ART APPRECIATION

The Humanities and Art

FB Group: Hum031 SY 2019 Sem 1
OBJECTIVES OF THIS COURSE:

1. Identify the purposes and functions of art in human

society and arrive at a coherent definition of what is
meant by “art” as a cultural endeavor.

2. Identify by artist, title, or style, major selected art

works from various historical and global contexts in
a variety of media.

3. Define the basic art terms, processes, and forms

of art to develop a knowledge of and an ability to
recognize design principles and elements in
selected works of art.
4. Understand and identify the symbols used in
iconographic art works.

5. Recognize major periods of world art history.

6. Develop a formal analysis of a work of art

through an understanding and demonstration of art
criticism thereby being able to think critically with
regards to the images and visual forms engaged in.
WHY STUDY ART? what value does
it have for me?
WHY DO WE NEED TO LEARN HOW
TO “APPRECIATE ART”? How will it
help me in life?
HOW IS IT RELEVANT TO MY
COURSE? Unsaon man na nako ang
art-art ig ka (insert intended
profession here) nako?
1. Connect to the past = understand the
world, understand own society,
understand self

2. Gain insight into the human condition =

access to different perspectives, broaden
thinking by travelling through time and
space

3. Learn to construct meaning and

articulate thought = develop an open
mind, understand that there is more than
one way to solve a problem
 Connect to the past = understand the world, understand own society,
understand self

Eugène Delac roix,

Liberty Leading the
People,
1830. Oil on
canvas,
8′ 6″ × 10′ 8″.
Musée du
Louvre, Paris.
“1898 Philippine Revolution” by Botong Francisco
A scene from the peoples' power' uprising that ousted the US-backed Marcos dictatorship 30
years ago. The EDSA Uprising of February 25, 1986.
Gain insight into the human condition = access to different
perspectives, broaden thinking by travelling through time and space
Learn to construct meaning and
articulate thought = develop an open
mind, understand that there is more
than one way to solve a problem
 So why study art?
Because ultimately, it
feeds your SOUL
and contributes to your
becoming “human.”
 HUMANITIES

“HUMANUS”
human, refined, cultured
Short history

Medieval humanities – 12th and 13th century

Centered on theology and philosophy
Interest was in the concept of eternal

Renaissance humanities – 14th – 18th century

Focused on the intrinsic value of man’s life on earth
Disciplines that would make man’s life richer and more meaningful
(languages and literature, fine arts, music, philosophy)

19th Century
Science ruled humanities took a back stage

Today, humanities include/emphasize modern literature, critical and

historical study of fine arts and music with an emphasis on serving
man as an individual rather than as a social being
 * Philosophy, ethics, jurisprudence, language,
linguistics and literary studies, art and art history

* Study of human culture and the human condition

* thoughts, beliefs, values and feelings

Last judgment of Hunefer, from his tomb at Thebes, Egypt, 19th Dynasty, ca. 1300–1290 bce. Painted papyrus
scroll, 1′ 6″ high. British Museum, London.

The Book of the Dead contained spells and prayers. This scroll depicts the weighing of
Hunefer’s heart against Maat’s feather before the deceased
can be presented to Osiris, god of the Underworld.
What is ART?
“ARS” - ability / skill
 Barbara Kruger, Untitled
(Your Gaze Hits the Side
of My Face),
1981. Photograph, red
thoughts painted frame, 4′ 7″ × 3′
5″. Courtesy Mary
Boone Gallery, New
York. Kruger has
explored the “male
gaze” in her art. Using
the layout techniques
of mass media, she
constructed this word-
and-photograph collage
to challenge culturally
constructed notions of
gender.
 beliefs

Virgin of Compassion icon (Vladimir Virgin), late Chris Ofili The Holy Virgin Mary, 1996. Acrylic,
11th or early 12th century, with later repainting. oil, polyester resin, paper collage, glitter, map
Tempera on wood, 2′ 61–2″ × 1′ 9″. Tretyakov pins, elephant dung on linen, 8′ × 6′. Victoria
Gallery, Moscow. Miro Gallery, London.
values
 “I stopped and leaned
against the balustrade,
almost dead with
fatigue. Above the
blue-black fjord hung
the clouds, red as
blood and tongues of
feelings fire. My friends had left
me, and alone,
trembling with anguish,
I became aware of the
vast, infinite cry of
nature.”
Edvard Munch, The Scream, 1893. Tempera
and pastels on cardboard, 2′ 113–4″ × 2′ 5″.
National Gallery, Oslo.
What is ART?

Any human activity that expresses aesthetic ideas by

the use of skill and imagination in the creation of
objects, environments and experiences which can
be shared with others to help create an aesthetic
experience in the viewer.
 skill + imagination = 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.” - Einstein
 Art is an “infection”- Leo Tolstoy

Have you been infected?

Short
Activity

What artwork has “infected” you? When did you see it?
By which artist? What was it about? Describe. In what
way were you infected? How did it change you?

Discuss (QUIETLY) with your seatmate for 5mins.

Write your names on a 1/8 sheet of paper and pass.

“MAN IS THE MEASURE OF ALL THINGS”
- Protagoras
Meaning man is used as the foundation of value
rather than any god or moral law. Implying that the
humanities emphasizes the dignity and worthiness
of man and recognizes creative expressions. So ART
as a creative expression of man may be regarded as
a "measuring stick" in looking into a certain
period/era or even a specific country or group of
people.

What one man holds to be true may be false with

another, depending on environment, culture and
other aspects that influence him.
Degustibus non disputandum est
(Matters of taste are not matters of dispute)
Assumptions about art
1. ART IS UNIVERSAL

Art has been created by various people, at all

places and time.

Art exists because it is liked and enjoyed.

Nude woman (Venus of
Willendorf ), from Willendorf,
Austria,
ca. 28,000–25,000 bce.
Limestone, 41–4″ high.
Naturhistorisches
Museum, Vienna.
Thutmose, Nefertiti, from Linda Carter Wonder Woman
Amarna, Egypt, 18th Dynasty, 70’s TV series
ca. 1353–1335 bce. Painted
limestone, 1′ 1–4″ high.
Ägyptisches
Museum, Staatliche Museen
zu Berlin, Berlin.
2. ART IS NOT NATURE

Art is man-made.

Art is man’s expression of his reception of

nature, his own interpretation of what he sees
around him. Man’s perception of what is
already given in nature.
“PERCEPTION”
Paul Cézanne, Mont Sainte-Victoire, 1902–
1904. Oil on canvas, 2′ 31–2″ × 2′ 111–4″.
Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia
(George W. Elkins Collection).
3. ART INVOLVES EXPERIENCE

How do you know if a movie is good? Or if the latest song of your

favourite artist is better than the last one?

In order to know what an artwork is, we have to sense it,

see or hear it, see and hear it. Emotion must be involved
in the experience of art.
Types of art
1. Visual art

• Perceived by the sense of sight

• Graphic Arts
• 2-dimensional surfaces
• Painting, drawing, photography and other
products of the printing
industry – books, signs, posters,
ads/advertisements
• Plastic Arts (Greek “plastikos” – to form or to
mold)

• 3-dimensional forms

• Architectural designs, other structures;

landscapes, interior design,
sculpture, crafts – jewelry, weaving,
ceramics; industrial arts –
designs of cars or appliances or clothing
or stage production
2. Performing arts
• Theater, play, dance and music
• Involves movement, speaking and
gestures
3. Literary arts
• Short stories, novels, poetry, drama
4. Popular Arts
• Film, newspaper, magazine, radio and
television
• Main characteristic – gay and lively
5. Gustatory art of the cuisine
• Skill in food preparation
6. Decorative Arts
• Visual objects produced for
beautifying houses, offices
• Also called Applied arts
• Example: bowls, chandeliers, furniture