ART APPRECIATION

BACHELOR OF SCIENCE IN LEGAL MANAGEMENT | FIRST YEAR | SECOND SEMESTER

PROFESSOR: PROF. RAYMA FE LAGUNDI

ARTS AND ITS HISTORY

WHY STUDY THE SUBJECT

ART IN CONTEXT: THE HUMANITIES

Art belongs to the field of Humanities, aside from this; it provides the context for the other humanities
from a visual perspective. In perspective, we may know the about the Iliad from Homer’s epic poems
but we cannot identify the Battle of Troy without images or their heroes like Achilles.

HUMANITIES
Humanities is the study of the human condition. Whereas the human condition is defined as the
positive or negative aspects of being human, such as birth, growth, reproduction, love, and death.
Such that we remember the past, we imagine the future, we are capable of feeling, hence, we have
emotions, we are capable of reason and we are aware that we will die.

TAXONOMY: WE ARE HOMO SAPIENS

In Taxonomy, we are classified as Homo sapiens because of the following reasons:
[1] We are the only human species on Earth

[2] We can think and is capable of reason

[3] We can communicate using language

[4] We can make and manipulate object, this

includes our capability to paint, write, and
perform

[5] We are bipedal; this means we walk upright

using our feet.
WHAT GOES INTO HUMANITIES
[A] LANGUAGE

Language is the backbone of humanities because we use language to

communicate, argue, learn, negotiate, document, legislate, and
celebrate. An example of language in ancient civilization is the
Cuneiform was invented in the Near East.

Whereas classical languages are

key to understanding the Greeks
and the Romans. Equally
speaking, Latin was used by medieval churchmen as a language
to the Universal church (pertaining to Catholicism and
Christianity). Aside from this written language are utilized in
creating poetry, novels, drama.

Take note that no language means no humanities

[B] HISTORY
Humanities appeals to the past. Traditionally, scholars have to know their classical history. Whereas
History is defined as a systematic study of the families, societies and the great men (sometimes
women). Today, history is more of a social science concerned with the dimension of time

George Santayana quoted “Who ignores the past is doomed to repeat it.”
According to William Faulkner “The past is never dead: it isn’t even past.”

[C] CLASSICS
Humanities, aside from the study of history, also discusses the classics such that, we study the
following:

[C.1] Western Societies, which primarily pertains to the Greeks and the Romans
[C.2] the Classical philosophers: Plato (the ideal form) and Aristotle (empirical observation)
[C.3] the Classical famed Playwrights: Sophocles, Virgil, Horace the satirist and Homer, the epic poet

[C.4] the classics of Ancient Civilizations such as Mesopotamia pertaining to the epic of Gilgamesh,
killing the Bull of Heaven, Egypt: The Book of the Dead (Last Judgment), China: Confucius; Lao Tzu
on the Tao and Tibet: Its own Book of the Dead (karma)

[D] LAW
Law comprise of rules that govern human behavior. Law is always
existent where there are states:
Whereas the power holders make them; or in our society, the
legislators create them. Then the police and army enforce them

The Law is also based on philosophy; Values generate law, such that
laws are based on values and customs of the society. This relief
(right) embodies law: Hammurabi the Lawgiver on the U.S. Supreme
Court
[D] RELIGION

Religion concerns itself with the supernatural, the supernatural being

defined as things and events beyond the five senses.

Religion goes back to the Neolithic and beyond to animism, take note
that half the world’s religions began with the patriarch Abraham
who formed the root of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. The
symbology present in all religious articles and artifacts too, is art.

Many symbols are derived from the East with the doctrine of samsara
(illusion), karma (consequences of past acts), and nirvana (liberation
from samsara) specifically from Hinduism and Buddhism.

Religion also includes the question: where do we go after we die—the fundamental question of
mortality including the topic of Final Judgement.

[E] PHILOSOPHY

Philosophy means “Love of Knowledge.” Whereas Philosophy asks who we are, what and how we
know. The Greeks, especially Plato and Aristotle, founded and developed philosophy. The image
depicts a scene at the Lyceum, school begun by Aristotle.

[F] VISUAL ARTS

Is concerned with the following: Sculpture, for example is the Greek and Roman sculpture of the
human form, drawings, from sketches to hatching, to the use of pastels, paintings which involves the
application of a pigment within a medium and binder.
[G] PERFORMING ARTS

Performing arts includes the production of music, whereas music is the

interpretation of sound combined into melody and harmony (Such as the
nine symphonies of Beethoven).

Performing arts also involves Drama, which is the imitation of life on

stage (Shakespeare included many historical re-enactments on stage—
Julius Caesar, Macbeth, Othello)

Performing art also covers Dance, which is an expression of human

movement on stage performance. Such as the ballet scene from Swan
Lake or sometimes in a spiritual setting. Such as the Whirling Dervishes
of the Sufis founded by Rumi in a reaction against Muslim worldliness

WHAT ART IS FOR?

We have seen ways that art fits into the humanities but is there arts for art’s sake. The answer to this
question is that it depends because sometimes art can be very useful for that which is not art.

[A] ART AS A RECORD OF AN UNWRITTEN PAST

Art appears in ancient civilizations and occurs in the works of the

earlier generation of humans such as in Upper Paleolithic Themes
Animals, such as the caves of Lascaux that depict concerns of
hunting.

Women, depict erotic themes or themes of fertility

Left to right:
[a] Venus of Dolni from Vestonice, Czech Rep.;
[b] Venus of Willendorf, Austria, and
[c] Venus of Lespugne France,

[B] ARCHAEOLOGY PLAYS A MAJOR ROLE

Archaeological Dating techniques that are employed in carbon dating are:
[1] Stratigraphy – which is utilized in identifying relative age of artifacts or by comparing rock layers.
The lower the layer, the older its contents

[2] Seriation – is utilized in identifying relative age by art styles, such as pottery. Seriation is a relative
dating method in which assemblages or artifacts from numerous sites in the same culture are placed
in chronological order.

Absolute dating: dendrochronology, radiocarbon dating, others.

[C] ART AS WINDOW OF HUMAN THOUGHT AND EMOTION

One can reconstruct thought and emotion. Van Gogh’s self- portrait gives
some clues. Is it a self-portrait he is painting? The clues are evident in:
colors on palette, intense orange in center (color of beard), and name
(Visconti) and date (’88)

ART CONSISTS IN THREE FORMS

[A] PAINTING
Paintings can be defined as a depiction of two-dimensional images of
people or things or events.
Painting or to paint is derived from the Latin word “pingo/ pingere”
which means “I paint.”

[B] SCULPTURES
Sculptures can be defined and perceived as a depiction of three-
dimensional images of people, things, or events. The word
“sculpture” is derived from the Latin word “sculpere” which means,
“to carve”. Both works of art in the form of paintings and sculptures
are concerned with images (Latin imago or “likeness”)

[C] ARCHITECTURE

Architecture “High (archi) building (tecture) similarly, the

word Architecture is derived from the Greek word
‘architekton’ ἀρχιτέκτων, which means “master builder”,
whereas, the word can be divided in ἀρχι (arkhi)- "chief" and
τέκτων (tekton) "creator". Classic example: Parthenon
dedicated to Athena, Goddess of wisdom and war.
 ART METHODOLOGIES

[A] FORMALISM

Formalism is focused on the form of the subject in an artwork; it means

“Art for Art’s sake”. The emphasis of the Formalist art is the Ideal of beauty
(Plato) or of texture. Variation of Formalist art is the modern art Bird by
Constantin Brancusi or Furry Cup by Oppenheim. Both satirical formalism
in reverse.

[B] ICONOGRAPHY

Iconographic art is an art for content’s sake. This means that it focuses on
its meaning that is and can be perceived by its viewers. Prime example is
Bruegel’s Tower of Babel visualizes God’s fear that men would reach
heaven by the ziggurat (temple designed as tower) and the cloud in the
painting heightens this tension between God and man.

[C] ICONOLOGY: GROUP OF WORKS

Iconology can be broadly defined as the rationale behind or

interpretation of a group of works. Program refers to this group, whereas
the element of the subject in a work of art is studied and given their
appropriate meaning, such as in Chartres Cathedral, where the structure
and its contents form a system of subjects within it. Iconology is
illustrated in the context of medieval architecture.

[D] MARXISM

The method applies in the goal of class analysis to artistic interpretation. Marxism as a method in art
emphasizes role of class exploitation in art. Again, Bruegel’s Tower portrays builders as Proletarian,
or the oppressed workers and builders and God as bourgeoisie and Nebuchadnezzar as ruler—straw
boss.
[E] FEMINISM

The history of art is composed mostly of the history of patriarchy. This

equally means that female artists not represented before the 1970 and
most nude themes are of women, starting with Venuses, specifically the
Venus of Willendorf. One of the examples of feminist art is the Fur-covered
cup is by a woman by Meret Oppenheim Cup that emphasizes domesticity

[F] AUTOBIOGRAPHY AND BIOGRAPHY

Self-portraits in art are dominant, such as the work of Van Gogh or

Albrecht Dürer (ca 1515). In Biographical portraits, Sometimes family
members are portrayed (Whistler’s Mother). Examples of biographical
portraits are infinite: check your dollar bills of any denomination.

OTHER ART METHODOLOGIES

[1] Semiology – Semiology or Semiotics is the study of signs.

[2] Structuralism - Binary opposites based on linguistics (Levi-Strauss). Structuralism is an approach

used to analyze culture. Developed by Claude Levi-Strauss, it asserts that human culture, being the
set of learned behaviors and ideas that characterize a society, is just an expression of the underlying
structures of the human mind.

[3] Deconstruction – Deconstructivism is the reconstruction of meaning from symbols (text).

[4] Psychoanalysis – is a method in art especially derived from Sigmund Freud and the Oedipus
complex.
TECHNIQUES OF ART

[1] COMPOSITION

Composition pertains to the overall plan or structure of art and its

relationship between the component parts is emphasized. It
emphasizes the arrangement of the formal elements.

Composition is distinct from content, theme, or subject matter for

content is comprised of plane, balance, line, shape, color, and
texture. (Refer to pp. 18-24 of Adams text for illustrations of these
principles)
 [2] PLANE

A plane is a flat surface direction in space. A Picture plane pertains

to all paintings that are on a flat surface, whereas a flat surface can
be stone wall to canvas.

The Plane of relief pertains to the surface of a relief sculpture in

which an image is raised from a flat surface—stone or masonry.

[3] BALANCE

Balance means that there is some equilibrium in the image, which

may consist in Symmetrical and Asymmetrical measurements of
the subject or images in art.
[a] Symmetry (bilateral symmetry) is the exact correspondence
on either side of image (Taj Mahal)

[b] Asymmetrical balance is an equilibrium between two sides

that are different when an imaginary line is drawn at the center of
a painting. Example: (God as an architect)

[4] LINES
Lines pertains to the shortest distance between two points, lines
can be:
[a] Vertical: “Stands at attention”
[b] Horizontal: Lies down
[c] Diagonal: Falling over
[d] Zigzag: Aggressive quality
[e] Wavy and cured line; more like a human body

LINE INTERPRETATIONS

[a] Parallel lines - are perceived to be harmonious

[b] Perpendicular, converging, and intersecting lines – creates sense of force and counterforce
[c] Thick lines – are seen as aggressive, forceful
[d] Thin lines – are seen as delicate, even weak
[e] Undulating lines – elicits calmness, as a calm sea
[f] Irregular wave - imply choppiness, unsteadiness

EXPRESSIVE QUALITIES OF LINES

[a] Straight line - implied a sense of purpose—but also rigidity

[b] Circle and curves - imply facial expression whereas an upward curves signal happiness,
downward implies sadness
[c] Calder’s Cat combines lines with image
 [5] SHAPES

Regular shapes are geometric and have names, the common shapes
that we know are:
Examples: square, circle, rectangle, oval, triangle, trapezoid, polygon

Irregular shapes are biomorphic, or shaped like life itself, biomorphic

shapes can be perceived in leaves, plants, clouds and stones.
Associations of shape can be perceived in: square implied solidity,
reliability and over-conservatism and circle is considered a divine
shape.

OPEN VERSUS CLOSED SHAPE

[a] Open shape implies openness to new ideas or new content

[b] Closed shape implies shutting off new influences or ideas

In Navajo culture of South America, sand paintings never close a circle and always includes an
imperfection for the reason that only the divine is perfect.

SHAPE AND DIMENSIONALITY

Shapes in art also includes dimensions. Portraying three
dimensions on a flat surface consist in the following examples:
Example: hatching or cross-hatching create an illusion of mass
or volume
Shading is a gradual transition from light to dark.

[6] LIGHT AND COLOR

In physics, color is produced by different wavelengths striking the
retina of the eye or when light travels through the color spectrum
that the eye can perceive. These vary from white to a spectrum to
black and projecting white light through a prism breaks it down to
its constituent hues .

COLOR WHEEL: PRIMARY AND SECONDARY COLORS

In the color wheel, colors that cannot be produced by mixing any other colors
Red, yellow, and blue are the primary colors.

Secondary Colors are colors that are created by combination of two primary colors, such as Green
which is made by mixing yellow and blue and Orange by mixing yellow and red , Purple: blue and red.
COLOR WHEEL: TERTIARY COLORS

Tertiary color mixes a primary with a secondary color. A color wheel places the primary colors
equidistant among the colors and Complementary colors are those with the greatest contrast among
the pairs.

Colors also consist of elements such as:

[a] Value: relative brightness or darkness

[b] Intensity (Saturation): relative brightness or dullness

EXPRESSIVE QUALITIES OF COLOR

Bright or warm colors convey feelings of gaiety or happiness: these are red, orange, and yellow
Cool colors consist in blue, green-blue, green, since they convey the quality of water or sky. They
often convey sadness or pessimism.

Symbolic significance of color:

[1] Red: danger, extravagant welcome, exciting event
[2] Green: envy;
[3] yellow: cowardice;
[4]purple: rage

[7] TEXTURE

Texture can be defined as the quality of surface of an object, such

as the roughness of the canvass, the feeling of the relief art on the
wall, the smoothness of a newly cemented wall and so on.

CONCLUSION

[A] There are three media of art: visual media, sculpture, and architecture
[B] Art may be regarded as a quality in itself . It may also represent a content, a person, or a theme
that is not art in and of itself.
[C] Methods vary in analyzing art Techniques serve to evoke a particular emotion or value.