HISTORY OF THE FIGUREIN ART

Throughout history people have shown the figure in art many different ways.

These changes happen due to human needs, styles and artistic expression

Early figure images served only communication and religious purposes. Later, portraits captured images of the

living. After the invention of thecamera, figure art became highly

creative and expressive.

Throughout history, figures are represented as drawings, paintings,

and sculpture.

Sculpture achieved a realistic appearance before drawings and

paintings of figures did.

However, drawing and painting was used before sculpture to illustrate the

figure.

PREHISTORIC FIGURES

• Line drawings of figures in cave paintings look similar to “stick figures.”

• They were used to tell stories and communicate before people had developed a written language.

PRE-COLUMBIAN FIGURES

• Sculptures at this time represented gods for worship and ceremonies.

• Because man did not know what gods looked like, these figures were mostly stylized sculptures.

ANCIENT EGYPTIAN FIGURES

• Figure drawings were flat looking, with heads and feet in profile, while the body faced forward.

• Most important figures were shown larger than others.

Profile head

Forward facing torso

Profile legs & feet

ANCIENT GREEK FIGURES

• Figures were often used in storytelling, especially mythology.

• Drawings on pots are still very flat looking.

• Sculptures were becoming more realistic, but they we still very stiff.

Storytelling on Ceramic Vases & Urns

Figures from

Mythology

Stiff neck

Straight Rigid Arms

Straight legs & feet

ANCIENT ROMAN FIGURES

• Figures were still used for storytelling.

• Sculptures of the body now look more 3D. They show the classical “contraposto” pose. This means their body is showing more movement. They also have more realistic looking cloth/fabric.

Very realistic figure sculpture

Eyes were blank or hollow “Windows to the Soul”

“Contrapposto” Pose

Realistic looking cloth/fabric

MIDDLE AGES FIGURES

• Figure drawings were beginning to develop a little more.

• They are mostly made to show religious and medieval scenes because their were many working people who did not know how to read.

There is still a lack of

Perspective.

Everything in the picture is

the same size.

Since they did not know how to paint babies, you will often see old looking

children.

RENAISSANCE FIGURES

• With the discovery of perspective, figures had more realistic form.

• Figures continued to show religious scenes, but also became popular as portraits of wealthy patrons (people who paid for pictures to be made).

• In time, portraiture was cheap enough to even the middle class.

With more practice, the children became younger looking

18TH CENTURY FIGURES

• Portraiture continued to be popular, sometimes including land, house, pet, or other prized possession.

• Figure painting also provided entertainment or delivered a message.

“Robert Andrews and His Wife” by Thomas Gainsborough

Children now looked

like their appropriate young age

19TH CENTURY FIGURES

• The invention of the camera had a profound effect on figures in art, especially portraiture.

• Artists began painting “genre” (figures in everyday life situations).

• Figure painting and sculpture changed from realistic to more impressionistic styles.

20TH CENTURY FIGURES

• Monuments were made to immortalize prominent figures in history.

• With artists now able to afford their own materials, there are a wide variety of art styles developed. They show figures as abstract, expressionistic, or realistic.

“Statue of Liberty” by Frederic Bartholdi

“Lincoln Memorial” by Daniel Chester French

“Iwo Jima” Memorial by Felix de Weldon