Art time context and culture essay examples

Artists and art historians have recently staked their claim to offer distinctive perspectives on the dynamics of culture, time, and context in art. Culture agglomerates and shapes different forms of arts, materials, and meaning of the production of pieces. The same applies to time and context. Art scholars examine the ways in which art forms are inscribed in the culture and timeframe therein. This paper explores the relationship between time, art, and culture using the case studies of Egyptian art, Greek art and Roman art. At the end of the paper, we would have demonstrated how culture, time and context shapes the meaning of art and how the understanding of styles and symbols over time and across geographical spans.

Arts and culture help reveal and augment the fundamental identity, unique sense, value, and quality of the corporeal and social form of a society. The identity shaped by art is reflected through the community’s character or sense of place. This reflection is not static but evolves over time to absorb the changes that comes in the social values in the community. Artwork therefore, serves as the custodian of these changes. Artwork not only preserves the old identity but also manifest that changes that comes with time. Art is like a narrative (Hudson, and Noonan-Morrissey, 2001). To understand this concept, we start by examining how the time, culture, and context influenced the art of Egyptians.

No art form attracts attention like the early Egyptian art. Many scholars agree that the Egyptian civilization was the pinnacle of man’s journey to modernity. From the Egyptian art, we can tell that early Egypt was full of color and dazzling beauty. We can also tell the surrounding and environment of early Egypt. Under the blue sky were the Nile River and its banks surrounded with red orange earth and golden sand and the green grass. By studying Egyptian art, we can discover how people lived, worked and their beliefs in life. In early Egyptian art, the context of the Nile, desert environment, and the geographical position influenced the choice of materials that were used in the art. This is the reason why most Egyptian arts are brown, with a texture akin to the sand. The pyramids also show this proof because of its texture. The Egyptian art was also rich with symbolism and religious rituals. The artwork was very much influenced with desire to honor dead and prepare them for the afterlife (Hodge, 2006).
Greek art has also been influenced by time, culture, and context. Scholars classify Greek art in five distinct styles accruing from the time. These include early classical period, the late classical period, archaic period and the Hellenistic period. Throughout these periods, Greek art was influenced with time, context, and culture (The FreeDictionary, 2012). In the early Minoan civilization and the Mycenaean civilization, Greece developed a complex and delicate art forms. During this time, Greece was bombarded by invasions from different groups. These invasions not only shaped the form of art produced but also influenced the development of hybrid styles. Greece embraced linear patterns that replace curvier patterns that were present in Greece art before. During the early classical period, Greek art took the form of two dimensional style patterns present in the ceramics and pottery work. In the archaic period, Greek art took the form of sculptures. Sculptural art became the symbol of Greek culture and art showing the different values that Greek people had. One of the most powerful symbols of the sculptures was the representation of power, prestige, and knowledge. The building of sculpture triumphed over other art forms until Greek artist begun to find aesthetic balance between verisimilitude and abstraction in art. By the time of late classical period, Greek art took the form of emphasis on expression and emotions. This arose out of the constraints that the Greeks were facing as result of the falling empire. When Alexander the Great took over, Greek culture had lost its originality and the increasing Roman influence became pervasive in Greek art (Walters, 1908).
Roman art is conventionally viewed as an offshoot of the Late Greek art. For many scholars, Roman art is a continuation of the Greek precedent. Still, modern art scholars have argued that Roman art is a synchronization of Greek art and a hybrid of its own kind. Roman art combines the art forms from Egypt, Greece and to some extent.

Roman arts provide a wide ray of themes ranging from animal life, still scene and everyday life. In some cases, Roman arts depict mythological subjects. During the late Hellenistic period at the dusk of Greek empire, the Roman art evoked the pleasures of the rural life in the countryside representing scenes of shepherds, herds, landscapes, and country houses. Roman art had a different form of moral standards; this explains why the art is full of eroticism and sexual images. However, as Christianity became prevalent in the Roman society, eroticism and sexual art forms were banned demonstrating the influence of culture, context, and time in art.
Roman art also celebrated strengths, conquest, and exploration. This is the reason several roman sculptures depict masculinity as a virtue and the strength of man and horse as a combination of triumph. Because of the Roman’s value for power and conquest, the art form reflect the thought in the society. War heroes were celebrated with statues and fixed art forms. Beautiful women were also depicted in art and celebrated.

Works Cited

Hodge, Susie. Ancient Egyptian Art. New York: Heinemann-Raintree Classroom, 2006. Print.
Hudson, Suzanne, and Nancy Noonan-Morrissey. The Art of Writing About Art. New York: Wadsworth/‌Thomson Learning, 2001. Print.
Roman art: Some of its Principles and their Application to Early Christian . New York: W. Heinemann,, 1900. Print.
TheFreeDictionary. “ Greek art,” TheFreeDictionary. N. p., n. d. Web. 8 June 2012..
Walters, Henry Beauchamp. Greek Art. New York: Methuen & Co., 1908. Print.