Cave of Lascaux {The Story of Art}

Cave of Lascaux

“[W]e are not likely to understand the art of the past if we are quite ignorant of the aims it had to serve. The further we go back in history, the more definite but also the more strange are the aims which art was supposed to serve… We call these people ‘primitive’ not because they are simpler than we are—their processes of thought are often more complicated than ours—but because they are closer to the state from which mankind once emerged. Their huts are there to shelter them from the rain, wind and sunshine and the spirits which produce them; images are made to protect them against other powers which are, to them, as real as the forces of nature. Pictures and statues, in other words, are used to work magic.

“Many of [these] artists’ works are meant to play a part in… strange rituals, and what matters then is not whether the sculpture or painting is beautiful by our standards, but whether it ‘works,’ that is to say, whether it can perform the required magic…

“[Many proofs] of tribal skill should warn us against the belief that their work looks odd because they cannot do any better. It is not their standard of craftsmanship which is different than ours, but their ideas. It is important to realize this from the outset, because the whole story of art is not a story of progress in technical proficiency, but a story of changing ideas and requirements.”

Ernst E. Gombrich, “Chapter 1: Strange Beginnings,” The Story of Art, 15th edition

2 thoughts on “Cave of Lascaux {The Story of Art}”

  1. Gombrich is absolutely on the ball with the idea that these early paintings were required for magic. Paintings were required for a successful hunt as visualization was important to early civilization. I was fascinated by this:
    “We call these people ‘primitive’ not because they are simpler than we are—their processes of thought are often more complicated than ours—but because they are closer to the state from which mankind once emerged. ”
    I read a story that a certain part of Africa (not sure what century) had never seen a painted figure, and when an artist painted a picture of a cow on a wall, the people rushed at it with spears.

    1. Gombrich shares a similar anecdote about an artist who visited an African village to paint their herds. The villagers were distressed when they discovered he would be taking the canvases with him, because they believed they would be left without any cattle.

      This chapter in *The Story of Art* is full of examples from Native Americans, Africans, Assyrians, and others who used art to ensure they would have power over their enemies, as well as wild game.

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