When it comes to art, the word that many people can associate with is "beauty", and it seems to be human nature to perceive beauty, but where this beauty comes from, and further, it is difficult to explain.
In the inherent thinking of ordinary people, art is often unattainable, unblasphemous, obscure and incomprehensible, and ordinary people will be ridiculed when discussing it casually. The British art historian Gombrich said: "As long as we firmly remember that the name art is used in different periods and places, the things referred to will be very different, as long as we understand in our hearts that there is no art in capital letters at all, then it does not hurt to call all the above work art." ”
An artist in the West once said to Gombrich: "I have always thought that art history is to artists what ornithology is to birds." "That is to say: birds do not understand ornithology at all. Art historians can say whatever they like, and it has nothing to do with the artist himself.
In the book The Story of Art, in the first sentence of the book's opening introduction, Gombrich discusses the relationship between art and the artist, saying, "There is no such thing as art, only the artist." In fact, this is an important point that Gombrich wanted to make when he wrote this book.
The Story of Art
The Story of Art is regarded as a classic. Many people are fascinated by the structure and writing that Gombrich presents in this book. The reason why the vast majority of readers love this book is that, unlike other art books, this book brings us closer to art. In this book, Gombrich tells the knowledge in the book in an approachable tone.
Compared to another art book, Gardner' History of World Art, The Story of Art is obviously more subjective because it contains many of Gombrich's own unique insights into art. Therefore, some readers who have seen it say that this is like a bowl of noodles with peppers, and people who like to eat spicy will especially like it, and people who do not like spicy will be very indifferent.
In this book, Gombrich uses a theoretical framework to connect the art history of different eras, each chapter tells the story of the artist, and each story points you to a way forward. In this history, there has always been a problem, that is, the contradiction between "seeing" and "feeling".
We often say that "art comes from life", but is art just a copy of reality? I'm afraid it's not so one-sided. Through this book, Gombrich tells us: "The whole history of the development of art is not the history of the development of technical proficiency, but the history of changes in ideas and requirements." ”
See and know
In Egypt, early sculptures were made to preserve the human soul and thus gain eternal life. In the service of the theme of immortality, works of art are always sacred and serious, and it is difficult to tolerate innovative concepts, but to imitate ancient styles to the extreme.
Thus we see paintings of the pharaohs with uniform sides, frontal eyes, a sound upper body, and two left feet on the sides. "The most important thing at that time was not whether it looked good or not, but whether it was complete or incomplete." The painter only wants to express the characteristics of all parts as clearly and comprehensively as possible.
However, with the change of the times, they no longer blindly copy reality, they have added their own thoughts and feelings to the works of art, which has also accelerated the development of all aspects of art technology.
From about 500 AD to 1000 AD, nearly 500 years. In the midst of migration, war and frequent upheavals, many different artistic styles collided and contradicted each other, bringing great changes to the art field.
The splendor of the Classical period made the Roman Empire the center of world culture. This period of art, from the Classical period to the Revival period, is called "Gothic". In terms of painting, medieval artists began to focus on expressing "what they felt" in their paintings, unlike the Egyptians who painted what they "knew" and the Greeks who painted what they "saw".
The Renaissance of the 16th century took art to a whole new level.
At that time, Leonardo da Vinci invented the "method of hermitage", that is, to achieve the effect of change and mystery by drawing the outlines of the figures less clearly, as if disappearing into the shadows. Michelangelo Bonarotti, as the representative of the highest peak of Renaissance sculpture art, reached its peak in mastery of the human body.
Titian Vecellio's ability to master color rivals Michelangelo's mastery of sketching, ignoring any rules of composition and relying on color to restore the dismantled whole, and his portraits also reveal a simple, easy atmosphere, full of vitality. At the same time, artists in northern Italy are also looking for bold innovations. Antonio Allegri's painted church ceilings and vaults make it feel like the ceiling has been opened, all the way up to see the glory of heaven.
And such a period has also led to a bottleneck in the development of art. Because after such a prosperous Renaissance, both from the scientific point of view of painting, the angle of human body texture, and the angle of color application have reached an almost perfect realm, subsequent artists consciously cannot find other breakthroughs in development.
At that time, due to the Reformation, many Protestants opposed the painting and statues of saints in the church, which caused most painters to lose their main source of income and instead accept only illustration, portraiture and other work. Like Joshua. Artists such as Reynolds began to cry: "The true painter is not committed to pleasing mankind with the fine beauty of his works, but must be committed to promoting human progress with the sublimeness of his ideals." ”
Feeling and expressing
The period for the artists soon arrived, and the Paris-centered revolution of the 19th century gave "Impressionism" a resounding victory.
At that time, portable cameras and stories emerged in the same era, which opened up new ground for art, because artists had to explore art that photography could not imitate. At the same time, Japanese color prints became popular, and they were more willing to appreciate the world from the perspective of accidents and program violations.
Claude Monet, who found that when we look at nature, we see not objects of their own color, but a bright mixture of colors in our eyes and in fact in our minds. This new perception allowed him to create the classic Impressionist painting "Impression: Sunrise". Since then, this school of artists has also been called "impressionists".
Impressions: Sunrise
The beginning of art nouveau further opened the door to feeling, and on the basis of "Impressionism", artists began to innovate further.
Paul Cézanne found that when the Impressionists concentrated on the fleeting moments, the sense of disorganization of the picture also appeared, just as difficult as breaking the rigidity of the layout after the discovery of perspective to restore balance and harmony. He ended up using both the Impressionist method and maintaining the sense of order and balance that characterized Poussin's art, thus allowing his work to acquire solid and enduring shapes.
During the same period, Vincent van Gogh discovered that Impressionism had completely succumbed to their visual impression, believing that art was in danger of losing its intensity and passion by seeking nothing but the optical nature of light and color. Thus, he created an art of innocence that, while distorting objects when necessary, directly conveys an uplifting emotion that gives joy and comfort to all. The "Starry Moon Night" he created is still difficult to surpass.
Starry Night
On the basis of the predecessors, the style of expressionism intensified. Experimental art also began in the first half of the 20th century.
Expressionists are deeply aware of human suffering, poverty, violence and passion, and believe that the previous style of pursuing beauty is inevitably hypocritical. Eduard Munch's Scream, Kaisser Kollwitz's Demand, and Emile Nord's The Prophet all convey strong expressiveness in a simplified way.
Vasily Kandinsky, who emphasized the psychological effects of pure color, thought that bright red color moved us like a trumpet. The first works he exhibited attempting to create color music pioneered what came to be called "abstract art". Pete Mond's most famous composition of red, black, blue, yellow, and gray is also eager to reflect the objective laws of the universe through clear and regular art.
Composition of Red, Black, Yellow and Gray
To this day, we are still exploring the field of "abstract art". Until now, the story of art has also come to an end.
Picasso said something like this: "I can paint as well as Raphael at the age of 14, but I have painted all my life to paint like a child." Henry Matisse said something similar, and they all wanted to get rid of the shackles of technique and theory, to feel purely like a child, to paint.
Gombrich said that the ideas that we outsiders are usually anxious about, that is, the ideas of beauty and expression, are rarely talked about by artists. The question they worry about is simply whether it is "appropriate" or not. We are not them, but we talk about their works of art, and the answers and theories we want to talk about are exactly what they are trying to get rid of. At this point, I think the answer to artistic questions like "seeing" and "feeling" is no longer important.