A History of Painting in One Minute: A Creative and Precious Animation
The uniqueness of art is made evident in this remarkable animated short.
One of the most important things we learn when we first come into contact with art is its near-total uniqueness.
Early on, we may have the impression that painting, like music, sculpture and other disciplines, is all, always, the same. Learning a bit more of the history of all of these expressions, we soon realize that perhaps the formats are similar, the tools with which art is made are the same, as are the languages, and certain guidelines that each tradition has carried with it. But, in the end, it’s the singularity of the artist which imposes itself over everything else. This is in such a way that a work of art becomes its own unique message, unrepeatable, and ascribed to its circumstances (while at the same time, it’s ascribed above them).
This simple, powerful finding is evident in the video below. It’s an animation by Cao Shu of the Academy of Art of China. In its one minute, it covers the multiple pictorial styles that have accompanied the history of humanity, from the religious paintings of ancient Egypt to the avant-garde of the 20th century, and all this without forgetting developments of Eastern painting.
The work is remarkable in its chosen presentation. By centering its route on the human figure, we witness that character’s gradual, dizzying transformation, as if painting itself were someone to whom life makes its changes – as, in effect, it actually happens.
Image: Van Gogh peignant des tournesols, Paul Gauguin (1888). Public Domain.
Related Articles
Pictorial spiritism (a woman's drawings guided by a spirit)
There are numerous examples in the history of self-taught artists which suggest an interrogation of that which we take for granted within the universe of art. Such was the case with figures like
Astounding fairytale illustrations from Japan
Fairy tales tribal stories— are more than childish tales. Such fictions, the characters of which inhabit our earliest memories, aren’t just literary works with an aesthetic and pleasant purpose. They
A cinematic poem and an ode to water: its rhythms, shapes and textures
Here lies One Whose Name was writ in Water. - John Keats Without water the equation of life, at least life as we know it, would be impossible. A growing hypothesis holds that water, including the
Watch beauty unfold through science in this "ode to a flower" (video)
The study of the microscopic is one of the richest, most aesthetic methods of understanding the world. Lucky is the scientist who, upon seeing something beautiful, is able to see all of the tiny
To invent those we love or to see them as they are? Love in two of the movies' favorite scenes
So much has been said already, of “love” that it’s difficult to add anything, much less something new. It’s possible, though, perhaps because even if you try to pass through the sieve of all our
This app allows you to find and preserve ancient typographies
Most people, even those who are far removed from the world of design, are familiar with some type of typography and its ability to transform any text, help out dyslexics or stretch an eight page paper
The secrets of the mind-body connection
For decades medical research has recognized the existence of the placebo effect — in which the assumption that a medication will help produces actual physical improvements. In addition to this, a
The sea as infinite laboratory
Much of our thinking on the shape of the world and the universe derives from the way scientists and artists have approached these topics over time. Our fascination with the mysteries of the
Sharing and collaborating - natural movements of the creative being
We might sometimes think that artistic or creative activity is, in essence, individualistic. The Genesis of Judeo-Christian tradition portrays a God whose decision to create the world is as vehement
John Malkovich becomes David Lynch (and other characters)
John Malkovich and David Lynch are, respectively, the actor and film director who’ve implicitly or explicitly addressed the issues of identity and its porous barriers through numerous projects. Now