The art of Bosnia and Herzegovina includes artistic objects created by the inhabitants of Bosnia and Herzegovina from prehistory to present times.
Bosnia and Herzegovina hosts the oldest monument of the Paleolithic age in southeastern Europe, engravings in Badanj cave near Stolac in Herzegovina. The most famous engraving is the Horse attacked by arrows, preserved in fragments dated around 14000 - 12000 B.C.
During the time when Neolithic and Copper cultures were starting to appear, Mediterranean Panonian cultures began to mix. Herzegovina was highly influenced by the impresso ceramics from the Western Mediterranean, as seen in Green Cave near Mostar, ÃÂairi near Stolac, LisiÃÂiÃÂi near Konjic and PeÃÂ Mlini near Grude.
In the upper regions of the Bosna river and the Northeastern parts of Bosnia (Obre I near Kakanj) the local culture was influenced by Adriatic cultures in the South and the StarÃÂeviÃÂ culture in the Northeast. Original expressions of that culture are ceramic pots on four legs, called Rhyton. They are also found in the Danilo culture on the Croatian coast.
Because of these influences, Kakanj culture is considered part of a wide circle of Neolithic tribes that followed a cult of life force (from northern Italy, Dalmatia and Epirus to Aegean). Butmir culture near Sarajevo is distinctive with fine glazed ceramics and miscellaneous geometrical decorations, often spirals.
From the 7th century BC onwards, bronze was replaced by iron, and only jewelry and art objects were still made out of bronze. The bronze culture of the Illyrians, an ethnic group with a distinct art form, started to organize itself in what is today Croatia, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina. Different Illyrian tribes, under the influence of Halstat cultures from the North, formed original regional centers. With the notable exception of Pod near Bugojno in the upper valley of the Vrbas River, nothing is known of their settlements. In eastern Bosnia in the cemeteries of BelotiÃÂ and Bela Crkva, the rites of inhumation and cremation are attested, with skeletons in stone cists and cremations in urns. Metal implements appear here side by side with stone implements. Most of the remains belong to the Middle Bronze Age. A very important role played their death cult, evidence of which is seen in their careful burials and burial ceremonies. Japodian tribes (found around BihaÃÂ) produced heavy, oversized necklaces out of yellow, blue or white glass paste, large bronze fibulas, as well as spiral bracelets, diadems and helmets out of bronze foils.
In the 4th century BC, the first Celts arrived in the region, bringing with them the technique of the pottery wheel, new types of fibulas and different bronze and iron belts. However, their influence on Bosnia and Herzegovina's art is negligible.
The Neretva Delta in the South was heavily dominated by Hellenistic influences of the Daors, an Illyrian tribe who had their capital in Daorson near Stolac. Romans subdued the Illyrians in the first century BC, with the Illyrian provinces turning into provinces of Rome and Byzantium.
In Bosnia and Herzegovina, Romans built several small temples decorated with reliefs. They utilized Bosnia and Herzegovina's mineral deposits, particularly silver, to build military, civilian and industrial settlements. The complex of step sanctuary in Gradac near Posuà ¡je from year 184 AD had marble temple dedicated to recently deceased emperor Marcus Aurelius. Late Roman art in B&H is marked most dominantly expressed by the construction of villas, Christian mausoleums, basilicas and oratories like the Mausoleum in à  ipovo near Jajce and Villa Mogorjelo near ÃÂapljina as well as sculptures.
In Bosnia and Herzegovina the Romanesque influence came from Croatia although it was never fully accepted and thus only adopted some elements from it.
Influences of Gothic art in the 14th century are represented by preaching orders and knightly culture. In Bosnian culture, religion and nobility were the main perpetuating factors.
From the earliest times of Bosnian Kingdom the nobility was buried in large necropolises near roads with graves marked by monumental tombstones (steÃÂak). A SteÃÂak was sometimes engraved with reliefs showing all sorts of motifs, from figurative to symbols, and sometimes writings in Bosnian Cyrillic. They are strongly linked to the Bosnian Church and most of the motifs are derived from its particular belief system, although some are also derived from Romanesque (crosses, arcades with semi-circular arches, son, half-moon etc.) and Gothic (arcades with sharp arches, knight riders, shields, swords, lilies etc.) art of the West.
The two most extraordinary examples of illuminated manuscripts from medieval Bosnia are Hval's missionary in Zagreb, a lavishly decorated manuscript with many miniatures. Misal Hrvoja VukÃÂiÃÂa HrvatiniÃÂa - a liturgical book of the Bosnian duke and ruler of Dalmatia - Hrvoje VukÃÂiÃÂ HrvatiniÃÂ, today in Istanbul, is colourfully painted with many details of knightly culture. Both were painted in Split, Croatia.
In the 16th century, all of Bosnia was under Ottoman, extinguishing the Western influence of renaissance and later baroque art from the region. The only places where some Western art remained was in Franciscan monasteries in Visoko, Kreà ¡evo, Franciscan monastery in Fojnica, Franciscan monastery in Kraljeva Sutjeska etc.
However, the Ottoman period opened a new era in B&H art, that of Islamic Art which flourished until the 19th century. At that time three constant art traditions coexisted in B&H: Catholic-Western, Orthodox-Byzantine and the dominating Ottoman-Islamic one.
The Ottomans were quickly developing urban cities upon their conquest of B&H, enriched by Islamic and Byzantine influences. For example, in FoÃÂa in the 16th century, the Ottomans built 17 mosques, 29 public fountains, 6 public baths (hamam) and 13 caravanserai motels (han). Sarajevo is an example of a non-urban open city where the most important buildings are organized around one veining street, a ÃÂarà ¡ija (Persian chahar-su meaning all four sides). In Sarajevo the largest is famous Baà ¡ÃÂarà ¡ija with shops of 50 different crafts from the 15th century.
Islamic manuscripts, decorated in the Persian style with Islamic calligraphy, and many remain in Bosnian libraries to this day. In the 16th century, the Jews expelled from Spain came to Sarajevo, where they were allowed to settle. Beside their important influence on Bosnian culture, they brought with them a luxuriously decorated manuscript called Sarajevo Haggadah from the 14th century, which is now housed in the Sarajevo museum.
The bridge is an important part of Islamic art, not only because of the great skill required of an architect, but because of its symbolic meaning a mediator between Heaven and Earth. One of the most famous examples is the Old Bridge in Mostar, built by Hajredin, a pupil of the famous architect Mimar Sinan from Istanbul.
In Bosnian Islamic architecture, stone is reserved for religious, public buildings and fortifications, while private houses were built out of wood and ÃÂerpiÃÂ (native simple bonding material made of clay and straw). With often console constructions of the upper floors, these houses allowed for more open spaces and large windows. When the power of Ottomans started to descend in the middle of the 17th century, so did the influence of Islamic art in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
After Bosnia became part of Austro-Hungarian, the region's art scene witnessed an intensification of activity as cities modernized and changed in structure. Architecture was dominated by eclectic pseudo styles like classicism, Neo-Renaissance, neo-baroque, and even Neo-Romanesque as well as neo-Gothic. A unique pseudo style is theâÂÂoriental eclecticâ style (also referred to "Pseudo-Moorish style"), based on Moorish architecture found in Southern Spain and Egypt. The style contrasted markedly with the urban ambient of Bosnian cities at the time, as can be seen in Sarajevo (National Library and City Hall), Mostar Gymnasium and Travnik (Retirement Home).
The first Bosnian artists were educated in large European academies in Vienna, Munic, Prague, Kraków, Budapest and Paris, thanks to scholarships of cultural societies like Prosvjeta and Napredak. Artists like Atanasije PopoviÃÂ, Lazar DrljaÃÂa, Gabrijel JurkiÃÂ, Branko RaduloviÃÂ, Petar à  ain etc., are influenced by academism with slight touches of Impressionism, Art Nouveau, and pointillism. After the Great Exhibition of Bosnian Artists in 1917, the native born artists have prevailed. Modern styles that entered B&H were expressionism and Cézannes-ism.
After the end of World War I, the society of artists from SHS (state of Serbians, Croats and Slovenians) was created and held numerous exhibitions and artistic gatherings like the Blaà ¾uj colony of Vladimir BeciÃÂ. Participants o were Roman Petroviàand Jovan BijeliÃÂ, both with abstract proclivities, while Karlo Mijiàwas devoted to colouristic landscapes.
However, art production in B&H was severely restricted, leading many artists to never return to B&H from their studies in Zagreb and Beograd, while many were leaving the country. The first renewal happened with the "Group of Four" and "engaged art" of Roman PetroviÃÂ and his circle, "The children of the Street". MijiÃÂ and ÃÂoko MazaliÃÂ founded an art association called Krug (The Circle) with a strong focus on urban aesthetics of nature. Vojo DimitrijeviÃÂ painted the Spain in 37, a representative artwork of colouristic expression with traces of Picasso and Chagall.
In the 1930s, architects were influenced by ideas of functionalism, humane architecture and Bauhaus. Those buildings were uniting function, content and form, without unnecessary plastic decoration, and with a simple rhythm of windows and modern constructions.
Right after World War II, Communist Yugoslavia was founded, which allowed artists to find a new expression through the themes of Revolution and War. Prominent representatives of this are Ismet Mujezinoviàand Branko à  otra. Architecture was also under the direct influence of Socialistic architecture, but never reached the monumentality of the original works.
In the 1950s, art slowly transformed to a more abstract outlook, based on industrial and economic motives. The first to do so was sculptor Mirko Ostoja who replaced classical modeling with iron welding. Even the Communist State changed its feeling toward modern art by commissioning large abstract monuments dedicated to famous battles in The War (Sutjeska, Kozara, Makljen etc.). Young architects gathered around Professor Juraj Neidhardt, and tried to connect modern architecture with B&H tradition and its surroundings. The result were buildings like The Mostar Mall, âÂÂRazvitakâÂÂ, built in 1970 by A. Paljaga or the Jajce Mall in 1976 by R. JadriÃÂ, Dà ¾. Kariàand N. Kurto.
In the 1960s many architects were leaving traditional boundaries and made important buildings in the manner of functionalism: The telecommunication building in Addis Abeba by Ivan à  traus and Zdravko KovaceviÃÂ, or the Skenderija Hall in Sarajevo by à ½ivorad Jankoviàand Halid Muhasiloviàare exemplary.
In the 1970s, an art expression inspired by old Bosnian culture and tradition appeared in the graphic work of Dà ¾evad Hozo and in the paintings of Mehmed ZaimoviÃÂ, Seid Hasanefendiàand Mersad Berber. Opposite to that, the urban expression of Ismar MujezinoviÃÂ's works is more related to modern film montage and photo-optics, while Braco Dimitrijeviàwas a Conceptual artist who worked mainly outside B&H.
An example of architecture in the 1980s is the Holiday Inn Hotel built in 1983 and the Unis Twin Towers built in Sarajevo in 1986, designed by Ivan à  traus.
Cultural preservation is under way in Bosnia and Herzegovina which can be seen with the most recent reconstruction of Stari Most in Mostar and many other structures of cultural and historical significance which were damaged or destroyed in the war.
Commercial construction in the years following the Bosnian War has seen a boom in Sarajevo. Sarajevo is one of the cities with the most construction in southeastern Europe. The Unis Twin Towers have been renovated completely. On the site of the former Oslobodjenje Towers, the Avaz towers have now been constructed. In the Hrasno residential area, the Bosnian Company Bosmal has constructed the Bosmal City Center, which includes the tallest set of twin towers in the Balkans at 120 meters each.
The Avaz Twist Tower located in Marijin Dvor, Sarajevo, is the tallest tower in Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is the new headquarters for Avaz, the most popular Bosnia and Herzegovina newspaper company.