GE 111 Lesson 1

GE 111
Reading Visual
Art
Jhan Michael B. Quire-quire, LPT

Instructor 1
o n1 Summarize changing perceptions and
ss
Le
definitions of art throughout history
1. Key Terms:
• Aesthetics - The branch of philosophy that deals with the principles of beauty and artistic taste.
• Intuitive - Spontaneous, without requiring conscious thought; easily understood or grasped by
instinct.
• Fine arts - The purely aesthetic arts, such as music, painting, and poetry, as opposed to industrial or
functional arts such as engineering or carpentry.
• Form - The shape or visible structure of an artistic expression.
• Formalism - The study of art based solely on an analysis of its form – the way it is made and what it
looks like.
• Human condition - The characteristics, key events, and situations which compose the essentials of
human existence, such as birth, growth, emotionality, aspiration, conflict, and mortality.
• Mimesis - The representation of aspects in the real world, especially in human actions, in literature
and art.
• Muses - Goddesses of the inspiration of literature, science, and the arts in Greek mythology.
Aesthetics and the Philosophy of Arts
 In the general overview of the humanities, Sanchez, Abad, and Jao (2011) mentioned that art, like
love, is difficult to define.
 Philosophy plays an important role in the definition of art as philosophy even has a word to refer
to the philosophical study of beauty and taste – aesthetics.
 Simply, we can define art according to the possession of their representational, expressive,
instrumental and formal properties.
 Plato in The Republic, believes that arts are representational or mimetic in nature
 Art as an expression is a belief that art is created to reflect the inner state of the artist – the
subjective experiences and the emotions.
 Lastly, we can also approach art according to the arrangement of its formal elements, that is lines,
shapes, colors, etc.
 Merriam-Webster defined art as “the conscious use of skill and creative imagination especially in
the production of aesthetic objects.
 After all, the word art came from the word “ars” which means skill. That means that art is a skill
resulting from learning and practice.
Period/era How Art was Viewed
Pre-modern/pre-aesthetic: The Greek word for “art” is techne, whose Latin equivalent is
Ancient Greece and Rome ars, both of which mean skill. Art was equated with craft or the
sciences
Modern/Aesthetic: 1700s During the Enlightenment, the natural sciences were

to mid 1900s, in particular, emancipated from the arts. A system of fine arts was
Germany and England established. Aesthetics became a separate discipline in
philosophy. The aesthetic experience was seen as the proper
way to approach art and beauty. Art was to be appreciated for
art’s sake.
Postmodern/Postaesthetic: Various modern theories were rejected, such as aesthetic
Mid 1900s up to present universalism, the aesthetic attitude, aestheticism, innovation
and creativity (“genius”) and the canon of art.
What Does Art Do?
A primary purpose essential to most artistic disciplines is

the underlying intention to connect with or appeal to
human emotion.
How Does Art Look?
• There is no single standard of visual

values that define what art looks like.
What Makes Art Beautiful?
In the context of art, beauty refers to anything that pleases the senses -
the interaction between line, color, texture, shape, motion, and size.
Art Value: Functions of Art
 Aesthetic Function.
- An artwork is a direct source of sensual pleasure and it elicits perhaps
an intrinsically aesthetic response. Artists have different reasons for indulging in art,
and this is because they want to express something. Mostly, works of art are created to
beautify and decorate, say for instance, a house, a building, or a public space.
 Economic Function.
- Art serves its economic purpose, as there are creations of art that are
also useful in the society. Also, paintings, sculptures, and other works of art are worth
millions of money. In art, there is an opportunity to make money.
 Educational Function.
Arts can be a means to pass down the values, attitudes and history of a culture. Art
can also be an effective tool to educate, eg. a mounted play about an important historical event, or
ancient scrolls and diagrams of prehistoric people.
 Religious Function.
People in the prehistoric period relied on works of art to worship their gods, as
evidenced by statues of gods. and deities, as well as makeshift temples and places for worship.
Most of the art forms evolved from religion.
 Social and Cultural Function.
Because man is a social being, he/she associates with other fellow human
beings. This can be seen in churches are designed for communal worship, where
people come together to pray. Arts also showcases group identity and pride in the form
of tattoo, flags, and banners. Buildings and other infrastructures form the material
culture of the society.
Defining Visual Arts
 Arts are generally classified into three: (1) visual arts; (2) performing
arts; and (3) literary arts. Visual arts are those forms that create
works which are primarily visual (forms perceived by the eyes).
Performing arts are those forms in which the artists used his/her own
body, face, and presence as a medium. Finally, literary arts centered
on creative writing and other composition processes which intended
to read.
Example of Visual Arts
1. Painting.
This form of visual art aims to evoke an emotion from the viewers. It is practice
by applying colors or other media to a surface with a brush or other objects.
2. Sculpture.
This form of visual arts characterized as the art of representing an imagined
or observed objects in hard materials such as glass, metals, or wood in three
dimensions.
3. Architecture.
This form of art provides us the physical structure we lived. It is a profound
expression of human culture in a particular period, and it will endure and outlive
us in forms of monuments that future generations will study and strive to understand.
Example of Visual Arts
4. Drawing.
This form of art enhances the way we see the world around and conditions
us to capture its details in a two- dimensional medium. This has been a critical
element of art throughout history and in the contemporary art world.
5. Photography.
This form of art is a process of creating portraits by recording radiation on
a radiation-sensitive medium, such as electronic image sensors or photographic
films.
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GE 111

Jhan Michael B. Quire-quire, LPT

Modern/Aesthetic: 1700s During the Enlightenment, the natural sciences were

A primary purpose essential to most artistic disciplines is

• There is no single standard of visual

 Social and Cultural Function.

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