ART APPRECIATION

Document: Module 5/ Week 6

Level: College BS3-1
Teacher: Mr. Michael AS. Enaje

Module 5 Contents/ Lessons

1. Applied Arts (Fashion, Furniture)

APPLIED ARTS

The applied arts are all the arts that apply design and decoration to everyday and essentially
practical objects in order to make them aesthetically pleasing.

Applied Art: Definition & Meaning

The term "applied art" refers to the application (and resulting product) of artistic design to
utilitarian objects in everyday use. Whereas works of fine art have no function other than
providing aesthetic or intellectual stimulation to the viewer, works of applied art are usually
functional objects which have been "prettified" or creatively designed with both aesthetics and
function in mind. Applied art embraces a huge range of products and items, from a teapot or
chair, to the walls and roof of a railway station or concert hall, a fountain pen or computer
mouse.

What Does Applied Art Include?

For the sake of simplicity, works of applied art comprise two different types: standard machine-
made products which have had a particular design applied to them, to make them more attractive
and easy-to-use; and individual, aesthetically pleasing but mostly functional, craft products made
by artisans or skilled workers. Artistic disciplines that are classified as applied arts, include
industrial design, fashion design, interior design, and graphic art and design (including computer
graphics), as well as most types of decorative art (eg. furniture, carpets, tapestry, embroidery,
batik, jewellery, precious metalwork, pottery, goldsmithing, basketry, mosaic art, and
glassware). Illuminated manuscripts and later book illustration are also classified as applied arts.
Architecture, too is best viewed as an applied art.

History of Applied Art

Architecture

The first applied art to be practised in a major way was architecture. From the Egyptian
Pyramids, the Ziggurats of Sumer and the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, to the precisely
organized proportions of Greek temples and the enduring engineering quality of Roman viaducts
and bridges, architects combine aesthetics with mathematics to design a functional but pleasing
structure. Since then, the demands of the modern world have included housing and commercial
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projects, notably high-rise buildings and skyscrapers. For details, see: Skyscraper
Architecture (1850-present).

During this evolution, architectural styles have been influenced by numerous schools and
movements, including: Romanesque (c.775-1050), Gothic (c.1150-1280), International Gothic
(c.1300-1500), Renaissance (c.1400-1530), Mannerism (c.1530-1600), Baroque (c.1600-1700),
Rococo (c.1700-50), Neoclassicism (c.1750-1815), Greek and Gothic Revival (c.1800-1900),
Neo-Renaissance and Neo-Romanesque Revival (1849-1880), the Second Empire style (1850-
80), Chicago School of architecture (1880-1910), Art Nouveau (c.1895-1915), Early Modernism
(1900-25), Continental Avant-Garde (1900-25), Bauhaus Design School (1919-33), Art
Deco (1925-40)Totalitarian Architecture (Germany, USSR, 1928-1940), the utopian urban
building designs of Le Corbusier (1887-1965), Second Chicago School (1940-70), International
Style of modernism (1945-1970), High Tech Corporate Design (1945-
2000), Deconstructivism (1980-2000), and Blobitecture (1990-2000).

Commercial Design

Aside from architecture, applied art received its biggest boost from the growth in commerce
during the 19th century, following the Industrial Revolution. Suddenly, competitive
manufacturers and service providers needed to ensure that their products and services "looked
good" as well as functioned properly. This demand for improved aesthetics led to the
establishment of numerous design schools and courses, from which a new generation of
industrial designers emerged. Later, as the range of products multiplied, and new printing
techniques appeared, they were joined by fashion designers, graphic designers and most recently
computer graphics designers.

Decorative Arts

In addition to architecture and design, applied art also includes decorative arts. Early examples
include Chinese pottery (from 18,000 BCE), Jomon style Japanese pottery (from 14,500 BCE),
as well as jade carving (from 4900 BCE), lacquerware (from 4500 BCE) and Chinese
porcelain (c.100 BCE onwards). Enamelwork is exemplified by Celtic Metalwork art such as the
silver "Gundestrup Cauldron" (c.100 BCE), the bronze "Petrie Crown" (100 BCE - 200 CE), and
the gold "Broighter Collar/Torc" (1st century BCE), as well as later religious metalwork like the
Ardagh Chalice (8th/9th century CE), and the Derrynaflan Chalice. Tapestry (see for instance
the Bayeux Tapestry) and stained glass were first developed during the Romanesque and Gothic
period, while interior design, fine-furniture, textiles, glassware and other objets d'art reached new
heights during the Rococo period (18th century) at the French court at the Palace of Versailles.
For more about the mini-renaissance of applied art during the Louis Quatorze (XIV), Regency,
Louis Quinze (XV), and Louis Seize (XVI) periods, see:

- French Decorative Arts (c.1640-1792)

- French Designers (c.1640-1792)
- French Furniture (c.1640-1792).

During the last decade of the 19th century the decorative strain of applied art was re-invigorated
by William Morris and the Arts and Crafts Movement, the Celtic Art Revival Movement, the
Belgian artists group known as Les Vingt, the international Art Nouveau Style (c.1895-1915),
exquisite Fabergé Easter Eggs (c.1885-1917), the Bauhaus Design School in Germany (1919-33)
and Art Deco (c.1925-40). One of the main applications for decorative design work was
theatrical sets and costumes, such as those designed by Leon Bakst (1866-1924) and Alexander
Benois (1870-1960) for the Ballets Russes. Another application was poster art, which became
high fashion during La Belle Epoque in France. Top poster designers included the
lithographer Jules Cheret (1836-1932), the Post-Impressionist Toulouse-Lautrec (1864-1901),
and the Czech Alfonse Mucha (1860-1939). Other figures in the history of poster art, include
Aubrey Beardsley (1872-98), the "Beggarstaff Brothers", Theophile Steinlen (1859-1923),
Eugene Grasset (1845-1917), Albert Guillaume (1873-1942), Pierre Bonnard (1867-1947),
Edouard Vuillard (1868-1940), the Italian functionalist Leonetto Cappiello (1875-1942), Ludwig

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Hohlwein, Lucian Bernhard, Herbert Matter, Fernand Leger, Amedee Ozenfant, the French-
Ukrainian Adolphe Mouron Cassandre, William Bradley and Edward Penfield.

Activities:

PART 1: What makes applied arts unique to the other arts?

PART 2: Why is furniture and fashion considered as applied arts?
PART 3: Learning Bank: (Summary of learning) Please write down about what you have learned
in these topics/ lessons.

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