Greek Art

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Greek Art
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What is the common theme/subject?
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Central Theme

• Human beings were central to Greek culture
• Gods had human forms (unlike the combo gods of
  the Greeks)
• Wanted to create the perfect individual by
  creating a perfect balance of intellectual and
  physical discipline. (Intellectual physical
  perfect individual)
• Human Body beautiful, perfectly balanced and
  harmonious.
• Focal Point of most of their painting and
  sculpture.
• Proportion, balance and unity were the driving
  force of many of the Greeks achievements in art,
  architecture, math, science, philosophy, and
  poetry.

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Timeline
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Archaic PeriodGreek Vase Paintings are the only
Greek paintings that exist today. Told stories
about Gods and heroes of Greek myth
Warfare PartiesFrom 600 BC 530 BC Black
Figured Style black figures stood out against a
reddish clay background. (the artist scratched in
details with a needle to expose the red beneath
the black.From 530 ? Red Figured Styleblack
background, reddish figures, with details painted
in black.
Amphora of Exekias Depicted is Achilles and Ajax
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Egyptian Sculpture vs. Greek Sculpture
Early Greek sculptures were stylized, similar to
the Egyptians, and were limited to rigid standing
sculptures of young men and women.
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A sculpture of a young man was called a
KOUROS.1. Life-size freestanding nude youth
represented either Apollo or an ideal
athlete.2. Figures were stylized.3. Did not
represent real people. 4. Figures face forward
to the front. 5. The mouth slightly smiles it
is called an Archaic smile.6. Hair is stylized
into small ringlets that fall in a blocky mass to
the shoulders.7. Both arms are held stiffly at
their sides.8. Left leg is slightly forward.
Statue of a Youth, Kouros, about 600 BC
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A sculpture of a young woman was called a
KORE.1. Freestanding clothed figure of an ideal
young girl.2. Painted, like most Greek
sculptures, to appear more natural.3. Slight
folds of cloth4. Long Braided Hair5. Archaic
smile
Peplos Kore, about 530 BC
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Classic PeriodPeriod of peace when the arts
flourished. Greek artists were free to experiment
with different forms of art as long as they
worked toward the common goal of beauty and
harmony.Greek artists began to move away from
the restricted stylized way of portraying people.
Instead they began sculpting what they saw and
observed rather than creating idealized forms of
memory.
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He stands in a natural way AND can support his
own weight! His back leg is not bound to a block
for balance. Openings are seen between arms and
side. (The figure used to be supported by part of
the original stone block from which it was
carved.)
Contrapposto1.The right hip drops down and
inward.2.The knee of the forward leg is lower
than that of the other leg.3.The weight rests
on the left leg.4.Slight S-curve of the body
causes a subtle sense of movement.
Kritios Boy, about 480 BC
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The Charioteer of Delphi is an example of how
artists experimented with different media.
This figure is cast in bronze and is the earliest
of the few remaining Greek bronzes. This was an
art that was lost and not found again until much
later.
Charioteer of Delphi, about 470 BC
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Hellenistic Period More concerned with action
and emotion.Example Dying Gaul, circa 230-220
BCA Roman copy of a Greek bronze. It is
life-size and shows the struggle of a wounded man
about to die. There is agony in the pose and in
the face of the warrior. Death seems very real
and not as heroic as it might have been shown
several centuries earlier.
Dying Gaul, circa 230-220 BC
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Nike of Samothrace, about 190 BCThe symbol of
Winged Victory, her wings are spread out because
she would have been on the front of a ship.The
force of the wind whips her drapery
demonstrating the Greek artists grasp of
creating realistic folds.
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Old Market Woman, 2nd Century BC demonstrates
that Greek art is no longer about perfectly
beautiful and ideal beings, rather replicating
reality.