The pre-historic stone implements, fossil remains and various other things, indicate the antiquity of man, but the flow of his thought-currents is discernible only in his art-objects. Thus, in the cultural history of mankind this intellectual aspect is rock-paintings of great significance. only help not understand us The natural-setting, the environment that made an impact on the primitive man, and his life-struggle, but also provide the proof of his creative genius and aesthetic-sense that is the natural corollary of his keen observation, sense of proportion and taste for natural selection. As these rock paintings are the earliest specimens of art and take us to the very root of its long tradition, we find a solid base for collecting definite data about the intricate nature of modern artistic trends and art-movements. In the intellectual development of man, the contribution of art-consciousness is indispensable. This shows the unity and uniformity of his thought-currents. The mutual relationship between man and man, and the social environment that makes it possible, is reflected in different forms of art and can as well be understood by the proper study of these paintings; and elsewhere, it has already been done so. The primitive traits of human mind, that are no longer extant in the present evolved stage of human mind, can be traced through pre-historic paintings. Moreover, the vast field that human conscious-ness had traversed and the metamorphosis that took place in human mind during this long stretch of time is too difficult to understand by any other means. Having been once well-acquainted with them we are contented with feeling richness, perfection self-aggrandisement. The hunting-scenes make loud proclamation the of and of man's victory over brute forces of opposition, and artistically illustrate his chief tendency to enjoy utmost freedom, having an edge over the most critical situations by dint of his high morale and intellectual power. The rock-paintings bear testimony to the fact how man attained the glory of becoming the master of animals. (Pasupati). Certainly, these are the first records of his cultural campaign and their authenticity is beyond doubt. Surely, before the advent of writing, drawing was the only harbinger of civilization.
Importance of Art
no Some of the chief exponents of human history have had the conviction that art had no more significance than that of an ornamentation in the whole development of culture and civilization. It should, therefore, have secondary importance in comparison with philosophy and science; for they are the solid foundations of civilization. In this regard the matter that is discussed in the lines from page 44 to page 47 under the caption 'Pre-history And Rock-paintings", is worth-reading. Here a different view has been upheld and an attempt has been made to insignificant role in human show that art plays development as compared to religion and philosophy. Art as such has a universal effect. Therefore, it is above all literature that communicates through the medium of language, which has a limited effect. Rabindranath Ta-gore has indicated that art has such magical charm that it transforms every thing it touches into a living reality and makes it the part and parcel of our own individual experience and consciousness. The all-embracing goodness and the ever-increasing immortalising effect that is characteristic of art is not fantastic but real. The formal of life-experience through the rock-representation paintings is still felt even after several centuries and the artistic effect that the painting had in the past, is still in the same measure and is undiminished even today. In this way, art can be credited, though in a limited sense, with the virtue of transforming and immortalising our own experiences.
Having studied thoroughly the social aspect of art. Radha Kamal Mookerji, came to the conclusion that art has strange power to affect unconsciously. One needs not be conscious of it or of its profoundly, yet mechanism. Art is the vehicle of abiding values that civilization creates and nurtures in different countries and epochs. Man's other institutions and traditions work from without; but art transforms from within. Art is the expression of communications of man's deepest instincts and emotions. Reconciled and integrated with it is social experience and cultural heritage. Regarding art this opinion of the writer shows, on the one hand, the limitations of purely individualistic explanations of human complexes as given by Freud and his followers and, on the other hand, criticises the purely objectives, materialistic and socialistic expositions of Marx and his disciples. Here, he appears to follow the middle path and that seems to be correct. However, Mulk Raj Anand has given his verdict in favour of Marx, due to his leanings towards him. The western art-critics like Croche, Calling-wood and Herbert Read, having seriously studied the nature of art, have explained it in different ways and have established the independent entity of aesthetic-sense. This aesthetic-sense can not be replaced by any other human instinct of to thought-experience. According Croche, the problems of aesthetic-sense can not be properly understood without carefully distinguishing between imagination and conception. This proves the separate entity of intuition which is the root of all art-activities. Callingwood has combined art with the basic state of consciousness, that gives forth all kinds of experiences.
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