The development of Art throughout the history of men

Humans were always very different from the animals. Since they began to live together in groups, they formed communities and chose their leaders. They were smart and continuously developed their thinking. They became more and more demanding. The satisfaction of basic needs for surviving weren’t enough for them. Human kind needed to amuse themselves somehow… Thus began the long way of art development.
At the beginning people played various games with sticks and bones. The “art positive” ones began to draw animals on the walls of caves they lived in. I consider this as the very beginning of art. The best examples of “the first art” can be found in the cave of Lascaux, France. It was also at the same time period when people started to make various sculptures and dolls of their gods – that may be considered as another way of artistic expression.

As we move later on, the population of earth grows continuously and the art becomes more and more important in people’s lives. In the ancient Egypt people focused on picturing their gods and pharaohs from the side perspective. Artists became very important people in all other cultures as well, including the most important ones - Mesopotamian and Chinese. In these times, the visual art (sculptures and paintings) was still dominant.
During the Antique period in Greece artists were skilled in the technical way. The art of painting was not so important anymore. People were more interested in sculptures of gods and monument temples. The situation was very similar in the ancient Rome. During this time also began the development of literature. The famous artists of those times were Sophocles and Ezop in Greece; Naso and Maro in Rome.

During the Middle ages, Christianity dominated western culture. Therefore the main purpose of the visual arts was to teach people, many of whom could not read, about religion. No particular form of art was considered superior during this period of time. High value was placed on small luxury objects such as illuminated manuscripts, jewelry, and metal objects used in church services. The great medieval cathedrals became very important and can be considered as a way of expressing Christian art. Also craftsmen, carefully trained in specialized medieval workshops, made the objects we now call art. Our word masterpiece comes from this medieval workshop tradition. During the Middle Ages a masterpiece could be a statue, a stained glass window, or a pair of shoes.

In 1400s began the period of artistic and literary revival called the Renaissance. In these times, poets occupied a higher social status because poetry had long been considered a higher art. Books were written to explain the theory of art and architecture, and artists claimed that they were inspired geniuses and not merely workers. Another form of art was developed during the 16th century – The Narrative painting. It tells a story - mythological, historical, or religious - and thus could teach morals just as literature could. This type of painting, called istoria in Italian or history painting in English, was considered the highest form of painting until the late 19th century.

Later, during the 19th and 20th century paintings and literature became the most important aspects of art. People began to read a lot and painters weren’t mostly considered to be important during their lives. The new ways of art were developed – such as the photography and motion picture that continue to push the older ways of art.
Nowadays, the level of art is in status of stagnation. But what will come next? Should we look forward to see next development of art, do we want it to stagnate as it is now or is it so bad already that some of us want to go back to the past?