Progression of the Kouroi
What is a kouros? In Greek, kouros means a young man. In art, a kouros is a statue of a young nude male who stands with his hands at his sides and one leg, usually his left, advanced.
Throughout the Archaic period, which dates from 610 B.C. to 480 B.C., the basic pose of kouroi (plural for kouros) remained the same, though the anatomy of the figures gradually became more naturalistic or true to life. The ideology that the Greek sculptors wanted to achieve greater naturalism is proven through the progression of the kouroi during the period.
At a glance, three main features deem the Getty Kouros under the general classification of a kouros: hands, hair, and feet. The hands are clenched into fists. They remain at the sides of the body. The hair is arranged in a grid-like pattern. Thus, each strand is perfectly vertical, while remaining horizontally equivalent. And the feet show the kouros standing with his left leg forward. There will be a discussion about the placement of the feet later.
Before we get too much into the physical characterization of the kouros, let's first look at history of the Getty Kouros.
In the spring of 1983, the "Getty Kouros" was offered to The J. Paul Getty Museum situated in Malibu, California. Inquiries were made to the Greek and Italian governments in order to determine if the statue was legally removed from the country of origin. On September 18, 1983, the Kouros arrived at the Museum in seven pieces along with documents claiming it had been in a private Swiss collection since the 1930s. For a period of twelve years after the arrival, art historians, conservators, and archeologists study the Kouros. Most of them believe that it is authentic for scientific t...
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...the work. (246) Therefore, as long as the replica has the same qualities and presents the same effect to any viewer, then authenticity does not really matter.
The Getty Kouros, whether replicated or authenticated, helps to portray the kouros in the Archaic period in Greek art. And to me, the spirit of the art and the actual comprehension of the kouros is what is important.
Works Cited
"The Disappointed Art Lover." writ. Francis Sparshott. The Forger's Art. gen. ed. Denis Dutton. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1983.
Panels in the exhibition "The Getty Kouros." Located in The J. Paul Getty Museum in Malibu, California.
Stokstad, Marilyn. Volume One Art History. New York: Prentice Hall, Inc., 1995.
"What is Wrong with a Forgery?" writ. Alfred Lessing. The Forger's Art. gen. ed. Denis Dutton. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1983.
The first glance you’ve taken at those two statues, you just see a man standing there. They are not doing anything in particular, just standing there. That was only in the first glance of course. Now take a good look at each one. In the archaic Greek kouros figure, the pose of the figure is very frontal. The entire figure is relatively stiff with the exception of the left leg, which is in front of the body giving it the early contrapposto pose. Even though it does have a much more natural pose to it with the one leg out, the rest of the body is not in a pose as if the weight of the body was put into one leg. The head is stiff with the hair being geometric and with the hair falling back on the body. The physical stature of the body is moderately realistic. The muscles are not quite as well defined but they are still semi-realistic. They are portrayed as if they were tense. The arms are also at the side.
The portrait of a bearded man is from 150-175a.d. It is from the Antoine Period (138-192a.d.). The portrait is realistic to me because it is a sculpture of someone. My impressions on this are that his beard is kind of wavy. His hose has a piece missing or is just damaged real bad. He is made out of marble. His face looks like he is mad or something, real intense. It also looks like it had cuts in his forehead and part of his eye. His hair looks like a pile of whip cream.
The Statue of a kouros depicts a Greek man in the nude. Although he looks like a man, the large scale, and the miss proportioned features makes it unnaturalistic. The toes are too long, the genetalia is unrealistically small, and the joint lines are exaggerated.
Both figures are in a very traditional, standing pose for the time period in which they were created. The sculpture of Augustus is based on the Greek classical statue of the Spear Bearer or Doryphoros by Polykleitos. He is standing in contrapposto, a very classical standing pose wherein the weight of the body is shifted naturally so the figure’s weight is more on one leg, with the other leg slightly bent behind and the hips tilted. Mycerinus and Kha-merer-nebty II are both in the standard Egyptian canon standing pose, in which the figures are rigidly frontal with the pharaoh’s arms down at his sides and fists clenched. Like Augustus, one leg is slightly ahead and one is behind, but there is no contrapposto, the figure’s weight is shared equally by both legs and the hips are squared and level.
...r. "Ancient Greece." Gardner's art through the ages the western perspective. 13th ed., Backpack ed. Boston, Mass.: Wadsworth Cengage Learning, 2010. 101, 123,129. Print.
Art for Art's Sake: Its Fallacy and Viciousness. The Art World, Vol.2. May 1917. 98-102
...hat surprised me the most. It is rather fascinating how the human anatomy in the mid-6th century BCE was as ideal to the human anatomy today. The artist is presenting the viewer with an ideal illustration of a male, and considering I was in awe of the bodily features, I think the artist’s presentation was nearly flawless. The artist also gave me the opportunity to feel a mixture of emotions throughout the sketching of this work. While the context within the facial structures felt relaxed, and the contouring within the leg muscles was strong, the artist created an equally balanced environment between the two. This balance was the reasoning behind my emotions of strength and serenity. Kouros of Tenea represents a strong man with a rather calm state of mind; at least that’s how I see it. This work of art defined something great and intense. It was in fact, particular.
The Ghost Dance was a very important custom performed by many Indians during the 1880’s through the 1890’s. During the 1890’s, the Indian civilization started to die. The Ghost Dance was a dance that tried to bring back the dead and bring back the ways of the Indians. During those times the Indians were having a hard time dealing with all of the white men. The white men were trying to push the Indians out of their land. In these times, the white man had basic control over the reservation. That meant that the white man had control of the supplies and food that the Indians received. The white man did not take good care of the Indians, as partrayed in the movie Thunderheart. During the movie Thunderheart the white man is sent in to find out about a murder of one of the Sioux tribe’s members. In the movie there is a revolt going on with a group called the ARM’s that are trying to save their Indian culture. Just like back in the old days. The white man in the movie treats all of the Indians like they are dirt. The Indians turn out to be very smart people who have many talents. During the movie the main character, Ray Levoi starts to have visions and see many Indians doing the ghost dance. The main character is part Indian, but he does not believe that the Indians are his people. During the 1880’s, that is when Wovoka had the vision of the Ghost Dance. Ever since that day he tried to get as many people as he could to join him to fight the white man. The ghost dance plays a major part in the movie Thunderheart and also plays a major role in the lives of the Indians.
E.M. Forster 's A Room with a View tells the story of Lucy Honeychurch 's excursion to Italy with her older, unmarried, less wealthy cousin, Charlotte Bartlett. Lucy’s time in Italy proved the notion that Italy can have great affects on anyone. While in Italy, Lucy met a distinctive group of people who were also residing at the Pension Bertolini. The group included clergy members, a writer, and some who just loved to travel the world. They were of various social statuses, temperament and political views. Most of the members of the group were older than Lucy and offered worldly, insightful, wisdom. The pension guests opened Lucy’s eyes, heart and mind to diversity in people, perspectives and opinions. Lucy 's exposure to thoughts and
The primary focus of ancient Greek sculptures was that of the human body. Almost all Greek sculptures are of nude subjects. As the first society to focus on nude subjects, Greek sculptors attempted to "depict man in what they believed was the image of the gods and so would come to celebrate the body by striving for verisimilitude or true – likeness (realism and naturalism!)."(Riffert) Not only did the Greeks celebrate the human form in their art but also in everyday life. (Riffert) One of the favorite topics for sculptors was that of the athlete. In Greek culture athletes were described as "hero–athletes". (Riffert) This shows that athletes were revered and looked upon as heroes. The influence of athleticism is evident in many famous sculptures. I will attempt to show how the human form influenced Greek art. It is important to note that many of the Greek sculptures discussed do not exist in their original form but rather in Roman copies of the original bronze sculptures. (Riffert)
Between history and showcasing, the Greek and Egyptian are utilized quite brilliantly in the Museum's organization. They set precedents not only culturally and historically that the museum goer can trace throughout the other galleries, but an implication that one can learn a lot about the culture just by observing the very nature of how it was showcased—whether it be the open flow between cultures to implicate a deep connection, or a system of separation to indicate category and purpose—there is so much more to be taken than the mere observation of singular artifacts and summaries.
Perhaps one of the most defining and easily identifiable aspects of the ancient Greek culture was the immortalization of humans and gods in sculpture. Sculpture had existed in the world for thousands of years before the ancient Greeks made their stake in the art, but the Greeks added an entirely new set of aspects to their sculptures. Unlike the Egyptian and Mesopotamian sculpture centuries earlier, the Greeks set forth not just to capture the image of a man but to capture that which made him a man. The Greeks set in place three base tenants to display the tone of a sculpture. Through the use of Humanism, Realism, and Idealism the ancient Greeks were able to capture humans and gods forever in marble.
Many art works such as statues are placed throughout the world in different settings. The most common setting for statues is found in funerary settings. The importance of statues in funerary settings is that they are use to project the power the person had before his death. The seated statue of Khafre enthroned from Gizeh, Egypt, illustrates the idealized pharaoh. Another sculpture is Kouros, from Anavysos, Greece that depicts the heroism of Kroisos dying in battle. The Kouros and Khafre are similar in the way that they both radiate power and serve the purpose of honoring the dead men, yet Khafre has a greater significance because it illustrates the pharaoh in a flawless form and the audience can tell that he was a great ruler by the perfect cut sculpture.
Kleiner, Fred S. Gardner’s Art through the Ages: The Western Perspective. Vol 2.13th ed. Boston: Wadsworth/ Cengage Learning, 2010.
...the internet. By publishing the data on the internet, it can be seen by other researchers, and people from many organizations who may be interested in my findings. Distributing the information through the community may also help to inform people of my research findings. By finding people interested in my research, I could create a mailing list. Through the mailing list, I could recommend that the information be passed along to other people who may be interested. An important journal I would want to publish my findings in would be The Prison Journal. This journal is published quarterly, and it focuses on juvenile and adult confinement, programs, reviews, surveys, and legal analysis (Reuters, 2013,). Publishing in this journal would be a successful way to report my findings to other people interested in the current studies and ideas centered around the prison system.