Theory of Arts:

AN INTRODUCTION TO ART, CULTURE AND CRITICAL THINKING

FALL 2021
Dr. Anna-Maria Moubayed
Department of Philosophy - University of Navarra
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Dr. Anna-Maria Moubayed

Adjunct Professor, Department of Philosophy, UNAV
Postdoctoral Research Fellow at ICS
Religion and Civil Society Research Group

Office Hours: right after class, on Zoom, upon request

Email: amoubayed@external.unav.es
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Course Survey
A brief introduction to what you will be learning
this semester!
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What is Art ?
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What is Art?

The quality, production, or expression of what is beautiful,

appealing, or of more than ordinary significance

• Work of art : visual expression of an idea

• Medium: a particular material, and its technique

(pl. media)
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Purpose and Functions of Art

Communicating information
– In non-literate societies: art was used for teaching
– Today: photography, film & television are used for disseminating information

Spiritual Sustenance
– All of the world’s major religions have used art to inspire and instruct the faith

Rembrandt van Personal & Cultural Expression

Rijn, Self-Portrait,
oil on canvas, 1658 Social & Political Purposes
– Artist have criticized or influenced values or public opinion
– Often it is clear & direct
– Other times, it is less obvious
– Monarchs who commissioned projects to symbolize their strength & power

Leonardo da Vinci, Embryo in the

Womb, pen drawing, ca. 1510
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Where do we find art ?

Is that all?ß Click here

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What do you think?

What is Art?
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Is this Art?
Click here
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When did art start ?

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Chronology

Prehistoric Paleolithic Mesolithic Neolithic

Paleo: old, Neolithic

lithos: stone Period
Middle Stone
ca. 40 000 to New Stone Age
Age
Before writing 8 000 BCE ca. 8000 to
ca. 10 000 to
1500 BCE
Nomadic 4 500 BCE
Transition to
Hunters and transitional
gatherers farming
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Willendorf
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Paleolithic Art
40 000 to 8 000 BCE

Must interpret the artifacts left

behind to understand part of
our past
Aesthetic value was
inseparable from function
Mainly sculptures
Portable objects such as
spears, jewelry, and
instruments
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Title: Woman from Willendorf

Date: ca. 28 000 – 24 000 BCE
Medium: Limestone
Size: height 11 cm
Source/Museum: Austria. Naturhistorisches Museum, Vienna
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Negative image
Cosquer
Chauvet
Unusual because of sea animals
- Over 300 paintings
Positive image
- Also had bear skeletons,
fire pits, footprints
Lots of rhinoceri, large
felines, and wooly
mammoths featured

Title: Spotted Horses and Human Hands

Date: Horses 25,000–24,000 BCE; hands c 15,000 BCE
Medium: Paint on limestone
Size: individual horses are over 1.5 m)in length.
Source/Museum: Pech-Merle Cave, Dordogne, France
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Lascaux

Cosquer
 Is something unusual ?

Title:
Medium: Paint on limestone
Size: length approx. 2.5 m
Date: ca. 18 500 BCE
Source/Museum: Ceiling of a cave at Cosquer, France
Title: Penguin (!!!)
Medium: Paint on limestone
Size: length approx. 2.5 m
Date: ca. 18 500 BCE
Source/Museum: Ceiling of a cave at Cosquer, France
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This is a slide title

Here you have a list of items

And some text
But remember not to overload your slides
with content

Title: Hall of Bulls

Your
Date: ca. audience will listen to you or read the
15,000 BCE
content, but won’t do both.
Medium: Paint on limestone
Size: length of the largest auroch (bull) 5.50 m
Source/Museum: Lascaux Cave, Dordogne, France
Title: Bird-Headed Man with Bison 21

Date: ca. 15,000 BCE

Medium: Paint on limestone In two or three columns
Size: length approx. 2.75 m
Source/Museum: Shaft scene in Lascaux Cave

What’s happening here?

Title: Mimis and Kangaroo 22

Medium: Red and yellow ocher and white pipe clay

Date: Older painting 16 000–7 000 BCE
Source/Museum: Prehistoric rock art, Oenpelli,
Arnhem Land, Australia
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Neolithic Art
8 000 – 1 500 BCE

Still no writing
Relying on artifacts left behind
to understand part of our past
Aesthetic value = form +
function
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Stonehenge
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tenon

Title: Stonehenge
Date: ca. 2750–1500 BCE
Source/Museum: Salisbury Plain, Wiltshire England

Is this art ?
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Babylon
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What is this ?
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Goodbye prehistory,
Hello History!
#Writing

Title: Deed of sale

Medium: Clay with cuneiform writing
Date: ca. 1 750 BCE
Source/Museum: Babylon / Now British Museum
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In conclusion:
what is art?
What does beauty have to do with it?
What about the artist?
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Thanks!
Any questions?
Email me at:
amoubayed@external.unav.es