Sarah Coopersmith
http://ancientart.tumblr.com/
“Ancient Art” is a surprisingly captivating blog focusing on art from the past, and as its name suggests, it covers artwork from the Paleolithic and Neolithic era until Ancient Rome. Compiled by an anonymous writer, who only refers to her/himself as “an over-enthusiastic anthropology and ancient history student from New Zealand,” this blog is a great place for anyone to educate themselves about art from the ancient world.
This New Zealander began blogging in June of 2012 and actively blogged until 2015. Sometimes, the author would even post the subsequent day, which showed true dedication and commitment. Dejectedly, it seems as though “Ancient Art” has come to an end, the last post being in January 2016. The last three postings weren’t even the work of the New Zealander. I was disheartened to learn that the author simply “reblogged” something that another blogger, “thegetty”, posted, especially since I was praising the student’s work and it was not even her/his own. These thought-provoking and compelling posts gained a myriad of followers, however, that number dwindled steadily when the blogger’s activity lessened. These active followers would generally “like” and/or “reblog” a post; rarely did they comment.
The articles are all about the art. The writings are meant to be informative without the audience feeling overwhelmed by too much information. I really appreciated that the student was able to teach me depth and detail about a piece of art in under a minute. The posts begin with a picture of the work of art, and then underneath are either a couple of sentences or paragraphs explaining the piece. The writing is succinct, concise and easy to understand. It always includes the title, artist, time period and location, when applicable, and any other interesting information that the blogger deems appropriate to include. Also, there are no advertisements to distract the audience from the beautiful pieces of artwork and their descriptions. “Ancient Art is a… non-commercial blog, which aims to promote the education of our ancient world.” I admire the author for writing intriguing articles for the sole purpose of educating and not procuring a profit.
I really enjoyed learning from the “Ancient Art” writings. I am disappointed that the New Zealander is not as “over-enthusiastic” about the blog anymore. Nevertheless, it was enlightening when it was active, which one can see in the “Archive” section. I am curious if this was simply a school assignment that came to an end at the completion of her/his studies. The author had such a mastery of the time period that I wish that s/he would have continued sharing knowledge on the subject.
