History of Art and new artistic forms

Art has been present in our lives since the most remote times of humanity. The first known artistic records are prehistoric works of art, which include rock art, small sculptures and megalithic constructions. Works of art have become more sophisticated as mankind's lifestyle has evolved.

Artworks produced by ancient civilizations are evidence of this increase in sophistication. All the great civilizations of antiquity, such as the Mesopotamians, the Egyptians, the Phoenicians, among other peoples, had – and still have – their artistic production intensely studied by specialists from different areas of knowledge.

From Antiquity, the great emphasis goes to the classical civilizations, that is, Greece and Rome and they are so called because the cultural, artistic and intellectual production of these civilizations are considered traditional, they are considered basic for the development of the culture of Western civilization.

Cologne Cathedral, an example of Gothic architecture that emerged in the Middle Ages.

In Western Europe, during the Middle Ages, Greco-Roman art, that is, classical art, lost some of its importance to the detriment of the culture derived from the Germanic peoples. It was a changing world and, therefore, many Roman elements lost space in society to the values of the Germans who settled in Western Europe.

In any case, throughout this period, new artistic forms emerged, many of them directly related to the Catholic Church and were the result of the transformations that Europe faced. An example is Gothic art, which emerged in the 12th century and resulted from the growth of cities in medieval Europe, from the 11th century onwards.

The Middle Ages also saw other artistic styles such as Islamic art and Byzantine art. Classical art gained new strength in Western Europe with the Renaissance that took place from the 14th century onwards, which was a true revolution in the arts and bequeathed to humanity names such as Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Caravaggio, among others.
From the period of the Middle and Modern Ages, historians have given new attention to the artistic production produced in America and carried out by pre-Columbian civilizations, highlighting the Incas and Mesoamerican civilizations such as the Aztecs and the Mayans. The highlights are the architecture and grandiose constructions of these civilizations and goldsmithing.

In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, new artistic styles emerged, while profound changes in society took place, motivated by events such as the Industrial Revolution and the French Revolution, for example. Examples of artistic movements from this period are baroque, rococo, romanticism, neoclassicism, etc.

From the 20th century onwards, the range of artistic movements and schools is enormous, with movements such as fauvism, expressionism, cubism, abstractionism, futurism, surrealism, etc.