Art History

From earliest prehistoric times man has sought to represent his world and his view of the world and life. He may not have thought of his prehistoric cave drawings as art but the drawings that were etched into stone and cave walls representing the day’s hunt could are certainly considered art today. The Venus of Willendorf drawn in the Paleolithic period depicts a round womanly shape with distinct features in three dimensions.

The story of art history is not a single story but multiple parallel stories. It’s not a simple tale and that’s why there are so many scholars that have devoted lifetimes to the study of the art of one particular age, one particular country, or one particular culture or one particular artist. This article can only give the briefest glance at this magnificent story. But if something in particular sparks your interest check out the resource links. You might find just what you are looking for.

Greek art history is a combination of religious and secular drives producing some of the most admired sculpture and architecture of all time. The Mycenaean culture existed parallel to the Roman culture, in the same land, but didn’t really intermingle. During the Mycenaean period there was development of decorative vessels. They created the beehive tomb and their goldsmiths and potters are famous even today for their artistic creations.

From around 1025-700 BC simple lines and bands evolved into people, animals and mythical creatures. This gave way to depictions of deities, sculptures, and architectural embellishments. With the dawning of Christianity and its spread over the entire continent monks’ use of illumination to embellish sacred texts spread. The Book of Kells, one of the most famous illuminated volumes of history is on display at Trinity College in Dublin, Ireland. Thousands of visitors a year come to view the beautiful illuminations. It was originally kept at the Kells monastery in the care of Celtic Monks that created this masterpiece of Western Calligraphy c. 900 AD.

The story of art history is the sprawling story of civilization and the imagination and vision of countless artists. It’s a story that’s almost impossible to grasp in huge chunks but better savored bit by rich bit. The study of one small piece of art history leads to a greater appreciation. Pick out a period, artist, school or movement and study it in greater depth. Look to the resource links on this site and elsewhere. Many of the riches of art history that often in years gone by required extensive travel are readily accessible to you through the Internet.

Art Prints

Today’s fine art prints have made great advances over the past several years. New technologies can produce prints that can closely copy the color, vibrancy, and detail of the of the original.

Art prints are an economical way to introduce fine art into your life and your living space. You can have a sampling of work from famous artists like Monet, Picasso, Leonardo, and Van Gogh - paintings that are hanging in museum galleries throughout the world - in the comfort of your own home.

With the affordability of these art prints, you can even change the artist and color scheme whenever you feel like sprucing up a room. The richness and the depth of the colors that you can enjoy in todays art prints posters is really amazing. Art prints are available on a variety of media as well, you don’t have to just choose from glossy, semi-gloss or matte, you can have a print that has been sprayed directly onto a canvas to give your art prints a real fine art feel.

If you are looking for a way to give the gift of fine art to your family and friends, set the mood in a study or library, or give your children their first experience in the appreciation of fine art in everyday life, then fine arts prints are an excellent way to go.

Art Schools

The number of different ways and opportunities to gain an art education has exploded in recent years. Long gone are the days where the primary way budding artists connected with training was those matchbook covers asking whether you wanted to be an artist.

Some art schools, such as the Savanna College of Art and Design, feature distance learning, or eLearning, programs whereby you can study a wide range of art specialties, such as Interior Design or Illustration, from where you sit. Savanna College of Art and Design would obviously offer a much greater selection of classes for those that visited the physical campus like Advertising Design, Architecture History, Urban Design, Metals and Jewelry, and even Interactive Design and Game Development, but that art training is available via distance learning is an exciting notion.

If you are planning on working in a creative environment, then art training should be part of your plans. Art training exposes you to a much larger number styles, methods, and techniques so you have a much deeper pool of skills and resources to draw from. Training is one way to speed up your path tp the artistic expression of artistic career you desire.