ART APPRECIATION

Chapter 1: Foundation of Art and Brief

Introduction to Humanities
Humanities
• The term Humanities comes from the Latin word,
Humanus- human, cultured, and refined
• It generally refers to art, literature, music,
architecture, dance and the theatre-in which human
subjectivity is emphasized and individual
expressiveness is dramatized.
Humanities
• The fields of knowledge and study falling under
humanities are dedicated to the pursuit of
discovering and understanding the nature of man.
• The humanities deal with man as a being of
purpose, of values, loves, hates, ideas and
sometimes as a seer, or prophet with divine
inspiration.
• The humanities aim at educating.
Art

Comes from the Aryan root word

AR- to join or put together
Greek: Artizein- to prepare
Arkiskeins- to put together

Latin: ARS- everything that is artificially made or composed

by man
Art

The great Russian novelist

Leo N. Tolstoy (1828-1910),
author of War and Peace and
Anna Karenina, developed
his own original philosophy
of art. He argues that art is
important even amidst
extensive poverty and
deprivation.
Salient Points in Tolstoy's Definition of Art
• In order to correctly define art, it is necessary, first of
all, to cease to consider it as a means to pleasure and
to consider it as one of the conditions of human life.
• Every work of art causes the receiver to enter into a
certain kind of relationship both with him who
produced, or is producing the art, and with all those
who, simultaneously, previously, or subsequently,
receive the same artistic impression.
Salient Points in Tolstoy's Definition of Art
• Speech, transmitting the thoughts and
experiences of men, serves as a means of union
among them, and art acts in a similar manner.
• The activity of art is based on the fact that a
man, receiving through his sense of hearing or
sight another man's expression of feeling, is
capable of experiencing the emotion which
moved the man who expressed it.
Salient Points in Tolstoy's Definition of Art
• Art begins when one person, with the object of joining
another or others to himself in one and the same a
feeling, expresses that feeling by certain external
indications.
• To evoke in oneself a feeling one has once experienced,
and having evoked it in oneself, then, by means of
movements, lines, colors, sounds, or forms expressed
in words, so to transmit that feeling that others may
experience the same feeling - this is the activity of art.
Salient Points in Tolstoy's Definition of Art
• Art is a human activity consisting in this, that one man
consciously, by means of certain external signs, hands on to
others feelings he has lived through, and that other people
are infected by these feelings and also experience them.
• All human life is filled with works of art of every kind - from
cradlesong, jest, mimicry, the ornamentation of houses,
dress, and utensils, up to church services, buildings,
monuments, and triumphal processions. It is all artistic
activity.
Why Do We Make ART?
• Art is a vital and persistent aspect of human experience.
• To impose order on disorder and to create form from
formlessness.
• The wish to leave behind after death something of value
by which to be remembered.
• The wish to preserve one's likeness after death.
Value of Art
• Works of art are valued not only by artists and patrons,
but also by entire cultures. In fact, the periods of history
that we tend to identify as the high points of human
achievement are those in which art was most highly
valued and encouraged.
Material Value
• Works of art may be valued because they are
made of a precious material.
• During the Middle Ages in Europe, ancient
Greek bronze statues were not valued for their
aesthetic character, nor for what they might
have revealed about Greek culture. Instead
their value lay in the fact that they could be
melted down and reformed into weapons.
Intrinsic Value
• A work of art may contain valuable material, but
that is not the primary basis on which its quality
is judged.
• Intrinsic value is not always apparent, and in fact
varies in different times and places.
• "Is it art?" is a familiar question, whichexpresses
the dificulty of defining "art" and ofrecognizing
the aesthetic value of an object.
Religious Value
• One important way of communicating Bible
stories and legends of the saints to a largely
illiterate population was through the sculptures,
paintings, mosaics, wall hangings, and stained-
glass windows in churches.
• Beyond its didactic function, the religious
significance of a work of art may be so great that
entire groups of people identify with the object.
Nationalistic Value
• Works of art have nationalistic value in as
much as they express the pride and
accomplishment of a particular culture.
Psychological Value
• Our reactions to art span virtually the entire
range of human emotion. They include
pleasure, fright, amusement, avoidance, and
outrage.
• One of the psychological aspects of art is its
ability to attract and repel us, and this is not
necessarily a function of whether or not we
find a particular image aesthetically pleasing.
 Assumptions of Art
Art is Universal
- art is everywhere
- art is not only about physical appearance, but also plays important
roles even in our everyday interaction to life.
- art is ageless, timeless, immortalized and never becomes obsolete. Its
spirit has impossibility of disappearance.
No matter how old the works of art, from the past humanity, it remains
valuable to our essence as humans. We should treasure it and appreciate it.
• Expressing rich culture and magical belief system of our primitive ancestors
• It is an activity in dealing and idealizing the nature during the Greek and Roman civilization
• In Medieval time, the iconography served as a purposive element in religious practices.
Art is not Nature
- art exists from nature, but nature itself is not
an art
- it is the mind that interprets what the eyes
can see and perceive
Functions of Arts
Social Function: Influencing Social Behavior
• Traditional arts play significant functions
in rituals of communities (e.g. Shiva Lingam
(India) and Abelam Yam Mask (Papua New
Guinea).
Art involve Experiences
- Art involves a direct experience to its process
and creation. It is necessary not just to
experience the external facts to appreciate art,
but also serves as an absolute link to the creation
of experience through internal facts of figure
- art is an expression of individual's thoughts and
cultural ideas from his actual experience to a
particular culture
Art as Expression
- Art is an expression of our thoughts,
emotions, intuitions, and desires
- It is the communication of intimate concepts
that cannot be faithfully portrayed by words
alone
 Functions of Arts
1. Personal / Individual Function
- Artists use art as an expression of their thoughts and ideas and a way
of communicating with the viewer
-Art  educates  our  senses  and sharpen  our  perception  of  color, forms, 
textures,  designs,  sounds, rhythms,  and  harmonies  in  our environment. 
- Art  offers  us  fresh  insights  into nature and human nature so that we
gain  better  understanding  of ourselves and the world around us. 
2. Social Function
- Art is an avenue to extend a person’s sense of belongingness and
connection with other people
- Art gathers man as one family and community, through celebration like
festivities, choral singing or group dancing in religious rituals
Functions of Arts
Art performs social function when:
1. It seeks to influence the collective behavior of
people.
2. It is created to be seen or used primarily in
public situations.
3. It expresses or describes social or collective
aspects of existence as opposed to individual
and personal kinds of experiences.
Functions of Arts
Social Function: Influencing Social Behavior
• Paintings, photographs, posters, and cartoons
have been used to express humanitarian concern
as well as ideological and political
comment(e.g. Spoliarium (1884).

• Propaganda  Literature-  usually very moving

and persuasive- has the capacity to sway
people’s minds and feelings  towards  certain 
ends(e.g. Noli  Me  Tangere  and  El
Filibusterismo). 
Functions of Arts
• In spreading doctrine or teaching
ideas, the arts have been used in
place or as complement of the
written word(e.g. Detail of a
tympanum in the west façade of
Notre Dame, Paris, France and
Stained Glass at St. Matthew’s
Church, Paisley (1905-1907).
Functions of Arts
Social Function: Influencing Social Behavior
• Commercial and advertising art aims to affect
the buying behavior of people

• Art is used to commemorate important

personages in society (e.g. Rizal Monument at
Luneta Park, Manila)
Functions of Arts
Social Function: Influencing Social Behavior
• Art are linked to rituals. Public
celebrations such as festivals employ arts
(e.g. Ati-Atihan Festival in Kalibo, Aklan
and Pahiyas Festival in Lucban, Quezon)

• Artworks are vital historical documents.

They describe aspects of existence at certain
periods at certain periods at certain places
of certain communities (e.g. Greek Pottery by
Meidas (420-400 BC)
Functions of Arts
Physical Function
- The physical functions of art are the
easiest to spot and understand. The
physical functions of art can be found
in artworks that are crafted in order to
serve some physical purpose. A
Japanese raku bowl that serves a
physical function in a tea ceremony is
an example. Architecture, jewelry
making, and even interior design are all
forms of arts that have physical
function.
Classification of Arts Functions
1. Functional arts (Motivated) - These are the arts which have
practical usage. Example of this classification is a chair. It is
not only the form of the chair that is presented. Its
functional purpose is also highly appreciated.
Ex.: Architecture, weaving,furniture-making
2. Non-Functional arts (Non-motivated) - These are the arts
which have no other purpose except that of giving pleasure
or life enhancement. Example of this kind of classification
is a painting.
Ex.: Painting, sculpture, literature, music, and the theater arts
PHILOSOPHICAL IMPORTANCE OF ART
Art as mimesis

Plato’s mimesis as the re-presentation of nature

- All things that exist in this world are copies of the
original and true entities in the world of forms
- Ideas are the ultimate reality
- Artists are imitators and arts are pure imitation
- All art forms are imitative and replica of an idea
Art as representation
Aristotle considered art as an agent in philosophy in
revealing truth
- The kind of imitation that art does is to aid people to
the fundamental truths
- Poetry is a literary representation
- Every art form (music, dance, painting and sculpture)
represents possible versions of reality.
Art for art’s sake
According to Kant there is an autonomous aesthetic standard in
art.
- Any judgment in any art forms should not focus on the external
purposes that satisfies man
- Value is intrinsically defined by the aesthetic impression
- The role of art could be nothing less than to create beauty or to
expose beauty. Art should stand independently and should be
free from all scrutiny of other advantages, rather art stands for
beauty alone.
Art as an escape
Art is an escape, although it's not a permanent one;
rather, it's a much-needed escape. Without art, life
would be a dreary misery of yearly goals that come true
occasionally. Most of life is spent not getting what we
want, and art helps remind us that we can have what
we want, just not all the time