1 What is Art?

Jeffrey LeMieux and Pamela J. Sachant

1.1 LEARNING OUTCOMES

After completing this chapter, you should be able to:
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• Recognize your intuitive understanding of art, and potentially build a broader, more
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1.2 INTRODUCTION
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Page | 1
INTRODUCTION TO ART CHAPTER ONE: WHAT IS ART?

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panying image, Blind Homer and His Guide
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painting is more than a literal presentation
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deeper, to see the symbolism behind the histo-
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INTRODUCTION TO ART CHAPTER ONE: WHAT IS ART?

1.3 WHAT IS VISUAL ART?

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itarian in purpose but often include in their design the intent to delight, portray a special status,
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1.3.1 Historic Development of the Idea of Art

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1.3.1.1 Mimesis
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as mimesis, or imitation of the real
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is and Parhassios, rival painters from
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uxis, on his part, asked that the cur-
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Artist: Joachim von Sandrart; engraving by Johann Jakob von Sandrart
Author: User “Fae”
Source: Wikimedia Commons
License: Public Domain
Page | 3
INTRODUCTION TO ART CHAPTER ONE: WHAT IS ART?

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Figure 1.3 | Left: The She-Wolf; Right: Gothic
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¿FLHQWO\GH¿QHDUW Source: Wikimedia Commons

License: CC BY-SA 4.0

1.3.1.2 Communication
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hands on to others feelings he has lived through, and that others are infected by these feelings and
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1 Leo Tolstoy, What is Art? And Essays on Art, trans. Aylmer Maude (London: Oxford University Press, 1932), 123.

Page | 4
INTRODUCTION TO ART CHAPTER ONE: WHAT IS ART?

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Figure 1.4 | Perception: Art and Science
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derstanding to make good pre-
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3 George Dickie, Art and the Aesthetic: An Institutional Analysis (Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1974), 464.

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Source: Wikimedia Commons
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Source: Wikimedia Commons
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ing a Balance" )LJXUH  7KURXJK H[SHULHQFLQJ WKHVH
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through the use of context, visual dynamics, and
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1.3.3 The Distinction of Fine Art

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Figure 1.7 | Woman Holding a Balance
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WKHQ LW ZDV JHQHUDOO\ WKRXJKW WR EH WKH SURGXFW Source: Wikimedia Commons
License: Public Domain
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RULJLQDO$OPRVWDOO¿QHDUWREMHFWVDUHDFRP Author: User “Billvolckening”

Source: Wikimedia Commons
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1.3.4 Why Art Matters

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1.4 WHO IS CONSIDERED AN ARTIST? WHAT DOES IT MEAN

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Source: Met Museum
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Source: The J. Paul Getty Museum
four years in honor of Athena, the patron goddess of Athens,
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3DJH_
INTRODUCTION TO ART CHAPTER ONE: WHAT IS ART?

Figure 1.12 | Pear Blossoms

Artist: Qian Xuan
Source: Met Museum
License: OASC

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INTRODUCTION TO ART CHAPTER ONE: WHAT IS ART?

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Pear Blossoms:

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her old charms remain;
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the gently unfurling curves of the blossoms are meant to
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Figure 1.13 | Arrangement in Flesh Colour
and Black: Portrait of Theodore Duret
Artist: James Abbott McNeill Whistler
Source: Met Museum
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3DJH_
INTRODUCTION TO ART CHAPTER ONE: WHAT IS ART?

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Artist: James Abbott McNeill Whistler SXUSRVHWKDQWRH[SUHVVZKDWKHDVWKHDUWLVWIRXQGWR
Source: Wikimedia Commons
be elevating, harmonious, and pleasing to the eye, the
License: Public Domain
mind, and the soul:

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4 James Abbott McNeill Whistler, The Gentle Art of Making Enemies (New York: Frederick Stokes & Brother, 1908), www.
gutenberg.org/files/24650/24650-h/24650-h.htm

Page | 13
INTRODUCTION TO ART CHAPTER ONE: WHAT IS ART?

1.5 THE ROLE OF THE VIEWER

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Author: User “HTO”
hunted during that span of approxi-
Source: Wikimedia Commons
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Page | 14
INTRODUCTION TO ART CHAPTER ONE: WHAT IS ART?

some scholars hypothesize the paintings acted

as a form of V\PSDWKHWLFPDJLF, expressing
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Figure 1.16 | Labyrinth at Chartres Cathedral
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Author: User “Ssolbergj”
Source: Wikimedia Commons
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Figure 1.18 | A Bachelor’s Drawer

Artist: John Haberle
Source: Met Museum
License: OASC

3DJH_
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7KHYDULRXVREMHFWVLQA Bachelor’s Drawer, including photographs, paper currency, theater ticket

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1.6 WHY DO WE MAKE ART?

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nizable human activity includes not only
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made by piercing sea snail shells, found
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intentions of our distant ancestors, but it is
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Figure 1.19 | Blombos Cave Nassarius kraussianus
marine shell beads and reconstruction of bead stringing
Author: Marian Vanhaeren and Christopher S. Henshilwood
Source: Wikimedia Commons
License: CC BY-SA 3.0

3DJH_
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on bark, pictorial symbols tell the story of the
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Figure 1.21 | Sand Painting Figure 1.22 | Wheel of Time Kalachakra Sand Mandala
Author: Sailko Artist: Losang Samten
Source: Wikimedia Commons Author: Steve Osborne
License: CC BY-SA 3.0 Source: Wikimedia Commons
License: CC BY-SA 3.0

3DJH_
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SDLQWDV,ZDQWHGWRDQGVD\ZKDW,ZDQWHGWR Artist: Georgia O’Keeffe

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5 O’Keeffe 1976, unpaginated.

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is an example of such personal

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INTRODUCTION TO ART CHAPTER ONE: WHAT IS ART?

side of an image are thought to

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for community purposes, and Photographer: US Government Employee
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the architectural shapes be-

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imposing stone facades using classical Greek and Roman columns that symbolize strength and
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Author: User “Mewes”
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Source: Wikimedia Commons mestic and industrial design inter-
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INTRODUCTION TO ART CHAPTER ONE: WHAT IS ART?

Communities can remind citizens of pub-

lic virtues by commemorating the individuals
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Figure 1.27 | Colleoni on Horseback
Artist: Andrea del Verrocchio
Author: User “Waysider1925”
Source: Wikimedia Commons
License: CC BY-SA 3.0
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Figure 1.28 | Burghers of Calais
Artist: Auguste Rodin
Author: User “Razimantv”
Source: Wikimedia Commons
License: CC BY 3.0
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of art are unconventional and original in their
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religious and political organization of the

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of Los Angeles designed by Judith
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3DJH_
INTRODUCTION TO ART CHAPTER ONE: WHAT IS ART?

Figure 1.31 | The Last Supper

Artist: Leonardo da Vinci
Author: User “Thebrid”
Source: Wikimedia Commons
License: Public Domain

Figure 1.32| The Ceiling of the

Sistine Chapel
Artist: Michelangelo
Author: Patrick Landy
Source: Wikipedia
License: CC BY 3.0

by hundreds of community mem-

bers is thirteen feet high and runs
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Source: Wikipedia
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6 Joyce Gregory Wyels, “Great Walls, Vibrant Voices,” Americas 52, no. 1 (2000): 22.

3DJH_
INTRODUCTION TO ART CHAPTER ONE: WHAT IS ART?

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gold because many consider it good luck to
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Figure 1.34 | The Martyrdom of St. Sebastian

Artist: Giacinto Diana
Source: Artstor.org
License: Public Domain

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Artist: Nison Tregor
Author: Matthew D. Britt
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Source: Flickr
License: CC BY-SA-NC 3.0

3DJH_
INTRODUCTION TO ART CHAPTER ONE: WHAT IS ART?

1.7 CONCEPTS EXPLORED IN LATER CHAPTERS

1.7.1 The Structure of Art: Form and Design
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WKRVHYDOXHVDUHGHWHUPLQHG

1.7.3 Describing Art: Formal Analysis, Types, and Styles

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1.7.4 Meaning in Art: Socio-Cultural Contexts, Symbolism, and Iconography

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3DJH_
INTRODUCTION TO ART CHAPTER ONE: WHAT IS ART?

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1.7.5 Connecting Art to Our Lives

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means of expression, a symbol of inclusion or exclusion, a tool of communication, or a medium of
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1.7.6 Form in Architecture

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indicates the vital and numerous roles structures play for both the individual and the society in
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can the history of constructed forms tell us about the needs, beliefs, and principles of our near and
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1.7.7 Art and Identity

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3DJH_
INTRODUCTION TO ART CHAPTER ONE: WHAT IS ART?

1.7.8 Art and Power

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KDYHWKHDELOLW\WRHQODUJHDVKRZRISRZHUEH\RQGDERGLO\GLVSOD\RISK\VLFDOVWUHQJWKDQGGRPL-
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7KHSRZHURIDUWH[WHQGVIDUEH\RQGXVHVE\WKRVHLQFRQWURO$UWFDQEHXVHGWREXLOGLQÀX-
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1.7.9 Art and Ritual Life: Symbolism of Space and Ritual Objects
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1.7.10 Art and Ethics

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Chapter Eleven: Art and Ethics introduces us to some of the issues facing artists and others in
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INTRODUCTION TO ART CHAPTER ONE: WHAT IS ART?

1.8 BEFORE YOU MOVE ON

Key Concepts

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Test Yourself

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INTRODUCTION TO ART CHAPTER ONE: WHAT IS ART?

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title of greatest artist by copying reality most faithfully

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