The psychological birth of art: A psychoanalytic approach to prehistoric cave art

Abstract

The prehistoric art discovered in Eurasian caves, created from 37,000 to 12,000 years ago, has fascinated and perplexed historians and scientists. These caves were uninhabited, devoted to art, the first art galleries. A psychoanalytic interpretation of these extraordinary works, this paper addresses the motives of the Paleolithic artists, the meanings of their art, and the relationship of the art and the artists to the cave. While nonanalytic formulations are considered, from a psychoanalytic perspective, the interpretation of the cave is symbolic of the womb, the birth canal, and the primal cavity of self-object relationship. Art was created in identification with pregnancy and birth; art endured as reassurance against permanent darkness and death. Entering and leaving the cave could also represent coitus but, a on a deeper level, attachment and separation. The cave had magical and developmental significance, a transitional space between internal and external, fantasy and reality, death and rebirth. The creation of art and music, and the invention of intentional, controlled fire, marked the arrival of Homo sapiens, differentiated from all preceding and parallel primates. The painted cave might also have represented a cephalic container with illuminated imagery suggestive of dreaming sleep.

Keywords:

• creativity
• representation
• symbol
• painting
• evolution

Notes

¹However, recent observations by contemporary art historians suggest that gravid Venus statuettes can be viewed from another angle as erect penises, possibly symbolizing some form of connection between pregnancy and penis, as well as signifying human bisexuality.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Harold P. Blum

Harold P. Blum, MD, is clinical professor of psychiatry, New York University School of Medicine, Executive Director of the Sigmund Freud Archives, and former Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association. He is also former vice-president of the International Psychoanalytical Association. His publications cover the areas of female psychology, defense and resistance, reconstruction, and dreams