What is Art?Figure 2.3 Andy Warhol, Thirty Are Better than One, 1963.

Figure 2.4 Leonardo da Vinci, Mona Lisa, c. 1503-05.

Figure 2.4 Leonardo da Vinci, Mona Lisa, c. 1503-05.

Figure 2.3 Andy Warhol, Thirty Are Better than One, 1963.

Is this a work of art?

Andrew Wyeth, That Gentleman, 1960, tempera on panel,23.5 x 47.34”

Is this a work of art?

Gary Simmons, boom, 1996, chalk and slate point on wall, dimensions variable

What is Art?Value

Figure 2.1 Vincent van Gogh, Wheat Filed and Cypress Trees, 1889.

Figure 2.4 Leonardo da Vinci, Mona Lisa, c. 1503-05.

Vincent van Gogh, Starry Night, 1889, oil on canvas, 29 x 36.25”

Middle Ages = Craft for utilitarian use Renaissance = Made for a purpose and commissioned by someone. Often

produced in a workshop.  Impressionism = The artist painted what they wanted to paint

Artist and Audience

Aesthetics: A philosophy of the nature and meaning of beauty, as it pertains to art

Figure 2.9 Edward Weston, Cabbage Leaf, 1931.

Art and Beauty

Disinterested Contemplation: to set aside any personal, practical stake we might have in what we are looking at

Figure 2.10 Bellini, Pieta, c. 1500-05.

Figure 2.11 Goya, Chronos Devouring One of His Children, 1820-22.

Figure 2.12 Pablo Picasso, First Communion, 1895-96.

Figure 2.13 Pablo Picasso, Seated Woman Holding a Fan, 1908.

Art and AppearancesRepresentational and Abstract

Resembles forms in the natural worldTerms associated with:-Naturalistic-Tromp l’oeil

Representational:

Abstract:Distorts, exaggerates, or simplifies the natural world to provide essence or universality

Figure 2.14 Louise Bourgeois, Woman with Packages, 1949.

Figure 2.15 Duane Hanson, Housepainter III, 1984/1988.

Which is which?

Figure 2.19 Kandinsky, Swinging, 1925.

Nonrepresentational:(Nonobjective): Contains no

reference to the natural world as we see it

Figure 2.21 Utamaro, Hairdressing, 1798-99.

Figure 2.22 Degas, Nude Woman Having her Hair Combed, c. 1886-88.

Style:The term style is used to categorize a work of art by its visual characteristics that tend to

be recurring, constant, or coherent

Art and Appearances

Figure 2.25 Matisse, Music Lesson, 1917.

Form: The way a work of art looks.Includes:

Media: materials usedStyle: …Composition: the organization of

visual elements & principles of design

Art and MeaningForm and Content

Content: What a work of art is about Includes:

Subject matter (general)Message (more specific)Iconography

Art and MeaningForm and Content

Figure 2.25 Matisse, Music Lesson, 1917.

Iconography: identifying, describing, and interpreting subject matter in art.

Figure 2.29 Jan van Eyck, Arnolfini Double Portrait, 1434.

Art and MeaningForm and Content

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Art and MeaningContext:The personal and social circumstances surrounding the making, viewing, and interpreting of a work of art.