College of Arts and Sciences

ART APPRECIATION

PRELIM TOPIC

MODULE 1: Introduction to Art Appreciation

Topic Outline

Lesson 1: What is Art? : Introduction and Concepts about Art

Lesson 2: Basic Assumptions of Art

Lesson 3: Function and Philosophical Perspectives of Art

Lesson 4: Basic Art Criticism

Lesson 5: Content, Context and Perspectives

Lesson 6: Art, Artists and Society

Lesson 7: Soulmaking and Improvisation

Lesson 1: WHAT IS ART?

Art is a extremely diverse extent of human activities engaged in creating visual, auditory, or
performed artifacts artworks that express the author’s imaginative or technical skill, and are intended to be
appreciated for their beauty or emotional power.

PURPOSES OF ART

Throughout history, art has great number of different functions making its purpose difficult to grasp
in a single concept. But this does not imply that the concept of art is vague. Thus, it has many unique
reasons for being created. Claude Levi-Strauss developed a partial list of purpose which is provided below.

1. Expression of the imagination.  Art provides a means to express the imagination in non-grammatic ways
that are not tied to the formality of spoken or written language. Unlike words, which come in sequences and
each of which have a definite meaning, art provides a range of forms, symbols and ideas with meanings that
are malleable.
2. Ritualistic and symbolic functions. In many cultures, art is used in rituals, performances and dances as a
decoration or symbol. While these often have no specific utilitarian (motivated) purpose, anthropologists
know that they often serve a purpose at the level of meaning within a particular culture. This meaning is not
furnished by any one individual, but is often the result of many generations of change, and of a cosmological
relationship within the culture.
3. Communication. Art, at its simplest, is a form of communication. As most forms of communication have an
intent or goal directed toward another individual, this is a motivated purpose. Illustrative arts, such as
scientific illustration, are a form of art as communication. Maps are another example. However, the content
need not be scientific. Emotions, moods and feelings are also communicated through art.
4. Art as entertainment. Art may seek to bring about a particular emotion or mood, for the purpose of
relaxing or entertaining the viewer. This is often the function of the art industries such as Motion Pictures and
Video Games. Some art is simply meant to be enjoyable.
5. Political change. One of the defining functions of early twentieth-century art has been to use visual images
to bring about political change. Art movements that had this goal—Dadaism,
Surrealism, Russian constructivism, and Abstract Expressionism, among others—are collectively referred to as
the avante-garde arts.
6. Art for social causes. Art can be used to raise awareness for a large variety of causes. A number of art
activities were aimed at raising awareness of AIDS, autism, cancer, human trafficking, and a variety of

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other topics, such as ocean conservation, human rights in Darfur, murdered and missing Aboriginal
women, elder abuse, marriage equality, and pollution. Trashion, using trash to make fashion, is one example
of using art to raise awareness about pollution.
7. Art for psychological and healing purposes. Art is also used by art therapists, psychotherapists and clinical
psychologists as art therapy. The Diagnostic Drawing Series, for example, is used to determine the
personality and emotional functioning of a patient. The end product is not the principal goal in this case, but
rather a process of healing, through creative acts, is sought. The resultant piece of artwork may also offer
insight into the troubles experienced by the subject and may suggest suitable approaches to be used in more
conventional forms of psychiatric therapy.
8. Art for propaganda or commercialism. Art is often utilized as a form of propaganda, and thus can be used
to subtly influence popular conceptions or mood. In a similar way, art that tries to sell a product also
influences mood and emotion. In both cases, the purpose of art here is to subtly manipulate the viewer into a
particular emotional or psychological response toward a particular idea or object.

Art and the Aesthetic Experience

We perceive and respond to beauty. Our response maybe of awe and amazement, wonder and joy,
or something else. It might reach an epiphany or peak experience. It might be watching a sunset or taking in
the view from a mountaintop and the list goes on. Based on Silverman’s definition, aesthetic analysis is a
careful investigation of the qualities which belong to objects and events that evoke an aesthetic response.
The aesthetic response is the thoughts and feelings initiated because of the character of these qualities and
the particular ways they are organized and experienced perceptually.

Engaging Aesthetic Analysis

The feelings and thoughts often instilled as a result of contemplating an artwork are primarily based
on what is actually seen in the work. We respond to the aspects of sensory properties, formal and technical
properties of an artwork. Color is an example of sensory property.

Assigning Value to Art

Art is used to apply judgments of value, as in expressions like “that meal was a work of art” which
implies that the cook is an artist or the art of deception which means the advanced skill of deceiving. It is the
use of the word as a measure of high value that gives the term its flavor of subjectivity.

Art should be virtually pleasing or not?

Making judgments of value requires a basis for criticism. In a simplest level, deciding whether an
object or experience is considered art is a matter of finding it to be either attractive or repulsive. Though
perception is always colored by experience, and is necessarily subjective , it is commonly understood that
what is not somehow visually pleasing cannot be art.

Francisco

De Goya, El Tres De Mayo, 1808 (The Third of May, 1808). Image is in public domain.

Example, the painting above by Francisco Goya shows the Spanish shootings on the third of May
1808. It is a visual depiction of a firing squad executing several pleading civilians. At the same time, the
horrific imagery demonstrates Goya’s keen artistic ability in composition and execution, and it produces fitting
and political outrage. Moreso, the debate continues as to what mode of aesthetic satisfaction, if there is, is
required to define “art”. The revision of what is popularly conceived of as being visually pleasing allows for a
re-invigoration of and a new appreciation for the standards of art itself.

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Factors involved in the Judgment of Art

Looking at a rainbow inspires emotional reaction such as delight or joy. Visceral responses like disgust show
that sensory detection is connected to facial expressions and behavior like gag reflex. However, disgust can
be a learned or cultural response as Darwin pointed out. In example, seeing a smear of soup in a man’s
beard is disgusting even though either the soup or the beard itself is already disgusting.

Representational, Abstract and Non-representational Art

Painting, sculpture and other artforms are divided into categories of representational also known as
figurative art although it doesn’t always contain figures, abstract and non-represenational art.

LESSON 2: BASIC ASSUMPTIONS OF ART

ART IS UNIVERSAL

Literature has provided key works of art. Among the most popular ones being taught in school are
the two Greek epics, the Iliad and the Odyssey. The Sanskrit pieces Mahabharata and Ramayana are also
staples in this field. These works, purportedly written before the beginning of recorded history, are believed
to be man’s attempt at recording stories and tales that have been passed on, known, and sung throughout
the years.

ART IS NOT NATURE

In the Philippines. it is not entirely novel to hear some consumers of local movies remark that
these movies produced locally are unrealistic. They contend that local movies wait around a certain formula
to the detriment of substance and faithfulness to the reality of the movies. These critical minds argue that a
good movie must reflect reality as closely as possible.

ART INVOLVES EXPERIENCE

Getting this far without a satisfactory definition of art can be quite weird for some. For most people,
art does not require a full definition. Art is just experience. By experience, we mean the “actual doing of
something” (Dudley et al., 1960). When one says that he has an experience of something, he often means
that he knows what that something is about.

LESSON 3: FUNCTIONAL AND PHILOSOPHICAL PERSPECTIVES OF ART

FUNCTION OF ART

Ideally, one can look at a piece of art and guess with some accuracy where it came from and
when. This best-case scenario also includes identifying the artist because they are in no small way part of the
contextual equation.

The functions of art normally fall into three categories: physical, social, and personal. These
categories can and often do overlap in any given piece of art. When you're ready to start thinking about these
functions, here's how.

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 Physical. The physical functions of art are often the easiest to understand. Works of art that are created
to perform some service have physical functions. If you see a Fijian war club, you may assume that,
however wonderful the craftsmanship may be, it was created to perform the physical function of
smashing skulls.

 Social. Art has a social function when it addresses aspects of (collective) life as opposed to one person's
point of view or experience. Viewers can often relate in some way to social art and are sometimes even
influenced by it.

 Personal. The personal functions of art are often the most difficult to explain. There are many types of
personal functions and these are highly subjective. Personal functions of art are not likely to be the same
from person to person.

PHILOSOPHICAL PERSPECTIVE ON ART

Art as an Imitation
In Plato’s The Republic, paints a picture of artists as imitators and art as mere imitation. In his
description of the ideal republic, Plato advises against the inclusion of art as a subject in the curriculum and
the banning of artists in the Republic. In Plato’s metaphysics or view of reality, the things in this world are
only copies of the original, the eternal, and the true entities that can only be found in the World of Forms.
For example: The chair that one sits on is not a real chair. It is an imperfect copy of the perfect “chair” in the
World of Forms.
Plato was convinced that artists merely reinforce the belief in copies and discourage men to reach for the
real entities in the World of Forms. Plato was deeply suspicious of arts and artists for two reasons:
(1) They appeal to the emotions rather than the rational faculty of men
(2) They imitate rather than lead one to reality.

Art as a Representation
1. Aristotle agreed with Plato that art is a form of imitation. However, Aristotle considered art as an aid to
philosophy in revealing the truth. The kind of imitation that art does is not antithetical to the reaching of
fundamental truths in the world.
2. Immanuel Kant, in his Critique of Judgment, considered the judgment of beauty, the cornerstone of art, as
something that can be universal despite its subjectivity. Kant recognized that judgment of beauty is
subjective. However, even subjective judgments are based on some universal criterion for the said judgment.
How and in what sense can a judgment of beauty, which ordinarily is considered to be a subjective
feeling, be considered objective or universal?
How are these two statements different?
1. “I like this painting.”
2. “This painting is beautiful.”

Art as a Communication of Emotion

According to Leo Tolstoy, art plays a huge role in communication to its audience’s emotions that the
artist previously experienced. In the same that language communicates information to other people, art
communicates emotions.

Art as a Communication of Emotion

According to Leo Tolstoy, art plays a huge role in communication to its audience’s emotions that
the artist previously experienced. In the same that language communicates information to other people, art
communicates emotions.

Lesson 4: Basic Art Criticism

What really constitutes “good” art? We all know that opinion plays a major role in what a person
may feel is “good”. But should it? Should there be a defined framework for what good artwork is? Should
there be a standard? What would that standard be?

Art is NOT whatever we want it to be. It is a discipline that requires study, dedication, and
practice. It takes knowledge to produce good artwork. Evaluate yourself before you evaluate art.

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 Emotionalist. If you find the expressive qualities of an artwork to be most important, you may be an
emotionalist.
 Realist. Do you find the realistic qualities of a work of art to be the most interesting? Are you the type
that looks at a work of art and says, “That doesn’t look like a person”? Or maybe you look at a drawing
and become amazed at how much the artist has made it look like a photo. If this describes you, then
you probably are a realist and evaluate the success of artwork based on its realistic qualities.
 Formalist. Do you look for the color scheme, the use of the elements and principles of art, the
composition and other formal qualities to evaluate the artwork? If you do, then you probably are a
formalist.

Methods in Reading Art

Like philosophy, we also attempt to make sense of why we do what we do. If we want to become
more diverse in our approach in learning, art methodologies is one of the means and these are mainly hinged
on long-help philosophies.We can read art through various non-biased approaches.

1. Formalism and Style- gives importance to the formal-qualities (art elements, materials and design
principles) as basis for the meaning of art. The form is the content per se and does not take history and
context into account.

2. Iconography- This focuses on the subject matter primarily over form. Usually these answer
questions such as who is this person the artist painted and what does it represent? Why did the artist
choose this image and what for?

3. Contextual Approaches- this kind of approach makes context an important factor in criticizing
artworks.

4. Biography and Autobiography- this focuses and considers the life and context of the artist. It is
based on the assumption that the artist’s life, beliefs, choices and personality are directly connected to
the works that he or she creates.

5. Semiotics- “Sema” is a Greek word which means sign. An artwork or art form is assumed to be
composed of a set of signs that may have significant cultural and contextual meanings beyond itself.

6. Psychoanalysis- It is concerned about the unconscious mind in relation to the artist, the viewer and
the cultural context it is involved in.

7. Aesthetics and Psychoanalysis- Individual notion of what is considered acceptable, beautiful or

attractive in works of art are in part influenced by psychological factors. This approach then connects
psychology to one’s constructed philosophy of art.

Lesson 5: Content, Context and Perspectives

CONTENT
This is simply the subject matter of an artwork. It is the images we see such as trees in a painting or
the moon in Van Gogh’s Starry Night.

CONTEXT
This consists of all of the things about the artwork that might have influenced the artwork or the
maker. These includes when the work was made, where it was made, why it was made, and possibly some
details or information.
Contextualism- looking at the cultural context of an artwork- can deepen and improve our understanding of
an artwork, but it may or may not change our first impressions. With additional contexts, we can become
informed of the artwork. All artworks exist in multiple contexts.

Historical Context. Time is the basic and irst context to be consider. When we say, “when in time” the
question is also related to where in time- and has considerations related to context.

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Art and Artist Context. The context for the creator includes their culture, their place and their worldview
religion and beliefs.
Viewer Context. How a viewer responds to an artwork is based on their time, culture, nationality and
gender.

Perspectives

Different viewpoints arise when appreciating and trying to understand art.

General types of Perspective

1. Cultural Perspective. Culture is a complex idea that encompasses the ways that social life effects and
informs our experiences

2. Historical Perspective. As time passes, scholarship and research occur and many people become aware of a
particular artwork, art form, art style, etc. Recognition may increase (and sometimes decreases). Vincent
Van Gogh is an example here—totally unappreciated while he was alive, but now he’s recognized worldwide
as a notable painter. Other examples might be the originally negative attitudes towards jazz music or hip-
hop. In art, these currents of recognition of importance often spring from institutions like museums,
academic writing and journals, college art classes, and art history as a field of study.

3. Personal Perspective. Personal perspectives are formed by the layered aspects that form our individual
identities. This could be any number of defining aspects such as, gender, class, race, where you were born
and raised, education, aspects of family, group affiliations, etc., and the list goes on. These aspects form
our unique biographical experiences that constitute our identities and color our personal point of view or
the way we interpret our life experiences.

LESSON 6: ARTS, ARTISTS AND SOCIETY

We have this notion that artists are spontaneous, laid back and unorganized. But artist have their
own artistic process may their artwork is simple or complicated.The process that they follow comprises of the
elements that tie-up together in the conception of a tangible art form.

ART

WHAT: The subject matter, HOW: Techniques and WHY: The narrative behind

the content of the work materials involved; the the subject matter; the concept

the content of the work. process involved and underlying significance.

Lesson 7: Soulmaking and Improvisation

Soulmaking

Art actually makes sense when the people reading has the understanding of visual elements where
art was grounded on especially the principles of design.

Style is described as the distinctive handling of elements and media associated with the individual
artist’s work. In our history, there have been developments in art styles that depict different and varied
methods of expression.

Improvisation

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 This is define as doing something without the needed preparation and there is a decision to act upon
something that may not be necessarily be planned. Improvisation has become an integral part of the arts.

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