PERIODS OF ART. An art period is that duration of time within which the main arts, both fine and applied, show a general recognizable trend or group of characteristics. These characteristics which the reader will find described under the various articles listed at the end of this article, like those of the human beings who created them, are usually complex and difficult to describe, often being wholly unrecognizable until the observer has equipped himself with a considerable experience in the identification, comparison and classification of various works of art and, even when he is so equipped, these characteristics are sometimes found to be the basis of irreconcilable discussion so far as details are concerned, by the greatest of experts. That there are, however, specific characteristics upon which the ma jority of authorities agree and which clearly indicate the time and geographical location on the earth's surface, wherein some certain work of art was conceived and made, cannot be denied. It is on such expert classification quite as much as upon the deductions of archaeological research that the whole fabric of the history of art, as well as our understanding of the extent and characteris tics of the various cultural periods, is based.
As was pointed out in the notes under the first chart in the reference to the period between 500 B.C. and 35o B.C., there seems to occur at times a nearly world-wide stimulus or depres sion in the field of art. From A.D. 1400 to A.D. 1500 that great movement called the Renaissance prevailed through southern Europe; at the same time the Gothic movement in northern Europe was still productive; western Asia saw perhaps its highest pilmacle in painting, pottery making, rug weaving and the other arts; and in the Far East the great Ming Dynasty (1368 to was at its height. It seems strangely inexplicable that though the individual causes seem to differ, in some cases being due to re ligious fervour, in others the pomp resulting from great wealth, the results were nevertheless equally worthy.
Yet when we study that small part of the history of man of which we have records we find that the development of civiliza tion has extended over only a comparatively brief period of time and that it has in the various parts of the earth been parallel and consistent. Thus, though we of the western world may look
down upon the civilization of the Far East, perhaps because the East did not produce such efficient battleships, it is evident on closer study that the Chinese are very much like the West erners. They understood and used bronze at about the same time and, though they have never taken the same interest in iron and steel, it was their invention of the lens and gunpowder which made possible these modern battleships.
Not only were there a number of cultures which originated at about the same time, but it must be kept in mind that from 2,000 years ago (at just the time these cultures began to take on marked individual characteristics) travel, inspired by commerce and war, commenced to bind together the races of man with an ever stronger bond. It is therefore not so surprising that at certain given times man's development in the various parts of the world should be such as to produce simultaneously great artistic achievements.
The tremendous wars which the Mongols waged under Jenghis Khan and which influenced the East and West alike may have dammed the flood of production until it rose to the irresistible pressure which found expression in the courts of the Ming Dy nasty as well as in those so similar ones of Renaissance Italy.
The religious fervor which made Gothic art possible was not dis similar to that felt in Western Asia and China and both were probably the result of the oppressions of war and at the same time reactions against a too materialistic wealth.
This consideration leads us to question what now seems to be the world trend. What can be hoped for the immediate future? To a remarkable degree the improved methods of travel and communication are bringing together the various peoples. Na tional characteristics are being so blended as to show signs of a loss of identification. The Japanese artist is like the French, influenced by Cezanne, and there are American sky-scrapers in China. Undoubtedly this is going to prove a happy thing for all art as well as for civilization though just now the process is a discouraging one. There is bound, however, to emerge a func tional art with a world-wide appeal.