Art Appreciation

• Imitationism


  Idealist Theory of Art
• Representationism


  Art is an image, an appearance, a copy, or a reproduction of things, people, objects, or events
• Formalism


  Art is the combination of perceptual elements, art is non-figurative because it does not contain any representation
• Expressionism


  The transfer of the artist's expression of emotions and ideas into an art
• Aesthetic Hedonism


  Beauty is pleasure and ugly is pain
• Aesthetic Functionalism


  The person's feeling of need of an object which satisfies his/her needs
• Action Theory


  Style of abstract expressionism by Jackson Pollock, the process of putting, dripping, pouring, and splashing paints on the canvas
• Institutional Theory


  Art is an institution in the society, a thing becomes art if it is acknowledged as an art by the Artworld
• Imitationism - Idealist Theory of Art
• Two ways of considering beauty

  • Relative (subject) - "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder"
  • Absolute (object) - "Beauty is in the thing itself"
• The Imitationism by Plato suggests three types of world


  • World of Being
  • World of Becoming
  • World of Art

  
• World of Being


  The reality, it is unchanging and eternal, it is the universal form of any idea in metaphysical form, it is the idea of beauty
• World of Becoming


  The appearance, the changing, and temporal world, it is the appearance of the reality and where beautiful things exist

  
• World of Art


  The imitation or illusion of what is seen from the physical thing

  
• Things in this world are beautiful as appearances of the reality or idea of beauty of the universal form of beauty existing in the world of being. Art is beautiful as imitations of things in this world.
• Pythagoras


  Cosmological theory - the sound of the universe is the sound of music, human music imitates the music of the spheres
• Plato


  Epistemological theory - gymnastics is for the body, as music is for the soul
• Theological theory of music - "Singing is praying twice over" - Augustine
• Definition of art based on imitationism

  • Painting & Sculpture - imitation of the appearances of people, things, events
  • Music - imitation of the sounds of the universe
  • Dance - imitation of movements of animals, nature, or things
  • Literature - imitation of life through language
  • Drama - imitation of life through action and dialogue
• Ways of representing nature

  • Physical alteration - changing the physical appearance of nature
  • Selective modification - enhancing the appearance of nature
  • Perceptual interpretation - copying nature according to the choice of the artist

  
• Definition of art according to representationism - "Art is putting mirror up to nature" (William Shakespeare), "When painting has reached divinity (shen), there is an end of the matter" (Chieh Tzu Yuan)

  
• Romantic Realism in the Philippine Art - Fabian de la Rosa and Fernando Amorsolo have shown only the aspect of beauty, idyllic and exotic rural sceneries, and forms of light and shadow for tourism purposes
• Clive Bell - "To appreciate art, we bring with us nothing from life. What is essential in art is only the 'significant form'"
• Paul Cezanne - "Artists need to look at nature and things only as forms made up of sphere, cylinders, cones"

  
• Wassily Kandinsky


  Every work of art is the child of its age, art is born from the inner necessity of the artist in an enigmatic, mystical way through which it acquires an autonomous life, it becomes an independent subject, animated by a spiritual breath
• Categories of Kandinsky's paintings


  • Impressions - paintings which retain some naturalistic representation
  • Improvisations - paintings which convey deep emotions inspired by events of a spiritual type
  • Compositions - purely formal paintings done carefully over a period of time after preliminary studies

  
• Kandinsky's view on colors and their associations - "Yellow is the color of middle C on a brassy trumpet; black is the color of closure, and the endings; and that combinations of colors produce vibrational frequencies, akin to chords played on a piano"
• Susanne Langer - "Art is the creation of symbolic forms expressive of human feelings"
• Leo Tolstoy - "Art is the objectification of emotion"
• Aristotle - "Art is the expression of the artist's overflowing emotion" (catharsis)
• Benedetto Croce - "Like language, art is the expression of idea by the artist" (intuitionism)
• Periods of classical music

  • Baroque - music with a dramatic style that featured many decorative parts and details
  • Classical - music in European tradition that includes opera and symphony and is generally considered more serious
  • Romantic - music of the 19th century characterized by an emphasis on subjective emotional qualities and freedom form
• Aristippus and Epicurus - "Eat, drink, and be merry for tomorrow you die"
• Functionalism in the Renaissance period is about teaching catechism to people, example: Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel paintings
• Architectural principle - form follows function, the purpose of the use of the building is according to the shape, size, color, texture, and space, example: Joern Utzon's Sydney Opera House
• Harold Rosenberg - "The canvass began to appear as an arena in which an act--rather than a space in which to reproduce, re-design, analyze or express an object, actual or imagined. What was to go on the canvas was not a picture but an event."
• To be recognized as an artist by the Artworld-Institution, a person must


  • Have skills and talent
  • Be studying in an art school
  • Have a degree in Fine Arts
  • Be a member of art organizations
  • Win recognition, prizes, and awards
  • Have artworks exhibited in museums and/or galleries
  • Be mentioned in books, media, and art history
  • Be well-known
  • Have a revolutionized art
• Aesthetics


  The study of how the mind beholds beautiful objects
• Alexander Baumgarten coined the term aesthetics in 1750 to advance his new philosophical approach, which was to study the "art of thinking beautifully" (ars pulchre cogitandi)
• Aesthetic experience


  The appreciation of beauty as the endpoint