Abstract
The author considers the concept of “composition” in the context of specifi c archaeological material of the Paleolithic art (periods ranging 40 to 9 thousand years ago) and analyzes the main means and techniques of artistic expression in creating forms and decoration, as well as the peculiarities of compositional solutions for each type of ancient art. Natural patterns, such as integrity, contrast, rhythm, symmetry/asymmetry, statics/dynamics, are the basis of apperception and formation of the neuropsychology of Homo Sapiens, the development of its visual thinking in artistic creativity. The “composition” in the Paleolithic art is the image embodiment in an artistic solution through the construction of the forms, when the connotations of the pictorial structure are fully coordinated with the expressive means of a certain type of art, additional informativeness and the way of perception. The article reviews the features of the main types of compositions in the Paleolithic art (frontal, volumetric, deep-spatial), and provides the examples of open and closed type compositions. The author examines the general patterns of perception and construction of images in the compositional solution, the concepts of “overlapping” and “stroboscopic effect”. Special attention is paid to the decorative and ornamental compositions of the Paleolithic.
Keywords
Archaeology, Paleolithic art, composition, regularities, psychology of perception, kinds and types of composition solutions, decorative and ornamental construction.
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