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ARTISTS

Among the earliest records of human activity are the paintings executed in the Paleolithic period of prehistory on the walls of caves, as at Altamira in northern Spain and Font-de-Gaume and Lascaux in southwestern France. The materials used in making them were simple mineral colors ranging in hue through a gamut of browns and reds, supplemented by blacks and grays. These were applied within incised contours on smoothed surfaces of the walls in a process not unlike that of fresco painting. Protected for centuries since their existence was unknown until comparatively recent times (the caves at Altamira were discovered in 1879, at Font-deGaume 1901, and Lascaux in 1940), they are excellent examples of the conventions by which primitive artists seek to simplify and organize the myriad visual images constituting their significant experiences. Foremost among these is the memory picture, the recording of impressions of the appearance of an. object by rendering only those aspects of it which are most characteristic. Thus the bison and deer in the Altamira caves are shown almost without exception in profile views-whether charging, standing, or reclining -since the forms of animals are in general more easily recognizable in this aspect than when seen from directly in front or at an angle. The forms themselves are much simplified as to detail, yet all that is necessary to establish even such distinctions as sex and species is present, for these animals were portrayed by the caveman artist after long experience in tracking them through forests and over plains in his daily quest for food. This accounts for the nature of the forms represented as well. The picture of his prey gave the artist who created it magic power in the hunt and assured him success; hence its formal pattern is one of great expressive power in its direct statement of a genuinely significant idea.