32,000 Years of Daily Painting

It's remarkable to realize that humankind is still compelled to "paint pictures of things" just like early man once did within caves 32,000 years ago. The first paintings are believed to have been in Grotte Chauvet, France, and now today, digitized facsimiles of paintings are communicating messages within cyberspace to a global audience. Early humans associated painted images with the spirits of the animals they hoped to consume for their next meal, which for many now, still holds true, 32,000 years later. I wonder if 10,000 years from now humans will possess the same instinctual desire to express themselves through the same Red Ochre paint that was passed on to us from our ancestors in Grotte Chauvet, France? The spirit of painting continues to breath new life, despite those throughout history who have prophesied its demise.

By Hall Groat II
President, New York Art Collection
www.nyartguide.net

Chauvet Cave in southern France