History Of Art

While political history describes the evolution of power among peoples and nations, the history of art describes the evolution of the human as a perceiving and feeling being seeking to express himself about himself, the world around him and his greatest concerns and values.
Records of artistic expression appeared over 2 million years ago during the Stone Age. Statues of the Earth Mother Goddess of Africa and the cave paintings in France tell us what man valued and how he felt about those values. One Stone Age cave painting depicts the hunt. The subject attests to man's preoccupation with nature and his relation to it.
Following the Stone Age, we see the rise of higher political organization through conquest and the establishment of kingdoms. The art of the ancient Assyrians, Egyptians and Babylonians celebrate kings and their battles. Although this can be explained by the fact that only the powerful can afford an artist, we must also recognize that power has become the new great concern.
Simultaneous with the rise of civilization is the evolution of religion, another of man's greatest concerns. The history of religion describes man's reverence for his other worldly beliefs. As we would expect, the history of art shows the glorification of religious concerns with statues and painting portraying the gods and myths.
In the history of art, around 450 B.C., a new subject takes center stage. The place is Greece and the new subject is the natural man. Man is the measure of all things. Democracy is born. Not the king or his conquest, but the individual man is glorified. Even the gods take on human form. The human body is the object of beauty, new to the history of art, more natural in Greek art, more exaggerated in Roman art where muscular strength is a core value.
The art of the Middle Ages reverted to the motivations of the religious art of earlier times. Art is expressing man's greatest concerns. Not until the Renaissance does the natural, this worldly, man-centered universe return as man's greatest concern.
Modern art is still subject to wealth, to those who can afford it, but now it is the merchant, banker and the nobility that are glorified through art. The focus on the natural world reaches its apex in the realism of the 1800s. Evolving from realism, art begins to include man's subjective life and its part in forming reality, The Impressionism and Expressionism of the 1800s celebrates man's mental participation in reality, while the Abstract art and Surrealism of the 1900s shows man's valuation of the purely mental contribution of human mind to human reality.
Th history of art chronicles the evolution of the human experience, of man's concerns and values, of his perceptions in an ever changing world. If values spring from the heart, then the study of the history of art is the study of the experience of the human heart through time.

Coffee Pots

My husband is a self professed coffee nut, so we are constantly trying out different coffee beans and brewing techniques. We have tried out more coffee pots than I would have ever imagined I would go through in a lifetime, much less within a few years. Everything from French Presses, espresso and cappuccino machines, to regular standard brew coffee pots have graced our countertops and I think we have finally found one that meets our needs.
I personally like cappuccinos, but my husband thinks they are too frilly for him because he is a standard black coffee drinker. Even though he began his coffee drinking journey by drinking mochas, since starting medical school and then residency, he now thinks that only girls drink those. His favorite brewing technique is a French Press because of the strength of the coffee both for the flavor and the caffeine content. However, cleaning the press thoroughly after each use became quite cumbersome and I wasn’t going to clean it for him. Also, the coffee did not stay warm very long which wasn’t very good for those weekend mornings where you wanted to enjoy more than one cup on the way out the door.
We have also tried the grinder and brewer combination coffee pots since my husband is insistent on grinding his own coffee right before brewing. These pots worked well, but his was not always satisfied with how the coffee pots ground the beans because there was not much choice in the matter. Stand alone grinders allow many options for how fine the beans are ground, but the combination pots have less variation which did not suit what he wanted. Overall they were a good choice and convenient, but the bean grinding and again the warmth after an hour were not exactly what he was looking for.
So, after all of our trials and searching we have settled on a solution that seems perfect for our needs. We have a stand alone coffee bean grinder that has about twelve bean settings, and after a week or so my husband found his perfect setting and it hasn’t moved from that position since. We then purchased a coffee pot that has a thermal carafe instead of a burner and a glass pot. This way, we can enjoy our warm coffee for up to about four hours while it is still warm and doesn’t taste burnt. I just add some flavored creamer to mine and we are all happy!

Calvin Klein Jeans

Ordinarily, I enjoy shopping and would never turn down a trip to the mall. I just love looking at all the new fashions and buying fabulous outfits to expand my wardrobe. But like most women, I simply dread trying to find a decent pair of jeans to wear. This is by far the most difficult item of clothing to purchase because each manufacturer does such vastly different things with their denim creations. A particular size and style from one designer fits in a completely different way than the same size and style from another designer. So when I discovered that Calvin Klein jeans fit me perfectly, I vowed never to wear any other brand.
Calvin Klein jeans have been around for a long time and are just as popular now as they ever have been. That's quite an accomplishment these days, especially when you consider how quickly denim manufacturers fall in and out of favor with the hard-to-please teen set. But I think this all goes back to the fact that Calvin Klein jeans fit so well. They have an excellent waist-to-length ratio that is designed to accommodate regular people, not thin and wispy supermodels. When I pick up a pair of Calvin Klein jeans, I know that they'll fit comfortably at the waist and not be so long that have to roll up the cuffs. I can't say this about other brands, even though I'm an average size and should theoretically have no problems finding something that fits well.
Since I can count on consistent sizing in Calvin Klein jeans, I've been able to save a lot of money over the years. That's because unlike with other brands, I don't have to try Calvin Klein jeans on before I buy them, which gives me numerous shopping options. For example, instead of always buying Calvin Klein jeans for full retail price from department stores at the mall, I can get them online for a significant discount. Every time I find a clothing site that has a wide selection of Calvin Klein jeans at fantastic prices, I immediately bookmark it so I can easily go back when I'm ready to buy. In this way, I've been able to keep my wardrobe stocked with a constant supply of brand new Calvin Klein jeans without having to spend a lot of money.
I always recommend Calvin Klein jeans to my friends and have made quite a few converts along the way. If you're looking for a stylish fit and competitive prices, I recommend that you check out Calvin Klein jeans the next time you go shopping online or at the mall. You won't be disappointed!