The Philosophy of

ArtExploring the Emotional

Expression TheoryBy Lyndzie Taylor, Danielle Lavoie, Damale Kifuko and

Sarineh Hossepian

Why do we need a criteria for judging

art?•Otherwise everything would be

considered the same•To obtain a better

understanding of art and its purpose

•To distinguish good art from bad art

Art is the objectification of feeling.

-S. Langer

Art as an Expression of Emotion

The purpose of art is for the artist to express an emotion, and in turn, evoke emotion in its

audience.

Through artistic expression, we can tap

into a deeper understanding of life,

reality, etc.

How does the emotion theory work?

Art expresses emotions and illuminates life. A good artist succeeds at

expressing emotion through their work, as well as communicating

emotion for the audience to experience.

A bad work of art fails to execute these things

successfully.

Why is this theory sufficient for

evaluating art? •Art is creative, and

requires the artist to have “intuitive knowledge” which comes from the imagination. •Philosopher Benedetto Croce

said, “the spirit only intuits in making, forming, expressing. He who separates intuition from expression

never succeeds in reuniting them.”

What about other theories? •Imitation

•Form•Art Authority

Good art does not always imitate life or follow form, nor does the artworld always agree on which works are good

or bad. More often, the artist has a

feeling behind his or her work of art that they are

expressing and attempting to convey to their audience.

Failed Attempt:

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“Convergence” by Jackson Pollock

Evidence

Though Pollock may have had an emotion while we was painting this piece, it is unclear to the audience. The image itself doesn’t give any emotional clues. It fails to show the viewer a deeper, more meaningful reality.

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Successful Attempt:

“Saturn Devouring One of His Children”

By Francisco De Goya

EvidenceFrom the way "Saturn" is positioned in the painting, hands clenched and eyes wide open, insanity is distinctively what Goya is trying to portray.This painting clearly draws out fear from its audience and represents emotion.

It falls under no other category of the judgment system besides "Emotional Art".

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In ConclusionOur successful piece clearly describes an

emotional scene, whereas our failure is vague and

unfocused. Considering the artwork we chose, judging art based on the Expression Theory is most efficient. Everyone views art differently, so what is most important is what the artist feels and conveys to the audience.