What is Art?

The Nature and Purpose of Art

Outline of Discussion
• Art and Creativity
• The Purpose and Functions of Art
– Beauty, Ugliness, and Truth
– Immortality, Glory, and Religion
– Ideology and Fantasy
– Intellect and Emotion
– Order, Harmony, and Chaos
– Experience and Memory
– Social and Cultural Context
– Popular Culture and Decoration
Art and Creativity
• Etymology – Ars (Latin): Skill as a result of
learning and practice.
• Art is a primarily visual medium that is used to
express ideas about our human experience and the
world around us.
– Can this definition be challenged?
• Defining art is a difficult task yet we can easily say
that something is a work of art.
Art and Creativity
• Art is strictly a human phenomenon. Only human
beings make art to better understand life or to
communicate emotions or ideas to others.
• Art is an aesthetic experience. Aesthetics is the branch
of philosophy that deals with art, its sources, its forms,
and its effects on individuals and cultures.
• Aesthetics goes beyond individual tastes or preferences.
Aesthetics is a critical reflection on art within a culture
and reflects the preferences of a large segment of the
culture’s population.
Art and Creativity
• Work of Art – the visual expression of an idea or
experience formed with skill through the use of a
medium
• Medium – Material + Technique
• Different Art forms
– Visual: Painting, Sculpture, Imaging, Architecture
– Performance: Music, Dance, Theatre
– Literary: Poetry, Prose, Narrative
Art and Creativity
• The role of Sensation and Perception
– Looking and Seeing
• “To see is itself a creative operation, requiring an effort.
Everything that we see in our daily life is more or less
distorted by acquired habits, and this is perhaps more evident
in an age like ours when cinema, posters, and magazines
present us every day with a flood of readymade images which
are to the eye what prejudices are to the mind. The effort
needed to see things without distortion takes something very
like courage.” – Henri Matisse
Art and Creativity
• The role of Sensation and Perception
– Hearing and Listening
– Touching and Feeling
– Other Senses? Scent and Taste
• Communication and Expression
– Creation of Meaning: Artist and Audience
– Communicate beyond words
Art and Creativity
• Creativity
– Source of all art, science, and technology
– A byproduct of human imagination?
– Ability to bring forth something new that has value
– Not mere novelty; must have relevance, or unlock a new
way of thinking
Art and Creativity
• Creativity
– Traits that define Creativity (Innovator’s DNA, 2011)
1. Associating
2. Questioning
3. Observing
4. Networking
5. Experimenting
Art and Creativity
• The Artist
– Are artists creative or skillful?
• Traditional Artists: Trained the skill, mastered the
craft
• Folk Artists: No formal training
• Naïve or Outsider Artists: Producing art is second
nature
The Purpose of Art
• Art for art’s sake – It serves its own purpose
• Satisfy desire and experience pleasure
• Self-expression
• Entertainment
The Purpose of Art
• Art and Beauty
– Is there a standard for
beauty?
– How can one define what
beauty is?
– What is beautiful?
– Is beauty in the eye of the
beholder?
– Is beauty socially
constructed?
The Purpose of Art
• Art and Beauty
– Is there a standard for
beauty?
– How can one define what
beauty is?
– What is beautiful?
– Is beauty in the eye of the
beholder?
– Is beauty socially
constructed?
The Purpose of Art
• Art and Ugliness
– OTTO DIX. The Skat Players
(1920). Oil and collage on
canvas. 43 5⁄16" x 34 1⁄4".
Galerie der Stadt Stuttgart,
Stuttgart, Germany.
The Purpose of Art
• Art and Ugliness
– GEORGE CONDO. The
Apparition (2009). Oil on
canvas. 40" x 36".
The Purpose of Art

Art and Truth

René Magritte. La Trahison des Images (Ceci N’est Pas une
Pipe). 1929. Oil on canvas. 25 ⁄ ˝ × 37˝.
3 8
The Purpose of Art
Art and Truth
• FRIDA KAHLO. Diego in
My Thoughts (Diego y yo)
(1949). Oil on canvas,
mounted on Masonite. 24" x
36"
The Purpose of Art

Art and Truth

ZHANG XIAOGANG. Big Family (2003). Lithograph in an
edition of 199. 27 1⁄2" x 32 1⁄2".
 The Purpose of Art
Art and Immortality
• ANDY WARHOL. Four
Marilyns (1962). Synthetic
polymer paint and silkscreen
ink on canvas. 30" x 23 7⁄8".
 The Purpose of Art
Art and Immortality
• JUDY CHICAGO. The
Dinner Party (1974–1979).
Painted porcelain and
needlework. 48' x 48' x 48' x
3'. Brooklyn Museum,
Brooklyn, NY.
The Purpose of Art

Art and Immortality

Ramses II. Abu Simbel (1244 BCE). Nubia, Egypt.
 The Purpose of Art
Art and Immortality
• Terra-cotta warriors. Pit No.
1 (Han Dynasty c. 210 BCE).
Museum of the First
Emperor Qin, Shaanxi
Province, China.
 The Purpose of Art
Art and Religion
• North Wind Mask
(Negakfok) (early 20th
century). Wood, paint, and
feathers. 45 1⁄4" x 21 3⁄8" x
17 7⁄8".
• Masks from the Yup’ik
speaking Inuit of western
Alaska
The Purpose of Art

Art and Religion

Michelangelo. The Last Judgment (1541). 539.3” × 472.4”. Sistine Chapel,
Vatican
 The Purpose of Art
Art and Religion
• AARON DOUGLAS.
Noah’s Ark (c. 1927). Oil on
Masonite. 48" x 36".
 The Purpose of Art
Art and Religion
• Prophets Moses and
Muhammad with the Angel
Gabriel. Miniature. 12 1⁄4“ x
38 1⁄16". Museum of Islamic
Art, Berlin, Germany.
 The Purpose of Art
Art and Ideology
• MASACCIO. Expulsion from the Garden
of Eden (c. 1424–1428). Fresco. 7'3’’x
2'11". Brancacci Chapel, Santa Maria del
Carmine, Florence, Italy.
 The Purpose of Art
Art and Ideology
• SUZANNE VALADON. Adam and Eve
(1909). Oil on canvas. 6 1⁄3" x 5 1⁄6".
Musee National d’Art Moderne, Centre
Georges Pompidou, Paris, France.
 The Purpose of Art
Art and Fantasy
• MARC CHAGALL. I and the Village
(1911). Oil on canvas. 6'3 5⁄8" x 4'11
5⁄8". The Museum of Modern Art, NY.
 The Purpose of Art
Art and Fantasy
• MAX BECKMANN. The Dream
(1921). Oil on canvas. 73 1⁄8" x 35".
The Saint Louis Art Museum, Saint
Louis, MO.
 The Purpose of Art
Art and Emotion
• Mideo Cruz, Poleteismo. Mixed Media.
CCP Main Gallery
The Purpose of Art

Art, Order, and Harmony

• Ryogintel Rock Garden, Kyoto, Japan
The Purpose of Art
Art, Order, and Harmony
• LAURIE SIMMONS. Red Library #2
(1983). Color photograph. 48 1⁄2" x 38 1⁄4".
The Purpose of Art
Art and Chaos
• JAUNE QUICK-TO-SEE
SMITH. Eclipse (1987). Oil
on canvas. 60" x 60".
Flomenhaft Gallery, NY.
The Purpose of Art

Art , Experience, and Memory

LOUISA CHASE. Storm (1981). Oil on canvas. 90" x 120". Denver Art Museum, Denver, CO.
The Purpose of Art

Art , Experience, and Memory

FAITH RINGGOLD. Tar Beach (1988). Acrylic paint on canvas and pieced fabric. 74"x68 1⁄2".
Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, NY..
The Purpose of Art

Art and the Social and Cultural Context

EDWARD HOPPER. Nighthawks (1942). Oil on canvas. 30" x 60". The Art Institute of
Chicago, Chicago, IL.
The Purpose of Art

Art and the Social and Cultural Context

RICHARD HAMILTON. Just What Is It That Makes Today’s Homes So Different, So Appealing?
(1956). Collage. 10 1⁄4" x 9 3⁄4". Kunsthalle Tubingen, Tubingen, Germany.
The Purpose of Art

Art and the Social and Cultural Context

FERNANDO AMORSOLO. Fruit Pickers Harvesting under the Mango Tree (1939).
Oil on canvas.
The Purpose of Art

Art and the Social and Cultural Context

DON SALUBAYBA
The Purpose of Art

Art and Social Consciousness

EUGENE DELACROIX. Liberty Leading the People (1830). Oil on canvas.
8'6" x 10'10". Louvre, Paris, France.
The Purpose of Art

Art and Social Consciousness

PABLO PICASSO. Guernica (1937). Oil on canvas. 11'6" x 25'8". Museo Nacional Centro de
Arte Reina Sofia, Madrid, Spain..
 The Purpose of Art

Art and Popular Culture

MARCEL DUCHAMP. Fountain (1917). 1951 version after lost original. Porcelain urinal. 24"
high.
The Purpose of Art

Art and Decoration

JOYCE KOZLOFF. Galla Placidia in Philadelphia (1985). Mosaic installation. 13' 16'. Penn
Center Suburban Station, Philadelphia, PA.
 The Purpose of Art
Art and the Needs of the
Artist
• SIMON RODIA. Simon Rodia Towers in Watts
(1921–1954). Cement with various objects.
98' high. Cultural Affairs Department, Los
Angeles, CA.