英语阅读材料History of Art.docVIP

Unit 10 History of Art Art has always reflected the people who create it. Artists have created art works of themselves and others for many reasons, including explaining their ideas, revealing their emotions, the portryal of gods and glorifying their heroes. Some artists, such as Joy Hester, have approached their art in a personal, subjective way, revealing their innermost fears and feelings. Others have explored the personality and character of individuals, as in the work of Dobell. Picasso and Matisse have used people as subject matter in order to experiment—to explore their ideas and theories on art. We can trace the subtle changes in the Christian religion by comparing how people are painted in the religious works of Giotto and Tintoretto. Jill Orr, a contemporary artist, uses her own body to perform the art work. Even with the influence of technology on art, the figure is still an image used by artists, whether it is on a video screen or manipulated by the computer. The artist continues to show curiosity about self and other people through art. Polykleitos belonged to the Classical style of Greek art, often called the “Golden Age” of Greek art. At this stage the Greek sculptors achieved mastery over all technical aspects of sculpture. They created relaxed figures of ideal physical beauty and correct anatomy. The sculptures thus appear perfected or idealized. Polykleitos developed a system or rule for representing the human body. His rule was that the head should be one-seventh of the figure’s height. The foot should be three times the length of the palm of the hand. The length of the leg from the foot to the knee and the distance between the knee and the centre of the abdomen should be six times that of the palm of the hand. The figures often had their weight more on one foot, thus raising one hip and dropping a shoulder (an S-bend). When this weight shift causes a slight turn to the body it is generally termed contrapposto. This technique was later