Art is the presentation of human ideas and general perception of life. In the olden days, human used art as a way of life and to represent characters that influenced the society at some period of time. The important human history and remarkable stages of life were marked by art. It also symbolized characteristics and personality of some individuals who contributed heavily to the shaping of the history. The classification of modern and ancient art represents two distinctive human histories. They both represent periods that do not share any commonalities with unique characteristics that aid in the understanding of human beings and their insights at their respective time. Ancient art was a product of the early man, Christians, and ancient civilizations. The artwork was done the period from Paleolithic and middle age.
The ancient art has been used as an archive in the modern day and has been a rich source of history of early man. They provide information about the lifestyle of man and the historical events that marked his life. The civilizations during the Stone Age included Babylon, India, Persia, Central America, Assyria, Mesopotamia, China, Korea Japan, Rome, Greece, and Egypt.
Historical emphasis is put on the ancient art and is affected by religion and political atmosphere.
Ancient is depicted as a direct and stiff representation of life. Contrary the modern art is the outcome of opposition and discard of the traditional ideas, expressions, and techniques. The modern art has majored in experimentation, fresh ideologies about the universe, new perspectives and the real function of the modern art, putting into consideration the changing time. The modern art has got the approval and influence of the population in general and it is more expressive. The modern art is responsible for the formation of great art movements. These movements include Fauvism, expressionism, surrealism, Dadaism, cubism and so on.
As opposed to the ancient art, modern art is not unique to any specific culture or practice and its production can be done in any country and by any person. It commands a worldwide recognition and a global appeal.
China had the famous terracotta which stood as an attribute to their once an impeccable soldier. They portrayed events in the form of pottery and paintings, therefore, had no need of literature as they were immortalized. The modern art is out of experimentation and dates back to 1860’s. They are individual work with emotions and nature forming the arts integral part such as Van Gogh, Picasso, and Seurat. The Chinese ancient art is viewed as man's attachment to superior beings while the ancient depicts man as finding an identity after a long time subjugation by the social forces.
The Chinese art has the socialistic, moralistic and economic attachment. The mural paintings for example symbolized indicated emperors who were benevolent to the society, loyal observers, Ministers with wisdom. The Chinese ancient art also had various symbolic meanings; the symbols represented specific phenomena. The bamboo depicted spirits that could bend but never broke. Purity was represented by Jade; the emperor was symbolized by the dragon. The crane meant long life, marriage fidelity had a symbol of a pair of ducks and the quality of endurance was represented by a pine tree. Pottery existed to China long before the Shang Dynasty.
Physical comparison and contrast
The ancient art was characterized by flexible sculptures. Most of the art had additional materials attached to the main image for decorations purposes. The images looked compact from the outer appearance. They were more of artistic work that lacked resemblance to the actual object, for instance, the horse. The earliest art was mostly shaped out of wooden materials and stones. The images rested on the flat wooden surfaces colorfully painted. The colors were not proportionate and would leave some parts saturated as compared to other areas.
The modern art is simple with close resemblance to the real object. The colors are done carefully with uniform coloration. The image can have a single color painted across the whole body to match the real object in nature. Much attention is given t the resting surface where it almost look like the actual ground. Patterns of grass and soil lumps are observable in modern Chinese sculptures making them real. The modern art is an improvement from the previous work where the unnecessary attachments are excluded.
In modern art, the sculptures are molded out of metallic substances. This characteristic is evidenced by the smooth silver lining on the surface. The designs in the modern art specifically for animals are made to appear in motion. The ancient animal images appeared stationary.
During ancient times, Chinese employed the concept of low fire to mold monuments in the size of human and other large animals. With the ever-changing skills of art, an artist can use much higher temperatures to create much harder sculptures. According to Gardner, Helen, and Fred, the stature produced in the form of a horse is much harder being a product of high-temperature molding. Modern art is made up of several assumptions; there is no clear expression or lessons to be learned.
Centuries ago, art products were the main sources of communication. They would give a clear meaning of an event, bring joy, or even be used as a reminder of an event. A long time ago, the artwork was more official, the work was treated as formal in the society. In the present time, the work has become informal; it is more popular in the public and with this trend, the ideas are being pushed past the limits. Chinese images indicate major differences with modern styles of painting. Ancient Chinese images creation emphasized on motion and every image presented would seem to be in the state of movement. In the present world, the ever-changing, improvements in cultures and discoveries have manipulated the new trends in the painting industries. Artists tend to follow new lifestyles to ensure relevancy.
The comparison between the modern and earliest artwork can also be attributed to the style of paintings. The initial paintings were patterned. The paintings composed of patterns instead of images. The most forms of patterns used mainly consisted of twisting, dots, crisscrossing lines or animals. In the current society, most paintings are in the forms of pictures drawn or captured by the current imagery gadgets. The painting has also been made easier due to the improvement in technology. They provide information about the lifestyle of man and the historical events that marked his life. Historical emphasis is put on the ancient art and is affected by religion and political background of the people. Ancient is depicted as a direct and stiff symbol of life.
The modern art is the outcome of opposition and discard of the traditional ideas, expressions and techniques. The modern art has majored in experimentation, fresh ideologies about the universe, new perspectives and the real function of the modern art, putting into consideration the changing time. The different color mix is evident in computers; images can easily be found in the digital forms thus the production of clear pictures instead of dots or zigzag patterns.
There are claims now that Chinese art has lost its meaning and value by accepting westernization of its art since the 17th century. This is the same time new art market begun emerging especially in the south China and the artists engaging so much in the modernization. There was an art revolution when the artists and the intellectuals accepted art models to revive and revamp their tradition that was considered weak at that time. The struggle to regain internal art strength was out of reaction from external western forces. The anti-Japan war halted all process of the modern art project. Mao later reoriented the move towards one that is concerned with the national ideologies taking the direction of iconoclastic philosophy which was both anti-western and anti-tradition.
The end of cold war and the beginning of economic globalization saw the contemporary art of the Chinese people come into the international center stage. The western and art markets and some given institution discovered the contemporary Chinese culture and art. The west modernity was realized in China and the Chinese themselves could identify themselves with the new modernity. There were concepts such as Confucian capitalism, Neo-Confucianism, Industrial East Asia, and Post-Confucianism surfaced in the west and extended to the East Asia.
There was a debate over modern and ancient took place in Taiwan and Honking during1950’s and 1960’when the movements involving modernists and the experimental paintings came in the region. In 1950’s most of the Eastern Painting Group students belonged to Li Chung-Sheng; a painter trained in Japan and Shangai. He was Taiwan’s most influential artist considered the father of modern art.
Chinese art plays the critical of controlling the international cultural convention. The artists and individuals from china have had to change their social position fighting and struggling for nationalism, individuality, and spiritual liberty. The 1985 to 1989 movement that was known as Chinese Avant-Garde Movement was a product of this struggle.
Today’s art is out of experimentation and dates back to 18th century. They are individual work with emotions and nature forming the arts integral part such as Van Gogh, Picasso, and Seurat. The Chinese ancient art is viewed as man's attachment to superior beings while the ancient depicts man as finding an identity after long time subjugation by the social forces.
The Chinese art has more of social and economic attachment. The mural paintings for example represented emperors who were benevolent to the society, loyal observers, Ministers with wisdom. The important human history and remarkable stages of life were marked by art. It also symbolized characteristics and personality of some individuals who contributed heavily to the shaping of the history. The classification of modern and ancient art represents two distinctive human histories.
The initial art has been used as an archive in the modern day and has been a great source of history with regards to early man existence. They provide information about the lifestyle of man and important historical events that marked his life.
