part 1. why study the history of art? to learn about creative expressions, past and present creative...
TRANSCRIPT
INTRODUCTION
Part 1
Why study the history of ART?INTRODUCTION
To learn about creative
expressions, past and present.
explore cultures without written records
1st examples of art (cave paintings) predate writing by
over 26,000 years.
“Art is a window onto human thought and
emotion”
History is a “diary” of the past- ancient people writing about
themselves.
Art History “shows” us instead of tells us.
The Artistic Impulseurge to create art is seen in children before they can read and write.urge to create art is seen in culture from the earliest time.People have a natural impulse to build.
Why do people make Art?
•To celebrate god
Why do people make Art?
•To overthrow governments
Why do people make Art?
•To make people think
Why do people make Art?
•To win fame & fortune…
Why do people make Art?
Above all, great artists want to express something deeper than talking or writing-… to show something beyond the reach of everyday vocabularies.
PATRONSIs someone who pays for an artist to produce work
A patron’s control…
Powerful
PATRONs
Personal VisionSome are driven by a personal vision that the public doesn’t share or understand.
“The work of art symbolically prolongs the artist’s existence”
Michelangelo said that he had no human children because his works were his children.
WESTERN TraditionThe “Western” world comprises North America Europe Ancient Egypt Ancient Near EastAll other cultures are considered non-
Western
The 3 major categories of the visual arts are:
*PICTURES*SCULPTURE
*ARCHITECTURE
PICTURES include all flat/2D artPaintingsDrawingsPhotographsPrintsMosaicTapestryStained glass
Sculpture includes all 3D art
Freestanding
Relief
or in the round
ARCHITECTUREIs the enclosure of spaces with at least some aesthetic intent
ARCHITECTUREBuildings are designed to enclose and order space for a specific purpose.
ARCHITECTUREReveals the way people responded to and survived their environment as well as how they defined and defended themselves.
Why is Art Valued?•MATERIAL ValueThe actual material (media) used to make the art is
expensive- GOLDBRONZEIVORY
INTRINSIC ValueDepends on who made it….… and its aesthetic character…the work has stood the test of time.
INTRINSIC Value
Worthless in its time- now priceless
RELIGIOUS Value
RELIGIOUS Value
2 major functions of religious art are :•to TEACH•religious significance cause entire groups of
people identify with the object.
Paintings and sculptures that depict gods and goddesses make their images accessible/ understandable
Nationalistic ValueIn war, art gets plundered…
Elgin Marblesearly 1800’s Athens under Turkish rule…
PSYCHOLOGICAL Value
Our reaction to art spans the entire range of human emotions:
pleasurefrightamusementavoidanceoutrage
PSYCHOLOGICAL Valuefright, avoidance, outrage
PSYCHOLOGICAL Valuepleasure, outrage…
PSYCHOLOGICAL Valuepleasure…
PSYCHOLOGICAL ValueArt can attract and repel us.Love it or hate it…
PSYCHOLOGICAL Value
Somber colors and jagged surface evoke the devastation of war.
Kiefer, 1983
PSYCHOLOGICAL Value
Art and IllusionTrompe l’oeil
Duane HansonTourists, 1970
Trompe l’oeil
Trompe l’oeil
Composition
Is the work of art’s overall plan or structure
…how the artist chooses to set the piece up
Is what is in the picture (person, place , thing)
is it a portrait?is it a landscape?is it a still life?is it a narrative?is it a religious
picture/sculpture?...
SUBJECT MATTER
CONTENT
Refers to the themes, values, or ideas conveyed in the work.
Naturalistic/RealisticIs to depict figures or objects as we actually see them.
IllusionisticExtreme realism…
If an image is representational but not especially faithful to its subject, it may be described as:
IDEALIZED
STYLIZED
ROMANTICIZED
IDEALIZED- depict the object according to an accepted standard of beauty.
STYLIZED- to distort certain features
ROMANTICIZED – to depict the subject in a nostalgic, emotional, fanciful, and/or mysterious way.
Church
An image may be representational without being realistic
Nonrepresentational/nonfigurative means the work does NOT depict (or even claim to depict) real figures or objects.
ABSTRACT describes work that does not accurately depict real object or figures. However, it may capture or attempt to convey the essence of the object or figure .