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SubjectFree lesson

INTRODUCTION TO ART, TYPES AND BRANCHES

ClassNotes Team 5 MIN READUPDATED 13 JUN 2026

CULTURAL AND CREATIVE ART (CCA - FINE ART) JSS1 FIRST TERM

WEEK 2

INTRODUCTION TO ART, TYPES AND BRANCHES

Performance Objectives

Students should be able to:

  • Definition of Art.
  • Types of Art.
  • Branches of Art.

Contents

DEFINITION OF ART

Art is the creative expression of our thoughts. Art is the study and creation of things that give pleasure to our minds and satisfy our sense of beauty. Art is a way of life. It is a universal language which the artist uses to express his or her inner feelings and ideas. The word ‘art’ originated from the Latin word ‘arti’ which means to do well or do it well.

TYPES OF ART

There are two basic types of art namely

1. VISUAL ART: visual art appeals to our sense of sight or vision. Sub-branches of visual art include fine art and applied art.

2. NON-VISUAL ART: Non-visual art is the art we cannot feel with our hands and see with our eyes rather, it appeals to our minds, emotion and feeling. Sub-branches of non-visual art include performing art and literary art.

BRANCHES OF ART

Art spans several branches as shown below:

INTRODUCTION TO ART, TYPES AND BRANCHES

EVALUATION

  1. What is art?
  2. Explain the two types of art.
  3. Show a diagram reflecting the branches of art.

HISTORY / ORIGIN OF ART

Art has been in existence before the creation of man. The origin of art is traced to the early men who were involved in art activities during the pre-historic era. Art began during the time of the early men or pre-historic men who drew animals on rock surfaces by incising, scratching and engraving with sharp objects which they devised. They were equally painted on cave walls using various pigments obtained from nature. For example, earth colours and soothe mixed with animal fat which serves as a strong binder and other pigments obtained from natural things like leaves, the blood of animals etc.

The history of early men spans five ages namely:

  1. PALEOLITHIC AGE (Old Stone Age): This is divided into the lower and upper Paleolithic eras.
    1. LOWER PALEOLITHIC ERA stretched between 35,000BC – 15,000BC
    2. UPPER PALEOLITHIC ERA stretched between 14,000 BC – 8,000 BC.
  1. MESOLITHIC AGE(Middle Stone Age): During the Mesolithic era, artists focused on the painting of human figures looking abstracted against the backdrop of animal figures painted on cave walls by the early men during the Upper Paleolithic era. Farming and proper settlement occurred during the Mesolithic age. The MESOLITHIC AGE stretched between 8,000 BC – 3,000BC.
  1. NEOLITHIC AGE (New Stone Age): During the Neolithic era, life became more stable and predictable. Metal farm implements were introduced,  crops like beans, squash and maize were cultivated and writing emerged. Huge Architectural Monuments were erected like Stonehenge discovered in Europe in Salisbury Plane Wiltshire, England. (1,800BC-1,400BC)The NEOLITHIC AGE stretched between 3,000BC-1,500BC.
  1. BRONZE AGE: This marked the beginning of the skilful use of metals to cast objects that were expressed in bronze. It is a time period characterized by the use of bronze, proto-writing, and other early features of urban development like the Bronze Age Britain.
  1. IRON AGE: This era marked the inception of the Indus valley civilization. Recent archaeological remains of ironworking in the Ganges Valley in India have been tentatively dated to 1,800 BC. It is an archaeological era referring to a period of time in the pre-history and protohistory of the Old World (Afro-Eras) when the dominant tool-making material was iron. It was preceded by the Bronze Age in Europe and Asia and the Stone Age in Africa. Meteoric metal has been used by humans since at least 3,200 BC, but ancient iron production did not become widespread until the ability to smelt iron ore, remove impurities and regulate the amount of carbon in the alloy was developed.

EVALUATION

  1. List the five periods of the successive stages of art development of the early men.
  2. Mention the two phases of the Paleolithic age.

GENERAL EVALUATION

  1. List three forms of drama and explain.
  2. What is the difference between a protagonist and an antagonist?
  3. List three types of shading and explain.
  4. Explain comedy and tragedy respectively.
  5. What is mime?

READING ASSIGNMENT

Cultural and Creative Art(New Edition) by Peter Akinyemi& Co-Authors (Book 1)

REFERENCE PAGE

Pages 1 -13

WEEKEND ASSIGNMENT

  1. The early men are also referred to as …………men. (a) pre-historic  (b) post-historic  (c)civilized  (d)none of the above
  2. What period marked the use of bronze in fashioning things? (a) Iron age (b) Bronze age  (c) Neolithic age (d) Mesolithic age
  3. Which one of the following is NOT a sub-component of performing art? (a) Drama  (b) Dance  (c) Ceramics (d) Music
  4. Which one of the following is an end-product of ceramics? (a)Mug  (b) Kampala  (c) Printed pictures  (d) Chair
  5. Fine art comprises of the following except…………..…..(a) drawing (b) photography  (c) Sculpture  (d) painting

THEORY

  1. List two sub-components of literary art.
  2. State two sub-components of applied art.