Art Movements: Realism and Abstraction

Art Movements: Realism and Abstraction

• Realism is an art movement that emerged in the mid-19th century, focusing on representing everyday subjects in a realistic way.
• Realist artists aimed to capture the world as they saw it, using accurate depictions and honest representation.
• The movement was influenced by the 1848 revolution in France, which brought attention to the lives of working-class people.
• Example: Gustave Courbet's "The Stone Breakers" depicts two men breaking rocks, a common sight in 19th-century France.
• Abstract art, on the other hand, does not aim to represent a visual reality.
• Instead, it uses shapes, colors, forms, and gestural marks to create a visual effect.
• Abstract artists often use geometric shapes, which do not necessarily represent something visually in the real world.
• Example: Wassily Kandinsky's "Cossacks" uses simple geometric shapes and bold colors to convey a feeling of movement and energy.

Shape and Form

• Shape and form define objects in space.
• Shapes have two dimensions: height and width and are usually defined by lines.
• Forms exist in three dimensions with height, width, and depth.
• Shape has only height and width, whereas form has depth as well.
• The concept of shape and form is depicted in two artworks: a blue fan in a bowl and a wooden structure with a metal sheet.

Texture

• Texture is the surface quality or feel of an object, its smoothness, roughness, softness, etc.
• Textures may be actual or implied.
• Example: Pablo Picasso's distorted artworks, which often feature rough textures.

Formalism Art

• Formalism is a method used by art critics to examine and evaluate works of art.
• It emphasizes compositional elements such as color, line, shape, and texture.
• Formalism focuses on the way a work of art is made and its purely visual aspects, rather than its narrative content or relationship to the visible world.

Space

• In a work of art, space refers to a feeling of depth or three dimensions.
• It can also refer to the artist's use of the area within the picture plane.
• Negative space refers to the area around the primary objects in a work of art.
• Positive space refers to the space occupied by the primary objects.

Theories of Art

• The theory of art contrasts with the definition of art.
• The main purpose of a theory of art is to treat art like other natural phenomena that need to be investigated.
• Theories of art employ concepts like art and the reasons behind them.

Expressionism Art

• Expressionism is a term used to describe works of art in which the representation of reality is distorted to communicate an inner vision.
• Expressionism was an art movement and international tendency at the beginning of the 20th century.
• The aim of artists was to express emotional experiences rather than physical reality.
• Expressionism as a theory of art started in 1905 and lasted until approximately 1920.

Elements of Art

• The elements of art are components or parts of art that can be isolated and defined.
• The 7 Elements of Art are:
  • Line
  • Shape
  • Form
  • Space
  • Texture
  • Value
  • Color

Line

• Line is a mark with length and direction.
• It is a continuous mark made by a moving point.
• Line can be horizontal, vertical, or diagonal, straight or curved, thick or thin, and shows different meanings, feelings, and emotions.
• Kinds of Line:
  • Horizontal lines suggest a feeling of rest or repose.
  • Vertical lines often communicate a sense of height.
  • Zigzag lines convey action and excitement.
  • Curve lines convey energy.

History of Arts in the Philippines

• The art of the Philippines refers to the works of art that have developed and accumulated in the Philippines from the beginning of civilization in the country up to the present era.
• Philippine art reflects the society and non-Filipinos the wide range of cultural influences on the country's culture.
• In the 1920s, Fernando Amorsolo and his constituents established the Amorsolo School of painting.
• Guillermo Tolentino was trained in the academy in Rome and became the proponent of classical sculpture in the Philippines.
• The art of the Philippines can be divided into two: Traditional Arts and Non-Traditional Arts.