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The Origin of Art

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2024

Michel Lorblanchet*
Affiliation:
CNRS

Abstract

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The very concept of the ‘birth’ or ‘origin’ of art may seem inappropriate, since humans are by nature artists and the history of art begins with that of humanity. In their artistic impulses and achievements humans express their vitality, their ability to establish a beneficial and positive relationship with their environment, to humanize nature; their behaviour as artists is one of the characteristics for selection favourable to the evolution of the human species. Evidence from a huge analysis of rock art and cave paintings and engravings shows that, from their origins, humans have also been Homo aestheticus.

Type
Articles
Copyright
Copyright © ICPHS 2007