Art Appreciation (Prelims)

• Visual arts include painting, sculpture, and architecture.
• Performing or Combined Arts are music, dance, film, theater, literary, and performance poetry.
• Digital arts, on the other hand, are created and presented using an electronic device.
• Applied arts refer to fashion design, furniture design, graphic design, industrial design, and interior design.
• There are only three assumptions of art:

  1. Art is universal.
  2. Art is not nature.
  3. Art involves experience.
• Personal 

  It is varied and highly subjective. Its function depends on the person – the artist who created the art. It may be in the following personal forms when artworks are for self-expression, entertainment, catharsis (Caslib, et al.,2018).
• Social Art is considered to have a social function if and when it addresses a particular collective interest.
• Physical

  It is the easiest to spot and understand. It can be found on artworks that are crafted in order to serve some utilitarian purposes (Caslib, et al.,2018). 
• Historical 

  Art is a tool for depicting important events of the past for the purpose of recognition and as a remembrance, commemoration, and celebrations, immortalization and solemnification, and honor-giving (Coursehero.com, n.d.)
• Religious 

  Artists may create, design, or make artworks to emphasize the spiritual support of cultures (Wilson, Bongabong, Boongaling, Trinidad, & Ta-a, 2018)
• Aesthetic

  "Art becomes influential for man to be aware of the beauty of nature. Aesthetic is when there is the real feelings of appreciation for nature's beauty and are manifested through the appreciation and enjoyment when in contact with the artwork" (Panisan et al., 2018, p. 6).
• Art as an Imitation 

  According to Plato, "art is an imitation of the real that was an imitation of the ideal. Art is an imitation of an imitation" (Panisan, et al, 2018, p. 6).
• Art as Representation

  "For Aristotle, all kinds of art including poetry, music, dance, painting, and sculpture, do not aim to represent reality as it is. What art endeavors to do is to provide a vision of what might be or the myriad possibilities in reality. Aristotle conceived of art as representing possible versions of reality" (Caslib, et al, 2018, p. 32).
• Art as a Communication of Emotion

  According to Leo Tolstoy, author of War and Peace and Ana Karenina, "art plays a huge role in communication to its audience's emotions that the artist previously experienced. Art then serves as a language, a communication device that articulates feelings and emotions that are otherwise unavailable to the audience. In the same way that language communicates information to other people, art communicates emotions" (Caslib et al, 2018, p. 33).
• Art for Art's Sake is a slogan coined by Victor Cousin, a 19th-century French philosopher; it's derived from l’art pour l’art. Art for art's sake "expresses the belief held by many writers and artists, especially those associated with Aestheticism, that art needs no justification, that it need serve no political, didactic, or other end" (Britannica, T. Editors of Encyclopedia, 2015).
• Visual Arts

  "Taking off from the scientific reference, elements of art are akin to the atoms that are defined as the units or "building blocks" of matter. Elements are the necessary preconditions for the creation of art" (Caslib et al., 2018, p.79).
• Auditory Art

  "Together with literature, music as an art form is classified as an auditory art. However, some would argue that it is under the broad category of performance art. Either way, music, much like the visual arts, has its building blocks or elements" (Caslib et al., 2018, p.93).
• Line is considered the most basic visual element in art
• A majority of art is initially conceived in terms of contour lines
• Horizontal lines are normally associated with rest or calm
• Vertical lines connote elevation or height, often indicating exaltation or readiness for action
• Horizontal + Vertical lines together signify stability and firmness
• Diagonal lines convey movement and instability, although progression can also be perceived
• Crooked lines are reminiscent of violence, conflict, or struggle
• Curved lines bend or coil, alluding to softness, grace, flexibility, or sensuality
• Shape

  • It refers to two dimensions which are height and width.
  • There are two major types of shapes: geometric and organic. Geometric shapes find their origin in mathematical propositions while organic shapes are those readily occurring in nature, often irregular and asymmetrical.  
• Form

  • It refers to three dimensions: height, width, and depth.
  • A common technique to achieve form is the use of trompe l'oeil.
• Space

  • It is related to shape and form.
  • It is usually inferred from a sense of depth, whether it is real or simulated. Real space is three-dimensional.
  • A common technique applied by artists to achieve space is overlapping.
• Color Properties:

  • Hue: Gives the color its name, can be primary, secondary, or tertiary colors
  • Intensity: Refers to the brightness or dullness of colors, identified as the strength of color
  • Value: Pertains to the lightness or darkness of colors, used by artists to create depth, mood, communicate feelings, or establish a scene
  • Tint: A lighter color than a normal value (e.g., pink for red)
  • Shade: A darker color than the normal value (e.g., maroon for red)
• Color harmonies are essential for understanding the intensity of colors:

  • Monochromatic
  • Complementary
  • Analogous
  • Split-complementary
  • Triadic
• Meanings of Colors:

  • Black: Associated with death and gloom
  • White: Commonly stands for purity and innocence
  • Blue: Represents the color of heaven
  • Red: Associated with blood, signifies anger, provokes fear, and impels people to action
  • Orange: Suggests assertiveness or appetite
  • Green: Represents nature, promotes well-being, implies abundance or bounty
• Texture

  • Like space, texture can be either real or implied. This element in an artwork is experienced through the sense of touch and sight. This element renders the art object tactile. Some of the words used to describe texture are rough or smooth, hard or soft, hairy, leathery, sharp or dull.
• One-point perspective:

  • Often used in depicting roads, tracks, hallways, or rows of trees
  • Shows parallel lines that seem to converge at a specific and lone vanishing point along the horizon line
• Two-point perspective:

  • Makes use of two vanishing points, which can be placed along the horizon line
  • Often used in depicting structures such as houses or buildings in the landscape that are viewed from a specific corner
• Three-point perspective:

  • Allows a viewer to look at a scene above or below
  • Makes use of three vanishing points, each corresponding to each axis of the scene
• Music, as an art form, is classified as an auditory art along with literature
• Some argue that music falls under the broad category of performance art
• Music shares building blocks or elements with visual arts
• Rhythm in music is the pulse of the music
• Rhythm is associated with meter and tempo