History of Western Art

In Western Civilization, painting and sculpture art have been the most active art forms for many centuries.

In other cultures this has not always been the case eg. Islamic art is one of ornaments because artists were forbidden to portray living creatures. In other cultures - masks, tattoos, pottery and other metal work have been the best forms of visual art.

More recently technology has made other art forms possible i.e. photography and cinema. Internet and electronic media i.e. computer graphics, computer aided animation and "painting". Other imaging techniques have led to an entirely new way of creating and presenting visual images.