{"id":886,"date":"2017-08-07T05:34:00","date_gmt":"2017-08-07T05:34:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/course.oeru.org\/art103\/?page_id=886"},"modified":"2017-08-07T05:34:00","modified_gmt":"2017-08-07T05:34:00","slug":"identity","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/course.oeru.org\/art103\/learning-pathways\/art-and-our-world\/identity\/","title":{"rendered":"Identity"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Introduction<\/h2>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n\t
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The art historical record is filled with images of ourselves. Generally, the further back we go, the more anonymous these visages are. For example, the earliest works of art \u2013 crudely chiseled stone sculptures \u2013 record the human figure in exaggerated forms. The Venus of Berekhat Ram<\/a> is dated to around 230,000 years ago. It, and other small stone figures<\/a> from the same period, indicate that artistic expression was part of a pre-homo sapiens culture. There is now evidence of an art instinct<\/i>: a natural inclination for humans to be creative and perceive our surroundings with an aesthetic sense.\n<\/p>\n

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Prehistory<\/h2>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n\t
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Venus of Willendorf<\/i>, Paleolithic period, c. 25,000 BCE. Natural History Museum, Vienna, Austria<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

The Venus of Willendorf<\/i>, dated to about 20,000 years ago, is an archetype of early human expression. The sculpture is remarkable for what is included and what is missing. The female figure’s arms are draped over enormous breasts, and the enlarged genitalia, short legs, and exaggerated midriff reinforce the idea of a fertility figure. The tightly patterned headpiece indicates either braided hair or a knit cap. Missing from this extraordinary figure is any hint of facial identity: she may represent a solitary female or the collective idea of womanhood.<\/p>\n

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Cycladic figurines, c. 3000 BCE. Archeological Museum, Athens, Greece<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

These faceless and enigmatic figures persist in art for thousands of years. We see them again in figurines from the Aegean Cycladic<\/a> culture dated to about 3000 BCE . Their form is standardized, with smooth surface texture, triangular heads, and crossed arms. You can even see a resemblance to these figures in certain modern sculptures, particularly by Romanian artist Constantin Brancusi from the early 20th<\/sup> century. His Sleeping Muse<\/a> (1909) is an example. <\/p>\n



\nAncient J\u014dmon<\/a> cultures of Japan produced extremely stylized earthenware figures, often female and, similar to the Venus figures of Western Europe, with enlarged breasts and hips but disproportionately short arms and legs. Thought to be ritual figures, the earliest examples are faceless and without adornment.[1]<\/a><\/sup> Later ones show generic features with curious insect eyes and more elaborate decoration.[2]<\/a><\/sup>\n<\/p>\n