Arts Appreciation Module 1: Basics Concepts of Art

MODULE 1: THE BASICS CONCEPTS OF ART

Aristotle and Other Famous Quotes

• "Art completes what nature cannot bring to a finish. The artist gives us knowledge of nature's unrealized ends." - Aristotle
• "The true work of art is but a shadow of the divine perfection." - Michelangelo
• "Art is a mediator of the unspeakable." - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
• "Art is a mad search for individualism." - Paul Gauguin
• "Art is not a mirror held up to reality but a hammer with which to shape it." - Bertolt Brecht

Characteristics of Art

• Man-made
• Unique
• Aesthetics

Types of Art

• Painting
• Sculpture
• Architecture
• Literature
• Music

Elements of Art

• Line: indicates direction, orientation, movement, and energy
  • Vertical line: basic framework of all forms, power, strength, stability, simplicity, and efficiency
  • Horizontal line: creates an impression of serenity, perfect stability, rest, calmness, peace, and repose
  • Jagged line: shows violence, confusion, and conflict
  • Curved line: shows a gradual change of direction and fluidity
• Space: refers to the distances or areas around, between, and within components of a piece
• Shape: an enclosed space, a bounded two-dimensional form that has both length and width
  • Organic shapes: based on natural or living forms, can be irregular
  • Geometric shapes: based on measured forms, can be named (e.g., sphere, cube, pyramid, cone, and cylinder)
• Form: connotes something that is three-dimensional and encloses volume, having length, width, and height
• Color
• Texture

PRINCIPLES OF ART

• Emphasis: composition refers to developing points of interest to pull the viewer's eye to important parts of the body of the work

• Balance: sense of stability in the body of work

• Harmony: achieved in a body of work by using similar elements throughout the work

• Variety: refers to the differences in the work

• Movement: adds excitement to your work by showing action and directing the viewer's eye throughout the work

• Unity: seen in a painting or drawing when all the parts equal a whole### Roman Arts and Architecture

• Roman wall painters preferred natural earth colors, such as darker shades of reds, yellows, and browns.

• Subjects included portraits, scenes from mythology, architecture, flora, fauna, and entire gardens, landscapes, and townscapes.

Roman Sculpture

• Roman sculpture blended the idealized perfection of earlier Classical Greek sculpture with a greater aspiration for realism and mixed in Eastern styles.
• Sculptures mostly used marble and bronze, depicting prominent political figures, wealthy individuals, gods, emperors, and heroes.
• Larger-than-life sculptures were also carved for gods, emperors, and heroes.

Mosaics

• Mosaics were made with small black, white, and colored squares of marble, tile, glass, pottery, stone, or shells.
• Each individual piece measured between 0.5 and 1.5 cm, but fine details were often rendered using even smaller pieces as little as 1mm in size.
• Popular subjects included scenes from mythology, gladiator contests, sports, agriculture, hunting, food, flora, and fauna, and sometimes they even captured the Romans themselves in detailed and realistic portraits.

Roman Architecture

• Roman architecture continued the legacy left by the earlier Greek architects.
• Marble was largely favored, especially for state-funded projects.
• Some notable architects were Apollodorus of Damascus, Hadrian, Severus, Celer, and Vitruvius.

Roman Orders

• Roman Composite - mixed the volute of the Ionic order with the acanthus leaves of the Corinthian.
• Roman Tuscan - a form of Doric column but with a smaller capital, a more slender shaft without flutes, and a molded base.

Socio-Cultural Context

• By 146 BCE, Rome had conquered Greece and absorbed its other territories.
• Romans were uninterested in theoretical questions, but they were among the greatest engineers, military tacticians, and administrators.

Roman Literature and Theater

• Horace's The Art of Poetry served as a manual on writing good plays.
• Roman drama prospered in the Republic era (509-27 BCE), but was abandoned in the Empire era (27 BCE-476 CE).
• Roman Comic Playwrights included Livius Andronicus, Gnaeus Naevius, and Titus Maccius Plautus.
• Roman Tragic Playwrights included Quintus Ennius, Marcus Ocuvius, Luccius Accius, and Lucius Annaeus Seneca.

Roman Actors

• Histriones were actors; Cantores were declaimers.
• Male actors performed in tragedies and comedies; women performed in mimes.
• The playwright left the production at the hands of managers.
• Some actors belonged in guilds.
• In the 1st century BCE, emphasis shifted to the "star" performer.
• The most popular performers in late Rome were tightrope walkers, trapeze artists, jugglers, sword-swallowers, fire-eaters, and dancers.

Acting Style in Tragedy and Comedy

• Delivery in tragedy was slow, stately, and declamatory; delivery in comedy was conversational.
• Proficiency in speaking, singing, and dancing was required.
• Movement in tragedy was slow and dignified; movement in comedy was lively.
• Gestures and movement were considered enlarged.
• Actors specialized in one dramatic form.
• Actors in mime did not use masks.

Review the fundamentals of art appreciation, exploring quotes from Aristotle, Michelangelo, and Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. Analyze iconic artworks like Christina's World and Rizal Monument.