Spain 2º Bachillerato History of Art
Chapters: 4
1. Approaching Art History
Defining art · Artistic language and iconography · Art and architecture vocabulary · Tools for analysing artworks · Influences, continuities and breaks in art
- Philosophy of Art: What Is Art, and Why Does It Matter? – The philosophy of art (part of aesthetics) asks: what is art, what is beauty, is taste only personal, what makes a creator, and can art show truth? Answers have changed from "art copies nature" to "art expresses feeling" to "the idea is the art".
- Iconography: Genres, Functions, Symbols and Attributes in Art – To read an artwork, ask four questions. What kind of picture is it (genre: portrait, landscape, seascape, still life, genre scene, religious, mythological or history scene)? How close is it to reality (realistic → simplified → abstract)? What was it made for (function: sacred, funerary, commemorative, decorative, didactic, propaganda)? What do its objects mean (symbols, allegories and attributes)? Iconography is the study of these meanings: a trident, an owl or a set of keys tells you who a figure is.
- Art History: From Cave Walls to Today – People have made art for at least 40,000 years. Prehistoric art shows animals and hands on cave walls. Ancient civilisations made art for rulers, gods and the afterlife. Classical traditions arose in Greece and Rome, India, China, Africa and the Americas. The Renaissance brought perspective and realism; modern art (from about 1860) broke those rules; contemporary art uses any material. To appreciate any artwork, describe it, analyse its elements, interpret its meaning in its context, and judge why it works.
- Art Criticism: How to Look at and Judge Artworks – Art criticism is careful talk about art. A common method has four steps: describe what you see, analyse how the parts are arranged, interpret what it means or makes you feel, and judge its worth with reasons. Critics also look from different viewpoints (form, feeling, context) and use proper art words. The same method works for paintings, sculpture, buildings, dance, drama and film.
2. Art and its functions through history
Art as magic and ritual · Art as power and control · Art as propaganda · Didactic and religious art · Patronage and collecting · Art for progress and social critique · Art as a language of emotions · Art and technological progress
- Art History: From Cave Walls to Today – People have made art for at least 40,000 years. Prehistoric art shows animals and hands on cave walls. Ancient civilisations made art for rulers, gods and the afterlife. Classical traditions arose in Greece and Rome, India, China, Africa and the Americas. The Renaissance brought perspective and realism; modern art (from about 1860) broke those rules; contemporary art uses any material. To appreciate any artwork, describe it, analyse its elements, interpret its meaning in its context, and judge why it works.
- Art Patronage: Who Pays for Art, and Why It Matters – A patron is a person or group who pays for, orders or supports art. Through history the main patrons changed: temples and churches, kings and emperors, rich merchants and guilds, then an open market of dealers and buyers, and today museums, governments, foundations, companies and online fans. Patrons often chose the subject, size, materials and even colours, and used art to show faith, power, wealth or taste. Artists slowly gained more freedom as the market grew. Collectors, critics and writers about art also shape what is valued. Reading who paid for a work helps us understand why it looks the way it does.
- Art and Society: How Art Shapes the World Around Us – Art is not only something to hang on a wall. It is a language of feelings that people use to express what words cannot say. It can be individual, one person's view, or collective, made by and for a group, carrying a community's memory and identity through murals, folk art, songs and festivals. Art can point at problems and push for change, which is why it has often been censored; freedom of expression and its limits are still debated. Art also shows who holds power: who gets to make it, who is shown, and whether stereotypes are repeated or broken. Finally, art connects with every other field, from science and technology to music, dance and town planning. To understand a work in its society, ask: who made it, for whom, why, and what did it change?
- Art and Technology: How New Inventions Change Art – New technology has changed art again and again. The printing press (about 1450) let one image be copied many times, so art reached ordinary people. Paint in metal tubes (1841) let painters work outdoors. Photography (1839) took over the job of copying reality, so painting turned to colour, feeling and new ways of seeing. Cinema (1895) added time and motion. Computers (from the 1960s, common after 1980) made digital, internet and now AI art, where copies are free and works can react to viewers. Artists also use science: perspective (geometry), colour theory (light and the prism), new materials, and today 'artistic research' where art and science investigate together. Each new tool raises questions: what is original, who is the author, and what is art for?
3. Individual and social dimension of art
Art and individual identity · Art and collective identity · Representation of women in art · Women as artists
- Art and Society: How Art Shapes the World Around Us – Art is not only something to hang on a wall. It is a language of feelings that people use to express what words cannot say. It can be individual, one person's view, or collective, made by and for a group, carrying a community's memory and identity through murals, folk art, songs and festivals. Art can point at problems and push for change, which is why it has often been censored; freedom of expression and its limits are still debated. Art also shows who holds power: who gets to make it, who is shown, and whether stereotypes are repeated or broken. Finally, art connects with every other field, from science and technology to music, dance and town planning. To understand a work in its society, ask: who made it, for whom, why, and what did it change?
- Women in Art: Who Is Shown, and Who Made It? – Two different questions: how are women shown in pictures, and how many pictures were made by women? For centuries women were often the subject but seldom the maker, because schools, life classes and selling were closed to them. Women artists and groups changed this, and today we look at art with both questions.
4. Reality, space and territory in art
Art and reality; photography and cinema · Architecture and space · Painting and perspective · Urbanism as art · Art and the environment · Artistic heritage and museums
- Art and Technology: How New Inventions Change Art – New technology has changed art again and again. The printing press (about 1450) let one image be copied many times, so art reached ordinary people. Paint in metal tubes (1841) let painters work outdoors. Photography (1839) took over the job of copying reality, so painting turned to colour, feeling and new ways of seeing. Cinema (1895) added time and motion. Computers (from the 1960s, common after 1980) made digital, internet and now AI art, where copies are free and works can react to viewers. Artists also use science: perspective (geometry), colour theory (light and the prism), new materials, and today 'artistic research' where art and science investigate together. Each new tool raises questions: what is original, who is the author, and what is art for?
- Architecture: How Buildings Stand, Look and Feel – Architecture is the art and science of designing buildings and spaces for people. Every building must carry its load to the ground: by post and lintel, by the arch, vault and dome, or by a steel and concrete frame. Each age had its style: Egyptian, Greek and Roman, Byzantine, Romanesque, Gothic, Renaissance, and modern. Architects plan with drawings (plan, elevation, section), models and CAD, and design space, light and access so that places work and feel good for everyone.
- Perspective Drawing: Horizon, Vanishing Points and Shadows – Perspective drawing makes a flat page look deep. You draw a horizon line at eye level, then lines going away from you meet at vanishing points. Far objects are drawn smaller (size ∝ 1 ÷ distance). One-point perspective uses one vanishing point, two-point uses two. Shadows are found with two crossing lines.
- Urban Planning and the Quality of Urban Life – Urban planning means deciding in advance how land in a town or city will be used, where roads, homes, jobs, parks and services go, and how the place will grow. Without planning, cities sprawl over farmland, traffic jams grow and slums lack water and drains. Planners use land-use zoning, public transport, the right density and green space to raise the quality of life. They measure it with factors such as housing, jobs, clean air, services, transport and safety. Modern ideas include the liveable city, the 15-minute neighbourhood, smart cities and city branding. Villages and small towns are planned too, as a shared social task.
- Art and Nature: Plein Air, Land Art and Eco Art – Artists use nature in four ways: they paint it outdoors in changing light (plein air), frame it with a camera, build artworks in the landscape itself (Land Art), and make art that warns us about harm to nature or uses waste and natural materials in a sustainable way.
- Cultural Heritage – Cultural heritage is everything a community receives from the past, values today and wants to pass on: buildings and monuments, objects in museums, languages, music, dance, festivals, crafts, food and knowledge. Tangible heritage can be touched (immovable like temples and bridges, movable like coins and manuscripts); intangible heritage is lived and practised; natural heritage covers special landscapes and wildlife. Heritage gives identity, teaches history, brings income through tourism and links people across cultures. It is threatened by weathering, pollution, crowds, careless development, neglect and conflict, and is protected by conservation, laws, museums, heritage lists, education and local communities.