ART APPRECIATION

HUMANITIES

“HUMANUS”

human, refined, cultured

* Study of human culture and the human

condition

* thoughts, beliefs, values and feelings

* Philosophy, ethics, jurisprudence, language,

linguistics and literary studies, art and art history

Last judgment of Hunefer, from his tomb at Thebes, Egypt, 19th Dynasty, ca. 1300–1290 bce. Painted
papyrus scroll, 1′

6″ high. British Museum, London.

The Book of the Dead contained spells and prayers. This scroll depicts the weighing of

Hunefer’s heart against Maat’s feather before the deceased

can be presented to Osiris, god of the Underworld.

What is ART?

“ARS” - ability / skill

Kat sushika Hokusai, The Great Wave off Kanagawa, from Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji, Edo period, ca.

1826–1833. Woodblock print, ink and colors on paper, 97–8 ″ × 1′ 23–4″. Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

(Bigelow Collection).

Virgin of Compassion icon (Vladimir Virgin), late

11th or early 12th century, with later repainting.

Tempera on wood, 2′ 61–2″ × 1′ 9″. Tretyakov

Gallery, Moscow.

Chris Ofili The Holy Virgin Mary, 1996. Acrylic,

oil, polyester resin, paper collage, glitter, map

pins, elephant dung on linen, 8′ × 6′. Victoria

Miro Gallery, London.

Edvard Munch, The Scream, 1893. Tempera

and pastels on cardboard, 2′ 113–4″ × 2′ 5″.

National Gallery, Oslo.

“I stopped and leaned

against the

balustrade, almost

dead with fatigue.

Above the blue-black

fjord hung the clouds,

red as blood and

tongues of fire. My

friends had left me,

and alone, trembling

with anguish, I
became aware of the

vast, infinite cry of

nature.”

Any human activity that expresses aesthetic ideas

by the use of skill and imagination in the creation of

objects, environments and experiences which can

be shared with others to help create an aesthetic

experience in the viewer.

What is ART?

skill + imagination = ART

“ Imagination is more important than knowledge.

For knowledge is limited to all we now know and

understand, while imagination embraces the entire

world, and all there ever will be to know and

understand.” - Einstein

Art is an “infection”- Leo Tolstoy

Have you been infected?

What artwork has “infected” you? When did you

see it? By which artist? What was it about? In what

way were you infected? How did it change you?

Discuss (QUIETLY) with your seatmate for 5mins.

Short

Activity

“MAN IS THE MEASURE OF ALL THINGS”

- Protagoras

Meaning man is used as the foundation of value rather

than any god or moral law. Implying that the

humanities emphasizes the dignity and worthiness of

man and recognizes creative expressions. So ART as a

creative expression of man may be regarded as a

"measuring stick" in looking into a certain period/era or

even a specific country or group of people.

What one man holds to be true may be false with

another, depending on environment, culture and other

aspects that influence him.

Degustibus non disputandum est

(Matters of taste are not matters of dispute)

1. ART IS UNIVERSAL

Assumptions about art

Art has been created by various people, at all

places and time.

Art exists because it is liked and enjoyed.

Nude woman (Venus of

Willendorf ), from Willendorf,

Austria,

ca. 28,000–25,000 bce.

Limestone, 41–4″ high.

Naturhistorisches

Museum, Vienna.

Thutmose, Nefertiti, from

Amarna, Egypt, 18th Dynasty,

ca. 1353–1335 bce. Painted

limestone, 1′ 1–4″ high.

Ägyptisches

Museum, Staatliche Museen

zu Berlin, Berlin.

Linda Carter Wonder Woman

70’s TV series

2. ART IS NOT NATURE

Art is man-made.

Art is man’s expression of his reception of

nature, his own interpretation of what he sees

around him. Man’s perception of what is

already given in nature.

“PERCEPTION”

Paul Cézanne, Mont Sainte-Victoire,

1902–1904. Oil on canvas, 2′ 31–2″ × 2′ 111–4″.

Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia

(George W. Elkins Collection).

3. ART INVOLVES EXPERIENCE

How do you know if a movie is good? Or if the latest single of your

favourite artist is better than the last one?

In order to know what an artwork is, we have to sense

it, see or hear it, see and hear it. Emotion must be

involved in the experience of art.

Types of art

• Perceived by the sense of sight

• Graphic Arts

• 2-dimensional surfaces

• Painting, drawing, photography and other

products of the printing

industry – books, signs, posters,

ads/advertisements

1. Visual art

Plastic Arts (Greek “plastikos” – to form or to

mold)

• 3-dimensional forms

• Architectural designs, other structures;

landscapes, interior design,

sculpture, crafts – jewelry, weaving,

ceramics; industrial arts –

designs of cars or appliances or clothing or

stage production

2. Performing arts

• Theater, play, dance and music

• Involves movement, speaking and

gestures

3. Literary arts

• Short stories, novels, poetry, drama

4. Popular Arts

• Film, newspaper, magazine, radio and

television

• Main characteristic – gay and lively

5. Gustatory art of the cuisine

• Skill in food preparation

6. Decorative Arts

• Visual objects produced for beautifying

houses, offices

• Also called Applied arts

• Example: bowls, chandeliers, furniture