what is art? · 2/9/2018  · book cover, 2014, valery g olsen, richard bush jr and dba graphix....

What is ART?

What is Art?

● Is dance considered

Art?

What is Art?Does the dance type matter?

What is Art?

● Music?

What is Art?

● Poetry or literature?

What is Art?

● Architecture?

What is Art?

● Crafting?

● Metalwork, glass work,

etc.

What is Art?

● Jewelry?

Murals….

vs. Grafiti?

Graffiti or Art?

Graffiti or Art?

Murals vs. graffiti

What is ART?Art is things made to

be looked at.

Especially drawings, paintings and sculptures. It can also

be used to describe anything creative, including

architecture, music, poetry, and photography.

M.C. Escher

What is Art?

● The Arts can be divided

into two main

categories:

● Visual Arts: Painting,

Drawing, Sculpture, Ceramics,

etc.

● Performing Arts: Theatre,

Dance, Music, etc.

● Robert Smithson: Spiral Jetty

What is Art?

● Art is perhaps

humanity's most

essential, most

universal language.

● While art uses visual

images to communicate its

messages, we use words

to describe the images,

reactions and feelings we

have about objects of art.

What is Art?

● It is impossible to establish a

definition of art that will

please everyone.

● The term is broad; each age

of humanity has different

ideas about it.

● While we may not be able to

define art to everyone's

satisfaction, we can define

some of the standards by

which art is evaluated.

● Navajo Rug

Evaluating Art

● We generally base

our evaluation of art

on criteria such as

craftsmanship,

design, and

aesthetics. We also

consider the works

reflection of the

societies in which the

were created.● Ceremonial Cup about 1000 BC NW Iran.

Evaluating Art● Craftsmanship:

● Skill in a particular craft;

often refers to handmade

crafts

● Aesthetic Properties:

● Every work has at least on of

five properties.

● Sensory properties: The

elements of art that we

recognize through sight (line,

color, value, & shape) and

touch (texture, space &

form).

Evaluating Art

● Aesthetic Properties:

● Formal properties: are the

principles of art that help us see

how artists organize the

elements of art to express their

ideas (unity, balance, contrast,

rhythm, pattern, emphasis and

visual movement).

● Technical properties: the

media, tools and equipment

used to make a work of art. For

example, it takes a different

technique to work with clay that

with pencil.

Evaluating Art

● Aesthetic Properties:

● Expressive properties: the

characteristics of an artwork

that evoke feelings and

emotions.

● Reflection of society:reflect the times in which the

were created. They often

provide or confirm

information about cultures.

Why do we create art?

● Utility: Items which

can be used; they

have function.

● Vessel for storage such as

baskets and pots.

● Metal work such as

silverware, weapons,

machinery, and vehicles.

● Architecture provides shelter.

● Clothing protects the wearer

and can indicate social

ranks.

Why do we create art?

● Religion: has played an

important part in the

creation of art.

● Objects are made to represent a

god and to remind the worshiper

of that deity's power, divinity,

omniscience, or humanity.

● Objects are made as gifts to a

god or as good luck charms.

● Structures serve as places of

worship.

Why do we create art?

● Politics: the use of art and

architecture in politics goes

back to ancient times.

● Castles and fortified cities

defended people,

● Paintings and carvings

were used to perpetuate

myths of the power of the

king.

● Today propaganda is

conveyed through cartoons,

paintings and billboards

Why do we create art?

● Information/History: Art

has been used to pass on a

culture's history, folk tales,

religious traditions, myths

and moral values.

● Art provides a visual record

of heroes, gods, how to

worship, or even how to

make items.

Why do we create art?

● Aesthetics: Today art is

often something to be

pleasing to the sight or touch.

● The search for beauty.

● Apogee

● book cover, 2014, Valery G Olsen,

Richard Bush Jr and Dba Graphix

What is ART?● The concept of beauty has

found expression in a variety

of styles.

● Abstract: simplified shapes;

emphasizes underlying form.

● Human figure Galgenburg, Austria. 31,000

B.C.

What is ART?● Realism: Has a surface reality;

the artists appear to be

recording exactly what they

see.

● Jan van Eyck. The Annunciation. 1434-36,

Oil on canvas

What is ART?● Idealism: artists aim to

represent things not as they

are, but as they should be.

● Ancient Greece. Classical Art

● The perfect human; athletic

bodies, graceful poses,

elegant drapery...

● Laocoön and his sons, 1st century B.C.

Is this Art?● Marcel Duchamp:

● Fountain

● Snow Shovel

Is this Art?

● Andres Serano:

● Piss Christ

Is this Art?

● Jackson Pollock

● No. 1

Is this Art?

● Piet Mondrian:

Composition with Red,

Blue, and Yellow.

Is this Art?

● Andy Warhol: Soup

Cans

● Marylin Monroe

●Learning about Art

● Archaeology: the unearthing and study of

evidence from past cultures.

● Museums: the primary function of museums is

to display works of art for the enjoyment of

viewers. They also help preserve artifacts of

past cultures and educate the next generation.

● Study of Art: broken into four components:

Aesthetics, Art History, Art Production, Art

Criticism.

●Learning about Art

● How do museums acquire art works?

● A museum may fund archeological digs.

● They accept donations of money and items.

● They purchase items.

● Items may also be loaned to museums.

●Learning about Art

● The study of art can be broken into four

components.

● Aesthetics

● Art History

● Art Production

● Art Criticism

Aesthetics

●The Search for beauty.

Refers to our personal

responses to works of art.

Why do we like some works

of art and not others?

“I like that painting

because…”

ART HISTORYa record of the

visual arts,

incorporating information,

interpretations, and judgments about art objects, artists, and

conceptual influences on developments in

the visual arts.

ART HISTORY● Artworks reflect the times

and culture of the people

who produced them.

● Art History provides a time

line of how art has

developed through history.

● Shows how artists have

been influenced by

previous artistic styles,

technology and social

change.

From the beginning,

humans have been Artists.● Before writing existed, people

sang, danced, prayed and created.

● 35,000 B.C. Humanity experiences

two great revolutions: fire and

carved stone.

● 27,000 B.C. - Venus of

Brassempouy - Mammoth tusk,

France.

● 18,000 B.C. Chamber of the

Bulls, Cave of Lascaux.

Dordogne, France

● 5,000 B.C. Giraffe with

Hunters Tassili-n' Ajjer,

Algeria

ART HISTORY● Art history is a little like

detective work.

● List seven general questions

you might ask when looking

at a work of art.

● Why would you ask each

question.

Art and RealityEspecially today,

why should one

draw or paint,

carve or model,

when an image

can be captured

with a camera?

Thomas LeClear: 1865

Interior with Portraits

Oil

on Canvas

● Who are the children?

● Why was their portrait

painted?

● Who owned the painting?

● Who are the children?

● Why was their portrait

painted?

● Who owned the painting?

● Painting belonged to a family

named Sidway in Buffalo.

● Parnell Sidway (girl) died in

1849

● James Sidway (boy) died in

1865 while working as a

firefighter.

● The Camera has become a

universal tool for picture

making.

● We generally accept that the

camera tells the truth.

● The camera is just a

mechanical tool until an artist

puts it to use.

● Margaret Bourke-White, 1936

● Fort Peck Dam, Montana

Art Production●The creation of Art

Requires tools, media

and technical ability.

Involves learning to look

carefully, learn about

design, solve problems,

make decisions,

interpret what you see of

feel, and critique your

own efforts.

ART CRITICISM

Analysis:describing and evaluating the

media,

processes, and meanings of works of visual arts,

and making comparative judgments.

Kurt Wenner

ART CRITICISM● “I know what I like.”

● Opinions as to what constitutes a

work of art change over time.

● Claude Monet – Boulevard des

Capucines, Paris 1873-74

● “Only, be so good as to tell me

what those innumerable black

tongue lickings in the lower part

of the picture represent ?”

-Le Charivari April

25, 1874

ART CRITICISM● As viewers we participate in the

re-creation of a work of art, its

meaning changes from

individual to individual, from

era to era.

● Once we welcome the arts into

our daily life, we have a ready

source of sustenance and

challenge that grows, changes,

mellows, and enriches our daily

experience.

● Van Gogh - Sunflowers 1888

Oil on canvas

Visual Communication

● Art is visual

communication, with

a language all its

own.

● To understand art

fully, one must learn

about the entire

process – subjects,

media, craftsmanship

and design.

●Visual Communication

● Subject Matter: what

the artist chooses to draw or

paint.

● Craftsmanship: is the

skillful process of creating

well designed objects

● Medium: The material

used by an artist.

● Media is the plural of

Medium.

Visual Communication

● Subject matter:

what you choose

to draw.

● Narrative subject:

the artist is telling

a story.

● Peasant Wedding, Peter

Brueghel, 1556

Visual Communication

● Religious subjects:

any religious figure

from any religion can

be the subject of art

work.

● Maize god, Maya, Honduras about 775

Visual Communication

● Literary subjects: the

artist illustrates a

scene from a book,

story, myth, etc.

● The Return of Rip Van Winkle, John

Quidor, 1849, American.

Visual Communication

● Landscapes: are

paintings of the

natural environment.

● Twelve Views from a Thatched Hut,

Hsai Kuei, about 1180-1230 Chinese.

Visual Communication

● The Figure:

considered as a

supreme subject.

● Ancient Greek philosophy

considered the human figure

as the “measure of all

things”.

● The nude was considered

aesthetic and was to be

admired.

● Discobolos – Discus Thrower, Roman

copy of Greek statue, 450 BC.

Visual Communication

● During the middle ages, the

human body was seen as

corrupt and imperfect. It was

inappropriate to portray the

human figure or to study it.

● Renaissance artists

rediscovered Greek traditions

amongst furor over the morality

of portraying the nude.

● Western art started to study the

human figure using dissection

to learn about the structure of

muscles and bones.

Visual Communication

● Portraiture:

representations of

people.

● Self Portraits: The

artist creates an

image of their self.

● Edward VI as a Child, Has Holbein,

1538, German.

Visual Communication

● Historical Subjects: record events in history.

● The Amistad Slaves on Trial at New Haven, Hale Woodruff, 1840, American

Visual Communication

● Genre Subjects:

normal everyday

activities of

ordinary people.

● Man Riding a Donkey, Ham

Yudok, 16th century, Korean.

Visual Communication

● Still Life: a painting of

inanimate objects—

things that can not

move.

● Still life with Plums, Jean-Baptiste-

Simeon Chardin, 1758

Visual Communication

● Social Comment:artists make visual

statements about their

society or the world.

● The may criticize national

leaders, churches

neighbors, wars or political

oppression.

● The Presidential Family, Fernando

Botero, 1967. Columbian.

Visual Communication

● Animals: Nearly all

cultures have

portrayed birds and

mammals.

● Alpaca, Inca, Silver

Visual Communication

● Expression: artists

focused on emotion and

feeling rather than physical

reality.

● View of Toledo, El Greco, 1600-1610.

Spanish.

Visual Communication

● Abstraction:

the

simplification of

subject matter

in basic and

geometric

shapes.

● The Studio, Picasso 1927-

28. Spanish

Visual Communication

● Nonobjective

Painting: further

simplification of

abstract art, focusing

on color, shape and

line.

● Full Fathom Five, Jackson Pollock,

1947. American

●Media: Tools and Materials

Media: Drawing

● Pencil

● Thomas Church,

● Jean-Auguste-

● Dominique Ingres

● 1816 French

● Charcoal

● Seated Woman

● Georges Seurat

● 1885 French

Media: Drawing

● Ink

● Haboku Landscape

● Sesshu, 15th

● Century, Japanese.

● Pastel

● Sleeping Baby

● Mary Cassatt

● 1910, American

Media: Painting

● Fresco: One of the

oldest painting media.

● Surface is covered in wet

plaster then pigment is

brushed on.

Media: Painting

● Tempera: similar to

modern poster paint,

dries quickly.

● Made using egg yolk

and used as early as

ancient Egypt.

● Portrait of Young Woman, Botticelli

Media: Painting

● Oil: Pigment mixed with

linseed or poppy oil.

● Medium that dominated

the history of Europe.

Designed to work on larger

surfaces, have slower

drying time then Tempera.

● Garden of Love, Peter Paul Rubens,

1633 Flemish.

Media: Painting

● Watercolor: Pigment

bound in gum arabic.

● Used since ancient Egypt,

for sketching. Was not

considered a painting

medium until Winslow

Homer began exhibiting

paintings as finished

works.

● After the Hunt, Winslow Homer, 1892

American.

Media: Painting

● Acrylic: One of the more

popular media. Use

polymers to bind pigments.

● Can be used on almost

any surface. Can emulate

qualities of oils and

watercolors.

● Thinned with water, dries

quickly.

● Iris, Tulips, Jonquils and Crocuses,

Alma Thomas, 1969. American.

Media: Printmaking

● Printmaking is a process that allows images to

be transferred to different surfaces.

● It allows for multiple copies of the image to be

produced.

Media: Printmaking

● Woodcut: the artists

draws on a block of wood

and then cuts away the parts

that will remain white. Ink is

rolled on the raised portion

and then pressed to make a

print.

● Rain Shower on Ohashi Bridge,

Japanese, 1857.

Media: Printmaking

● Linocut: similar to

woodcuts, the image is cut

into linoleum. Ink is rolled

onto the remaining surface

using a brayer.

● Woodcuts and linocuts are very

similar. They use the same

techniques and tools to create the

images, but use a different base

material for the block.

● The Survivor, Elizabeth Catlett,

American 1983.

Media: Printmaking

● Intaglio: Prints are made

form the grooves or crevices

cut into a metal plate.

● The grooves can be made by

scratched into the plate (drypoint) or

using acid (etching).

● Ink is forced into the grooves and then

the top surfaced is wiped clean. The

paper is damped and applied to the

plate with pressure to produce a print.

● Christ Crucified Between the Two

Thieves, Rembrant van Rijn, Dutch

1653.

Media: Printmaking

● Lithograph: an artists

draws on a stone slab with a

greasy crayon, then water is

applied to the slab (water will

only stay where there is no

grease). Then a greasy ink is

applied, the ink only adheres

(sticks) to the greasy, not the

water. Paper is applied to the

slab and run through a press.

● L'Estampe, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec,

French 1893.

Media: Printmaking

● Serigraph: the newest

printmaking method, also

known as silk screen.

● Developed in the United States,

silk (or similar material) is

attached to a frame, a stencil is

applied to the frame, then ink is

forced through the stencil with a

rubber squeegee and onto the

object or material. Each color is

applied separately using a

different stencil.

● Campbell's Soup Can, Andy Warhol,

American 1964.

Other Media:

●Sculpture:

-Bronze

-Steel

-Wood

-Marble

-Plastic

●Crafts:

- Fibers

- Glass

- Clay

- Furniture

- Mosaics

- Metalwork

The Structure of Art

●Visual language, like verbal

language, needs structure

to make it understandable.

* The Principles of Design

are the basic structure, or

grammar, of visual

language.

* These principles guide

artists in their use of the

elements of design.

The Structure of Art

●When studying and

analyzing a work of art, ask

yourself questions.

*Content:

Why has the artist made the

work?

What is he/she trying to tell

me about the work.

What is the theme? Main

idea?

*Sensory Properties:

Things we experience with

our senses.

What kinds of lines are

used?

How does the artist use the

space?

Is there texture?

Are the colors bright or

dull?

Which color dominates?

The Structure of Art

*Technical properties:

the use of tools, media and

techniques.

What materials were used to

create the piece?

What kind of brush strokes or

pencil lines are used?

Is the art a sketch or a finished

work?

Is there contrast in the values?

How is light indicated?

*Formal Properties:

- tell us how the art elements

are organized (Principles of

art).

What is the center of

interest?

What catches my eye first?

How did the artist establish

the center of interest?

Is the composition vertical or

horizontal.

Are the subject(s)

proportionate?

The Structure of Art

* Expressive properties:

tells us what the work says,

literally, metaphorically and

symbolically.

What mood does the work

convey?

Is the work serious of

comical?

Does the work have social or

religious significance?

Is it a literal statement or a

symbolic subject?

How do I feel about the subject and

it’s treatment?

Composition: The ordered

arrangement of the elements in a

work of art.

(The placement of objects or

subjects in a work of art).

Elements of Design

● The elements of design are the basic parts of any

work of art. The building blocks of art/design.

● Elements of design include line, shape, form, value,

color, space, and texture.

Elements of Art

●Line: A point that

moves through space.

- Lines might have

-Width

-Length

-Direction

-Focus

-Feeling

Elements of Art

●Shape: A line that

intersects itself and

encloses space.

- Shapes are 2-

dimensional

- Geometrical

shapes

- Organic/natural

shapes

Elements of Art

●Form:

three-dimensional

object that encloses

space. Have volume.

- Like shapes there are

two types:

- Geometrical

- Organic/Natural

Elements of Art

Texture: The surface

quality of an object.

How a work feels to

touch, or appears to

feel.

Texture may be real or

implied.

●Elements of Art

●Space: the area within

or around an object.

Positive space: the

actual object

Negative space: the

area around an object

Perspective: used to

create depth on a

picture plane.

●Elements of Art

●Value: A range of lightness

and darkness within a

picture.

The most common value

techniques are:

- Blending (Shading)

- Hatching (Cross

hatching and Contour

hatching)

- Stippling

- Scumbling

Elements of Art

●Color: Reflected or

visible light.

- Hue – True color

- Tint – Adding white

- Shade – Adding

black

Perspective

● Perspective: Method of creating the illusion of

depth on a two-dimensional surface.

● The two basic categories of perspective are:

● Linear Perspective

● Atmospheric Perspective (or Non-Linear

Perspective)

Perspective

Linear Perspective:

focuses on the use of line to create the illusion of depth

Includes 1-point, 2-point, 3-point, and multipoint perspectives

Perspective

● Atmospheric Perspective

(non-linear perspective)

uses other methods to create

the illusion of depth.

These methods might also

be used in linear

perspective drawings.

Atmospheric methods

include:

-- Overlap

-- Proportion (size)

-- Color

-- Value

-- Placement

-- Detail

Picture Plane

● Picture Plane: the surface area in which the artist

creates the art work.

Principles of Design

● The Principles of design are concepts used to

organize or arrange the structural elements of

design.

● Principles of design include balance, emphasis,

harmony, unity, pattern, rhythm, movement, and

proportion

Principles of Art

Edgar Degas: The Star

Asymmetrical Balance

●Balance: The visual

equalization of elements in

a work of art.

Symmetrical Balance –

elements are distributed

equally on each side of the

central axis.

Asymmetrical Balance –

balance is achieved using

contrasting elements. (Size,

value and color)

●Principles of ArtJoseph Mallord William

Turner: The Burning of the

Houses of Parliment●Unity: a sense of

oneness, or

wholeness in a

work of art.

All the parts are

working together

in harmony.

Principles of Art●Harmony: means all parts

of the visual image relate

to and complement each

other.

Similar to unity.

Cezanne stated, “When

paintings are done right,

harmony appears by itself.

The more numerous and

varied they are, the more

the effect is obtained and

agreeable to the eye”.

Johannes Vermeer: The

Milkmaid

Principles of Art

Marcel Duchamp: Nude

descending Staircase

●Rhythm: established

when elements of the

composition are

repeated.

Elements may be

repeat at regular or

irregular intervals.

Principles of Art

●Emphasis: used to place

greater attention on a particle

subject or area of the artwork.

Ways to create emphasis:

- Contrast: difference between

elements.

- Position: location of subject

matter

- Isolation: locating the subject

away from other elements.

- Leading elements: creating

visual pointers (Linear

perspective)

Jan Vermeer: Officer and

Laughing Girl

Principles of Art

Caravaggio: Martyrdom of St.

Matthew Movement: the path

the viewer's eye takes

through the work of art.

- Can direct the

viewers eye to a center

of interest.

- Can lead the viewer’s

eye through the piece.

Principles of Art

●Pattern: the

repetition of

motifs, colors,

shapes or lines in

a recognizable

order.

M.C. Escher: Reptiles

Principles of Art

Gustave Caillebotte: Paris

Street, Rainy Day

●Proportion: refers

to the relative size

and scale of the

various elements in a

design. The issue is

the relationship

between objects, or

parts, of a whole.

Principles of Art

●Variety: to change the

character" of an

element, to make it

different.

If all parts of an artwork

were alike, it would be

monotonous and boring.

Giovanni Battista Tiepolo:

Adoration of the Magi