Republic of the Philippines

DR. EMILIO B. ESPINOSA, SR. MEMORIAL STATE COLLEGE

(Masbate State College)
www.debesmscat.edu.ph
Mandaon, Masbate
COLLEGE OF INDUSTRIAL TECHNOLOGY

Subject: GE 6 – ARTS APPRECIATION

Course: BSIT 2nd Year Students
Course Description: Nature, function and appreciation of the arts in contemporary society.
Topic: Sharpening the Tools for Appreciation

Week: #4-6
Hours: 9 hours
Subject Instructor: MARIA LENN P. MARANITA

I. LEARNING OBJECTIVES:
At the end of the unit, the students must be able to:
 Familiarize with the different styles and forms of arts
 Understand the importance of art in the development of a nation
 Evaluate one’s learning

II. CONTENT
The Ultimate Purpose of Art

The Unification
Thought Theory
argues that we have
now a degenerate or
culturally declining
art. This depravity
springs from the fact
that we have a
decadent culture. Art
is the center of culture
so that once a culture
is lost, art is also lost
with it.
Michaelangelo did in the Sistine Chapel.
Art fueled by the culture of society moves away
from its basic purpose that is – to please God who had
been in sorrow since the beginning of the history of
humankind. We cannot ignore the fact that artists
today consider the monetary return and fame from their
artistic work more rather than the thought of pleasing
their creator. To make this explanation more specific,
how much money does the painter collects from the
priest in order to repaint the church? How much was
collected by the local sculpture from the priest to sculpt
the image of the Virgin Mary? The services to make
these things should have been free like what

According to this theory, God is the greatest artist and the universe is His greatest
masterpiece. He created the universe out of the intention to obtain joy. Like God, artists
should have also created artwork for the intention to obtain joy - joy for them as artists
endowed with a rare quality, joy for their fellow humans, but above all, joy to God.

Beauty

A student may say that many of his/her classmates are beautiful while the others
may give no comment. Is beauty only in the eye of the beholder? How do we define
beautiful?

For the Spaniards, according to Prosper Merimee, for a woman to be beautiful,

she must have three dark things – dark eyes, dark eyelashes and dark eyebrows. To a
certain village in Africa, the woman with the longest neck is the most beautiful. Also in
Africa, a woman with pouting lips is beautiful. To the Filipinos, for a woman to be
beautiful, she must be white, with long hair and pointed nose. To sum up this
characteristics, one will find an appearance of a Caucasoid woman, a western look. So
how can we identify the beauty of ourselves in the national setting when we consider the
western look beautiful? If such are the criteria to determine beauty, how could one
determine if she has beauty? Anthon Chekhov, a Russian playright said, “When a woman
isn't beautiful, people always say, 'You have lovely eyes, you have lovely hair.'

Fortunately, it is not the point of argument here. What we have just dealt about
was a pure physical look which is not the only concern of art. God is the greatest artist;
there is nothing ugly in His creation. Beauty is something that is beyond what the eyes
can see. Beauty is the value that the giver (artist) gives and the receiver (appreciator)
receives. It is the value of art that stimulates desire of the appreciator.

So, to judge the beauty of a certain work of art, the stimulation it creates to the
appreciator is the parameter.

Harmony in Art

This is about how beauty is achieved by the artist in his work. A work of art has a
purpose, and as we have explained previously, that is to please God and His people. Art
like anything else is a product of different materials or items put together. Achievement
of beauty relies on how these materials or items are arranged or put together by the artist.
Putting together all the materials or items depends on the craftsmanship of the artist. To
come up with beauty, these materials are arranged or fixed in harmony with the purpose
of the artist. There is no beauty if there is no harmony. There is no harmony if materials
are not put together to meet the purpose of the artist.

Technicalities of Art

Noticeable in the face of Monalisa are lines and forms mingled with colors so as
to produce the greatest painting. The same things are observable in the Eiffel tower.
Eiffel tower is considered as one of the greatest achievements in the field of architecture.
Its fame attracted thousands of tourists throughout the world every year. But looking
closely at it, one will find that it is only a combination of lines and forms. It has no color
elements, but like paintings, it has lines and forms.

Lines, forms and colors are the most basic elements of visual arts. All arts have
elements of their own but in visual art, there are always lines and forms. Other elements
are texture and perspective.

Lines

1. Straight Lines
These are the most commonly used lines both in art and in engineering. Generally,
straight lines imply simplicity. A person is labeled straight if he is simple. He is
extremely opposite to the intricately decorated fellow labeled as baroque.
Vertical. A line rising perpendicularly from a level surface
upright. The fact that it is rising upward, it implies ambition,
authority, majesty and respect. Vertical line is seen in a man
standing straight, a tall tree. These are impressions of dignity.

Horizontal. A line in parallel to the horizon. These are lines of

repose and serenity, reclining person, landscape of bodies of
water and picture of horizontal lines.
 Diagonal. A line running in slanting direction. This imply actions and movements. A
running man, a bull fighting and other actions are pictures of diagonal lines.

2. Curved Lines
Curved lines suggest grace, movements, flexibility and joyousness. They are never
harsh or stern. They are formed in a gradual change in direction (C.A. Sanchez et al
1989). Curved lines are of various kinds. They are illustrated below.

Circle. A curve that is loci at all points in the plane and

equidistant from a fixed point called center.

Lunet. A kind of curve formed like a crescent.

Oblong. A kind of curve identified by its spherical form and

elongation in one dimension.

Forms

A combination of different lines would result to a certain form. As discussed

previously, visual arts are only a combination of lines and forms.

Colors

Is black a color? It is not a color. Color is a property of light so if there is no light,

there is no color. Lines and forms give structure to a work of art while colors give life to
it. There are three attributes of color namely: hue, value, and intensity.

Hue refers to the name of the color itself. When we say the color of the dress is
yellow, we are naming its hue as yellow. Blue, red and yellow are primary hues. Mixing
equally the primary ones produces secondary hues. Secondary hues are orange, green and
violet. Orange is the result of a mixture of red and yellow, green from mixing yellow and
blue, violet from mixing blue and red.

Mixing together two hues would result to a new

color. For instance, mixing yellow and green would
result to yellow-green. To illustrate further the
productions of new hue, a color wheel is provided
below.

Some colors are so glaring to the eyes. Others

are so soft that people, after they have looked at the
warm colors, look at the soft ones to neutralize the
sight. This refers to the warm and cool colors.

Red, orange and yellow are warm colors. They

associate with the sources of heat such as sun, light, and
fire. They imply cheerfulness, joys, actions, life and
happiness.

Blue, blue-green, blue-violet are considered

cool colors. They suggest distance calm, sober restful
and inconspicuous.

Color harmonies refer to the groupings of hues. There are two kinds namely:
related color harmonies and contrasted color harmonies.
 Related color harmonies refer to the combination of several tones of one hue,
like for example orange, tan, brown and others from the orange family. This is the
agreement of different tones. It is also called monochromatic. The other one is called
adjacent or neighboring harmony, two or three neighboring hues on the color circle are
used together. For example, tones of green, yellow and orange can produce a delightful
harmony.

Contrasted color harmonies refer to the disagreement or opposition of hues.

There is difficulty in combining the opposite hues but when they are properly harmonized
they give a beautiful effect.

Value

This is the relative lightness or darkness

of a color or a quality of light and dark.
Practically, knowledge on the value of
color helps anyone achieve the best
effect they want to achieve. A scale is
provided to explain further the meaning
of value.

Values are measured using a value scale which has an infinite number of values. Most
value scales are sufficient when showing 7-9 values.

Intensity

It is worth remembering that colors

have psychological and emotional bearings.
Sometimes, emotions are shown on the
thickness of the color being applied. This is
apparent in the fauvism form of art. Fauvist
like Van Gogh expressed his emotion by
thickening the color of his objects. Red is
associated with cheer, warm or happiness. A
fauvist, to express his feeling or happiness,
thicken the red color. This is referred to as the
third element of art known as intensity.

Intensity is the brightness or darkness

of color. It can be in the same hue but
different intensity. It deals with the amount of purity in the hue itself. It is also referred to
as “saturation”. The color blue can be very thick or bright in the upper portion but can be
very dark in the lower portion. But it is still blue. Intensity can be described as full
intensity, two third intensity, two third neutral and neutral.

There are still other elements of visual arts. Some of them are texture, perspective,
light and darkness or chiaroscuro.

Texture

This is the visual appearance of things. In sculpture, this includes the sense of
touch that has something to do with the characteristics of surface. It can be rough or
smooth, fine or coarse, shiny or dull and so on. In painting, texture represents the skin,
clothes, jewelry and other objects of the artists.

Perspective
 This is the painters’ technique to make the object of their art appear as in the
distance or in a depth. To draw a high way, painters use two converging lines. The two
lines of a railway seem to meet in the distance. In a long file of things or people, the
figures in the distance are smaller than those in the foreground. Objects seem to recede
into the distance. This is perspective, the distant appearance of an object.

Chiaroscuro (light and shadow)

The word is taken from the two Italian word chiaro which means light and oscuro
which means dark. This is a pictorial representation using light and shade without the use
of colors.

STYLES AND FORMS OF ARTS ACCORDING TO DEVELOPMENT

People have already appreciated art long before they learned to write. Paintings,
were believed to have been mustered before the advent of writing were seen on a wall of
a certain cave of Cro-Magnon France. This art on the wall has an extreme theme of
naturalism. They are reflections of things seen by the hunting cavemen. Mostly, they are
pictures of wild animals and trees. But as shown further, the development of art in the
cave was not left behind by the development of the people from food gathering to food
producing. Some paintings contain symbolic elements as modern arts do. There are
paintings of fallen leaves to indicate summer, zigzag lines probably to indicate mountains
or seas fingers made stripes may represent rainbow.

Renaissance

Renaissance refers to the rebirth or

revival of the classic. This is a period in
European Civilization that aims to bring
back the classic art of the Greeks and
Romans. But artists of this period were still
free to integrate their own taste into the
classic although features of classicism such
as balance, harmony, proportions and
intellectual orders were the standard of the
time. The School of Athens (1509) – Raphael

It marks the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity covering the 15th and
16th century.

Mannerism

According to chronology, Mannerism is situated between the High Renaissance

and Baroque styles at the ending part of the 15 th century in Europe; although the term was
also used in the 18th century to refer to the 16 th century artists who adhered to their
Renaissance masters.
 The Feast in the House of Levi (1573) – Paolo Veronese

The term comes from the Italian word, maniera or “style”. Manner is another
word for ways or means. The mannerists still followed the forms of the artists of the
Reinassance. They followed them as their inspiration and tried to perfect what the
renaissance masters had done.

Baroque Art

It is derived from the word

barocco which means an ill-shaped
pearl. The word can be associated
to an overly ornamented thing or
person. A person with too much
adornment is labeled as Baroque.
Curved and zigzag lines, which
express vitality and actions, make
fit to the standard of baroque art.
This art flourished in Europe
The Garden of Love (1633) – Peter Paul Rubens during the 17th to 18th centuries.
Baroque art rejects straight lines
because in art, straight lines imply simplicity.

Classicism

Generally, the term refers to a work of art

with quality and taste belonging to the highest.
The term also refers to the imitation of Greek
and Roman literature, architecture and art.
Artists of Classicism adhered to the traditional
aesthetic principle and formalities although they
flavored their works with expression and
individuality. Art belonging to this form could be
characterized by its clarity, balance, order, unity,
Christ Served by the Angels (1650) – Jacques Stella
dignity and symmetry. The three columns of the
Greeks are still dominant in Classicism.

Romanticism
 This refers to the movement in art and
philosophy that began and developed in Europe in the
18th and 19th centuries. It was said that Romanticism is
both an expansion and at the same time, a reaction
against the Enlightenment. Artists of Romanticism
emphasized the individual. It is subjective, irrational,
imaginative, personal, visionary, and transcendental.
Concerning the subject of Romanticism, Carrassat and
Marcade’ (2005) said “artists expressed their own
opinion on current events. Their canvasses became
vehicles of outpouring of extreme, impassioned,
strange, melancholic feelings. Their landscapes are
drenched in human emotion, mystery and poetry – a
gnarled tree, for example, symbolizes anguish and
pain.”
The Soul of the Rose (1908) – John William Waterhouse

Gothic Art

Gothic Art is a period in European

art which links medieval Romanesque art
with the Early Renaissance. The period is
divided into Early Gothic (1150-1250),
High Gothic (1250-1375), and International
Gothic (1375-1450). Its main form of
expression was architecture which is shown
through the various Gothic cathedrals in
Northern France. Primary gothic media also
include panel painting, stained glass, fresco
and illuminated manuscripts.

Gothic art, which is basically

religious art, was a major factor in the
growing power of the Church in Rome.
Gothic art illustrates its upright position
Coronation of the Virgin (1432) – Fra Angelico
leading to God.

Modernism

Modernization is characterized by the advancement of technology. This

technology brought several changes to people’s lifestyle and this lifestyle gives birth to
several artistic creations.

Some modern arts that come

out through recent inventions are
photography, industrial arts,
cosmetics and advertising.
Cinematography is also an art that
emerged together with the modern
innovation of humans.

The word modernism comes

from the Latin “modo” referring to
 something which belongs today. It is a form of artistic experimentation of getting away
with what was in the past. It flourished in the 1940’s and 1960’s in Paris. It is
characterized with simple shapes and modern artificial materials.

Prerequisites to Appreciation

We have already discussed much about the purpose of art. The artist does not
paint something because he feels like painting. The writer does not write because he likes
to write. There is something in their hearts that they want humanity to understand. We, as
appreciators of art, have duty to do. We will not just appreciate art because we feel like
doing it. We have a duty to discover the “something” that artist wants us to understand.

To help you achieve understanding of the meaning of the work of art, some points
are provided below.

1. Attitude. This refers to your interest in art or to a certain work of art. We

cannot do something that we do not like. In other words, we cannot come into
oneness with the artist if in the first place we do not like art. To make you
understand things, make yourself free from any form of evil thoughts, abhor
all worldly materials because the meaning of art does not reside in this world.
You try to practice contemplation, reflection and discernment.

2. Background of the work. It is necessary to know first the philosophy,

religion and even the personal problem of the artist when he created the work
of art. Background knowledge means knowing the circumstances that
motivate the artist to do the work.

3. Empathy. It means to sympathize with the sorrow of the characters. It is a

subjective action which through it, you become closer and more united with
the work of art.

4. Location. This is the place where art is appreciated. The place contributes
much to your success. There is a place for drama or ballet performance.
Gallery is a right place to appreciate painting while a silent place like a library
is the right place for reading a novel.

VIII. References

 Art Appreciation: Introduction to the Humanities by Claudio V. Tabotabo et. al.,

c2010