ABSTRACT
Art as a concept is relatively new. All cultures have had a concept of treasure— essentially materials that are highly prized and have exchange value. Treasure, although it may have been constructed with great care and craftsmanship, still draws its value primarily from its input materials. Art, however, draws its value primarily from a knowledge of who made it, and, as a concept, has existed rarely in history. If we consider the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the museum’s entire first floor containing its massive Egyptian, Greek, Roman, African, Pre-Columbian, and Oceanic collections might be colloquially referred to as art (because of the building in which they are located), but virtually none of it was produced according to our modern notion of art. Most of it was produced to serve a religious function, and if not that, then as a form of state propaganda to glorify the ruling power. The makers of those objects were also not artists in the way we conceive of the profession now. They were not expected to express their own creative impulses, nor were they expected to innovate new methods of representation. They were crafting objects that would serve as repositories of divine power and lavished attention to detail in order that it should be worthy of that role.
