Do the Lascaux Cave Paintings still hold up? Retro-review — The Paintings at Lascaux
Before you go questioning my expertise, know this: I have a BFA. No, that does not stand for “bachelor on f&#k all. It actually stands for bachelor of fine art. A degree, I might add, that the artist’s that painted the walls in the Lascaux caves did not have.
The caves were discovered in 1940 in southwestern France by an 18 year old named Marcel Ravidat. The teen returned the next day with some friends to explore the cave further. Thankfully it wasn’t discovered by a modern teen, who would have returned with friends to par-tay! The paintings were found to be in the range of 17,300 years old, which is roughly 17,200 years before Picasso did the exact same paintings with a considerably more brushes and paints.
Thankfully the paintings survived world war II and the Nazi occupation. I’m sure the logistics of stealing them was too daunting, otherwise they would be tucked away in the root cellar of a German aristocrat to this day. The condition of the caves however, started succumbing to the 1200 visitors per day they received throughout the 50’s and early 60’s. The extra moisture (breath-gross) and light altered the delicate balance and crystals, lichen and mold began to form. Closed to the public in 1963, and now protected, the caves are only accessible to scientists for 20 minutes per week. That is still more visitors than I ever had to a show in college. In 1983, Lascaux II (reloaded) was created 200 meters away so visitors can once again see how easy it is to counterfeit art. (re. Picasso)
I can’t imagine the excitement when these paintings were discovered. They depict what was culturally most important to that ancient civilization: food. If they were created in this day and age, the paintings would be crude renderings of McDonald’s and Taco Bell logos. Indeed the images on the prehistoric walls reflect the copious amount of game available. And the fact that humans were painting at all was an indication of their ability to hunt. More food, full bellies, free time, make art. Similar to present day, artists 17,000 years ago didn’t make a living doing art. I’m sure many were forced to wait on and serve food to the hunters, who probably didn’t tip much above a few pebbles.
The images on the wall are stunning. Massive in scope, rich in color and texture with remarkable line and form. The caves are massive with more than 2000 images. Nine hundred are depictions of animals. The remainder are geometric symbols. Some theories suggest that the images incorporate celestial formations. The images cover the walls and ceilings of large and small chambers, hallways and shafts. Some of the larger caves have evidence of scaffolding being used.
What we recognize as paints and brushes were not available. Instead minerals like iron and manganese were incorporated. Also used was charcoal, iron-rich clay ochre, haematite and goethite. Engraving techniques were employed to create a difference in color. Moss and hair was utilized for brushing and dabbing. Most incredibly, hollowed out bones and branches were used to blow paint through, creating a “spray-paint” effect.
Aside from Keith Herring, this represented the apex of graffiti as an art form. This primitive spray technique was used to create silhouettes of the hands of the occupants of the caves. These images are almost photographic as they document the hands of the artists, waving across thousands of years. They add a deeply personal connection that is almost impossible to convey in any other way.
Compared to art as it has evolved over the last few thousand years, these paintings are pure in the same sense that the art of a child is. Depicted for no other reason but to fulfill a desire to create and record what was. There is no way to look at this art with the same alienation and skepticism that has become prevalent in the average art viewer over the last several decades.
Stone age artists did not paint to be famous, make money or receive a grant to travel to Bali to depict surf-culture. I am not saying all art is created as a means to gain the previously mentioned benefits, but somewhere in human development, we started making art that was inextricably linked to ego. Now at a certain age, we start getting concerned about what our art looks like and lose the comfort of not caring.
Although it’s debatable, I would be very surprised if the cave artists were motivated by ego to paint. They were unwitting pioneers of a human culture that progressed for centuries before screeching to a halt sometime in the 1960’s. The cave artists were purveyors of true originality, doomed to be repeated over and over again by their distant descendants. But mostly by Pablo Picasso.
These incredible works of art rival and often surpass anything in any major gallery around the world. They rate pretty high with me.
The Good: Line, form, beautiful, grand, relevant, devoid of ego
The Bad: I can’t visit them
My Rating of the cave paintings at Lascaux: 9.1/10 infinite’s
Originally published at mrreviewitall.com on May 26, 2016.
