Plastic arts

History

The word plastic draws from the Ancient Greek πλαστικός (plastikós), which means "to mold" or "to shape". It has long preceded its dominant modern meaning as a synthetic material. The term plastic arts has been used historically to denote visual art forms (painting, sculpture, and ceramics) as opposed to literature or music.

The related terms plasticity and plasticism became more widely used in the early 20th century by critics discussing modern painting, particularly the works of Paul Cézanne.

The oldest known "plastic art" dates back to 30,000–34,000 BP.

Application to literature

In contrast to the limiting of 'plastic arts' to sculpture and architecture by Friedrich Wilhelm Joseph Schelling in 1807, the German critic August Wilhelm Schlegel (1767–1845) applied the concept not only to visual arts, but also poetry.

Classical poetry lines he saw using plastic isolation, and rhyme falling under the Romantic (domain).

In Schlegel's Viennese lectures (1809–1811), published in 1827 as On the Theory and History of the Plastic Arts, he contrasted the plasticism of Classical Art with picturesque Romanticism:

Gallery

File:Venus de Brassempouy.jpg|Venus de Brassempouy, a 25th millennium BC carving in mammoth ivory File:Benin bronze in Bristol Museum.jpg|A 16th-century bronze sculpture from the Kingdom of Benin File:Moai Rano raraku.jpg|Moai, stone sculptures created by the Rapa Nui people File:Baskets (inkoko) - Rwanda - Royal Museum for Central Africa - DSC06584.JPG|Woven baskets in Rwanda File:Maillol - Sculpture 04.jpg |Sculpture in terracotta by Aristide Maillol File:Circle of Life from Ivana Houserova.jpg|Glass art by File:Sheila Hicks Exhibition at Toronto Textile Museum (29758946624).jpg|Hastings Visit to the Great Plains (1979), a tapestry in linen and cotton by Sheila Hicks File:Taj Mahal (Edited).jpeg|The Taj Mahal, an architectural work designed by Ustad Ahmad Lahori File:Mona Lisa, by Leonardo da Vinci, from C2RMF retouched.jpg|Mona Lisa, an oil painting created by Leonardo da Vinci in the 15th century

References

References

1. "Merriam-Webster Online (entry for "plastic arts")". Merriam-webster.com.
2. Kyle, Jill Anderson. (2009). "Cezanne and American Modernism". Yale University Press.
3. "It's Greek to Me: PLASTIC". University of Iowa.
4. Kyle, Jill Anderson. (2009). "Cezanne and American Modernism". Yale University Press.
5. (2012). "The Origins of the World's Mythologies". Oxford University Press.
6. (1987). "Russian Romantic Criticism: An Anthology". Greenwood Publishing Group.
7. Ewton Jnr, Ralph W.. (1972). "The literary theories of August Wilhelm Schlegel". Walter de Gruyter and Co.
8. Bohl, Charles C.. (2009). "Sitte, Hegemann and the Metropolis: Modern Civic Art and International Exchanges". Routledge.