UNIVERSITY OF THE EAST

COLLEGE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES-MANILA

DEPARTMENT OF HUMANITIES AND PHILOSOPHY

LECTURE NOTES IN ART APPRECIATION

CLASS OF DR. ALLAN C. ORATE

MODULE 4
Art and Philosophy:
Imitationism and Representationism

M4. OBJECTIVES

At the end of the lessons, the students are expected to:

1. Relate the study of art to the field of philosophy.

2. Examine the imitation theory by Plato as a philosophy of art and beauty
3. Compare and contrast imitationism and representationism.
4. Identify artworks, styles and artists who abide with imitation or representation theory.
5. Evaluate the merit or demerit or artworks based on the principles of imitationism.
6. Examine the style of romantic realism in Philippine art based on representation theory.
7. Interpret imitationism as the philosophical basis of ancient Greek art.
8. Formulate a philosophical approach to Art Appreciation.
9. Make works of art where representational the style of romantic realism is applied.

M4. READINGS

M4. READING 1. Orate, Allan C. (2010). “Lecture Notes on Aesthetics: Theories of Art and
Beauty,” from Blended Learning Modules.
M4. READING 2. Shimamura, A. P (2012). “Towards a Science of Aesthetics,” in Aesthetic
Science: Connecting Minds, Brains and Experiences, Oxford University Press, 2012, pp. 3-12.

M4. VIDEOS

M4. VIDEO 1. “Plato on Art” in https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h5oIKnTGUgY

M4. VIDEO 2. “Fernando Cueto Amorsolo, Philippine Artist,” in https://www.youtube.com/
watch? v=D_E kOeVxGCw

LECTURES IN ART APPRECIATION PREPARED BY DR. ALLAN C. ORATE 1

 M4. LECTURES
Topic Overview

Now we will seek answer to the question “What is art?”. This query is fundamentally
philosophical since it looks into the essence of art, or that peculiar quality which makes something
an art. One way of understanding the philosophical nature of art is to see it as a copy of people,
things or events in the world of human experiences or imagination. Very much like, when you
look in front of a mirror, you see your own reflection; you see a copy of your image. So, artist are
people who make imitations or representations, particularly, literary artists are those who recreate
life through their writing, or sculptors are those who produce the shape of objects in stone or wood.

M4. LECTURE 1
Imitation Theory of Art and Beauty:
Aesthetic Idealism by Plato

There are the two ways of considering beauty: absolute and relative. To say that beauty is absolute
means that something is beautiful by virtue of itself. while the view that beauty is relative means
that something is beautiful due to the perception and conception of people; so, it is said that “beauty
is in the eye of the beholder.”

One theory of art and beauty is called aesthetic idealism by the ancient Greek philosopher Plato.
In his Allegory of the Cave from his book the Republic, he theorized that beauty is truth and reality.
But reality does not exist in this world where we live, because things here are changing and
temporal. The reality are the transcendental forms or universal ideas existing in the metaphysical
world of being. What we perceive in our physical world of becoming are appearances, shadows,
images or reflections of reality. The real beauty, then, is not a physical thing, but the idea of beauty.

Based on his worldview, Plato theorized about the essence of art. As this world is an appearance
of reality, art is an imitation of this world. There are three kinds of chair: (1) the idea of chair in
the world of being which makes up its reality known by a philosopher, (2) the physical chair in
this world constructed by a carpenter, and (3) the painting of a chair produced by a painter in the
world of art. Things in this world are beautiful because they are appearances of the ideas and reality
existing in the word of being. Art is beautiful as imitation of things in this world. Art is the
imitation of the appearance of reality. For Plato, art is dangerous because it makes us ignorant
by leading our minds two times farther away from the truth.

Plato’s worldview may be understood by its application to our understanding of art in relation with
reality. It means that, for example, in the film Titanic, we see in the movie screen the character
Rose who is the artistic, beautiful woman; but Rose is an imitation of Kate Winslet who is the
physical, beautiful woman; and Kate Winslet in turn is an appearance of the idea and reality of
beauty. Likewise, what we see in Leonardo’s Portrait of Ginebra d’Benci, is not a real woman but
an imitation of a woman in this world. And in the still life painting by Cezanne, we see not real
apples, but copy of apples in this world.

LECTURES IN ART APPRECIATION PREPARED BY DR. ALLAN C. ORATE 2

Plato’s imitation theory of art and beauty is applied to classical art such as in the ancient Greek
sculpture kouros, the Doryphorous by Praxiteles, and the Discobolus by Myron. These sculptures
are believed to be imitations of the idea of beauty and perfection of the human body. Nowadays,
there are popular movies based on the view of reality by Plato, such as The Matrix, Vanilla Skies
and The Thirteenth Floor. They are interpretations of the metaphysical theory that has developed
in computer science we now call “Simulation Theory”. This theory claims that the world we are
living in is a sort of computer program by some intelligent being in a higher reality.

M4. LECTURE 2
Representational Theory of Art:
The “Window to Nature”

Plato’s imitation theory of art is interpreted during the modern times as representationalism.
Leonardo noted that “art is a window to nature,” and Shakespeare wrote that “art is putting mirror
up to nature.” For representationism, art is a copy, an image, an appearance or a reproduction of
people, things, objects, nature or events. Art is necessarily figurative because it contains images
of things in the world. Thus, when you look at the painting by van Eyck, The Arnolfini Marriage,
you see a man in a black dress and wearing a hat, and a woman in a green gown; you see a
chandelier hanging on the ceiling; you see a dog and sandals on the floor.

There are three ways of representing nature. Physical alteration is the process of changing
physical appearance of nature, like a natural marble that turn into a sculpture by carving and
cutting, such as in the Pieta by Michelangelo. Selective modification is enhancing appearance of
nature, like a forest that becomes a garden by arranging and trimming the plants. And perceptual
interpretation is copying nature according to the choice of the artist, but the resulting image is
still recognizable, like in the style of representation in cubist, such as in Picasso’s Weeping Woman
which is the image of the model Dora Maar.

In exact representationism, the art faithfully resembles nature so that the image is seen as the real
thing, as in the painting of a tree that looks like a natural tree. There is the French term trompe
l’oeil, in English means “trick the eye,” which refers to a painting that looks so realistic that is
tricked people: their eyes are deceived as if they see the real thing, but they are seeing only a
painting. This way of representation is not creative because the artist only copies the appearances
of things exactly the way they are perceived without making any interpretation.

According to a story, two great painters, Zeuxis and Parhasius, held a competition to determine
who was the better artist. Zeuxis painted a bunch of grapes which look so realistic birds were
attracted to it. While Parhasius painted a curtain which people thought to be a real curtain, so he
won the contest. The capacity of representational art to tricked people was the concept
demonstrated by some surrealist works by Magritte such as in his paintings The Human Condition
and Treachery of Images, which are commentaries about art deception. This is similar to Plato’s
view that art leads people into ignorance by believing in the truthfulness of what they see.

In Chinese art, one rule is about “the drawing of forms which answer to natural forms.” When the
form of art become identical with form of nature, the art reaches the level of divinity, or shen, and
thereby attains its ultimate purpose. There was the story of Wu Tao Tzu, called the “Sage of

LECTURES IN ART APPRECIATION PREPARED BY DR. ALLAN C. ORATE 3

Chinese Painting”. One time, he painted a landscape full of plants and animals and has a cave at
the foot of the mountain. It is said that he entered the cave in the painting, and was lost into it never
to be seen again; his art becomes his own life. The true to nature approach to representation is also
found in the paintings by Amorsolo, such as his Sunset (1950).

M4. LECTURE 3
Romantic Realism in Philippine Art

Romantic realism is a representational style in Philippine art. Based on this style, things are to be
represented in the painting only from the aspect of beauty and harmony, disregarding the ugly side
of things. It is realistic because it tries to make an exact copy of the world, and it is romantic
because it tends to make only beautiful images by idealizing nature. Usually, paintings on this style
depicts idyllic and exotic rural sceneries of local people, trees, fields, mountains, seas and river.

Called “The Master of Genre in Philippine Art,” Fabian de la Rosa (1869-1937) started the
tradition of romantic realism in the country. Schooled in art academy in France, he won the Gold
and Bronze Medal in St. Louis Exposition in 1904. He became the director of the School of Fine
Arts, University of the Philippines, and was awarded Patnubay ng Sining sa Kalinangan in 1968.
Some of his paintings capture the barrio sceneries as in Women Working in the Ricefield, and the
now lost rural landscape of the city like in the River View of Sta Ana and Pasay Beach

A student of de la Rosa, Fernando Amorsolo (1892-1972) enrolled in Art School at Liceo de

Manila, and studied in UP School of Fine Arts and Academia de San Fernando in Spain. He won
First Prize, New York Fair, in 1929. He was a teacher, and later on, the dean of UP Fine Arts.
Amorsolo was awarded the first Philippine National Artist in 1972. He was hailed as the “Grand
old Man of Filipino Painters,” “Master of Tropical Scenery” and “First Filipino Impressionist.” It
is sad that he made more than 10,000 paintings.

Amorsolo is an expert in employing luminous effects as if his paintings are always bathed with
sunlight, as exemplified for example in his work Sunset. Here you see a mango and bamboo trees
darkening before the receding light of the sun. There are the scattering colors on the clouds and
sky beyond the bluish mountain farther away. His painting, Afternoon Meal of Rice Workers, is
the First Prize winner in 1939 New York Fair. He also has a lot of works depicting rice planting,
bandana wearing woman, market scenes, fiestas, events showing Philippine history and culture, as
well as scenes of everyday life like man tending a chicken, or a girl holding a jar or under a tree.

LECTURES IN ART APPRECIATION PREPARED BY DR. ALLAN C. ORATE 4