He begins the book saying that there is no good or bad art and asks the question ‘’which work of art is not?’’
Gombrich states ‘’The trouble with beauty is that tastes and standards of what is beautiful vary so much.’’
His book is very thick and heavy but it is very understandable. He begins with the cave paintings of prehistoric times and moves on to the Egyptians who became the leaders of the world in art some five thousand years ago. Their method of drawing was childlike and repetitious ‘’everything had to be represented from its most characteristic angle’’ says Gombrich. If you look at figures of the early Egyptian art you can see that all the figures are very similar. There were rules, almost laws to painting and all artists obeyed them.
Detail of figure in wall-painting from the tomb of Khnumhotep, c. 1900 BC.
For 3000 years nothing changed and the art stayed the same. A heretic king, Amenophis IV was the first to break with the old traditions. He wanted the paintings he commissioned to be more real and life like as seen in this piece.
If you look at the painting it almost looks 'cartoonish' (my word) with the king kissing his child, and the other two children interacting with the mother. A vast difference from the normal in that period.
His reign ended and the new king did not embrace the new changes in art and soon returned to the old rules of art. However, this painting of Tutunkamun and his wife were found in his tomb c. 1330 BC. This work of art is much more realistic than the older style.
The purpose of art in that time was to record their lives and history, as decorations in there tombs. The job of the artist ‘’resembled a map-maker rather than that of a painter’’, states Gombrich.
The purpose of art in that time was to record their lives and history, as decorations in there tombs. The Egyptians also taught many Greek artists their methods of painting so much of the early Greek art looks like the art from Egypt.
Greek art in the first few centuries was very primitive as seen in this vase named:
''The Morning of the Dead'' c. 700 BC
The Greeks gradually began to produce figures that where more life like rather than following the rules and methods. As this vase shows:
''Achilles and Ajax Playing Draughts'' c. 640 BC
Unfortunately most of the stone statues were carved in the likeness of one of the Gods worshiped during that time and were destroyed with the onset of Christianity. The Christians only wanted one God. Most Greek statues in the world today are copies of the original works. Such as this statue named :
''Athena Parthenos'' c. 447 - 432 BC
This statue was copied by the Romans in marble. The original of this statue as stated by the author says ''it was like a gigantic wooden image, some 36 feet(11 metres) high, as high as a tree, covered all over with precious materials, the armor and garments of gold, the skin of ivory.'' The statue would have never survived the centuries.
By the end of the 5th century artists began to change from craftsmen who did their work following the rules and established methods to some what free spirits who were able to interpret what they saw in their own unique way.
''Hermes with the young Dionysus'' c. 340BC
This artist Praxiteles was according to Gombrich was ''the greatest artist of the century. Unfortunately most of his works disappeared.'' This particular piece was found in Olympia during the 19th Century and it is believed to be an original. This statue shows the progress made by the Greeks in reproducing an image of a figure compared to the Egyptians.
Probably one of the most well known works of art at that time was found on the Island of Melos:
''Venus of Milo'' c. 200 BC
''Some of the works of the classical sculpture which have enjoyed the greatest fame in later times were created in the Hellenistic period'' states Gombrich. One of these sculptures called:
''Laocoon and his Sons'' c. 175 - 50 BC
I was facinated by the description of this sculpture. The statue represents a scene which ''was described in Virgil's Aeneid''(Gombrich) about two serpents coming from the sea to catch a priest and his two sons....''.
I was actually fortunate enough to see this incredible work of art in an exhibition in Venice in November last year. I could hardly believe my eyes.
Around this time in history wealthy people began to collect works of art, and if they could not buy the original they would pay huge prices for artists to copy the originals. During this time painters were the most important artists with many stories being written about them. There were stories about artists who ''painted from everyday life'' states (Gombrich) but sadly most of this work has been lost. With the exception of Pompeii which was buried under the ashes of Mt Vesuvius which erupted in 79 AD.
This is an example which can still be seen in Pompeii today depicting ordinary life of people standing around watching people play games.
From the 1st to the 4th century when the Romans were conquering the word art remained more or less the same. The artists who did work were mainly Greeks and ''most Roman collectors bought works of the great Greek masters, or copies of them''.
''When Rome became mistress of the world'' (Gombrich) the artists were required to put their skills to other uses such as civil engineering. Roads, aqueducts, public baths and of course incredibly impressive buildings such as the Colosseum.
Another equally as impressive building is the Pantheon (temple of all Gods). ''Its interior, is a huge round hall with a vaulted roof and a circular opening at the top through which one sees the open sky. There is no other window, but the whole room receives ample like from above'' is a very adequate description of Gombrich as it is still today a magnificent building.
I have been fortunate enough to be there when it has been raining and the priests put a rope barrier around the area in the middle that is wet and everything goes on as normal. it was converted into a church in the early christian era and as such was never allowed to fall into disrepair, it is still a church that has services and it was built in 130 AD.
Another task given to the artists was to carve great columns to create records of the Romans' victories and their campaigns. The art of Rome at the time was very basic and down to earth. ''.... the Roman way of telling a story and glorifying a hero was adopted by artists who set themselves the tasks of illustrating the story of a peaceful conquest, the story of Buddha.'' This happened in the far off destination of India states Gomich. The Indians created an image of the Head of Buddha in the same way that the Romans and Greeks had produced beautiful images of gods and heroes.
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