The journey of Fine Arts started in the hands of primitive people. (Featuring @royalmacro as Author)

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Ancient Cave dwellers’ belief in illusion originated Fine Arts

It can be said that Art is old as human Civilization. It starts its journey when cave dwellers started living in groups to make different modes of communication with each other. Variety and vastness of nature create mysterious feelings in human mind. Ancient huntsmen not being able to solve those mysteries, found satisfaction of their thirst depending on magic and superstition. With the belief of hunting animals easily the primetimes used to engrave verities of pictures of animals, animal hunting on caves walls with sharp stones or animals bones. Those pictures, painted on cave walls, were the first and foremost art of the world. 

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 As time goes on, civilization advanced. Man by controlling nature and environment, has made his lively hood easy, beautiful and prosperous. When it became easier to accomplish the basic needs of human life some sorts of impression and imagination turned in the shape of art. Art of poetry fiction, for example, were formulated just after the invention of language. And consecutively music was composed too. Those paintings, poetry, songs which were originated with the combination of imagination and creativity are called arts. In a word, the entire activities in human mind are called arts. 

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The size and motion of ancient animal pictures painted on cave-walls were flawless

 Generally art is, in fact, divided into two main branches. It has its different media. It is amazing that the ancient huntsmen introduced almost all modes of arts. Ancient ‘Homosephians’ drew pictures of different wild animals with astonishing skill. They were very keen observers. They also had clear idea about animals and were able to paint flawlessly on stones and bones. Each and everything could be identified just at a glace of their paintings. There were some pictures in which portraits of human were painted in animal forms. There were some pictures in which human bodies with horns on head and tails on back were painted as though men in the shape of deer were jumping up and down. We knew from their paintings that ancient people used to express their delight by making different gestures of bodies and jumping screaming around the animals the preyed. From that communal activities art of dance and music evolved. Wearing furry skins and horns of hunted animals, they used to copy walking, jumping and running of those animals. It is thought that they used to put into practice those tricks to join with a pack of animals to prey them easily. The art of theatrical performance started from that commotion though primitives used to take those policies for their survival and collection of food. 

 Harappan Arts
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 Almost all modern arts are commenced in ancient people’s hands

 People of Stone Age not only painted pictures but also made solid human statue. It is called sculpture. Most of the sculptures were human figures and almost all of human figures were of females. Primitive society was matriarchal. Women were team teachers. Mother was thought to be the origin of being. That means, the team was evolved from her entity. So they thought female sculpture as a sign of mother-being. Engraving hills or splitting separate stones they made these sculptures. Besides these, they used to build sculptures of animals and birds with the horns and bones of ‘Byshon’ and other animals or stones. They used to make to earthen pots and paint on them with various tools invented by them. They used to make jewelry with bones of fish, shells, and teeth of deer and decorate them too. In this way they made the foundation of crafts. The first initiative for building houses started with wild animals’ bones and skins, wood, reed, stones or clay. And the art of architecture evolved. Thus almost all branches of art e.g. painting, crafts, sculpture, pottery, architecture, dance, music, act (theatrical performance) etc. achieved and practiced by human being commenced in ancient people’s hands. 

 Ancient Sculpture of Mohenjo-Daro
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 All kinds of arts are divided into two main branches. The first one is Fine Arts. And the other one is Crafts. The expression of human creative mind is called Fine Arts. It is, infact, born in the pleasure of arbitrary creation of human mind. It’s aim is to sooth our eyes and mind. The birth of fine-arts is in the human feeling of happiness, unhappiness, suffering, and pain and so on. On the other hand, Crafts are born to meet the necessity of the use of common commodities. That means crafts are not created only to give pleasure or to sooth eye though it is a form of art. It is essential in everyday work. We use crafts differently in different needs. But all great arts created by human are the parts of fine-arts. Fine Arts are again divided into Performing Arts, Humanities, Drama, Poetics and Poetry. Among them Performing Arts is an important branch. On the other hand, the branches of Crafts are Ceramics, weaving, carpentry, leather, jewelry, household utensils- brass, copper, aluminum, hand-tools etc. There are more things in crafts which I identify as ‘Folk-Arts’. For example- picture telling stories, toy elephant, horse, human body, birds made with clay and wood, terracotta, embroidered quilt, painted fancy pitchers, pot- etc. So it is clear that the area of both the branches of art is very large and extended. 

 Ancient Egyptian Art
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We have already known that the pictures, painted by wild, furred and bearded people of the ancient age, are the oldest arts of the world. Those who painted those pictures, departed from the world thousands of years ago. But the pictures, painted by them survived. These statues, pots and tools not only survived but also disclosed before us the unknown chapter of the history. In those days language was not invented let alone alphabet. That is why it is not possible to discover the written evidence of those days. The history of human civilization would be incomplete if the life style, behavior, clothing of those ancient cave dwellers were not known. We have not got the written history but their arts and crafts are the evidences of their history. We came to know the ancient people’s straggle of life, clothing, thought and belief through their paintings. 

 Mesopotamian Art Works
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Thus we came to know about the Paleo lethic age, the Neo lethic age,the age of agriculture and about all ages by observing commodities left by them. That means we have become familiar with the history of a particular civilization from the commodities like tools, utensils, clothes, jewelry etc used by the people of that age. Those commodities used by human race are now called crafts. So we see that, human civilization and arts go forward hand in hand. Therefore, it is remarked that art is as old as human civilization. We have actually known the history of human civilization through those arts and crafts. Thus we can realize the importance of the study of art. 

 Sarcophagus
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Arts and culture show the identity of a society, state or nation before us. Art conceives a particular age too. We get many features of that age from their arts. For example- Egyptian Art. Egyptians used to paint inside walls of temple and pyramids. The pyramids are the burial places of kings, emperors or rich people. Those were the large triangular shaped stone made tombs. The Egyptians used to draw thousands of pictures on the walls and sarcophagus inside the pyramids. The empty space inside the pyramid was filled with paintings and there was not any unoccupied space left. In those frescos there were fun picture of animals but most of them were of male and female bodies and that of kings, queens, gods and goddesses. Most of the pictures tell stories. The stories were clearly comprehended if you keep a close eye on them. We in fact, came by the history of Egyptian civilization and culture by paying attention to those paintings and frescos. Those distinctive paintings and crafts, used by them, informed us about the cloths, kings-queens, people and their livelihood, law and order, culture and belief of that age. The pyramids are wonderful specimen of Egyptian architectures. 

 Ancient Cave Arts
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We also got excellent testimony of arts and architectures in Greece and India. The Greek and Indian literature of the middle age is the pride of the world. Cave art of ‘Ilora’ and ‘Ajanta’ demonstrated ancient Indian arts. Book art or Mughal art displayed much of the Indian social and political history. Besides, different sculptures and architectures of that time are now the pride of India. 

 Mammoth
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Human civilization, in fact, advances through the practice of art. As cave dwellers learned to make houses with trees, leaves, animal bones and skins, and the branches of trees, the architecture reached the present state only due to the culture of new sense of beauty. 

Sculpture on the Walls of Ajanta Cave
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