Welcome to Art 6H Art & Aesthetics
Aesthetics - Beauty Aesthetics is a branch of philosophy that examines the nature of art and our experience of it. It developed in England as philosophers grouped together such fields as poetry, sculpture, music, and dance. These fields were put into one category and called them les beaux arts or the fine arts. Philosophers began to say that reason by itself could not explain beauty. Beauty may have some rational properties, such as order, symmetry, and proportion, but it is really an experience not explained by reason alone. It is understood through intuition and experienced with human feeling and emotion. An aesthetic experience could include a mixture of feeling, such as pleasure, rage, grief, suffering, and joy.
Introduction What is Art History? Not the book or proper academic definition, but you (the student s) definition Why did you enroll in this class? What do you hope to learn in this class? Who has taken an art history course before? Who is majoring (or thinking of) in Art History?
What is Art History? The academic discipline that studies the history and the development of the visual arts (Dictionary) Art History provides a humanistic and intellectual foundation for the historian in which he/she can understand the visual arts in their contexts. Emphasis is placed on the social, political, historical and religious contexts of art; visual analysis is also stressed (UCLA Dept. of Art History) Knowledge of the historical context of an artwork (or a building) is required in art history. It is studying history via art objects and buildings (usually alongside) historical documents.
Do you recognize these??
What type of artworks will be looked at? Sculpture Architecture Pictorial arts (painting, drawing, printmaking & photography) Craft arts (ceramics, metalwork, textiles, jewelry and decorative accessories)
Types of artworks
Critical Questions that should ALWAYS be asked. How old is it? To construct a history, dates are necessary. Once a chronology is established, the work of art can be studied in its historical context. Physical (materials used), Documentary, Internal (identifiable objects/people) & Stylistic What is its style? Definition: an artist s distinctive manner of producing an object. Period Style ( of a certain time within a specific culture), Regional (tied to geography), Personal (distinctive manner of individual artists or architects)
Critical Questions that should ALWAYS be asked. What is its subject? The narrative; the story; the scene presented; the action s time and place; the person(s) involved; the environment & its details Viewers must identify these aspects to achieve a full understanding of the work. Categories: religious, historical, mythological, genre (daily life), portraiture, landscape, still life. Iconography writing of images, refers to both the content (or subject of an artwork), but it also includes the study of symbols, or images that stand for other images or summarize ideas. Attributes: an object that identifies a figure, most commonly referring to objects held by saints (earlier, by pagan gods) THINK EMBLEM.
What is the subject? Duccio, 1308-11 Giotto, 1305
Critical Questions that should ALWAYS be asked. Who made it? The artist(s) must be identified. Artist s signature (rare until the Middle Ages) Via attribute, based on knowledge of an artist s personal style (requires a connoisseur & is subjective) School of artists, a group of artists working in the same style at the same time and place Who paid for it? Patron, the person who paid an artist(s) to make individual works or hired them on a continuing basis. Usually dictated the content and form. Artists had little say in subject matter or form.
Artists & Patrons Akhenaton (left) with his wife, Queen Nefertiti, and three of their daughters Possible self-portrait of Giotto
Terminology Along the way, you will learn new vocabulary that is intrinsic to the understanding the material. Start a list and make your own dictionary, use the glossary in the back of the book, or you can reference From Abacus to Zeus: A Handbook of Art History. Language includes: The visual elements, principles of design, style, form and content; lines, shapes and color. Various media: drawing, painting, printmaking, camera, sculpture, etc
Form & Composition Vocabulary Form an object s shape and structure; either in 2D or 3D Composition the organization of forms in an artwork by either placing shapes on a flat surface or in space Material & Technique Material pigment, clay, marble, gold, etc Technique the distinctive, personal way the artist handle their materials & tools Line Color
Texture Vocabulary Quality of a surface; rough, hard, smooth, soft, shiny, dull. This is true texture. Represented Texture objects are painted having a certain texture Space, Mass & Volume Perspective & Foreshortening Perspective illusion of depth or space on a 2D surface Foreshortening a kind of perspective; the contraction of an object and is shown at an angle; one part of the object is farther away than the other, even though all the forms are on the same surface.
Perspective Relative, not linear perspective, because this style involves mathematical concepts and scientific proportions like that of the Renaissance 2 nd style, Still-Life, 1 st c. B.C. 4th style, 1 st c A.D., architectural painting
Vocabulary Proportion & Scale Proportion a mathematical relationship between the size of one part of an artwork or building and the other parts within the work. Canons (or ideal) of proportions created by Vitruvius (Roman) where every minute detail fits a mathematical ratio. Hierarchal Scale enlarging of elements considered the most important. Carving & Casting Both sculptural techniques. Carving subtractive technique; final form is a reduction of the original material used. Casting additive technique; the artist builds up the form(s)
Hierarchal Scale Christ at the top in halo (youthful, holding cross), so the power of emperor comes from God; Christ gestured to Justinian to justify his rule Palette of Narmer shows the unification of Upper and Lower Egypt. Narmer s divine power is conveyed with his image on the front
Sculpture Vocabulary Freestanding exist independent of any architectural frame and are in the round Relief subjects project from the background but remain part of it. High relief images look to be freestanding but aren t. Usually attached by a foot or hand. Low (bas-) relief projection is slight Sunken relief cutting the image into a flat surface Architectural Drawings Floor plan which includes architectural elements such as vaults, ribs, aisles, flying buttresses and choirs
High & Low Relief
Why study art history? By studying art history the student is introduced to one of the fundamental means of human communication. In exploring the history of art one becomes aware of the wide variety of ways humans have conceived of themselves and their relationship to the surrounding world. In studying other cultures we, thus, come to understand how we are like and different from other people. Through the study of art history, we learn about ourselves and gain an understanding and respect for people with different perspectives.
And lastly The important thing to think about when looking at art is: 1.) Find the connection between art and its social and/or cultural context. 2.) Look for symbolism. 3.) Figure out the subject /content. What is it telling us??
Class Website http://websites.rcc.edu/herrera/