Art Appreciation PDF

**Art Appreciation** ***Humanities*** - The humanities are those disciplines that deal with human interaction, society and how humans get along in society. - The term was first applied to the writings of ancient Latin authors which were read not only for their clarity of language and...

**Art Appreciation** ***Humanities*** - The humanities are those disciplines that deal with human interaction, society and how humans get along in society. - The term was first applied to the writings of ancient Latin authors which were read not only for their clarity of language and literary style, but also for their moral teaching. - Renaissance: The word came to refer to the set of disciplines taught in the universities. - Grammar, rhetoric, history, literature, music, philosophy, theology - Humanus (Latin) - "human, cultured, refined." **Why it's important to study humanities?** - It answers to the fundamental questions we ask about ourselves and about life. - Learning about ourselves -- through the various humanities -- helps us to create a better world. - "It's the human in humanities that is worth studying. Humanities can tell us about ourselves, how we interact and get along and why we sometimes don't!" (Jared van Duinen) **Cultural understanding** - The arts provide insights into different cultures, traditions, and historical periods - Through literature, music, visual arts etc., we can understand the values, beliefs, and experiences of people from various backgrounds. **Cultural thinking** - The arts foster critical thinking skills by encouraging analysis, interpretation, and evaluation. **Community Engagement** - Provide avenues for social interaction, collaboration, and shared experiences, fostering connections and strengthening social bonds. **Cultural preservations** - Art forms such as literature, music, and visual arts serves as repositories of cultural heritage. - Humanities is the study of the different cultural aspects of people. - Culture is the disparity of man and animals. - Humanities also means understanding people and their affairs rather than just a prescribed unchangeable body of accepted facts and theories. - ART - Aryan root word "AR" which means to join or put together. - Greek words derived from "AR": - Artizien -- to prepare - Arkiskien -- to put together - Ars/Artis (Latin) - Everything which is artificially made. - Art is universal. - Art has been created by all people, at all places and times. It exists because it is liked and enjoyed. - Art is universal because it is good; but not good because it is universal. - Art is a product of man's imagination, good taste and skill in doing things. - Art is not nature; and nature is not an art. - Art involves experience. *NOTE: Because art is man-made, nature is not an art.* **Art involves experience** - Starts as an experience that the artist wants to communicate. - The act of experiencing that experience - Gratifying experience of having accomplished something significant - Art is uniquely human and tied directly to culture. It asks questions about who we are, what we value, the meaning of beauty and the human condition. - Art history, anthropology and literature are three main sources in observing, recording and interpreting our human past. **Visual arts** - Oldest form documented - Includes images, objects in fields like paintings, sculpture, printmaking, photography and other visual media. E.g - Lascaux Cave Painting (France) - Stonehenge (England) - Venus of Willendorf - Four major ideas for determining if a work of art is effective: - Mimetic Theory (Imitationalism) - Art is good when it imitates reality. - An Imitationalist artist focuses on mimicking and representing real life. In a successful piece of art, the textures, light, shadows, human proportions, and perspective are all highly realistic, as if you could reach out and touch them. - Formalism - Art is good when it masters the artistic elements and principles. - A Formalist artist focuses on an artwork's form---the way it's made and what it looks like. In a successful piece of art, the visual features are most important: line quality, color, composition, and other artistic elements and principles. - Instrumentalism - Art is good when it communicates a message. - An Instrumentalist artist focuses on context and message. A successful piece of art is an instrument to persuade the audience or provide commentary. It is often political, social, moral, or thought-provoking. - Emotionalism - Art is good when it evokes an emotional response. - An Emotionalist artist focuses on the expression of emotion. A successful piece of art communicates an emotion, but more importantly, it pulls out an emotional reaction from the viewer. - Narrative Art - "A picture is worth a thousand words." - an art that says precisely what it is -- it tells or narrates a story. - Appropriation -- the act of copying from old models in order to come up with something new. - re-enacting/recreating a scene (photography) - Copying an idea and changing its title (writing) - Borrowing - act of copying aspects of an original work; appropriation -- the act of injecting some "fresh" perspective of the original work. - Issue of ownership - Technically, copyright law protects exact wording, not an idea. - General rules to consider: - There must be something new that the artist added (an idea, nuance, criticism) to the work being appropriated. - When one appropriates or borrows, the intention must not be to deceive others. - No one should be allowed to borrow if it is aimed at hurting others. - Subject of Art - refers to any person, object, scene or event described or represented in a work of art. - Kinds of Art according to Subject: - Representational - Non-representational - Landscapes, seascapes and cityscapes - Still lifes - painting or drawing of an arrangement of objects, typically including fruit and flowers and objects contrasting with these in texture, such as bowls and glassware. - Animals - Portraits - Figures - Everyday life (genre) - History and legend - Religion and mythology - Dreams and Fantasies **Ways of Presenting the Subject** - Realism - depicting things the way they would normally appear in nature. ***Take note:** No work of art is truly realistic, since no work of art is an exact copy of what exists in the natural world.* - Abstraction - the process of simplifying/or reorganizing objects and elements according to the demands of artistic expression. - The artist who is interested in one phase of a scene or situation doesn't show the subject as an objective reality but only his idea of it or his feeling about it. - Distortion - twisting, stretching, or deforming the natural shape of the object. - usually done to dramatize the shape of a figure or to create an emotional effect. - Surrealism - 20th-century avant-garde movement in art and literature that sought to release the creative potential of the unconscious mind, for example by the irrational juxtaposition of images. realism plus distortion - Surreal means beyond natural; beyond realism - Presenting art by fantastic imagery - Subject - object depicted by the artist. - Content - refers to what the artist expresses or communicates on the whole in his work. - Meaning of the work - Theme in literature **Levels of Meaning** - Factual meaning -- the literal statement or the narrative content in the work which can be directly apprehended. - Conventional meaning -- the special meaning that a certain object or color has for a particular culture or group of people. - ex. Flag -- nation; cross -- Christianity crescent moon -- Islam; elephant -- a significant and sacred animal within the Hindu religion. - Subjective meaning -- any personal meaning consciously or unconsciously conveyed by the artist using a private symbolism which stems from his own association of certain - We may like in art what we do not like in nature, because we see the subject as it has been interpreted for us by the artist. - A beautiful subject does not necessarily produce a good work of art, nor an ugly subject a poor one; a noble subject does not mean a noble work of art, nor an ignoble subject an ignoble work. **The Functions of Art** Classification of art according to function: In applied arts, as in architecture, function is so important that *it*, rather than the name of the art, *is used to identify* *individual works.* To satisfy: - our personal needs for expression - our social needs for display, celebration and communication - our physical needs for utilitarian objects and structures. - Personal Function - To satisfy our individual needs for personal expression - Self-expression or gratification - Arts are vehicles for the artists' expression of their feelings and ideas. - Aesthetic Expression - Everyone is concerned with what is beautiful or pleasing. - Intellectual Inquiry - Much of contemporary art deals with questions about the nature of art, the role of art in society and reactions to contemporary society and culture - Therapy **Social Function** *[Art performs a social function when:]* It seeks or tends to influence the collective behavior of a people. It is created to be seen or used primarily in public situations. It expresses or describes social or collective aspects of existence as opposed to individual and personal kinds of experience. It seeks or tends to influence the collective behavior of a people. Political art Arts that are depicting social conditions. It is created to be seen or used primarily in public situations. Graphic Communication One function of sculpture and painting is the commemoration of important personages in society. Arts are also linked to rituals. **Physical Function** To satisfy our physical needs for utilitarian objects and structures. Works of art that are created to perform some service have physical functions. Many objects have both physical and aesthetic duties. Architecture: The Dwelling Monumental Art Japanese raku bowl and cup by Duchamp **Form and Function** The function of an object generally determines the basic form that it takes. "Form follows function." The design of the building is determined primarily by its operational function. What is the building for? Who are going to use it? How many are they? The design that a building takes is also adapted to the climate of the region.