CHAPTER 1

WHAT IS ART HISTORY?

Can art have a history? We think about art is timeless , the beauty
of its appearance having meaning , significance, and appeal to
humankind across the ages. At least this usually applies to our ideas
about high or fine , art, in other words painting and sculptures . This
kind of visual material can have an autonomous existence-we can
enjoy looking at it for its own sake, independent of any knowledge of
its context , although or course viewers from different time periods or
culture may see the same object in contrasting ways.
Art appreciation and in criticism
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 question that are often anticipated
and answered for example , the captions to illustrations 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 instance , oil or tempera might help us to appreciate further the skill of the
artist. The important thing to note about this kind of art appreciation is that it
requires no knowledge of art history. The history of an individual work contain
within itself, in this way , art appreciation requires no knowledge of the context of
art; the I know what I like and I like what I see approach to gallery going is
sufficient. And this is absolutely fine. We can enjoy looking at something just for
what it is and art can become absorbed into what might be called popular culture.
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
itwas 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.
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.
Sandro Botticelli, The Birth of Venus, 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.
What is Art?
 Art is a diverse range of human activities in creating visual, auditory or
performing artifacts, expressing the author’s imaginative , conceptual ideas, or
technical skill, intended to be appreciated for their beauty or emotional
power.

It takes an artist to make art. One may perceive beauty on a daily basis.
Not everyone can be considered an artist , but all are spectators of art.
Art is a product of man’s creativity , imagination, and expression.
Creativity – requires thinking outside the box. It is often used to solve
problem that have never occurred before, conflate function and style, and
simply make life a more unique and enjoyable experience.
 Creativity – What sets apart one artwork from another.
 IMAGINATION
Famous writers, painters and musicians get their ideas and making creative solutions
start in the human mind .it all begins with IMAGINATION.

 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.
 Through imagination, one is able to craft something bold, something new, and
something better.
 Imagination allows endless possibilities.
 Artwork does not need to be a real thing , but can be something that is imaginary
( Collingwood,1938)
Art as Expression
Robin George Collingwood- an English philosopher who is best known for his
work in aesthetics , explicated in his publication the principle of art (1938) that
what an artist does to an emotion is not to be induce it, but express it.
Through expression , he is able his own emotions and at the same time ,
create something beautiful out of them.
Expression individualizes, an artist his freedom to express himself the way he
wants to.
Visual art
 Appeal to the sense of sight and are mainly visual in nature.
 Visual art- art from that the population is most likely more exposed to , but its variations
are so diverse- they range from sculptures that you see in the museum to the last movie
you watch .
FILM
 Refers to art of putting together successions of still images in order to create an illusion of
movement.
 Focuses on its aesthetic, cultural, and social value and its considered both an art and an
industry.
 Filmmaking stimulates experience or creates one that is beyond the scope of our
imagination as it aims to deliver ideas, feelings, or beauty to its viewers.
PERFORMACE ART
 Live art and the artist’s medium is mainly the human body.
 Employs other kind of art such as visual art, props, or sound

POETRY PERFORMANCE
 POETRY – an art form where artist expresses his emotions not by using paint , charcoal, or
camera , but express them though words.
 The words are combined together with movements, tone, volume and intensity of the delivery ,
to add to the artist value of the poem.
ARCHITECTURE
Art is pursuit and creation of beautiful things while architecture is the making of beautiful buildings.
Important elements is
Plan
Construction
Design

DANCE
Series of movement that follow the rhythm of the music accompaniment.
Dancing – creative form allows people to freely express themselves.it has no rules.
Dancers are free to create and invent their own movements.
LITERARY ART
 Artist who practice literary arts use words to express themselves and communicate
emotions to the readers .
 It goes beyond the usual professional , academic, journalistic and other technical forms
of writing.
 Literary art focuses on writing using unique style, not following a specific format or noun
 Can be fiction and not –fiction such as novels , biography, and poems.

THEATER
 Uses live performance to present accounts or imaginary events before a live audience