Lesson 1 What is Art?

Introduction and Assumptions

OBJECTIVE:

1. Understand the role of the humanities and the arts in man’s attempt at fully realizing his end,
2. Clarify misconceptions about art,
3. Characterize the assumptions of the arts, and
4. Engage better with personal experiences of and in art.

CONTENT:

Art
 something that is perennially around us.
 The word “art” comes from the ancient Latin ars means a “craft or specialized form of skill, like
carpentry or surgery”
 the expression or application of human creative skill and imagination, typically in a visual form
such as painting or sculpture, producing works to be appreciated primarily for their beauty or
emotional power.
 Art is a diverse range of human activities in creating visual, auditory or performing artifacts,
expressing the author's imaginative, conceptual ideas, or technical skill, intended to be
appreciated for their beauty or emotional power.
- See photos of Medieval Cathedral

In the first column of the table below, list down the most striking encounters with arts. On
the second column, explain why you think each encounter is an experience with art.

My Encounters with Arts Why?

Lets’s get down to business

Why study the humanities?

 The study of the humanities can also be used to realize differing interpretations of life and

history. Studying facts of the past helps to understand literature of the past.
 The humanities allow people of different cultures to communicate and understand their
sometimes common pasts but present differences.
 The humanities constitute one of the oldest and most important means of expression
developed by man.
 Human History has before written records of man’s civilization has appeared, one can find
cases of man’s attempts of not just crafting tools to live and survive but also expressing his
feelings and thoughts.
- See photos of Cave Paintings
Assumptions of Art
I. Art is Universal
 in every country and in every generation, there is always an art. This is a
misconception. Age is not a factor in determining an art. “an art is good because it is
old, but old because it is good”.
Ex. Rizal and Francisco Baltazar (old but good)
Florante at Laura, Ibong Adarna, folk dances, kundiman (never fails)
II. Art is not Nature

 Paul Cezanne, a French painter, painted a scene from reality entitled “well and
Grinding Wheel in the Forest of the Chateau Noir”. They said scene from the forest
is inspired by a real scene in the forest which photograph is available to us.
 Art is man’s expression of his reception of nature. Art is man’s way of interpreting
nature. Art is made by man whereas nature is given around us.
III. Art involves Experience.

 Art is just experience. By experience, we mean the “actual doing of something”

Ex. A painter cannot claim to know how to paint if he has not tried holding a brush.
A sculptor cannot produce a work of art if a chisel is foreign to him.
Let’s wrap it up

 Humanities and the art have always been part of man’s growth and civilization.
 Three assumptions on art are its universality, its not being nature, and its need for
experience.
 Art is present in every part of the globe and in every period.
 Art is always a creation of the artists, not nature.
 Without experience there is no art.

Notes:

Topic Summarized by: Issued by: Page 2

SOCIAL SCIENCE Ms.Isabelita F. Pascual Marikina of 2
Art Appreciation Polytechnic
Date: July 2019 College