Chapter 1

WHAT IS ART?

In both the sciences and the arts we strive to weave our

experiences into coherent bodies of knowledge and to

communicate them.

Art…

• …enhances daily experiences. • …is linked to quality of life. • …touches everyone.• …is all around us.

The Meaning of the Word Art…

1. Ability - The human capacity to make things of beauty and things that stir us.

2. Process - The different forms of art such as drawing, painting, sculpting, architecture, and photography.

3. Product - The completed work

Whatever the definition, it is important to know the vocabulary of art in order to understand it.

Some “Truths” About Art

1. There is no agreed-upon definition of art.

2. Art does not necessarily have to be beautiful.

3. Art can be created for any number of reasons.

The philosophies about art:

Many philosophers have argues that art serves no function, that it exists for its own sake.

Some have asserted that the essence of art transcends the human occupation with usefulness.

Others have held that in trying to analyze art too closely, one loses sight of its beauty and wonderment.

Understanding and appreciating art…

The questions to ask…• “Why was this created?”• “What is its purpose?”

What Are the Purposes of Art?

ART AND BEAUTY

• Art adds beauty to our lives by looking to nature

• Art depicts the Western concepts of beauty

• &• Non-Western concepts of beauty

Figure 1.1, p. 3: LEONARDO DA VINCI. Mona Lisa (c. 1503–1505). Oil on wood panel. 30 1/4” x 21”.

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, whether in Western civilizations

or non-Western civilizations

Figure 1.2, p. 3: Kenyan woman, Masai tribe. Standards for beauty can differ from culture to culture.

“A Closer Look”

A Portrait in the Flesh

Sometimes artists try to improve on nature – thereby

creating an alternative standard

Figure 1-3, p. 4: French performance artist Orlan, who has dedicated herself to embodying Western classicbeauty as found in the works of Leonardo, Botticelli, and Boucher through multiple plastic surgeries. Here

Orlan is being “prepped” for one in a series of operations.

Figure 1-4, p. 4: SANDRO BOTTICELLI. The Birth of Venus (1486). Detail. Tempera on canvas. 5’8 7⁄8” x 9’1 1⁄7”.

ART AND OUR ENVIRONMENT

Used to create pleasing environments.

Used as Decoration. Used to transport to another

place.

Figure 1-5, p. 5: JOYCE KOZLOFF. Galla Placidia in Philadelphia (1985). Mosaic installation. 13’ x 16’

Figure 1-6, p. 5: DALE CHIHULY. Fioridi Como (1998). 70’ x 30’ x 12’.

ART AND TRUTH

Truth in art is subjective. True to nature?

True to human experience?True to materials?

Figure 1-7, p. 6: FRIDA KAHLO. Diego in My Thoughts (Diego y yo) (1949). Oil on canvas, mounted on Masonite. 24” x 36”.

Art can be used to

• Replicate nature• Show reality• Or express an artist’s own

experiences.

ART AND IMMORTALITY

Used to defy death. Art can bring people

“together” from different periods of time.

Figure 1-9, p. 7: ANDY WARHOL. Four Marilyns (1962). Synthetic polymer paint and silkscreen ink on canvas. 30" × 23⅞".

ART AND GLORY

• Art immortalizes people and events throughout the ages.

• Art histories wealthiest patrons commissioned artists to create works that glorified their reigns and accomplishments.

Fig. 1-11, p 8. Column of Trajan, Forum of Trajan, Rome, dedicated 112. 128 feet high

ART AND RELIGION

The quest for immortalityFinding answers for the

unanswerable

Art in religion has been used for…

• Express hopes for fertility• To propitiate the gods• To symbolize great religious

events and values• And to commend heavenward the

souls of the departed

Can you think of any others?

Figure 1.13, p.9: JESSIE OONARK. A Shaman’s Helping Spirits (1971). Stonecut and stencil. 37 1⁄6” x 25 1⁄6”.

Figure 1.14, p. 10: AARON DOUGLAS. Noah’s Ark (c. 1927). Oil on masonite. 48” x 36”.

Figure 1.15, p.10: ANTHEMIUS OF TRALLES AND ISIDORUS OF MILETUS. Hagia Sophia, Constantinople (modern-day Istanbul), Turkey (532–537 CE). Interior view.

ART AND IDEOLOGY

Art has been used to create and reinforce ideology.

(Ideology is the way a society looks at things or a societies

commonly held beliefs.)

1-16 p. 11 SUZANNE VALADON. Adam and Eve (1909). Oil on canvas. 63¾ × 51⅝.

ART AND FANTASY

Art can express our innermost fantasies.

Insert Fig 1-17, p. 12 Marc Chagall I and the Village

Art and Psychoanalytic

• Many 20th Century artists looked to the psychoanalytic writings of Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung, who suggested that primeval forces are at wok in the unconscious reaches of the mind.

• Artist’s sought to use their art as an outlet for these unconscious forces.

Insert Fig 1-18, p. 12 Max Beckman The Dream

ART, INTELLECT, AND EMOTION

Art can make you think.Art can make you feel.

Art can trigger associations.

Conceptual Art

Conceptual art does not represent external object. It also challenges the traditional view of the artist as creative visionary, skilled craftsperson, and master of ones media. The “art” lies in the artist’s concept.

Word Works

Word Works - often comment on the impersonal systems of modern times, while posing a challenge to the formal premises of art and stirring intellectual responses in the viewer.

Fig. 1-19 p. 13 JENNY HOLZER. Untitled (1989–1990). Selection from “Truism: Inflammatory Essays, he Living Series, he Survival Series, Under a Rock, Laments, and Mother and Child Text.” LED electronic

display signboard installation. 11" × 162' × 44" (27.9 cm × 49.4 m × 111.8 cm).

ART, ORDER, AND HARMONYArt is harmony.

–Georges Seurat

• Artists and scientists try to find the underlying order of nature.

• Zen - A Buddhist sect that seeks inner harmony through introspection and meditation.

Figure 1.20, p.14: Ryoanji Zen Temple, Japanese sand garden, Kyoto, Japan.

COMPARE + CONTRAST

The Piano Lesson(s) by Matisse and Bearden

Figure 1.22, p.15: HENRI MATISSE. Piano Lesson (1916). Oil on canvas. 8’1⁄2” x 6’11 3⁄4”.Figure 1.23, p. 15: ROMARE BEARDEN. Piano Lesson (1983). Oil with Collage. 29» x 22’

Figure 1.21, p.14: LAURIE SIMMONS. Red Library #2 (1983). Color photograph. 48 1⁄2” x 38 1⁄4”.

Reaction?

ART AND CHAOS

Artists have sought to show chaos, apocalyptic events, war, famine, and natural

catastrophes.

Figure 1.24, p.16: JAUNE QUICK-TO-SEE SMITH. Eclipse (1987). Oil on canvas. 60” x 60”.

ART, EXPERIENCE, AND MEMORY

• Art has served to record and communicate experiences and events.

• Art also conveys the personal experience of an artist.

Figure 1.25, p.16: LOUISA CHASE. Storm (1981). Oil on canvas. 90” x 120”.

Figure 1.26, p.17: ALFRED STIEGLITZ. The Steerage (1907). Photograph.

Figure 1.27, p.17: FAITH RINGGOLD. Tar Beach (1988). Acrylic paint on canvas and pieced fabric. 74” x 68 1⁄2”.

ART IN THE SOCIAL AND CULTURAL

CONTEXT

In recording experiences, artists frequently record:

• The activities and the objects of their times and places

• Contemporary fashion and beliefs• The crafts and sciences• Architecture

Figure 1.28, p. 18: EDWARD HOPPER. Nighthawks (1942). Oil on canvas. 30” x 60”.

Figure 1.29, p.19: RICHARD HAMILTON. Just What Is It That Makes Today’s Homes So Different, So Appealing? (1956). Collage. 10 1⁄4” x 9 3⁄4”.

Figure 1.30, p.19: ZAHA HADID. Sheikh Zayed Bridge, Abu Dhabi, to be completed in 2006. Designed by Zaha Hadid.

ART AND SOCIAL CONSCIOUSNESS

Artists have taken on bitter struggles against the injustices of their times and have tried to persuade others to join them in their causes, …by using their (art) skills.

Figure 1.31, p.20: EUGÈNE DELACROIX. Liberty Leading the People (1830). Oil on canvas. 8’6” x 10’10”.

Figure 1.32, p.21: SUZANNE LACY AND LESLIE LABOWITZ. In Mourning and in Rage (1977). Performance at Los Angeles City Hall.

Figure 1.33, p.21: BETYE SAAR. The Liberation of Aunt Jemima (1972). Mixed media. 11 3⁄4” x 8” x 2 3⁄4”.

ART AND POPULAR CULTURE

• Readymades, • Assemblages, • and Pop Art…

Vocabulary

• Readymade - objects elevated from the commonplace to the position of art.

• Assemblage - art made and assembled from found objects.

• Pop Art - art that utilizes the commonplace objects and visual clichés to make the viewer thing twice about the symbols and objects that surround us.

Figure 1.34, p. 22:MIRIAM SCHAPIRO. Wonderland (1983). Acrylic and fabric collage on canvas. 90” x 144” (framed)

Fig. 1-35 p.22 MARCEL DUCHAMP. Fountain (1917). 1951 version after lost original. Porcelain urinal. H: 24".

ART AND THE NEEDS OF THE ARTIST

Some artist create solely for:

• “Self-actualization”• Novelty • Exploration• Understanding• Aesthetics • Beauty• Order• Emotional or psychological needs

Figure 1.36, p. 23: JOSÉ CLEMENTE OROZCO. Epic of American Civilization: Hispano-America (c1932–1934). Fresco. 10” x 9’11”.

Figure 1.37, p.23: MATTHEW I. SMITH. Untitled (n. d.). Graphite on paper. 8 1⁄2” x 11”.

Outsider Art

• Outsider art is a catchall category that has been used for works by untrained artists or self taught artists.

• • For example:• Criminals who create because they are

in isolation. • Or people with autism and

schizophrenia, etc…

Discussion Questions:

• Why is there no single answer to “what is art?”• Who forms the “audience” for works of art?• What are the meanings of art?• What are the purposes of art?• What is the concept of art, and why should we study art?