Images constantly surround us in our everyday lives. Our eyes and brains are so saturated with visual information that we sometimes do not notice the power/influence images hold over us. Images/objects/monuments did not materialize out of thin air! They were created within particular cultures/societies and mirrored these societies’ concerns. Thus, almost all changes and/or developments in style and iconography reflect changes within a society political, social, religious. In looking at all the arts, in the world from the ancient times to the modern world it is clear that they have all portrayed something of importance at that time. Some examples of the arts that were made during the ancient times are Farnese Hercules, Achilles painter and warrior taking leave of his wife. The difference between the modern art and the ancient art is not that big because their meanings have some significant importance to the artist and the society or world.
Achilles painter is stated to be a vase painter that did most of his work during the 470-425 BC. The Achilles painter used Achilles as an inspiration for his artwork on the vases. In one of his artwork, it shows Achilles dressed in a leather corselet. The corselet was won over a tunic and was embellished with a gorgonian. The painting also shows that the corsolet was transparent. In the painting, Achilles is seen to be carrying a long spear. There is also a woman in the painting who was carrying a jug and had won a peplos. The painter was mimicking the traditional wear hat people at that time used to wear (Clark, Maya & Mary). It is also stated that he used the traditional painting styles from Athens and Berlin.
Farnese Hercules is a statue that was made resembling Hercules. This statue has been claimed to be made by Lysippus. This statue is one of the most famous monuments in the world. The monument gives people the image of Hercules a mythical hero that has been heard of through history. The description of the monument shows a nude Hercules who was leaning on his club using his left armpit. In the monument, Hercules was facing on the ground. The monument is stated to have been made with many emotions (Penny and Nicholas). In looking at the statue, it shows the skin of Hercules was made of the nemean lion. This was done in order to make people remember one of his first labors. On the back of the sculpture, there are the Hesperides apples. This indicated the twelve labors that he did, which were his last.
Warrior taking leave of his wife was an ancient artwork from Greece. The painting was done on vessels. It is stated that it has a white background compared to the other red figure technique that was used in the vessels. The color is also intensified in the painting. The artwork has simple shapes made on the vessel. This artwork was mostly given to people during funerals. When a person had died, it depicted a man who was leaving in order to go to battle. This image will represent the man that has been killed while on battle (Neveu). In the painting, the lines for the human beings, are stated to be very faint as well as the helmet and the shield. The patterns that were made on the painting of the vessels on the top and bottom of the painting are very heavy. The designs of the painting are unique in that it creates a picture on the mind of a person.
Some of the modern art come from the 20th century such as Les Demoiselles d’Avignon, I and the Village and spatialism. Les Demoiselles d’Avignon, which is also known as The Brothel of Avignon. This is one of the most well known paintings that were made using oil. Pablo Picasso first made the painting in 1907. In the portrait, there are five nude women were in Barcelona at a brothel. In the painting, the women appear to be menacing and their bodies seem to be disjointed. The portrait is considered to not be feminine at all. Three of the women in the painting had the facial features of the Iberian style that was in Spain (Rubin). The other two women in the painting had African mask-like features on their faces. This was considered racial primitivism of the artist. This was during a time where African slavery was very common. This was a depiction of the African style that people were introduced to by the African slaves.
Lucio Fontana first did spatialism in 1947. This type of artwork was done after the first and the second world wars had ended. The artwork synthesized movement, sound, color, time and space. This kind of artwork was very influential in that it caused other artists to copy it. Some of the artists who were influenced by this type of artwork were Ralf Nuhn and his wife Cecile Colle who founded the Cyber-Spatialism. They made a number of canvasses where the connectors of the computer were inserted in the artwork. This kind of artwork is looking at how the world is in the modern world. This is because people in the modern world tend to be dependent on the computer.
I and the Village is a painting that was done by Marc Chagall in Russia. In the art, it contains soft images that were overlapping one another. The description of the painting shows that there is a goat and a man who are faced towards each other and smiling while looking at each other. In the cheek of the goat, there is a woman who is milking a goat. On the background of the painting, there are a number of houses. There is also a man with a shovel and a woman who is upside down on the background of the painting. The man in the painting who is facing a goat his face is green wears a St. Andrews necklace. This shows that the man is a Christian. According to most reports, it has been stated that the painting was done in remembrance of the place where the artist was born and raised (Charlotte & Jeannen).
In conclusion, in looking at all the artwork that was done during the ancient times and the modern world. It is quite clear that in all the art there is a meaning to it that relates to the society and a particular culture. In the warrior taking leave from his wife, was mostly done as gifts during funerals. In the modern cyber-spatialism painting, it is usually done in order to represent the modern world where most people in the world mostly use computer. The major difference in the artwork of the ancient world and the modern world is the intensity of the colors, shape and movement of the painting and sculptures.
Work cited
Charlotte Douglas, Jeannene M. Przyblyski. I and the village: early works. Jewish Community Museum, 1987. Print
Clark, Andrew J, Maya Elston and Mary Louise Hart. Achilles Painter. Los Angeles: Getty Trust Publications, 2001. Print
Neveu, Ryan. Warrior taking leave of his wife (white-ground lekythos). Cengage Learning, Inc., 2011. Print
Penny, Francis and Nicholas Haskell. Taste and the Antique: The Lure of Classical Sculpture, 1500-1900. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1981. Print
Rubin, William. Les Demoiselles d'Avignon. MoMA, 1994. Print
