0.4: Introduction to Art History (1400-Present)

Acknowledgments

Art history studies culture and people’s development through time using multiple art disciplines. Visual arts are one of the oldest forms of communication between humans and the fundamental beliefs of their culture. The historical background of art history has been written from the canon of wealthy individuals from Western countries focusing on well-known art and artifacts in isolated environments. To become more culturally inclusive, the textbook is written to redefine art history by discussing art from every continent, civilization, and unknown artists and comparing different cultures that existed at the same time.

A special thanks to ASCCC and the OER RFP 3 team, who took a leap of faith, accepted our proposal, and believed in a new style of an art history textbook. Without the continual support of the ASCCCC, this book would still be a dream and not a reality. A special thanks to Shagundeep Kaur, our project manager, for supporting our OER textbooks and her ongoing encouragement.

“An individual has not started living until he can rise about the narrow confines of his individualistic concerns to the broader concerns of all humanity.” Martin Luther King

Credentials

Those Are My People

Art brings people together and has been since the beginning of time. It also has allowed civilizations and cultures to showcase who they are and help them identify with each other.

A student once exclaimed: "those are my people," as she read through the art textbook and discovered she recognized her culture in a textbook for the first time in her life. A student of a diverse ethnic background validated the need to change how art history is written and taught. Art history would reflect gender and cultural equity world.

This art history textbook is designed to change the concept of art from a European-Western perspective and to be inclusive, diverse, equitable, and anti-racist, providing a culturally responsive overview of art. The textbook includes other voices than the standard top European art found in most documentation. The textbook provides the interconnections in time sequences of the different societies to understand how the cultures, history, and art cross time, centuries, and geographic regions from ancient times to today. When the book was designed, diversity and equity were always at the forefront of the list of artists and civilizations. Students' transformative thinking occurs when they comprehend a perspective of world art history from the viewpoint of equity, and the students with historical ties to the regions see themselves and their cultures on the pages of the text.

All people are interested in history and how civilizations evolved through time; however, history is generally presented from a European perspective, frequently delegating the rest of the continents as unsophisticated places. Before computers, encyclopedias offered pages of antiquity and foreign sites we have yet to learn about. Today, art and art history are not just drawing or painting. The ceramic wheel and kiln taught us how to create pots, as people have been for over 100,000 years. Drawing and painting taught us skills, not unlike the cave painters, mixing pigment with water to create the desired consistency. Graphic design classes demonstrated how effective marketing and propaganda have occurred over thousands and thousands of years. Sculpting different materials allowed us to see first-hand how difficult it is to pour bronze in the lost cast molding techniques.

Today, most art history textbooks are confusing and not very engaging. A change was needed in how art history was taught, a textbook to support the time sequence of historical learning while also inclusive of more women and people of color. Today, the art history textbooks are set in two distinct halves; the first describes all the art from Europe, and the next half of the book skims over art from other countries, focused on a European/Western perspective. This perspective does not meet students' needs in the diverse state of California. This textbook, A World's Perspective of Art History: 1400 CE to Present, covers art integrated into history from a very diverse perspective. Each chapter is based on a time frame with a section for different cultural art or art movements occurring simultaneously. The book also focuses on female artists and artists of color who are frequently absent from art history books. 

Interconnections of History and Art

The interconnections of history and art are seen through human activities, discoveries, conflicts, and freedoms. Civilizations record their history through art as art delineates cultural achievements bringing permanence and life to history. Simple, local materials through complex manufactured supplies provide the mechanisms for artists to create. Using art to record civilizations' historical activities also displays the culture's values, restrictions, and freedoms. The interactions between localized countries expanded from the 1400s to the twenty-first century. These interactions defined history, and art became the historical record. 

The beginning of the 1400s and 1500s marked the emergence of Europe out of its dark ages into the time of exploration. Trade moved between Asian and European countries and northern Africa along different routes throughout earlier centuries, including the Silk Road. The rest of Africa and the Americas were populated with multiple civilizations that constructed extensive cultures; however, each continent was not incorporated into the historical foundations of Europe and Asia. In the early 1400s, European countries launched naval explorations to find new routes to India and Asia, leading to European invasions and colonization of coastal Africa and the destruction of the powerful royal kingdoms. China still maintained its independence and powerful economic position, producing goods for European markets. European art was also unchained in the 1400s with the start of the Renaissance. Major artists received commissions to create paintings and sculptures for the wealthy and religious, marking the beginning of a focus on European art as standards for centuries to come. In Mesoamerica, gold was the standard for artistic creations, a material that led to the destruction of their cultures in the following centuries through European invasions.

In the 1600s, China had a population of 450 million people forming the Qing Dynasty, which lasted for almost 300 years. They developed massive trade capabilities with manufacturing and transportation networks, expanding their trade with the Europeans. The royal throne controlled the economy and unified, unlike the European states. Chinese art and art standards were well developed and incorporated into everything they did, from writing to painting and manufactured goods. The moveable type printing press was invented in the 9^th century by Asia, while the printing press in Germany was invented in the 15^th century. European countries were generally still a collection of city/states with a few prominent, powerful places. At this time, the naval fleets for some countries were big and powerful as sailing technology now allowed them to traverse the oceans. Although ocean travel has occurred for thousands of years, major cross-ocean trade routes grew from the European explorations and their invasions of Africa and the Americas. The cultures in each continent used material from local plants and clay to the brilliance of gold for their art. However, as Europeans invaded, they took any art with gold. The standards of European art were brought to the new settlements, a standard imposed on the world and still prevails today.

By the 1700s, European influence and settlements were firmly established worldwide. Major ports were built in Africa and the Americas to support the slave trade and the resulting products. Europeans and their superior armament and unique diseases quickly exerted control over indigenous populations. Europeans did not consider art from invaded countries as "real" art. Art was melted, burned, confiscated, or otherwise destroyed, erasing much of the artistic representation of these indigenous people around the world. The European style of art began to influence local artists. For example, artists developed a Baroque style based on the European definition in Mexico while incorporating their cultural ideas. Portrait painting in the American colonies was founded on European methods of posing, backgrounds, and colors. Art in the Asian countries still maintained its identity during this century as European control was not entrenched yet.

In the 1800s, European colonization was firmly established, and the balance of power changed. People moved between continents, and the industrial revolutions brought massive social and economic changes. Power in Europe was now based on countries instead of city/states. The Russian Empire covered large parts of Asia and Europe with a third of the world's population. England's navy controlled the oceans for trade, and the British Empire ruled territory across the globe, including parts of Africa, Egypt, India, Canada, and port in China. America was independent, but its economy was based on slavery, leading to the American civil war. The industrial revolution created new art materials and freedom of movement for artists. They could now move outside, changing the use of light and color. In colonial Latin America, controlled by Spain, they established academies modeled on the European art style.  

By the 20^th Century, globalization was the economic engine as the world was connected through capital accumulation and industrial technologies. Some countries grew while others declined. A few European nations, Japan and the United States became significant economic powers. Scientific and technological advances were sophisticated and necessary for worldwide competition. This century also included two world wars, a great depression, and the redistribution of global power leading to a Cold War and the rise of Communism. Art also changed into movements throughout countries and globally. Modern art was no longer based on recognizable elements of people or landscapes. Modernism brought abstraction and fragmented images based on color, line, and dimension. By the 21^st century, a truly global world was created based on communication, transportation, and supply chain integration. Climate change is also changing the global environment as technology and miniaturization have altered our lives. Art also became global; techniques, methods, and materials were used worldwide. Female artists and artists of color have obtained more acceptance and integration into the art world: each chapter's introduction details more history and the integration of art in different historical periods.   

Changing the European/Western Perspective of Art

This textbook is inclusive, diverse, and equitable to provide a culturally responsive overview of art. The textbook includes other voices than the standard top European/Western art found in most documentation. The textbook also provides the interconnections in time sequences of the different societies to understand how the cultures, history, and art cross time, centuries, and geographic regions from ancient times to today. Diversity and equity are always at the forefront of the artist's lists and civilizations when the Table of Contents is created before research. Transformative thinking by students will occur when they comprehend a perspective of world art history from the viewpoint of equity and their historical ties to the regions seeing themselves and their cultures on the pages of the text.

The textbook meets and exceeds the new ASCCC OERI Resolutions (Spring 2022) 9.05 Developing an Anti-Racism, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Curriculum Audit Process for the Open Educational Resources Initiative. Most importantly, the text eliminates institutional discrimination, celebrates diversity, and removes inherent racism embedded in Art History textbooks. The CID designation of ARTH 120 still holds the title
Survey of Western Art from Renaissance to Contemporary indicates the support of discriminatory structures even today. This textbook dismantles structural discrimination for ARTH 120, provides a culturally responsive viewpoint for civilizations and artists worldwide, and includes equitable, diverse, and inclusive art of all groups, people, and ethnicities. These issues are found throughout the general art history books, presenting a distorted view of history and art with little identity for multi-ethnic students and leaving a large part of the world's cultural past – 'Missing.' 

We are a diverse society, and our community college population represents that diversity. This is a representative and inclusive textbook students can identify with based on ethnic experiences they possess, presented in a time sequence. The Art History ARTH 120 textbook includes multiple civilizations worldwide with a better distribution of art by men and women. Some art will be well known, and some of the writing is about art and cultures not usually included in the standard textbooks.

Diversity statistics from California Community Colleges (cccco.edu) demonstrate the requirements for diverse information and is defined as:

• With 1.8 million students at 116 colleges, the California Community Colleges is the largest higher education system in the country.
• Over 69 percent of California Community Colleges students have diverse ethnic backgrounds.
• 29 percent of the University of California and 51 percent of California State University graduates started at a California Community College.
• 47 percent of students do not pay any fees to attend college. The OER is playing a part in supporting them by providing open educational resources at no fees.

Teaching only the perception of the largest and most well-known cultures leaves out other civilizations' rich history and art. For students to understand how the art originated, modified, and transformed into different styles, knowledge must be constructed to know the sequential structures of history and relationships between cultures.

One of the book’s primary goals was to reduce today's stereotypes about different civilizations. Each civilization had artists, engineers, laborers, religious personnel, political rulers, farmers, and other careers. However, and unfortunately, the perception of art most people focus on is the White European art of the Gothic and Renaissance through modern times, still with a focus on European/Western art. The goal was to reduce the stereotypes of the European history writers who have sensationalized the religious practices of the other cultures as part of their move to colonize and convert the indigenous people to Christianity. Our textbook focuses on the broad civilization and the impact of different religions on its art.

Thriving civilizations created amazing pyramids and temples, developed complex societies with extensive trade routes, and created artwork using precious metals and woven textiles. However, these exciting societies are seldom documented in most art history books giving the illusion that each culture functioned independently instead of a global connection. In most textbooks, authors discuss each culture as an isolated civilization, independent and lacking time continuance with art and culture in chapter format. The textbook includes multiple societies existing in the same periods and compares those civilizations. How the civilizations lived, what kind of art they created, what materials they used, and how they interacted and traded are a large part of understanding art from many cultures. The textbook starts with a sequential timeline of the 15^th century and moves through the art movements of modern art, defining later artwork and processes. Each chapter addresses a specific time sequence by centuries and then decades providing a snapshot of the people and art in those periods.

Enjoy the journey…

Understand the Timeline of Art Using BCE and CE

Over time, ancient civilizations calculated and wrote about the passing of time differently than we do today. In Mesopotamia and Egypt, they based the calendar upon the king or the seasons set by their various gods. In Rome, time was counted from the founding of Rome and changed periodically by rulers. In Mesoamerica, the Aztec Calendar was used by the Pre-Columbian people, a 365-day calendar defining a century as 52 years long and based on the sun, a sacred symbol. Since time was established thousands of years ago by many different cultures, one specific system is not used.

In the 6th century, Dionysius Exiguus, a Christian monk, established the Anno Domino (AD) and Before Christ (BC) as the reference date for the year zero in Europe based on the tenets of Christianity. Other religions also developed their calendars, and some are still used today. The scholarly alternative to the current Christian designation for time is Before the Common Era (BCE) and Common Era (CE). It has been adopted by academic and scientific publications and studies to emphasize secularism and inclusiveness. The new designation removed the specific religious title from the calendar; instead, the new naming convention is more meaningful across the globe.

Scholars have readily adopted the new BCE/CE designation for communication and modernizing a worldwide standard. Today, many cultures use a dual calendar designation, the BCE/CE standard, and their historical calendars. This textbook uses BCE and CE as a contemporary designation for all cultures worldwide. For example, if art were discussed from Mesopotamia 5,000 years ago, it would state "in Mesopotamia, 3,000 BCE…". If discussing Gothic art, it would state, "Gothic art, 1342 CE, the architectural style…". Using BCE for all dates to the year zero and CE for all the dates after year zero is a simple clarification.

All dates, regardless of calendars, are based upon estimations since no one is sure when the year zero started. We are into the 2020th year now and cannot change the system to begin at a new date, and it would cause chaos in the computer systems. Year 2K was enough of a coding problem just moving from the 1900s to 2000, let alone moving the world to a new date.

“You cannot understand the art without understanding the culture.” - Gustlin