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School essays on art
Essays for studying art
Essays for studying art
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Art history might be better defined by what it is not, rather than what it is. The beginning to Dana Arnold’s introduction of Art History: A Very Short Introduction works on exactly that basis. Art history is not art appreciation; it is not pure connoisseurship. But what art history truly is, art historians have yet to determine. In art history a few features hold certain; art history has its own methodology, its own history, and its own purpose.
When practicing art history, a few things will always take place: analysis, interpretation, understanding, and discussion. First, the analysis of the artwork begins in the visual. An art historian obligated to examine the matter, form, content, and context of the art. A painting necessitates being seen not only as a collection of brush strokes done with skill, but also a product of its time portraying the class norms, societal roles, and beyond in a single object. Historians interpret artwork in the current time frame and in the context in which it was made. All of the previous actions, of course, come from attempting to understand the work and the time frame of its origin. Over the course of the study of an artwork a few questions must be answered. How did the
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The origin of art history consisted of people simply talking about art in a historical way, and, over time, that transformed into studying the culture or the psychology of the artist. Every art historian, to a degree, sets out to transform what art history is. Their work moves the study in different directions by focusing on a different purpose or area than the scholars before them. Art historians such as Arnold, Banandall, Fernie, and Panofsky all played their role in writing texts that influence the way art is studied and the purpose behind doing so. The history of art history shows that it has and will
Pollock (1980) begins her article by drawing in her audience in; asking how is it possible that art history does not incorporate any other field beyond the artist in order to explain the meaning behind their work. She then explains that her article is mainly about how she rejects how art historians are depicting artworks and restricting themselves in explaining the work solely based on the biography of the artist who created it. (Pollock, 1980, pg.58)
Throughout the text, Berger illustrates the different types of arts. Each one is a perfect example of the phrase “Use your own interpretation.” If looked at closely, one gets different ideas and understandings than others of the same image. Another way that paintings are interpreted or misinterpreted is through reproductions. Reproducing original pieces of art has been a large controversy as well, even a “political issue,” which is discussed by Berger.
The shift between the Middle Ages and Renaissance was documented in art for future generations. It is because of the changes in art during this time that art historians today understand the historical placement and the socio-economic, political, and religious changes of the time. Art is a visual interpretation of one’s beliefs and way of life; it is through the art from these periods that we today understand exactly what was taking place and why it was happening. These shifts did not happen overnight, but instead changed gradually though years and years of art, and it is through them that we have record of some of the most important changes of historic times.
When analyzing artwork, in any form, there are often times social contexts in which can be interpreted. Not always does the history behind the painting need to be revealed to fully understand the concept of the artwork, yet it is helpful in determining if the artwork is truthful in its representation. Although in analyzing artwork it is likely that there are drawbacks to considering the social context. To illustrate this point, I'm going to use the visual arts as my medium of choice. Understanding the social context can be an important tool. An advantage of knowing the history of the painting or sculpture can really enrich our knowledge, being in the 21st century, about some of the social periods from previous times. It can demonstrate how traditions were carried out, how they had an impact on the different social classes. It's a visual teaching aid of a sort. Even in the time period of which the artwork was created can be used as a tool to show how the life was in different parts of the world. It was also used as a hammer in the realist movement to show the upper classes that life for the poor was horrible. The visual arts is the only medium in which the pictorial image creates a universal language in which anyone, regardless of nationality or social class can interpret. The text which is created by this language often creates a context which is left open to interpretation. Contexts are created by the artist, critics, judges, the public, essentially, any one who views the work and forms an opinion relating to it. The contexts stem from subject or content of an artwork, and are usually facts regarding the content. Yet, the contexts almost always have backgrounds themselves, therefore making the original contexts, texts. This will be more clearly illustrated later. The chain is seeming to be a never ending process. There are always more conditions to the previous ones. All context, therefore, is in itself, textual. This concept of all context in itself textual is a post-structuralist strategy. A man named Derrida is a man who has developed this idea that the post-structuralist concept of every statement made, can be interpreted in infinite ways, with each interpretation triggering a range of subjective associations. Every statement has an association, therefore it's a sort of domino effect.
Modern art serves to immerse us more thoroughly in a scene by touching on more than just our sight. Artists such as Grosz, and Duchamp try to get us to feel instead of just see. It seems that this concept has come about largely as a way to regain identity after shedding the concepts of the Enlightenment. “Philosophers, writers, and artists expressed disillusionment with the rational-humanist tradition of the Enlightenment. They no longer shared the Enlightenment's confidence in either reason's capabilities or human goodness...” (Perry, pg. 457) It is interesting to follow art through history and see how the general mood of society changed with various aspects of history, and how events have a strong connection to the art of the corresponding time.
Georges Didi-Huberman is critical of the conventional approaches towards the study of art history. Didi-Huberman takes the view that art history is grounded in the primacy of knowledge, particularly in the vein of Kant, or what he calls a ‘spontaneous philosophy’. While art historians claim to be looking at images across the sweep of time, what they actually do might be described as a sort of forensics process, one in which they analyze, decode and deconstruct works of art in attempt to better understand the artist and purpose or expression. This paper will examine Didi-Huberman’s key claims in his book Confronting Images and apply his methodology to a still life painting by Juan Sánchez Cotán.
When visiting an art museum, there could be many thoughts that can run through someone’s mind. One can contemplate the tale that the artist is trying to convey while others can discuss the impact the piece has in term of aesthetics. And people continues to walk around and observing different piece, a thought occurs and questions your logic and reasoning. Why are any of these pieces considered as art? This is not a questioning of the quality of the piece, the mere presence at the measure demonstrates that it is certainly fine art. The question is why is it general called art? Looking past the creative imagery and aesthetic themes, the piece is just ink on paper or shaped clay or any variation on a thing. So is piece of art just a mere thing? As written in the Origin of the Work of Art, Martin Heidegger would state that it’s not a simply put. Some of the subjects that Heidegger discusses range from the origin of the essential of art to the interpretation of things.
Throughout the Morelli reading, we are shown that education is the combination of classroom material as well as practical interaction. The basis of the Morelli article was to show the difference between being a connoisseur of art, or someone who takes art in and appreciates it aesthetically, and being an actual art historian practicing in the field. The concept that differentiates between these two ways of looking at art is that when one is an art historian, he or she examines every aspect and factor that is responsible in the making of the work of art. This means that an art historian will focus more on the methodology of how and/or why the piece exists from the basis of theories such as an artist’s biography, the cultural history surrounding the piece, or others such as the psychological analysis of the artist or the influence of social movements such as Marxism or feminism. This typically requires a more in depth analysis than that of a connoisseur, and one based on more textual research. A connoisseur examines the art itself in the physical aspect: the techniques, brushstroke, texture, form, composition, etc. Throughout this article, one may find most fascinating the aspect that in looking at in varying perspectives such as both a connoisseur and as an art historian is a ben...
Conversely, upon investigating the artwork’s factual information such as the painting’s context, the artist’s background, the genre and the school or movement associated with the painting, it is possible to obtain knowledge that combines objective information and subjective opinion, confirming that some degree of objectivity, albeit with our ‘cultural imprint’, is possible as an art observer.
By analyzing an artwork through this lenses the students would be exposed to their perspective, their classmates’ perspective, and the artist’s perspective. As intellectuals it is essential for an individual to explore many perspectives and I believe Art History allows people to do so. When teaching about an artwork I would inform the students of all the artwork’s components, leaving meaning last. Students would be given enough information for them to create their own meaning for the artwork, therefore creating many different perspectives for them to analyze. Only after sharing their perspectives I would expose them to the artwork’s meaning according to actual art historians. Through this method students would be able to gain multiple
A work of art is a representation of the time and situation it was made
Art history, similar to many other subjects, requires an introductory textbook. Its function should be to expose the new student to the foundations of art, such as the elements, principles, and historical contexts. Past introductory art history books, however, have severely limited the student’s knowledge and comprehension of what constitutes as art by focusing solely on European works. In doing so, the texts only depict one type of aesthetic standards and the new student may become disinterested with art in general because he or she does not agree with that particular standard. That person might also feel alienated with the lack of women and minority artists included alongside the traditional European male artist.
Understanding the importance of historical context is just as important as understanding the artist’s intent. The culture in which an artist created his work bears an immeasurable effect on his work. Appreciating the historical context helps ensure the student truly values the art piece he is viewing.
Throughout the ages art has played a crucial role in life. Art is universal and because art is everywhere, we experience it on a daily basis. From the houses we live in (architecture) to the movies we see (theatre) to the books that we read (literature). Even in ancient culture art has played a crucial role. In prehistoric times cave dwellers drew on the wall of caves to record history. In biblical times paintings recorded the life and death of Christ. Throughout time art has recorded history. Most art is created for a specific reason or purpose, it has a way of expressing ideas and beliefs, and it can record the experiences of all people.
Rather take other courses that are less theory based and more productive to help them improve their skills in art. It is important to learn the past history about original artists and their work to get inspiration from but if one’s style of art is different from that than what’s the point of taking that history course? New York's Museum of Modern Art in 1929, avant-garde art gained importance in US, helped by Mondrian and George Grosz, who were escaping the progress of Nazism. Relentlessly, the principles of pioneer craftsmanship wound up fundamental social presumptions for Americans situated toward the humanities. Also, she claims that the most important question about art is what lasts and why does it last? Maybe it is important to know the answers of those questions but art shouldn’t be questionable. Every art piece is important in its own way despite the fact of how long it lasted or not. If an art piece doesn’t lasts, it doesn’t mean it's not as important as the others. It must be important for someone which is not seen by other