greek sculpture named the Laocoon group. This is a knowledge that people have about the sculpture. Although the date of the art is uncertain, the original Greek marble statue is in display at Vatican Museum where it stands at a height of two and a half metres. The copy at the British Museum is only 45 centimetres in height. The differences in periods of arts and difference in the arts in particular bring difference on the knowledge that exists about the Laocoon. The argument on the different types of arts in history brings doubts on the knowledge on Laocoon. Arguing in relation to archaic period, which involved advancing in black-figure painting, the knowledge on origin of the Laocoon is compromised because people are left to ask whether it was advancement from the original images before the archaic period. Likewise, the classical period of Greek art changes the existing knowledge on the origin of the sculpture. It leaves people to wonder whether the Laocoon was originally a black-figure or the red-figure is its original look. The Hellenistic period brings change on the knowledge on Laocoon because Greek art during this period spread and mixed with other lands’ cultures. It mixed with Roman art at Pompeii, where the trends from this period continued in Roman art with emotionally intensified multi-figure groups. People with knowledge on Laocoon as being an origin from Greek art are bound to change because it becomes difficult to understand whether the Laocoon is a Hellenistic period Greek work, a Roman copy of Greek work or it is an original Roman art work. In summary, changes in periods of Greek and Roman art and changes in the type of art bring changes to the knowledge people have on the origin of the Laocoon. Conclusion Work of art has a long history of change. The British Museum makes a good source of this history. The origin of the Laocoon rests in the minds of people to be from Ancient Greek works of art. However, the changes in periods of art have affected this knowledge and implanted changes and questions on whether it is Greek or Roman work. Although Roman art is termed as an imitation of already invented works, it is difficult to differentiate its works from Greek works of art. Many works of art present in various periods portrayed activities of the time. For example the essay has found that Hellenistic period of art existed during the start of conquests of Alexander the great, where artists painted and made drawings of people in violent activities. Bibliography Beard, M., and Henderson, J. 2001. Classical art: From Greece to Rome. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Pp 72-74 Canaletto, G.A. 1751. Drawing of London. Available from: http://www.britishmuseum.org/explore/highlights/highlight_objects/pd/g/giovanni_antonio_canaletto,_vi.aspx [Accessed on 17 October, 2013] Griffiths A. 1510. (ed.), Landmarks in print collecting: London: The British Museum Press. Available from: http://www.britishmuseum.org/explore/highlights/highlight_objects/pd/l/lucas_van_leyden,_ecce_homo.aspx [Accessed on 17 October, 2013] Pliny (the Elder.) 2008. Pliny's Natural History. In Thirty-seven Books. Philemon Holland translation: Club. Pp 20 Royalton-Kisch, M. 1999. The light of nature: landscape: London: The British Museum Press. http://www.britishmuseum.org/explore/highlights/highlight_objects/pd/t/thomas_gainsborough,_a_cart_pa.aspx [Accessed on 17 October, 2013] Stainton, L. and White, C. 1987. Drawing in England from Hillia: London: The British Museum Press. Available from: http://www.britishmuseum.org/explore/highlights/highlight_objects/pd/w/hollar,_tower_of_london.aspx [Accessed on 17 October, 2013] Read More

 

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