Art Appreciation

RUBY ANN M. TOLENTINO, LPT

 Art Appreciation (Abraham Maslow)
⮚Abraham Maslow, a famous psychologist of the humanistic perspective of psychology, presented a model for the
hierarchy of human needs during his academic career. He described that the basic needs that a person has to fulfill
are: (i) Biological, (e.g.: food, sleep) (ii) Security, (e.g.: house, wealth) and (iii) Social (e.g.: friends, arts) in natu
⮚ re.
⮚According to his model, the need for humans to acquire, or even appreciate art can only come after they have
satisfied their primary needs. Forthright then, it can be very easy for us to argue that we have fulfilled our basic
needs, (we, as belonging to a stable class of citizens) but in all reality it is very hard to convince the poor of the
fact that art is an important part of his or her life.
⮚ A closer look at our history would also contend that art has been the domain of the extremely rich. It were the
rich who built most of the ancient art forms that have been found around the world; the sphinx in Egypt and the
sculptors of Buddha. By 'rich' it is meant 'those in power'. The pharaohs of Egypt ordered the erection of the city
and the priests of Burma made monuments and temples to Buddha.
⮚Art has always been a whim of the 'rich' to enhance their own worth, and the artists who made them have mostly
been drowned in obscurity.
In Europe, most of the art and artists had been neglected for centuries before the Enlightenment
revolution in the 18th century. It was only after this period that artists and their art began to be
recognized by the common man. Michelangelo Lodovico Buonarroti and Leonardo da Vinci,
two of the most famous artists of the previous centuries, were poor men working to create the
beautiful pieces of art for their noblemen and their priests.
Although many of the commons then had started realizing the beauty of art, most of them still
put it away as a waste of time. These artists would spend most of their time in trying to create art
that was required by the ones higher in power and they would work hours just to fulfill their own
satisfaction, even if their contentment did not mean a half-cent to their employers. The art for the
artist was of utmost value but the person who needed it only desired it and lusted after it for its
extrinsic value. It is this exact extrinsic value that we, at least most of us, yearn for today.
 “Everyone can appreciate beauty, but not everyone can find the art beautiful.”

“Only those who have an eye (or a couple of ears) for art can truly appreciate the
presentations. ”
To exemplify: ask a poor man anywhere in the world if he would rather have a painting by Van
Gogh, or a three course dinner, (assuming that the painting shown to him is unmarked and the
poor man is unaware of its value, while he can see the dinner sitting in front of him). Chances are
that the man would eat the chicken. True, in our current world model, one would feel that a fine
looking painting in one's house would elevate his or her status in the eyes of his or her peers, but
the point here is that social status, according to Maslow mentioned afore, comes after the
biological needs have been fulfilled. Even if the man was not so poor and not so hungry, and was
an averagely unappreciative person, he would hardly go for the painting because chances are that
he would not be aware of the value of the painting, most definitely not of the underlying beauty
in the painting. Such a person would then disregard it as being unimportant to his/her needs.
Only the people who are satisfied about their basic needs in life and those who have time to think
and learn more about the nature of art (that is, luxurious enough) would be able to actually
appreciate the paintings worth and opt for it.
Many people would argue that art has a place in our history and our culture and that it plays a
very important role in defining a nation or a group of people. This is all true and there is no
disputing that. However, the question is, what good is all that art to the people if they do not have
any idea of its value? It is only in the more developed countries that we find people who care
about their national art treasures and treat them with reverence. In most of the developing
countries, people do not care much about the art. When they found the ancient tombs inside the
pyramids of Egypt, many archaeologists were killed by their Egyptian guides so that the local
people may steal all the treasure. This was because the locals were poor and they saw an
opportunity to steal and sell the gold, which the local goldsmiths probably melted to make other
things. This just shows that these people did not care about the true worth of these artifacts,
which was that they were thousands of years old and all they cared about was its value to them.
“There is nothing more truly artistic than to love people”.
~ Van Gogh
“Love works in a similar way. You can learn all about it, but the only way to really get good at it
is to turn it into a daily practice. And like all art, that will take focus, time, effort, and learning as
you go.”
“Love is a product of what you put into it. It isn’t just a passive thing that happens to you –
something that you “fall into” or “fall out of” helplessly – but rather an activity that you must
deliberately practice to become a master at.”
“Love is a never-ending art project.”
According to Fromm, those who expect to only “receive love” and never “give love” are stuck in
a state of emotional immaturity.
Of course, this can manifest itself in many different forms of dysfunctional relationships (which I
don’t want to get into). However, the main feature is this: the person becomes dependent on
others to “create love” for them because they don’t know how to create it on their own.
This is like the “painter” who never paints. They only consume other people’s work of art, but
don’t produce anything new themselves. They haven’t become an artist of their own – they haven’t
yet started to experiment, to fail, to learn, to grow, and to hone their craft.
But all of these stages are necessary to master the art of loving, just as they are necessary for
mastering any other type of art.
“Just like love, Art must be appreciated”
What is Art?
⮚There is no one universal definition of visual art though there is a general consensus that art is
the conscious creation of something beautiful or meaningful using skill and imagination. The
definition and perceived value of works of art have changed throughout history and in different
cultures. 
⮚ The term “art” is related to the Latin word “ars” meaning, art, skill, or craft. 
⮚Art is a diverse range or product of human activity involving creative imagination to express
technical proficiency, beauty, emotional power, or conceptual ideas.
⮚ The term art encompasses a large variety of works, from paintings to sculptures, architecture to
design, and in modern times, digital art.
⮚ It refers to the exploration and analysis of the art forms that we are exposed to. 
⮚ MUSIC
⮚ THEATRE
⮚ MOVIE
⮚ DANCE
⮚LITERATURE
⮚ SCULPTURE
…
⮚During the Romantic period of the 18th century, as a reaction to the Enlightenment and its
emphasis on science, empirical evidence, and rational thought, art began to be described as not
just being something done with skill, but something that was also created in the pursuit of beauty
and to express the artist’s emotions. 
⮚ There are as many ways to define art as there are people in the universe, and each definition is
influenced by the unique perspective of that person, as well as by their own personality and
character
ART DEFINED
Rene Magritte Lucius Annaeus Seneca​

Art evokes the mystery without which the world would not exist. All art is but imitation of nature.

Frank Lloyd Wright Edgar Degas

Art is a discovery and development of elementary principles of nature into
beautiful forms suitable for human use.
Thomas Merton
Art enables us to find ourselves and lose ourselves at the same time.
Pablo Picasso
The purpose of art is washing the dust of daily life off our souls.
Art is not what you see, but what you make others see.
Jean Sibelius
Art is the signature of civilizations.
Leo Tolstoy
Art is a human activity consisting in this, that one man consciously, by means
of certain external signs, hands-on to others feelings he has lived through, and
that others are infected by these feelings and also experience them.
ART APPRECIATION
⮚ According to (Artyfactory.com), Art appreciation is the knowledge and understanding of the
universal and timeless qualities that identify all great art.

“The more you appreciate and understand the art of different eras, movements, styles and
techniques, the better you can develop, evaluate and improve your own artwork.”
What is art history?
⮚Art history has historically been understood as the academic study of objects of art in their
historical development and stylistic contexts, i.e. genre, design, format, and look.This includes
the "major" arts of painting, sculpture, and architecture as well as the "minor" arts of ceramics,
furniture, and other decorative objects.
⮚Art history as we know it in the 21st century began in the 19th century but has precedents dating
to the ancient world.
⮚
⮚Can art have a history? We think about art as being timeless, the ‘beauty’ of its appearance
having meaning, significance, and appeal to humankind across the ages.
⮚When we look at a painting or sculpture, we often ask the following questions: who made it?;
what is the subject?; when was it completed? These are quite valid questions that are often
anticipated and answered in, for example, the captions to illustrations in art books and the labels
to works displayed in museums and galleries. For many of us these pieces of information are
sufficient. Our curiosity about the who, what, and when of art is satisfied and we can get on with
appreciating the artwork, or just enjoying looking at it
⮚For art to have a history we expect not only a timeless quality but also some kind of sequence or
progression, as this is what history leads us to expect.
⮚ Art history provides a means by which we can understand our human past and its relationship
to our present, because the act of making art is one of humanity’s most ubiquitous activities.
⮚The history of an individual work is contained within itself and can be found in the answers to the
questions who, what, when, and how. These are the kinds of details that appear in catalogues of museum
and gallery collections or those produced for art sales, where perhaps information about the original patron
(if relevant) might also answer the question why. Auction houses, museums, and galleries also place
emphasis on the provenance of a work of art. This is the history of who has owned it and in which
collections it has been held. This acts as a kind of pedigree for the work and might be used to help prove
that it is an authentic work by a given artist. All this information is important in determining the monetary
value of a painting or sculpture but need not necessarily be important for art history

⮚ Art appreciation can also involve the more demanding process of criticizing the art object on the basis of
its aesthetic merits. Usually aspects such as style, composition, and colour are referred to, and more broadly
reference is made to the artist’s other work, if known, or to other artists working at the same time or within
the same movement or style.
A Concise Timeline of WESTERN ART HISTORY
 The origins of art history can be traced back to the Prehistoric
Prehistoric Art era, before written records were kept. The earliest artifacts
(~40,000–4,000 come from the Paleolithic era, or the Old Stone Age, in the
form of rock carvings, engravings, pictorial imagery,
B.C.) sculptures, and stone arrangements.
Art from this period relied on the use of natural pigments and
stone carvings to create representations of objects, animals,
and rituals that governed a civilization’s existence. One of the
most famous examples is that of the Paleolithic cave paintings
found in the complex caves of Lascaux in France. Though
discovered in 1940, they’re estimated to be up to 20,000 years
old and depict large animals and vegetation from the area.
 Ancient Art Ancient art was produced by advanced civilizations, which in
this case refers to those with an established written language.
(4,000 B.C.–A.D. These civilizations included Mesopotamia, Egypt, Greece, and
400) those of the Americas.
The medium of a work of art from this period varies
depending on the civilization that produced it, but most art
served similar purposes: to tell stories, decorate utilitarian
objects like bowls and weapons, display religious and
symbolic imagery, and demonstrate social status. Many works
depict stories of rulers, gods, and goddesses.
One of the most famous works from ancient Mesopotamia is
the Code of Hammurabi. Created around 1792 B.C., the piece
bears a Babylonian set of laws carved in stone, adorned by an
image of King Hammurabi—the sixth King of Babylonia—
and the Mesopotamian god, Shabash.
 The Middle Ages, often referred to as the “Dark Ages,”
marked a period of economic and cultural deterioration
Medieval Art following the fall of the Roman Empire in 476 A.D. Much of
the artwork produced in the early years of the period reflects
(500–1400) that darkness, characterized by grotesque imagery and brutal
scenery. Art produced during this time was centered around
the Church. As the first millennium passed, more sophisticated
and elaborately decorated churches emerged; windows and
silhouettes were adorned with biblical subjects and scenes
from classical mythology.
This period was also responsible for the emergence of the 
illuminated manuscript and Gothic architecture style.
Definitive examples of influential art from this period include
the catacombs in Rome, Hagia Sophia in Istanbul,
the Lindisfarne Gospels, one of the best-known examples of
the illuminated manuscript, and Notre Dame, a Parisian
cathedral and prominent example of Gothic architecture.
 This style of painting, sculpture, and decorative art was characterized
by a focus on nature and individualism, the thought of man as
independent and self-reliant. Though these ideals were present in the
Renaissance late Medieval period, they flourished in the 15th and 16th centuries,
paralleling social and economic changes like secularization.
Art (1400– The Renaissance reached its height in Florence, Italy, due in large part
1600) to the Medici, a wealthy merchant family who adamantly supported
the arts and humanism, a variety of beliefs and philosophies that places
emphasis on the human realm. Italian designer Filippo Brunelleschi
 and sculptor Donatello were key innovators during this period.
The High Renaissance, which lasted from 1490 to 1527, produced
influential artists such as da Vinci, Michelangelo, and Raphael, each of
whom brought creative power and spearheaded ideals of emotional
expression. Artwork throughout the Renaissance was characterized by
realism, attention to detail, and precise study of human anatomy.
Artists used linear perspective and created depth through intense
lighting and shading. Art began to change stylistically shortly after the
High Renaissance, when clashes between the Christian faith and
humanism gave way to Mannerism.
 Mannerist artists emerged from the ideals of Michelangelo,
Raphael, and other Late Renaissance artists, but their focus on
Mannerism style and technique outweighed the meaning of the subject
matter. Often, figures had graceful, elongated limbs, small
(1527–1580) heads, stylized features and exaggerated details. This yielded
more complex, stylized compositions rather than relying on
the classical ideals of harmonious composition and linear
perspective used by their Renaissance predecessors.
Some of the most celebrated Mannerist artists include 
Giorgio Vasari, Francesco Salviati, Domenico Beccafumi,
and Bronzino, who is widely considered to be the most
important Mannerist painter in Florence during his time.
 The Baroque period that followed Mannerism yielded ornate,
over-the-top visual arts and architecture. It was characterized
Baroque (1600– by grandeur and richness, punctuated by an interest in
broadening human intellect and global discovery. Baroque
1750) artists were stylistically complex.
Baroque paintings were characterized by drama, as seen in the
iconic works of Italian painter Caravaggio and Dutch painter 
Rembrandt. Painters used an intense contrast between light
and dark and had energetic compositions matched by rich
color palettes.
 Rococo originated in Paris, encompassing decorative art,
painting, architecture, and sculpture. The aesthetic offered a
Rococo (1699– softer style of decorative art compared to Baroque’s
exuberance. Rococo is characterized by lightness and
1780) elegance, focusing on the use of natural forms, asymmetrical
design, and subtle colors.
Painters like Antoine Watteau and Francois Boucher used
lighthearted treatments, rich brushwork, and fresh colors. The
Rococo style also easily translated to silver, porcelain, and 
French furniture. Many chairs and armoires featured curving
forms, floral designs, and an expressive use of gilt.
 As its name suggests, the Neoclassical period drew upon
elements from classical antiquity. Archaeological ruins of
Neoclassicism ancient civilizations in Athens and Naples that were
discovered at the time reignited a passion for all things past,
(1750–1850) and artists strove to recreate the great works of ancient art.
This translated to a renewed interest in classical ideals of
harmony, simplicity, and proportion.
Neoclassical artists were influenced by classical elements; in
particular, a focus on idealism. Inevitably, they also included
modern, historically relevant depictions in their works. For
example, Italian sculptor Antonio Canova drew upon classical
elements in his marble sculptures, but avoided the cold
artificiality that was represented in many of these early
creations.
 Romanticism embodies a broad range of disciplines, from
painting to music to literature. The ideals present in each of
Romanticism these art forms reject order, harmony, and rationality, which
were embraced in both classical art and Neoclassicism.
(1780–1850) Instead, Romantic artists emphasized the individual and
imagination. Another defining Romantic ideal was an
appreciation for nature, with many turning to plein
air painting, which brought artists out of dark interiors and
enabled them to paint outside. Artists also focused on passion,
emotion, and sensation over intellect and reason.
Prominent Romantic painters include Henry Fuseli, who
created strange, macabre paintings that explored the dark
recesses of human psychology, and William Blake, whose
mysterious poems and images conveyed mystical visions and
his disappointment in societal constraints.
 Arguably the first modern art movement, Realism, began in
France in the 1840s. Realism was a result of multiple events:
Realism (1848– the anti-Romantic movement in Germany, the rise of
journalism, and the advent of photography. Each inspired new
1900) interest in accurately capturing everyday life. This attention to
accuracy is evident in art produced during the movement,
which featured detailed, life-like depictions of subject matter.
One of the most influential leaders of the Realist movement is 
Gustave Courbet, a French artist committed to painting only
what he could physically see.
 Art Nouveau, which translates to “New Art,” attempted to
create an entirely authentic movement free from any imitation
Art Nouveau of styles that preceded it. This movement heavily influenced
applied arts, graphics, and illustration. It focused on the
(1890–1910) natural world, characterized by long, sinuous lines and curves.
Influential Art Nouveau artists worked in a variety of media,
including architecture, graphic and interior design, jewelry-
making, and painting. Czechoslovakian graphic designer 
Alphonse Mucha is best-known for his theatrical posters of
French actress Sarah Bernhardt. Spanish architect and
sculptor Antoni Gaudi went beyond focusing on lines to create
curving, brightly-colored constructions like that of the
Basilica de la Sagrada Familia in Barcelona.
 Impressionist painters sought to capture the
Impressionism immediate impression of a particular moment. This was
characterized by short, quick brushstrokes and an
(1865–1885) unfinished, sketch-like feel. Impressionist artists used
modern life as their subject matter, painting situations
like dance halls and sailboat regattas rather than
historical and mythological events.
Claude Monet, a French artist who spearheaded the
idea of expressing one’s perceptions before nature, is
virtually synonymous with the Impressionist movement.
His notable works include The Water Lily
Pond (1899), Woman with a Parasol (1875),
and Impression, Sunrise (1872), from which the name of
the movement itself is derived.
 Post-Impressionist painters worked independently rather than
Post- as a group, but each influential Post-Impressionist painter had
Impressionism similar ideals. They concentrated on subjective visions and
symbolic, personal meanings rather than observations of the
(1885–1910) outside world. This was often achieved through abstract
forms.
Post-Impressionist painters include Georges Seurat, noted for
his pointillism technique that used small, distinct dots to form
an image. Vincent van Gogh is also considered a Post-
Impressionist painter, searching for personal expression
through his art, often through rugged brushstrokes and dark
tones.
 Led by Henri Matisse, Fauvism built upon examples from
Vincent van Gogh and George Seurat. As the first avant-garde,
Fauvism 20th-century movement, this style was characterized by
expressive use of intense color, line, and brushwork, a bold
(1900–1935) sense of surface design, and flat composition.
As seen in many of the works of Matisse himself, the
separation of color from its descriptive, representational
purpose was one of the core elements that shaped this
movement. Fauvism was an important precursor of Cubism
and Expressionism.
 Expressionism emerged as a response to increasingly
conflicted world views and the loss of spirituality.
Expressionism Expressionist art sought to draw from within the artist, using a
distortion of form and strong colors to display anxieties and
(1905–1920) raw emotions. Expressionist painters, in a quest for
authenticity, looked for inspiration beyond that of Western art
and frequented ethnographic museums to revisit native folk
traditions and tribal art.
The roots of Expressionism can be traced to Vincent van
Gogh, Edvard Munch, and James Ensor. Prominent groups
including Die Brücke (The Bridge) and Der Blaue Reiter (The
Blue Rider) formed so artists could publish works and express
their ideals collectively.
 Cubism was established by Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque
, who rejected the concept that art should copy nature. They
Cubism (1907– moved away from traditional techniques and perspectives;
instead, they created radically fragmented objects through 
1914) abstraction. Many Cubist painters’ works are marked by flat,
two-dimensional surfaces, geometric forms or “cubes” of
objects, and multiple vantage points. Often, their subjects
weren’t even discernible.
 Surrealism emerged from the Dada art movement in 1916,
showcasing works of art that defied reason. Surrealists
Surrealism denounced the rationalist mindset. They blamed this thought
process on events like World War I and believed it to repress
(1916–1950) imaginative thoughts. Surrealists were influenced by Karl
Marx and theories developed by Sigmund Freud, who
explored psychoanalysis and the power of imagination.
Influential Surrealist artists like Salvador Dalí tapped into the
unconscious mind to depict revelations found on the street and
in everyday life. Dalí’s paintings in particular pair vivid and
bizarre dreams with historical accuracy.
 Shaped by the legacy of Surrealism, Abstract Expressionism
Abstract emerged in New York after WWII. It’s often referred to as the
Expressionism New York School or action painting. These painters and 
abstract sculptors broke away from what was considered
(1940s–1950s) conventional, and instead used spontaneity and improvisation
to create abstract works of art. This included colossally-scaled
works whose size could no longer be accommodated by an
easel. Instead, canvases would be placed directly upon the
floor.
Celebrated Abstract Expressionist painters include 
Jackson Pollock, known for his unique style of drip painting,
and Mark Rothko, whose paintings employed large blocks of
color to convey a sense of spirituality.
 Heightened by advances in science and technology as well as
an interest in optical effects and illusions, the Op art (short for
Op Art (1950s– “optical” art) movement launched with Le Mouvement, a
group exhibition at Galerie Denise Rene in 1955. Artists
1960s) active in this style used shapes, colors, and patterns to create
images that appeared to be moving or blurring, often produced
in black and white for maximum contrast. These abstract
patterns were meant to both confuse and excite the eye.
English artist Bridget Riley is one of the most prominent Op
Art practitioners. Her 1964 artwork Blaze features zigzag
black and white lines that create the illusion of a circular
decent.
 Pop art is one of the most recognizable artistic developments
of the 20th century. The movement transitioned away from
Pop Art methods used in Abstract Expressionism, and instead used
everyday, mundane objects to create innovative works of art
(1950s–1960s) that challenged consumerism and mass media. This
introduction to identifiable imagery was a shift from the
direction of modernism.
Pop artists like Andy Warhol and Roy Lichtenstein sought to
establish the idea that art can draw from any source and there
is no hierarchy of culture to disrupt that. Perhaps the most
famous pop culture work of art is Warhol’s 
Campbell’s Soup Cans production.
 Translating literally to “poor art,” Arte Povera challenged
modernist, contemporary systems by infusing commonplace
Arte Povera materials into creations. Artists used soil, rocks, paper, rope,
and other earthen elements to evoke a pre-industrial
(1960s) sentiment. As a result, many of the notable works during this
movement are sculptural.
Italian artist Mario Merz, in conjunction with other Italian
artists such as Giovanni Anselmo and Alighiero Boetti,
created anti-elitist works by drawing upon materials from
everyday life. His 1968 Giap’s Igloo, one of what would soon
become his signature series of igloos, focused on his
occupations with the necessities of life: shelter, warmth, and
food.
 The Minimalist movement emerged in New York as a group
of younger artists began to question the overly expressive
Minimalism works of Abstract Expressionist artists. Minimalist art instead
focused on anonymity, calling attention to the materiality of
(1960s–1970s) works. Artists urged viewers to focus on precisely what was in
front of them, rather than draw parallels to outside realities
and emotive thoughts through the use of purified forms, order,
simplicity, and harmony.
American artist Frank Stella was of the earliest adopters of
Minimalism, producing nonrepresentational paintings, as seen
in his Black Paintings completed between 1958 and 1960.
Each features a pattern of rectilinear stripes of uniform width
printed in metallic black ink.
 Conceptual art completely rejected previous art movements,
and artists prized ideas over visual components, creating art in
Conceptual Art the from of performances, ephemera, and other forms. Polish
performance artist Ewa Partum’s Active Poetry consisted of
(1960s–1970s) her scattering single alphabet letters across various landscapes
. American artist Joseph Kosuth explored the production and
role of language within art, as seen in his 1965, One and
Three Chairs. In it, he represents one chair in three different
ways to represent different meanings of the same object.
Because this type of art focused on ideas and concepts, there
was no distinct style or form.
 The 1970s marked the beginning of contemporary art, which extends through present day.
Contemporary This period is dominated by various schools and smaller movements that emerged.
•Postmodernism: In reaction against modernism, artists created works that reflected
Art (1970– skepticism, irony, and philosophical critiques.
•Feminist art: This movement arose in an attempt to transform stereotypes and break the
present) model of a male-dominated art history.
•Neo Expressionism: Artists sought to revive original aspects of Expressionism and create
highly textural, expressive, large works.
•Street art: Artists such as Keith Haring, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Barry McGee, Banksy, and
more created graffiti-like art on surfaces in public places like sidewalks, buildings, and
overpasses.
•The Pictures Generation: Artists Cindy Sherman, Louise Lawler, Gary Simmons, and
others who were influenced by Conceptual and Pop art experimented with recognizable
imagery to explore images shaped our perceptions of the world.
•Appropriation art: This movement focused on the use of images in art with little
transformation from their original form.
•Young British Artists (YBA): This group of London artists were notorious for their
willingness to shock audiences through their imagery, and a willingness to push beyond
limits of decency. They’re also known for their zestful, entrepreneurial spirit.
•Digital art: The advent of the camera lent way to this artistic practice that allowed artists to
use the infusion of art and technology to create with mediums like computers, audio and
visual software, sound, and pixels.
The most famous paintings of all time
 The most
famous paintings
of all time
1. Leonardo Da Vinci, Mona Lisa, 1503–19

Painted between 1503 and 1517, Da Vinci’s

alluring portrait has been dogged by two
questions since the day it was made: Who’s the
subject and why is she smiling? A number of
theories for the former have been proffered over
the years: That she’s the wife of the Florentine
merchant Francesco di Bartolomeo del Giocondo
(ergo, the work’s alternative title, La Gioconda);
that she's Leonardo’s mother, Caterina, conjured
from Leonardo's boyhood memories of her; and
finally, that it's a self-portrait in drag. As for that
famous smile, its enigmatic quality has driven
people crazy for centuries. Whatever the reason,
Mona Lisa’s look of preternatural calm comports
with the idealized landscape behind her, which
dissolves into the distance through Leonardo’s
use of atmospheric perspective.
The most
famous paintings
of all time

2. Johannes Vermeer, Girl with a Pearl

Earring, 1665

Johannes Vermeer’s 1665 study of a young

woman is startlingly real and startlingly
modern, almost as if it were a photograph. This
gets into the debate over whether or not
Vermeer employed a pre-photographic device
called a camera obscura to create the image.
Leaving that aside, the sitter is unknown,
though it’s been speculated that she might have
been Vermeer's maid. He portrays her looking
over her shoulder, locking her eyes with the
viewer as if attempting to establish an intimate
connection across the centuries. Technically
speaking, Girl isn’t a portrait, but rather an
example of the Dutch genre called a tronie—a
headshot meant more as still life of facial
features than as an attempt to capture a likeness.
The most
famous paintings
of all time

3. Sandro Botticelli, , 1484–1486

Botticelli’s The Birth of Venus was the first full-

length, non-religious nude since antiquity, and was
made for Lorenzo de Medici. It’s claimed that the
figure of the Goddess of Love is modeled after one
Simonetta Cattaneo Vespucci, whose favors were
allegedly shared by Lorenzo and his younger brother,
Giuliano. Venus is seen being blown ashore on a
giant clamshell by the wind gods Zephyrus and Aura
as the personification of spring awaits on land with a
cloak. Unsurprisingly, Venus attracted the ire of
Savonarola, the Dominican monk who led a
fundamentalist crackdown on the secular tastes of the
Florentines. His campaign included the infamous
“Bonfire of the Vanities” of 1497, in which “profane”
objects—cosmetics, artworks, books—were burned
on a pyre. The Birth of Venus was itself scheduled for
incineration, but somehow escaped destruction.
Botticelli, though, was so freaked out by the incident
that he gave up painting for a while.
The most
famous paintings
of all time

4. Vincent van Gogh, The Starry

Night, 1889

Vincent Van Gogh’s most popular

painting, The Starry Night was created
by Van Gogh at the asylum in Saint-
Rémy, where he’d committed himself in
1889. Indeed, The Starry Night seems to
reflect his turbulent state of mind at the
time, as the night sky comes alive with
swirls and orbs of frenetically applied
brush marks springing from the yin and
yang of his personal demons and awe of
nature.
The most
famous paintings
of all time

5. James Abbott McNeill Whistler,

Arrangement in Grey and Black No. 1,
1871

Whistler’s Mother, or Arrangement in Grey

and Black No. 1, as it’s actually titled,
speaks to the artist’s ambition to pursue art
for art’s sake. James Abbott McNeill
Whistler painted the work in his London
studio in 1871, and in it, the formality of
portraiture becomes an essay in form.
Whistler’s mother Anna is pictured as one of
several elements locked into an arrangement
of right angles. Her severe expression fits in
with the rigidity of the composition, and it’s
somewhat ironic to note that despite
Whistler’s formalist intentions, the painting
became a symbol of motherhood.
The most
famous paintings
of all time

6. Gustav Klimt, The Kiss, 1907–1908

Opulently gilded and extravagantly

patterned, The Kiss, Gustav Klimt’s fin-
de-siècle portrayal of intimacy, is a mix
of Symbolism and Vienna Jugendstil, the
Austrian variant of Art Nouveau. Klimt
depicts his subjects as mythical figures
made modern by luxuriant surfaces of
up-to-the moment graphic motifs. The
work is a highpoint of the artist’s Golden
Phase between 1899 and 1910 when he
often used gold leaf—a technique
inspired by a 1903 trip to the Basilica di
San Vitale in Ravenna, Italy, where he
saw the church’s famed Byzantine
mosaics.
The most
famous paintings
of all time

7. Jan van Eyck, The Arnolfini Portrait,

1434

One of the most significant works produced

during the Northern Renaissance, this
composition is believed to be one of the
first paintings executed in oils. A full-length
double portrait, it reputedly portrays an
Italian merchant and a woman who may or
may not be his bride. In 1934, the
celebrated art historian Erwin Panofsky
proposed that the painting is actually a
wedding contract. What can be reliably said
is that the piece is one of the first depictions
of an interior using orthogonal perspective
to create a sense of space that seems
contiguous with the viewer’s own; it feels
like a painting you could step into.
The most
famous paintings
of all time

8. Hieronymus Bosch, The Garden of Earthly

Delights, 1503–1515

This fantastical triptych is generally considered a

distant forerunner to Surrealism. In truth, it’s the
expression of a late medieval artist who believed
that God and the Devil, Heaven and Hell were
real. Of the three scenes depicted, the left panel
shows Christ presenting Eve to Adam, while the
right one features the depredations of Hell; less
clear is whether the center panel depicts Heaven.
In Bosch’s perfervid vision of Hell, an enormous
set of ears wielding a phallic knife attacks the
damned, while a bird-beaked bug king with a
chamber pot for a crown sits on its throne,
devouring the doomed before promptly
defecating them out again. This riot of
symbolism has been largely impervious to
interpretation, which may account for its
widespread appeal.
The most
famous paintings
of all time

9. Georges Seurat, A Sunday Afternoon on

the Island of La Grande Jatte, 1884–1886

Georges Seurat’s masterpiece, evoking the

Paris of La Belle Epoque, is actually
depicting a working-class suburban scene
well outside the city’s center. Seurat often
made this milieu his subject, which differed
from the bourgeois portrayals of his
Impressionist contemporaries. Seurat abjured
the capture-the-moment approach of Manet,
Monet and Degas, going instead for the
sense of timeless permanence found in Greek
sculpture. And that is exactly what you get in
this frieze-like processional of figures whose
stillness is in keeping with Seurat’s aim of
creating a classical landscape in modern
form.
The most
famous paintings
of all time

10. Pablo Picasso, Les Demoiselles

d’Avignon, 1907

The ur-canvas of 20th-century art, Les

Demoiselles d’Avignon ushered in the
modern era by decisively breaking with
the representational tradition of Western
painting, incorporating allusions to the
African masks that Picasso had seen in
Paris's ethnographic museum at the
Palais du Trocadro. Its compositional
DNA also includes El Greco’s The Vision
of Saint John (1608–14), now hanging in
the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The
women being depicted are actually
prostitutes in a brothel in the artist's
native Barcelona.
The most
famous paintings
of all time

11. Pieter Bruegel the Elder, The

Harvesters, 1565

Bruegel’s fanfare for the common man is

considered one of the defining works of
Western art. This composition was one of
six created on the theme of the seasons. The
time is probably early September. A group
of peasants on the left cut and bundle
ripened wheat, while the on the right,
another group takes their midday meal. One
figure is sacked out under a tree with his
pants unbuttoned. This attention to detail
continues throughout the painting as a
procession of ever-granular observations
receding into space. It was extraordinary for
a time when landscapes served mostly as
backdrops for religious paintings.
The most
famous paintings
of all time

12. Édouard Manet, Le Déjeuner sur

l’herbe, 1863

Manet’s scene of picnicking Parisians caused

a scandal when it debuted at the Salon des
Refusés, the alternative exhibition made up
of works rejected by the jurors of the annual
Salon—the official art exhibition of the
Académie des Beaux-Arts that set artistic
standards in France. The most vociferous
objections to Manet’s work centered on the
depiction of a nude woman in the company
of men dressed in contemporary clothes.
Based on motifs borrowed from such
Renaissance greats as Raphael and
Giorgione, Le Déjeuner was a cheeky send
up of classical figuration—an insolent mash-
up of modern life and painting tradition.
THANK YOU!
ART APPRECIATION:
Creativity, Imagination,
and Expression
RUBY ANN M. TOLENTINO, LPT
LESSON PROPER
Art Appreciation as a Way of Life:
Art as a creative work that depicts the world in a completely different light and
perspective, and the source is due to human freedom (Jean Paul Sartre as
cited in Greene, 1995)
Hence, refining one’s ability to appreciate art allows him to deeply understand
the purpose of an artwork and recognize the beauty it possesses (Collins &
Riley, 1931).
The Role of Creativity in Art Making:
•In art, creativity is what sets apart one artwork from another.
•An 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 not constrained by the walls of the norm, but goes beyond that.
•An artwork does not need to be a real thing, but can be something that is imaginary
(Collingwood, 1938).
•Artists use their imagination that gives birth to reality through creation.
•In the same way that imagination produces art, art also inspires imagination.
Art as Expression:
•Robin George Collingwood, an English philosopher who is best known for his work in
aesthetics, explicated in his publication The Principles of Art (1938) that what an artist does to an
emotion is not to induce it, but express it. Through expression, he is able to explore his own
emotions and at the same time, create something beautiful out of them.”
•Some forms of art expression include visual arts, performance art, poetry performance,
architecture, dance, literary arts, theater arts, and applied arts.
ART EXPRESSIONS
1.) VISUAL ARTS
✔Creations that fall under this category are those that appeals to the sense of sight and are
mainly visual in nature.
✔ Artists produce visual arts driven by their desire to reproduce things that they have seen in the
way that they perceived them.
✔There are also other artistic disciplines that also involve a visual aspect, such as performance
arts, theater, and applied arts.
✔Some mediums of visual arts include paintings, drawings, letterings, printing, sculpture, digital
imaging.
Famous Visual Artist in the
Philippines

Fernando Amorsolo

Labelled the country's first National Artist in 1972 by then

President Marcos. He is often known as the 'Grand Old
Man of Philippine Art’.
A small collection of Fernando Amorsolo's paintings
https://kahimyang.com/kauswagan/articles/1372/a-small-collection-of-fernando-amorsolos-pai
ntings
2. FILM
❑Film refers to the art of putting together successions of still images in order to create an illusion
of movement.
❑Filmmaking focuses on its aesthetic, cultural, and social value and is considered both an art and
an industry.
❑Techniques in film-making process:
– Motion-picture camera (also known as movie camera)
– Animation techniques
– Computer-generated imagery (CGI)
❑Filmmaking simulates experiences or creates one that is beyond the scope of our imagination
as it aims to deliver ideas, feelings, or beauty to its viewers
3. PERFORMANCE ART
❑Performance art is a live art and the artist’s medium is mainly the human body which he or she
uses to perform, but also employs other kind of art such as visual art, props, or sound.
❑Elements of performance arts:
▪Time
▪ Where the performance took place
▪The performer’s body o Relationship between the audience and the performer(s)
❑The fact that performance art is live makes it intangible, which means it cannot be bought or
traded as a commodity.
 WHAT IS PERFORMANCE ART? With Kathryn Marshall
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OiEr1QPShkE
Is Performing Art Worth the Struggle? | Vie Boheme | TEDxMinneapolisSalon

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Zp9BmjdDBY
4. POETRY PERFORMANCE
❑Poetry is an art form where the artist expresses his emotions not by using paint, charcoal, or
camera, but expresses them through words.
❑These words are carefully selected to exhibit clarity and beauty and to stimulate strong
emotions of joy, anger, love, and sorrow among others.
❑It uses a word’s emotional, musical, and spatial values that go beyond its literal meaning to
narrate emphasize, argue, or convince.
❑These words combined with movements, tone, volume, and intensity of the delivery add to the
artistic, value of the poem
5. ARCHITECTURE
❑Art is the pursuit and creation of beautiful things while architecture is the making of beautiful
buildings.
❑However, not all building are beautiful because some only embody the functionality they need, but
the structure, lines, forms, and colors are not beautifully expressed.
❑Important elements:
▪Plan
▪Construction
▪Design
❑Buildings should embody these three important elements if they wish to merit the title architecture.
6. DANCE
❑Dance is series of movements that follows the rhythm of the music accompaniment.
❑ Dancing is a creative art form that allows people to freely express themselves.
❑IT HAS NO RULES.
❑ Choreography may seem not to allow this, but in art expression, dancers are not confined to
set steps and rules but are free to create and invent their own movements as longs as they
deem them graceful and beautiful.
7. LITERARY ART
❑Artists who practice literary arts use words to express themselves and communicate emotions
to the readers.
❑Simply becoming a writer does not make one a literary artist.
❑Literary art goes beyond the usual professional, academic, journalistic and other technical
forms of writing.
❑ It focuses on writing using a unique style, not following a specific format or norm.
❑It may include both fiction and non-fiction such as novels, biographies, and poems.
▪Romeo and Juliet – William Shakespeare
▪The Little Prince – Antoine de Saint-Exupery
8. THEATER
❑Theater uses live performers to present accounts or imaginary events before a live audience.
❑Theater art performance usually follows follow a script, though they should not be confused
with literary arts.
❑Like in filmmaking, theater also considers several elements such as acting, gesture, lighting,
sound effects, musical score, scenery and props.
❑Like performance art, theater also is a live performance.
❑ Genres: drama, musical, tragedy, comedy and improvisation
9. APPLIED ARTS
❑Applied arts is incorporating elements of style and design to everyday items with the aim of
increasing their aesthetic value.
❑Artists in this field bring beauty, charm, and comfort into many things that were useful in
everyday life.
❑Industrial design, interior design, fashion design, graphic design
❑ The applied arts are all the arts that apply design and decoration to everyday and essentially
practical objects in order to make them aesthetically pleasing. ... Applied arts largely overlaps
with decorative arts, and the modern making of applied art is usually called design.
Example of Applied Art

furniture, carpets, tapestry, embroidery, batik, jewellery, precious metalwork,

pottery, goldsmithing, basketry, mosaic art, and glassware). Illuminated
manuscripts and later book illustration are also classified as applied arts.
FUNCTIONS AND PHILOSOPHICAL
PERSPECTIVES ON ART
Functions of Art
❑Roughly and broadly, the functions of art are classified into three: personal (public display or
expression), social (celebration or to affect collective behavior), and physical (utilitarian).

What about the practical function of painting and literature?

❑Even if painting and literature are not focusing on the practical benefits, it can never be the
case that they do not have any function.
❑Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo
❑They go beyond their literary worth. They are functional “in so far as they are designed to
accomplish some definite end” (Dudley et al. 1960)
 Classifications of the functions of art:
1. Personal functions of art
❑ The personal functions of art are varied and highly subjective.
❑ An artist may create an art out of the need for self-expression.
❑ It can also be mere entertainment for his intended audience.
❑An art may also be therapeutic.
2. Social functions of art
❑Art is considered to have a social function if and when it addresses a particular collective interest as
opposed to a personal interest.
❑Art may convey message of protest, contestation, or whatever message the artist intends his work to carry.
❑Art can also depict social conditions
…
3. Physical functions of art
❑The physical functions of art are the easiest to spot and understand.
❑They are crafted in order to serve some physical purpose.
❑Architecture, jewelry-making and even interior design are all forms of arts that have physical
function.
 Other functions of art
❑Music in its original form was principally functional because it was used for dance and religion. The ancient world saw music only as an
instrument to facilitate worship and invocation to gods.
❑Today, music has expanded its function and coverage. It can be used for self-expression. It is also used as a wonderful accompaniment to
stage plays and motion pictures.
❑Music can mean a multitude of meanings to different people.
❑Like music, sculptures have been made by man most particularly for religion from the early days of humanity.
❑The employment of sculptures for religious purposes has remained vital, relevant and symbolic.
❑Sculptures were also made in order to commemorate important figures in history.
▪ In the University of the Philippines, the iconic statue Oblation by Guillermo E. Tolentino has remained a pillar of the university and a
constant reminder of the need to offer oneself up selflessly for the country.
❑Coins are also manifestations of sculpting’s functions.
▪They feature a relief of a famous hero or personality.
❑Architecture might be the most prominent functional art form because buildings are huge, expensive and are not easily constructed and
replaced.
▪ Connection between Function and Form: consideration of the natural conditions and the social conditions.
▪Spanish colonial houses in the Philippine
Does art always have to be
functional?
❑The value of a work of art does not depend on function but on the work itself.
❑Despite these, efficiency cannot be mistaken as beauty. While it certainly determines beauty in
some works of art, an efficient functional object is not necessarily beautiful.
 Philosophical perspectives on art
1. Art as an imitation
❑ Plato’s The Republic
❑ It paints a picture of artists as imitators and art as mere imitation. In order for the state to be ideal, Plato advised
against the inclusion of art as a subject in the curriculum and the banning of artists in the Republic.
❑He was convinced that artists merely reinforce the belief in copies and discourage men to reach for the real entities
in the World of Forms.
2. Art as a representation
❑Aristotle: Art is a form of imitation but it is considered as an aid to philosophy in revealing the truth.
❑The kind of imitation that art does is not antithetical to the reaching of fundamental truths in the world.
❑What art endeavors to do is to provide a vision of what might be or the myriad possibilities in reality.
❑ Purposes of Art: (1) art allows for the experience of pleasure and (2) art also has an ability to be instructive and
teach its audience things about life
…
3. Art as a disinterested judgment
❑ Immanuel Kant considered the judgment of beauty, the cornerstone of art, as something that
can be universal despite its subjectivity.
❑He recognized that judgment of beauty is subjective but he advanced the proposition that even
subjective judgments are based on some universal criterion for the said judgment.
❑Every human being, after perception and the free play of his faculties, should recognize the
beauty that is inherent in a work of art.
4. Art as a communication of emotion
❑ Leo Tolstoy defended the production of the sometimes truly extravagant art, like operas,
despite extremely poverty in the world.
❑ Art serves as a language, a communication device that articulates feelings and emotions that
are otherwise unavailable to the audience.

5. Art as a communication of information

❑As a purveyor of man’s innermost feelings and thoughts, art is given a unique opportunity to
serve as a mechanism for social unity.
❑Art serves as a mechanism of cohesion for everyone.
THANK YOU!