GEC4A ART APPRECIATION
Ms. Daleon
Lesson 1:
WHAT IS ART: INTRODUCTIONS AND
ASSUMPTIONS
Why study Humanities? (Art is humans)
- Originated from the Renaissance Latin
expression studia humanitatis or study of
humanitas which refers to “culture,
refinement, education.”
- During the Renaissance period of the early
15th century, the studia humanitatis
became a secular study in the universities
at the time.
- The humanities course primarily consisted
of grammar, rhetoric, poetry, history, and
moral philosophy, Latin, and Greek
classics.
- The humanities today include literature,
language, philosophy, geography, history,
religion, music, and art. These subjects
used methods that are primarily critical,
speculative, and historical in elements
whereas natural sciences are critical
discipline and use of empirical
approaches.
- Humanities are academic disciplines that
deal on the various aspects of society and
the noble in man. Thus, humanities make
man more humane, cultured, dignified,
and refined human being. In short,
humanities bring out the best and
worthiness of man as a person.
What is Art?
- Comes from Latin, ars means “craft or
specialized form of skill.”
- Capacity to produce an intended result
from carefully planned steps or method.
- From the Ancient World: only meant using
the bare hands to produces something
that will be useful to one’s day-to-day life.
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- Ars in Medieval Latin means “any special
for of book-learning”;
- Renaissance: “craftmanship”;
- 17th Century: “aesthetic”;
- 18th Century: “fine arts and useful arts”
- Belong to the Upper Paleolithic Age
- Even before, man is not just crafting tools
to live and survive but also expressing his
feelings and thoughts.
Meaning and Importance of Art Appreciation
- The ability to interpret and understand
man-made arts and enjoy them through
actual work experiences with art tools and
materials.
- The possession of the works of art for
one’s admiration and satisfaction.
- The knowledge and understanding of the
general and everlasting qualities that
classify all great arts.
- The introduction and exploration of visual
and performing art forms.
- The analysis of the form of an artwork to
general audience to enhance their
enjoyment and satisfaction of the works of
art.
Assumptions of Art
ART IS UNIVERSAL
o Art exists because it is important to
people’s lives.
o It is the oldest and most important means
of expression developed by man in any
culture.
− Man learned to draw before he could
even start to talk as evidenced by some
early paintings in caves and trunks of
trees – shown in prehistoric times.
o Art has been created by all people of the
world at all times; it has lived because it is
liked and enjoyed.
o E.g.
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1. Florante at Laura – Never fails to
teach us that beauty of love, one that
is universal and pure.
2. Ibong Adarna – Captured the
imagination of the young with its
timeless lessons.
ART IS NOT NATURE
o It is man-made.
o Art is man’s interpretation of what they
perceive as art.
ART INVOLVES EXPERIENCE
o Artists use their experiences to ventilate
their feelings through the works that they
make.
o Some artists focus on societal problems,
issues, and concerns.
o Some of them use expressionism to
communicate strong and intense feelings.
o They reflect in their works on the brink of
socio-cultural problems because of their
experiences.
o E.g. Starry Night of Vincent Van Gogh
ART IS CULTURAL
o Art contributes to the understanding of
past and present cultures.
o The artists work such as painting,
sculpture, music, dances, ceramics, prints,
and others are records of their society’s
culture.
ART IS AN EXPRESSION OF THE MIND
o According to Jeff Lee (2016), art is a form
of expression of the deepest emotion of
the minds.
o Egoic mind and the echoic mind together
making up the totality of thinking.
o Artistic expression may be expressed by
100% in conscious mind but those who are
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extremely artistic or right-brained
individuals they may be more creative.
ART IS A FORM OF CREATIVITY
o Art is a product of the imagination that
entertains, pleases, and inspire people.
Lesson 2:
CREATIVITY, IMAGINATION, AND EXPRESSION
The Role of Creativity in Art Making
Creativity requires thinking outside the box.
Creativity is what sets apart one artwork from
another.
Creative Artist embraces originality puts his
own flavor into his work and calls it his own
creative piece.
Art as a Product of Imagination, Imagination
as a Product of 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.”
– Albert Einstein
Imagination allows possibilities.
Artists use their imagination that gives birth to
reality through creation.
Imagination produces art, art also inspires
imagination.
The craving and desire to be surrounded by beautiful things dates
back to our early ancestors (Collins & Riley 1931). Cave walls are
surrounded by drawings and paintings of animals they hunted:
wild boars, reindeers, and bison. Clays were molded and stones
were carved into forms that resemble men and women, burial
jars were created with intricate designs on them. These creative
pieces were made not only because they were functional to men,
but also because beauty gave them joy (Collins & Riley, 1931).
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Thomas Quine “Cave Paintings
Ex.:
The Madonna of the Slums (Vicente
Manansala, 1950)

Manunggul Jar
A secondary burial jar excavated
from a Neolithic burial site in the
Spoliarium (Juan Luna)
Manunggul cave of the Tabon
Caves at Lipuun Point in
Palawan, Philippines.

Art as Expression
An emotion will remain unknown to a man until
they express it.

Artist does to an emotion is not to induce it, but

express it.
Portrait of a Lady (Juan Luna)
Through expression, he able to explore his own
emotions and at the same time, create
something beautiful out of them. (The
Principles of Art, 1938)

Expressing emotions is something different

from describing emotions. (Collingwood)

Popular Art Expression

Visual Art Film

Appeal to the sense of sights and are mainly
visual in nature.
Mediums: paintings, drawings,
letterings, printings, sculptures,
digital imaging, and more.
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Refers to the art of putting
together successions of still
images in order to create an
illusion of movement.
Elements: lighting, musical, score, visual effects,
direction, and more
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Performance Art fiction or non-fiction such as
Is a live art and the artist’s medium being novels, biographies, and
mainly the human body poems.
which he or she uses to
perform, but also Ex.:
employs other kind of art
such as visual art, props,
or sound.

Elements: time, place, performer(s) or

performer(s) body and relationship between
the audience and the performer(s).

Poetry Performance
An art form where the artist
Theater
expresses his emotions not
Uses live performers to present accounts or
by using paint, charcoal, or
imaginary events before a
camera, but expresses
live audience. Follow a
them through words.
script, with the different
genres: Drama, Music,
These words combined with movements, tone,
Tragedy, Comedy, and
volume, and intensity of the delivery.
Improvisation.

Architecture
Ex.:
Architecture is the making of
Macbeth (William Shakespeare)
beautiful buildings. Buildings
that embody the three
elements-plan, construction,
and design.

Dance
A series of movements that
follows the rhythm of the
music accompaniment. A
creative form that allows
people to freely express
Applied Arts
themselves with no rules
Incorporating elements of style and design to
that are free to invent their
everyday items with the
own movements as long as they deem them
aim of increasing their
graceful and beautiful.
aesthetic value. Artist in
this field bring beauty,
Literary Art
charm, and comfort into
Use words to express themselves and
many things that are
communicate emotions to the readers.
useful in everyday life.
Focuses on writing using unique style, can be

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GEC4A ART APPRECIATION
Ms. Daleon
Lesson 3:
Functions and Philosophical Perspectives of
Art
FUNCTION OF ART
Functions of Art is an inquiry on what art is for.
When it comes to functions, different art form
come with distinctive functions, some may be
functional more than others.
The value of the art lies in the practical benefits
from it. One may look at the value on its specific
purpose or for personal.
Ideally, one can look at a piece of art and guess
with some accuracy where it came from and
when.
This best-case scenario also includes
identifying the artist because they are in no
small way part of the contextual equation.
You might wonder, “What was the artist thinking
when they created this?” when you see a piece
of art. You the viewer, are the other half of this
equation; you might ask yourself how the same
piece of art makes you feel as you look at it.
Art has been used to attempt to exert magical
control, change the seasons, and even acquire
food. Some art brings order and peace, some
create chaos. The functions of art normally fall
into three categories: physical, social, and
personal. These categories can and often do
overlap in any given piece of art.
1. PERSONAL
− Highly subjective
− An artist may create an art out of the need
for self-expression, for entertainment, or
for other purposes.
Examples:
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Psychological Expression, Death or Illness,
Aesthetic Expression, Love/Sex/Marriage,
Spiritual Concern and Intellectual Inquiry
− Personal function is vague for a reason.
From artist to artist and viewer to viewer,
one’s experience with art is different.
Knowing the background and behaviors of
an artist helps when interpreting the
personal function of their pieces.
− Sometimes art is used to maintain a
species.
− This can be seen in rituals of the animal
kingdom and in humans themselves.
− Biological functions obviously include
fertility symbols (in any culture), but there
are many ways humans adorn their bodies
with art in order to be attractive to others
and eventually mate.
2. SOCIAL
- Art has a social function when it addresses
aspects of (collective) life as opposed to
one person’s point of view or experience.
Viewers can often relate in some way to
social art and are sometimes even
influenced by it.
- If an art is opposed to personal interest
and for collective interest it is considered
to have a social function. Art may convey,
message such as to support, to protest,
contestation and other messages an artist
intends to carry at his work.
- Examples: Advertisement, Political and
Ideological Expression, Performance art
like plays serves social functions as it
rouses emotions for a common situation a
society has.
- Artistic Expressions of Humanitarian
Concern Graphic Communication (ex. Sign
board)
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Ms. Daleon
3. PHYSICAL
- These are artworks that are crafted in order
to serve physical purpose such as jars,
plates, and jewelries. Architecture, jewelry-
making, interior design all serves physical
functions.
- Other functions of art may serve culture,
history and religion. Music is an artwork
used for different purposes such events for
culture, historical and religious gatherings.
Sculpture, poems, spoken poetry, movies
and other form of arts aroused for its
specific functions.
Philosophical Perspectives of Art
1. Art as Mimesis (Imitation)
In the Republic, Plato says that art imitates the
objects and events of ordinary life. In his
metaphysics or view of reality, the things in this
world are only copies of the original, the eternal,
and the true entities that can be found in the
World of Forms.
Art is just an imitation of an imitation. A painting
is just an imitation of nature, which is also an
imitation of reality in the World of Forms.
Art is good when it imitates reality. An
Imitationalist artist focuses on mimicking and
representing real life. In a successful piece of art,
the textures, light, shadows, human proportions,
and perspective are all highly realistic, as if you
could reach out and touch them.
2. Art as a Representative
Aristotle, agreed with Plato, however he
considered art as an aid to philosophy in
revealing the truth. Art represents version of
reality. In Aristotelian worldview, art serves two
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particular purposes: art allows for the
experience of pleasure and art has an ability to
be instructive and teach its audience things
about life.
3. Art for Art’s Sake
Immanuel Kant, in his Critique of Judgement,
considered the judgement of beauty, the
cornerstone of art, as something universal
despite its subjectivity. He recognized that
judgement of beauty is subjective.
4. Art as an Escape
According to Allen Weinstein, without mental
escape, we build up a lot of anxiety within
ourselves.
Artists have to get rid of this anxiety and
pressure because if we keep those worries and
anxieties within our mind, they will come out in
the form of anger and even hatred.
The only way to take out such tension is through
painting, dancing, music or other art forms.
5. Art as Functional
To bring creativity, beauty, and usefulness into
people’s everyday lives. Whether it is a curvy
chair made of cardboard, a banca made of
paper, functional art makes us rethink and re-
assess the way we look at ordinary things,
sometimes by using unusual materials in their
construction.
Lesson 4 & 5
Subject and Content
CONTENT
Content In art refers to the meaning or
significance, and/or feeling imparted by a work
of art.
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Content of art is inextricably linked with form.

Form refers to the pictorial aspects of art such

as word, design, and choice, about shapes,
sizes, colors, contrast, medium, soft, or hard
edges, and many other decisions.

Subject
In any art from – painting, music, sculpture,
architecture, or dance – there is always a Statue of David
subject that serves as the foundation of the Michael Angelo
creation of the work of art.
2. NON-REPRESENTATIONAL ART
A subject of art is usually anything that is Do not use reference to the real world.
represented in the artwork. It is varied – it may
be a person, object, scene, or event. Do not represent something.

Two types of Subjects Stripped down visual elements such as

shapes, lines, and colors that are employes
1. REPRESENTATIONAL ART to translate a particular feeling, emotion,
This type of art has subjects that refers to and even concept.
objects or events occurring in the real
world. A higher level of perceptiveness and
insight might be required to fully grasped
Also termed figurative art, the figures, the feeling, emotion, or concept behind the
depicted are easy to make out an works
decipher.

Subjects can be a man, animals, a

landscape, a waterfall, figures, dreams,
fantasies, seascape, still life, etc.

Easier to infer the subject matter because

from the figures depicted in the artwork,
there is already a suggestion as to its
implication.
Full Fathom Five (1947)
Jackson Pollock

Is Non-Representational Art the same with

Abstract Art?

Mona Lisa It lies between the non-representational and

Leonardo Da Vinci representational. We could identify some
abstract that represents something in the real

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world (representational), but it does not actually
exist (non-representational).
HISTORY

• The Triumph of Science

Over Death
(Dr. Jose Rizal)

Head of a Woman RELIGION

Pablo Picasso
• Pieta
Abstract Art (Michael Angelo)
Departure of reality.

Art does not attempt to represent an accurate

depiction of a visual reality but instead use
shapes, colors, forms, and gestural marks to
achieve its effect.
MYTHOLOGY
Sources and Kinds of Subject a collection of myths, especially one belonging
to a particular religious or cultural tradition.
NATURE

• Wheat Fields Near Auvers

(Vincent Van
Gogh)
He saw art
and nature
are
inseparable. DOCUMENTS

• Fernando Amorsolo SPEECHES

Focus on landscapes and gained
prominence from painting rural scenes LETTERS
such as
women in PHOTOGRAPHS
the fields
gathering
harvest.

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GEC4A ART APPRECIATION PRELIMS
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ARTIS AND ARTISAN

ARTISAN
A worker in a skilled trade or craftsman,
especially one that involves making things by
hand.

Artisans are craftsmen who work in textiles,

pottery, glass, and other areas.

Difference between Artist and Artisan

Artists focus on creating aesthetically pleasing
works, while Artisans’ work focuses on
accessorizing and functionality more than
aesthetics.

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