Prehistoric “Chinese Horse” 15,000-13,500 BC Cave ceiling, Lascaux, France

1. Some the earliest known art work is found in the Lascaux (pronounced las cow) caves in France.This prehistoric cave painting was called "Chinese” horse because it resembles a

Sung Chinese horse painting. Paints were made by using charcoal and minerals from the earth. Brushes were made from an animals mane, sticks and strips of animal skin. “Spray”

paint techniques were used by blowing paint through a hollow reed. This cave (which contained hundreds of paintings) was discovered in 1940 by four teenagers. They kept it a

secret for a week until they told their teacher.

2. Albrecht Durer “St Eustace” 1500 German Durer was the first artist to use

printmaking as a major medium for art. At the age of 13 he was apprenticed to a painter and designer of woodcuts. This print is an etching which uses strong acids to cut into unprotected parts of the metal to create a design. This etching can be found at the Houston Museum of Fine Arts.

3. Pablo Picasso “The Guernica” 1937 Spanish • Picasso is often referred to as the most famous artist of the 20-

century. He invented a style of art called CUBISM, which allows more than one view of an image. This mural depicts the feelings of rage when Picasso learned of the slaughter of 2000 civilians when the warplanes dropped bombs on the Spanish town of Guernica. Picasso used several elements to depict his anguish such as: Bull =Spain, Horse=People, Sword=Defeat, Flower=regeneration and more…

• 4. Luis Jimenez “Vaquero” – 1980 USA

• When Jimenez was commissioned to create a fiberglass sculpture for the White House Sculpture garden, he decided to do a horse different then the other horses in the garden. He noted that none had their front feet on the ground and their back legs kicking up. While working in his studio, Jimenez was killed when a sculpture fell on him.

• 5. Matisse “ Horse, the Rider and the Clown,” 1947 French

• Matisse gave up his law career to pursue a degree in Art. Matisse wanted to reduce every object to its most basic shape. When Matisse became bedridden, he still wanted to create art so he cut out painted simplified shapes and arranged them on his ceiling with a fishing pole. The technique of cutting and pasting is called Collage.