Description

The history of art encompasses objects created by humans for various purposesóspiritual, narrative, philosophical, symbolic, conceptual, documentary, decorative, and functionalówith an emphasis on aesthetic visual form. Visual art is classified in multiple ways: fine arts versus applied arts, human creativity, or media such as architecture, sculpture, painting, film, photography, and graphic arts. Recent technological advances have introduced video art, computer art, performance art, animation, television, and video games. Architecture is marked by monumental structures using large stone blocks, lintels, and solid columns. Funerary monuments included mastabas (rectangular tombs), pyramids (step pyramids at Saqqarah and smooth-sided pyramids at Giza), and hypogeums (underground tombs in the Valley of the Kings). Temples, often part of monumental complexes, featured avenues of sphinxes and obelisks, pylons, trapezoid walls, hypaethros, hypostyle halls, and shrines. Examples include Karnak, Luxor, Philae, and Edfu, with rock temples like those at Abu Simbel and Deir el-Bahari. The fusion of art and architecture can be harmonious or disastrous. Achieving the right balance is an art form, requiring the designerís skill and creativity to envision and interpret the end result. This book is a valuable resource for students, researchers, and anyone interested in global arts and architectures.