HUM 101: ART APPRECIATION

LESSON 1: INTRODUCTION

Objectives:
• Understand the role of humanities and arts in man’s attempt of fully realizing
his end;
• Discuss the history and definition of art;
• Differentiate art history from art appreciation.

What is Art?
• Ancient Latin – ars – “craft or specialized form of skill, like carpentry or
smithying or surgery” (Collingwood, 1938).
• The capacity to produce an intended result from carefully
planned steps or method.
• Art only meant using the bare hands to produce something that
will be useful to one’s day-to-day life.
• Medieval Latin – ars – “any special form of book-learning, such as grammar
or logic, magic or astrology” (Collingwood, 1938).
• Renaissance Period – the word reacquired a meaning that was inherent in its
ancient form of craft.

What is Art?
• Early Renaissance artists saw their activities merely as craftsmanship, devoid
of a whole lot of intonations that are attached to word now.
• It was during the seventeenth century when the idea of aesthetics, the study
of beauty, began to unfold distinctly from the notion of technical
workmanship, which was the original conception of the word “art”.
• It was finally in the eighteenth century when the word has evolved to
distinguish between the fine arts and useful arts.

ART HISTORY & ART APPRECIATION

Art history
• It is the study of objects of art considered within their time period.
• To establish authorial origins of artworks, i.e. discovering who created
a particular artwork, when, and for what reason.

Iconography - is a major part of art history. It consists in analyzing

the symbolism of works of arts.
• Art historians are interested in what the works of art
represented at the time they were created.
• It is a way to learn about the civilizations of the past.

Why Art History is Important?

1. Understanding Cultures
 • Art history allows us to look back and understand how our
civilization evolved over the centuries.
• It is a way to know ourselves better.
• Develop Critical Thinking
• Studying art history is really not about memorizing dates,
artists’ names, art movements, etc. Instead, it drives you to
analyze paintings, photographs, sculptures, etc.
• To support your analysis, you must build rational and
convincing arguments, hence developing your critical thinking.

ART HISTORY & ART APPRECIATION

Art Appreciation
• Is the knowledge and understanding of the universal and
timeless qualities that identify all great art.
• Involves having an understanding of all of the qualities that
comprise a great work of art.
• Also involves learning about certain time periods, movements,
styles, and techniques so that a person has a better
understanding of the basis for the art as well as of the art itself.

PROCESS OF ART APPRECIATION

1. Description
2. Analysis
3. Interpretation
4. Judgement

STEP 1 - DESCRIPTION
• “describe only the facts”
• Name of the artist, his or her nationality, and date of birth and
death
• The name of the art or/and the year or years it is made.
• Describe in great detail what you see (line, shape, form, space, texture, color,
and value).

STEP 2 - ANALYSIS
• In this step consider the most significant art principles that were used in the
artwork.
• BALANCE
• CONTRAST
• EMPHASIS
• HARMONY
• VARIETY
• UNITY
• GRADATION
• MOVEMENT
• RHYTHYM
 • PROPORTION
• DEPTH
• COMPOSITION
• Describe how the artist used them to organize elements.

STEP 3 - INTERPRETATION
• Based on what you have learned so far about the artwork, what do you think
the artist was trying to say?
• Why did the artist create this artwork?
• What do you think it means?
• What feelings do you have when looking at this artwork?
• Do you think there are things in the artwork that represent other
symbolisms?

STEP 4 - JUDGEMENT
• Do you like this artwork?
• Do you think it is a good artwork?
• Do you think it is an important artwork?
• Would you display this artwork in your home?
• Is this artwork good enough to put in a museum?
• JUSTIFY YOUR OPINION
• Explain why you feel the way you do about this artwork based on what you
have learned about it. What criteria do you base your judgement on?

HUM 101: ART APPRECIATION

LESSON 2: NATURE OF ART’S PRELIMINARY EXPRESSION
OBJECTIVES:
• Discuss the nature of art’s preliminary expressions;
• Clarify about the misconceptions of art;

ASSUMPTIONS OF ART
1. Art is universal
ASSUMPTION: People feel that what is considered artistic are only those which
have been made long time ago.
CLARIFICATIONS:
• Age is not a factor in determining art.
• Art has always been timeless and universal, spanning
generations and continents through and through.
• “…art is not good because it is old, but old because it is good.”
• Art will always be present because human beings will always
express themselves and delight in this expressions.
• Men will continue to use art while art persists and never gets
depleted.
ASSUMPTIONS OF ART
2. Art is not nature
• ASSUMPTION: Art is nature.
 • CLARIFICATIONS:
• Art is not nature. Art is man’s expression of his reception of
nature. Art is man’s way of interpreting nature.
• Art is made by man, whereas nature is given around us.
3. Art involves experience:
ASSUMPTION: Art is just a product of knowledge; it does not involve
experience.
CLARIFICATIONS:
• Dudley et al. (1960) affirmed that “all art depends on
experience, and if one is to know art, he must know it not as
fact or information but as experience.
• By experience, we mean the “actual doing of something”
(Dudley et al., 1960).
• Knowing a thing is different from hearing from others what the
said thing is.
NATURE OF ART’S PRELIMINARY EXPRESSIONS
• It takes an artist to make art. One may perceive beauty on a daily basis.
• However, not every beautiful thing that can be seen or experienced may truly
be called a work of art.
• Art is a product of man’s creativity, imagination, and expression.
• Not everyone can be considered an artist, but all are spectators of art.
• We are able to distinguish what is fine and beautiful from what is not and
what is good quality and from poor.
• This gives us a role in the field of art appreciation.
• Was there a point in time when you did not understand what message the art
was trying to convey? Explain why you think you did or did not understand
the art.

ART APPRECIATION AS A WAY OF LIFE

• “The role of art as a creative work is to depict the world in a completely
different light and perspective” – Jean-Paul Sartre
• Each artwork beholds beauty in its own kind, the kind that the artist sees and
wants the viewers to perceive.
• More often than not, people are blind to this beauty and only those who have
developed a fine sense of appreciation can experience and see the art the way
the artist did.
• Hence, refining one’s ability to appreciate arts allows him to deeply
understand the purpose of an artwork and recognize the beauty it possesses.
• In cultivating an appreciation of art, one should also exercise and develop his
taste for things that are fine and beautiful.
• This allows individuals to make intelligent choices and decisions in acquiring
necessities and luxuries, knowing what gives better value for time or money
while taking into consideration the aesthetic and practical value.
• Learning to appreciate art no matter what vocation or profession you have,
will lead to a fuller and more meaningful life.
 THE ROLE OF CREATIVITY IN ART MAKING
• Creativity requires thinking outside the box.
• In art, creativity is what sets apart one artwork from another.

When can we say that something is creative?

• When we have not seen anything like it.
• When it is out of the ordinary.
• When it is not just a copy or imitation of someone’s work.
• THERE IS ORIGINALITY!
• Nowadays, being creative can be quite challenging.

ART AS A PRODUCT OF IMAGINATION, IMAGINATION AS A PRODUCT OF

ART
• “Imagination is more important than knowledge. For knowledge is limited to
all we now know and understand, while imagination embraces the entire
world, and all there ever will be to know and understand.” – Albert Einstein
• Imagination is not constrained by the walls of the norm, but goes beyond
that.
• Through imagination, one is able to craft something bold, something new,
and something better in the hopes of creating something that will stimulate
change.
• In artist’s mind sits a vast gallery of artworks.
• An artwork does not need to be a real thing, but can be something that is
imaginary.
• However, something imaginary does not necessarily mean it cannot be called
art.
• Artists use their imagination that gives birth to reality through creation.
• In the same way that imagination produces art, art also inspires imagination.

ART AS EXPRESSION
• “What an artist does to an emotion is not to induce it, but express it. Through
expression, he is able to explore his own emotions and at the same time,
create something beautiful out of them.” – Robin George Collingwood
• Expressing emotions is different from describing emotions.
• This makes people’s art not a reflection of what is outside or external to
them, but a reflection of their inner selves.

VISUAL ARTS
• Creations that fall under this category are those that appeals to the sense of
sight and are mainly visual in nature.
• Artists produce visual arts driven by their desire to reproduce things that
they have seen in the way that they perceived them.
• There are also other artistic disciplines that also involve a visual aspect, such
as performance arts, theater, and applied arts.
• Some mediums of visual arts include paintings, drawings, letterings, printing,
sculpture, digital imaging.
 FILM
• Film refers to the art of putting together successions of still images in order
to create an illusion of movement.
• Filmmaking focuses on its aesthetic, cultural, and social value and is
considered both an art and an industry.
• Techniques in film-making process:
• Motion-picture camera (also known as movie camera)
• Animation techniques - Computer-generated imagery (CGI)
• Filmmaking simulates experiences or creates one that is beyond the scope of
our imagination as it aims to deliver ideas, feelings, or beauty to its viewers.

PERFORMANCE ART
• Performance art is a live art and the artist’s medium is mainly the human
body which he or she uses to perform, but also employs other kind of art
such as visual art, props, or sound.
• Elements of performance arts: Time, where the performance took place, the
performer’s body Relationship between the audience and the performer(s).
• The fact that performance art is live makes it intangible, which means it
cannot be bought or traded as a commodity.

ARCHITECTURE
• Art is the pursuit and creation of beautiful things while architecture is the
making of beautiful buildings.
• However, not all building are beautiful because some only embody the
functionality they need, but the structure, lines, forms, and colors are not
beautifully expressed.
• Important elements:
• Plan
• Construction
• Design
• Buildings should embody these three important elements if they wish to
merit the title architecture.

DANCE
• Dance is series of movements that follows the rhythm of the music
accompaniment.
• Dancing is a creative art form that allows people to freely express
themselves.

IT HAS NO RULES.
• Choreography may seem not to allow this, but in art expression, dancers are
not confined to set steps and rules but are free to create and invent their own
movements as longs as they deem them graceful and beautiful.

LITERARY ART
• Artists who practice literary arts use words to express themselves and
communicate emotions to the readers.
• Simply becoming a writer does not make one a literary artist.
• Literary art goes beyond the usual professional, academic, journalistic and
other technical forms of writing.
• It focuses on writing using a unique style, not following a specific format or
norm.
• It may include both fiction and non-fiction such as novels, biographies, and
poems.

THEATER
• Theater uses live performers to present accounts or imaginary events before
a live audience.
• Theater art performance usually follows follow a script, though they should
not be confused with literary arts.
• Like in filmmaking, theater also considers several elements such as acting,
gesture, lighting, sound effects, musical score, scenery and props.
• Like performance art, theater also is a live performance.
• Genres: drama, musical, tragedy, comedy and improvisation

APPLIED ARTS
• Applied arts are incorporating elements of style and design to everyday
items with the aim of increasing their aesthetic value.
• Artists in this field bring beauty, charm, and comfort into many things that
were useful in everyday life.
• Industrial design, interior design, fashion design, graphic design