In Conclusion

Some look at modern art and fear that technology and the internet will erode the quality work by encouraging art that can be mass-produced and sold to the largest or most profitable market. Others believe modern technology is a way to challenge the artistic boundaries that remain and develop a truly global artistic society. Some artists wish to keep their cultural identity even as they feel pulled toward global culture, while others seek to create and embrace an artistic culture that transcends statehood and nationalism.


Tyler Cowen responds to this paradox by discussing how globalization both increases and decreases the diversity of art. He claims that, “Markets bring more homogeneity and more diversity,” to art (Creative Destruction, 103). What he means is that global trade allows individuals to have an increased diversity of art available to them while also decreasing the diversity among societies around the world. As native languages die out and remote cultures adopt Western technologies, they lose a part of their cultural heritage but gain a lot in terms of medicine, technology, and access to the international economy. Additionally, Cowen argues that linking to the global economy does not always mean doom for local craft industries. Instead, the world market can more easily match poor artisans with wealthy art buyers to keep local cultural artists in business. At the very least, Western societies should not prevent or withhold global trade from poorer countries for the sake of preserving diversity.

Economic growth in the world market may reallocate art markets and suppliers, but art remains as popular as has been the case throughout history. Cultural globalization is an energetic, continual process that has occurred along trade routes in history for millennia. Artistic ideas traveled and transcended local tribes in the Islamic Empire, just as they did in the Greek and Roman empires. As the scope of trade increased from three continents to six in the matter of a few centuries, artistic advances followed just as rapidly and broadly.



Today more people have access to art than ever before due to technology advances that bring down the costs of producing art and transportation revolutions that have increased the speed of economic transactions. Wealth art collectors can collect rare pieces of art around the world with minimal difficulties, while college dorm residents can plaster their walls with posters of artwork very cheaply.

What is it about art? Something about art resonates with people across cultures and around the world. Art inspires, provokes curiosities, and encourages experimentation. One may value art without considering its important relationship with economics, but in doing so one loses out on much of the cultural motivations and artistic inspiration for a work of art.

One day it will have to be officially admitted that what we have christened reality is an even greater illusion than the world of dreams.

- Salvador Dali

Introduction

This blog represents the collision of three interests: art, history, and economic interactions via trade. To blend my interests into a coherent study with worthwhile conclusions, I use artwork of specific periods to draw inferences about the relationship between art and trade throughout history. Each art piece or grouping of artwork includes an explanation of how art can reflect the economic situation of a particular region or culture at a specific time.


Before pursuing this investigation, it is worthwhile to clarify a few matters regarding the nature of art and the terms that are used frequently.


First, art is subjective. Unlike many aspects of economics, it is difficult to form infallible hypotheses since it is nearly impossible to quantify art or set specific standards of artisanship.  Even trying to compare art presents its difficulties since art fluctuates considerably throughout history and among cultures.


Thus, when there is mention of “advanced” art or techniques, there will be an accompanying phrase or brief explanation to discuss in what sense the art has advanced beyond the previous artwork in the region. In general, advanced artwork likely includes some or most of the following:


• The adoption of new techniques that allows an artist to produce art differently or more efficiently


• An artists’ ability to produce different art than previously found in their culture or refine their work to coincide with their society’s changing needs or definitions of beauty


• The development and utilization of perspectives, dimensions, and details to create a specific concept of space


• Subject clarity that evolves from art as a useful tool, to the representation of people and events, to the portrayal of abstract ideas


Second, I will need to clarify what the word “art” encompasses. In a variety of settings, the term “art” is frequently used synonymously with the term “craftsmanship,” though not without warrant. From the Merriam-Webster dictionary online to art textbooks, both art and craftsmanship include the concept of having knowledge of materials and the development of skills.  For this study, I looked at art that required skills that needed to be acquired through apprenticeship, study of the art or craft, or years of practice. The art created through this process is a product of those skills and often is a tangible object that can be traded as a commodity as well.


In the end, it is the artist who decides what art to create. The artist chooses the structure, the materials and tools to use, and the subject matter. This is an area of interest to this study. Then the question is, “why?”  Why did the artist choose to make the pottery, the portrait, or the sculpture?  Why did the artist use those materials?  How did the artist chose a particular subject matter to portray in his or her work? The answer to these questions often reflect, to some degree, the wealth of the area, the extent of the trade network, and the general economic stability (or lack thereof) of the region.


Therefore, this study of art seeks to see if natural economic inferences, drawn from artwork during a particular time period, coincide with actual economic conditions of the place, to the extent the economic conditions of the period studied could be determined.






*The inspiration for my ideas and definitions related to artwork come from the 11th Edition of Art Fundamentals: Theory and Practice, published by McGraw Hill in 2009. Pages 5-12.

Prehistoric Trade

“Although we may speculate about their purposes, these early images reveal something as old as humanity itself—the magical urge to create.”

- Art Fundamentals, 4.

A primitive and local nature characterizes Prehistoric art, according to the evidence and pieces available to scholars today. The term Prehistoric generally refers to the Paleolithic Age, beginning around 30,000 BCE and lasting many millennia. Evidence of trade prior to ~10,000 BC exists in excavation sites and remaining pieces of primitive art and tools from ancient tribes but shows minimal long-distance trade. However, remnants of art and tools of ancient tribes help scholars today piece together an understanding of the state of the economy and trade during the Paleolithic age.

Artistic items found from excavation sites today that discoverers credit to the Paleolithic Age include cave paintings, necklaces, carvings in ivory and in stone. However, without any written sources, one can only conjecture as to the purposes of the artistic endeavors of the early human societies. (Gardner’s Art Through the Ages, 15-16)

The image below is from the Chauvet Cave, discovered in 1994 in southern France. It may appear primitive and simple, yet the accomplishment of such art in a cave over 32,000 years ago suggests that humans have an innate sense of drive and innovation to creatively overcome the challenges of painting in a cave.

These paintings are found in areas of the Cave where there is little or no natural light, and are often difficult to access. In order to overcome the darkness of caves and paint high on the walls, recent excavations show that the people of the Chauvet Cave created grease lamps, scaffolding, paint, brushes, and other tools for the art. It is hard to know the purpose of the art since it could be part of a ritual, a personal expression of life in nature, or to record their history. What archeologists know are that cave paintings, found in most regions around the world during this time, required the discovery of particular tools to make the paintings possible, and indicate a desire in the early human societies to find a way to express, record, or enrich their lives through decoration and art.

Evidence of prehistoric trade is found in the Americas, Eurasia, Africa, and most other areas of the world, though still many millennia after the Chauvet Cave.*

It's likely increases in trade among villages or tribes allowed for more exchanges as people could barter for what they needed and could thus continue specializing. Artwork that appears to be created centuries after the Chauvet Cave drawing indicate that trade among unrelated cultures commenced long before cities and ports became hubs for trade.

One way to understand the trade routes of our ancestors is to look at the trade of artifacts and crafts. The stone carving below is one example.

This bone engraving is from the floor of the La Garma cave in northern Spain around 12,000 BC. The image on the dagger in Spain is extremely similar to the images found on spear tips in the French Pyrenees during the same period. This suggests there were interactions between the two regions that resulted in the sharing of design ideas or the trading of art and tools, or both.

The Prehistoric Period may not have achieved great works of art as defined by modern art standards, but this time period represents the beginning of permanent art and the building of a foundation for a larger human economy. The ingenuity and learning of ancient humans allowed for the development of tools to create art and overcome the challenges of painting in a cave or carving in stone. The ability to think creatively to overcome obstacles and fulfill needs is fundamental to a growing economy. As the economy progressed, so did trade between tribes.

Sources:

Thurman, Judith. "Letter from Southern France: First Impressions." The New Yorker. 23 June 2008. Web. 7 Apr. 2010. .

Onians, John. Atlas of World Art. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2004. 16-19

*Trade and Exchange in Prehistoric Mississippi; Linguistic Evidence for Cultural Exchange in Prehistoric Western Central Asia; Prehistoric and historic traces in the mtDNA of Mozambique: insights into the Bantu expansions and the slave trade (Moodle)

Gardner, Helen, Fred S. Kleiner, and Christin J. Mamiya. Gardner's Art through the Ages. Belmont, CA: Thomson/Wadsworth, 2005.

Neolithic Art and Agriculture

Agriculture, animal domestication, a warmer climate, and permanent settlements characterize the start of the Neolithic Age, also referred to as the New Stone Age. With developments in agriculture and animal raising came a more dependable food source for communities and a more reliable trade network within villages. This time period shows that as communities developed more complex social structures and skills—such as weaving, metallurgy, and pottery—individuals increasingly specialized and trade among societies expanded.


This Egyptian mace head depicts a king bestowing water upon the subjects via irrigation (below). While it is decorative art that propagandizes the Egyptian king as the "benefactor of the people" it allows the modern viewer the chance to see some of the first signs of irrigation. By relying on the dependable Nile, the Egyptians were able to develop their agrarian economy. Eventually, the Nile supported Egyptian agriculture to the point that by the time Egypt became a province of Rome around 30 BC, it supported the Mediterranean world with its abundant grains. Art complexity seems to have coincided with the increasing complexity of agriculture and the Egyptian economy.

The following ceramic pot depicts a religious or social event of Egyptian culture around 3400 BC. Intricate decoration demonstrates advanced artisanship--only possible if there is an advanced economy where the artist can develop techniques without sacrificing daily needs.

During the Neolithic age in Europe, long-distance trade developed. From 2500 BC to 800 BC, the metal and resources trade of Europe advanced from local trade to long-distance trade. Amber, for example, was extracted primarily from northern European sites, yet excavators have found amber in art and utensils near the Alps. Europe also discovered bronze during this time by mixing copper and tin. To extract these metals required new technological skills that allowed for some large-scale mining to take place in the Alps.  For example, the Bronze Sun Chariot below represents a Danish ritual.

It is made of bronze, though no copper or tin mines were located near the Denmark at this time. Instead, tin and copper followed trade routes hundreds of miles long to get to their desired locations. Though this piece of art may reflect a Danish ritual, it also reflects the technology of the time. To import the metals required sea and land transportation technology sufficient to make the cost of the transaction reasonable for someone who was willing to commission the artist. Meanwhile, the art portrays a domesticated horse and the use of wheels in the chariot. The domestication of animals and invention of the wheel had been around Europe for some time, but the delicacy of the wheels and the use of bronze and gold in this piece of art symbolize the changes of technology in Europe since their prehistoric ancestors.


Sources:

Gardner’s Art Through the Ages, 24-25, 55-57

 Atlas of World Art, 24-25, 30-31

Greek Art and the Mediterranean Trade Prior to 300 C.E.

Around 1000 BC the populations around the Mediterranean Sea saw the arts develop into complex and unique artwork that distinguished their art from the art of northern Europe and the Bronze Age.  Interestingly, scholars have found the first traces of the colossal architecture and artwork Greece is famous renowned for only after Greece established a trading post at the Nile delta. For several centuries afterward, Greek art bears a striking resemblance to typical Egyptian artwork.  Eventually, "The Greeks rejected the Egyptian-inspired Archaic style and revolutionized the history of art.” (Gardener’s Art through the Ages, 64)

Kouros Dedication

Egyptian influence in Greek art laid the foundation for art associated with the Greek classical age. Above is a replica statue of the Kouros dedication white marble statue found in a ~600 BC temple to Poseidon in Attica, Greece. The resemblance to Egyptian statues is acute in the statue's strong, straight stance. However, over time Greek artists would strive for “harmonious proportions” and this piece illustrates one step toward a more realistic depiction of the human body. The body of Kouros may resemble statues of Egypt, but its head is in proportion with the height of his body, and the hips are more rounded, and his hair flows more freely, which signify an awareness of, or an attempt to emulate, the human body in reality. (Gardner’s Through the Ages, 114; Atlas of World Art, 34-35)


Commissions and patrons who sought to find a visible way to enunciate their wealth supported Greek artists. Greek art became well known and a popular trade commodity outside of Greece as well, and the vase below exemplify the beginnings of traditional Greek art. The figures are black which became a signature characteristic of Greek pottery. 

Kleitias and Ergotimos, Francois Vase

circa 570 BC

Vases such as these were generally produced in Greece and Athens, in particular. That is the case with the vase above.  Archaeologists excavated the vase from a Etruscan tomb in northern Italy, and have found Greek vases around the Greek trading world which indicates that the popularity of Greek art was widespread and accessible for those who wished to acquire the artwork.  Ironically, the Greeks were not the first to develop the black figure technique, but they were the best marketers of their wares.  They obtained the technique from the Corinthians, but were successful at cornering the export market in black figure pottery for themselves by the mid-sixth century BC. (Gardner's Art through the Ages, 120)


The spread of Greek pottery around the Mediterranean world and the development of Greece's famous white marble statues were possible due to the expansion of trade routes of the time. Within Greece, sources for the white marble needed to start carving human forms is often found tens, if not hundreds, of miles from the sites of marble carving. Thus, effective transportation of such large quantities of marble required innovation and technology, as well as safe trade routes, to get the supply to the area of demand.


The travel of artwork - such as the vases - from their site of origin to lands far away illustrates the development of sea trade.  The Greeks needed this exchange to occur, as William Bernstein discusses in A Splendid Exchange, in order to import enough food and materials to sustain their growing populations.  By harnessing the energy of the prevailing currents and winds, sea trade could occur in the ~1000 BC to 300 BC time period among the Phoenicians, Greeks, Syrians, and Egyptians with increasing frequency, although not always peacefully.




Sources/References:
Atlas of World Art, 34-35
A Splendid Exchange, chapter 2
Art Fundamentals, 231
Gardner’s Art Through the Ages, 64, 114, 120

The Roman Empire

Among the most well-known and established empires in history, the Roman Empire's rise to dominance in Europe and the Mediterranean contributed significantly to laying the foundations for future European art. Greece became a Roman province during the second century, BC, and Rome continued onward and conquered much of Europe between 100 BC and 100 AD. Indeed, at its peak the Roman Empire stretch from the Thames, to the Rhine, to the Nile, and Tigris rivers. This meant that the Roman Empire had many races, languages, and religions under its rule. Along with their conquests, the Romans brought wealth, patronage for the arts and new art styles. As one author said, “What Rome adopted from Greece it passed on to the medieval and modern worlds. If Greece was peculiarly the inventor of the European spirit, Rome was its propagator and amplifier.” (Gardner’s, 164)


Wealth, and the importance of showing off one's wealth, led to an increasing demand for fine arts. Below is the Gemma Augustea, a Roman sardonyx cameo from the 1st century AD.

Art historians have traced this piece to a Greek artist in Rome, but the unique stone appears to come from a region in India. To have wares and precious stones travel from India to Italy would fit within the Roman Empire’s protective boundaries and thus be compatible with the idea that an artist in Italy could use stone from India for specific purposes. (Atlas of World Art, 67)


In comparison, people developed art at varying rates in the Americas as well. In North America, the tribes in Alaska at this time were making art and figurines with minimal detail. Though experienced in working with walrus ivory, the art from excavations around Alaska indicate the harsh conditions of the people. 

Scholars from the Metropolitan Museum of Art identify this figure as a rough outline of a human form, though it is just barely recognizable as such. This carving from walrus ivory occurred sometime between 200 BC and 100 AD - around the same time the Roman Empire lavishly endowed the arts. These photos contrast the wealth and development of two cultures that coexisted at the same time in history. Alaska's harsh climate and lack of access to trade hindered artistic refinement while the Roman Empire's access to metals, stones, and specialized artisans contributed to innovation and specialization within the art world.

As Rome conquered much of Europe, they brought their artistic ideas and techniques with them. After the fall of the Roman Empire, artists continued to use many of the techniques introduced to Europe from the Roman Empire until when Europe began exploring new forms and methods of art during the European Renaissance. (Gardner's Art through the Ages, 247)


Sources/References:
"Gemma Augustea." Britannica Online Encyclopedia. Web. 7 Apr. 2010. .
"Human Figure." Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Web. 7 Apr. 2010. .
Atlas of World Art, pg. 66-67
Gardener's Art through the Ages, 164, 247

Art in the Americas before the European Discovery

In the Americas, the type of artisan work varied regionally.  In North America, where the landscape never included an empire on the scale of a Mayan or Roman Empire, artwork remained simple and a part of day-to-day life. With less trade, there was less exposure to other ideas for artwork.  The bowl below is from New Mexico in the 900s AD. The ceramic work uses local clay and represents a local animal. However, the shapes of the rabbits are simplified and have few details of real rabbits. Why would an artist choose to paint rabbits without the details?  

One may speculate as to the reasons why the artist chose this particular decoration, but one must remember that the bowl also served as a useful tool. The number of artisans, perhaps, was not large enough to service all the community’s needs if such detail was included. Maybe details were not highly values in artisan work.  Therefore, if the community demanded more detailing on their pottery, there would have been an industry for such a position. This bowl reflects just as much on the artist as the community at that time—it may indicate that art was less about the detail and more about something else, such as painting a good luck charm, fulfilling a ritual, or creating simple but aesthetically pleasing dishware.

New Mexico, mid 9th-century to 1200s AD

Circa 539 AD, Mexico or Guatemala (Mayan)

Further south in Central America around the 600s, the Mayan region experienced a population boom. Hundreds of settlements made up more than sixty kingdoms, each controlled by a supreme ruler vying for domination over land, resources, and trade routes. This seems to have led to a diverse array of artistic techniques as regions competed for social, political, and economic dominance. As the Mayan kingdom began its mysterious decline around 900 AD, so did artistic production and experimentation. Fewer pieces are found in the region after 900 AD, and the pieces found generally lack the detail of typical artwork from before, as illustrated with the carved bowl pictured above.

Ceremonial Knife, Peru, 900s - 1100s AD

In South America, two major communities formed. One was in the high plateau of Peru, and the other was in the Andes. Though they were not allies, roads and trade routes connected them. Myths and images are associated with each respective community, but techniques in metalworking and sculpture appear to be shared. Interestingly, the indigenous people in the Americas were able to find advances in metalworking without interaction with Eurasian techniques or discoveries. However, not every community discovered metalworking and the use of metals remained primarily in the Andean region of South America, traveling only into Mexico when Europe found America. Even then, metals were used primarily for decorative purposes while tools were generally constructed of stone. The knife above may be a tool, but it is a ceremonial knife and not one used for daily or military purposes. (Gardner's Art through the Ages, 381)


However, the impact of trade in the Americas can be found by comparing the three regions discussed. North America lacked a strong trade network, though trade certainly existed regionally. Goods such as shells, turquoise, and food were exchanged among groups in the southwest states of present-day United States.  In this region, trade occured by foot since there were no large domesticated animals in North America until the Europeans arrived.  Remnants of pottery from this regon suggests trade occurred but on a smaller scale when compared to artifacts from areas further south. (Prehistoric Trade at Lost City)


Central American trade is undisputed, as the Mayan empire connected vast regions together. South America also experienced trade on a large scale due to the development of Incan roads and the necessity of trade to obtain enough food to sustain their larger cities. Today large ruins illustrate the advances in architecture and artistic metallurgy that remind the current viewer that economic prosperity allowed peoples in Central and South America the opportunity to discover advanced techniques in craftsmanship.

 

Sources/References:


"Maya Area, 500–1000 A.D." Heilbrunn Timeline. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York:. Web. 7 Apr. 2010. http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/ht/?period=06®ion=caa.


"Carved Bowl [Mexico or Guatemala; Maya]." Heilbrunn Timeline. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Web. 7 Apr. 2010. .


"Prehistoric Trade at Lost City." Online Nevada Encyclopedia. 7 Mar. 2010. http://www.onlinenevada.org/prehistoric_trade_at_lost_city.


Atlas of World Trade, pg. 96-101


Gardner's Art through the Ages, 381