LESSON 1- ART CONCEPTS

Philosophy of Art

• There is no one universal definition of art

though there is a consensus that is it the
conscious creation of something beautiful or
meaningful using skill and imagination.

 Etymology
Art is related to the Latin word ‘ars’-
which means art, skill or craft. The first known
use of the word comes from 13th century
manuscripts.
The definition of art has generally
fallen into three categories:

• Art as Representation: Mimesis. Plato first

developed the idea of art as mimesis in
Greek meaning copying or imitation.
Hence, the primary meaning of art was for
centuries defined as the representation or
replication of something that is beautiful
or meaningful.
• Art as Expression of Emotional
Content. Expression became important
during the Romantic Movement with
artwork expressing a definite feeling as
in the sublime or dramatic. Audience
response was important for artwork was
intended to evoke an emotional
response.
• Art as Form. Immanuel Kant, influential
theorist at the end of 18th century, believed
that should be judged only on its formal
qualities because the content of the work of
art is not of aesthetic interest. Formal
qualities became important when art became
more abstract in the 20th century and the
principles of art and design (balance, rhythm,
harmony, unity) were used to define and
assess art.
Definition (Comments and
Quotes) on Art
1. Art evokes the mystery without which
the world would not exist.
---Rene Magritte

2. Art is a discovery and development of

elementary principles of nature.
---Frank Lloyd Wright
3. Art enables us to find ourselves and lose
ourselves at the same time.
---Thomas Merton
4. The purpose of art is washing the dust of daily life
off our souls.
---Pablo Picasso

5. All art is but imitation of nature.

---Lucius Seneca
6. Art is not what you see but what you
make others see.
---Edgar Degas

7. Art is the signature of civilizations.

---Jean Sibelius
8. Art is a human activity consisting in this that one
man consciously, by means of certain
external signs, hands on to other feelings he has
lived through and that others are infected by
these feelings and also experience them.
---Leo Tolstoy

9. Art is the concrete representation of our most

subtle feelings.
---Agnes Martin
10. Art is the elimination of the unnecessary.
---Pablo Picasso

11. Art without emotion is like chocolate cake

without sugar.
---Laurie Anderson

12. Art is the proper task of life.

---Friedrich Nietzsche
13. Art is to console those who are broken by
life. ---Vincent Van Gogh

14. Art wasn’t supposed to look nice, it was

supposed to make you feel something.
---Rainbow Rowell

15. Art is the only way to run away without

leaving home.
---Twyla Tharp
16.Art is a way of recognizing oneself.
---Loiuse Bourgeois

17. Art helps us identify with one another.

---Olafur Eliasson

18. Art is the most intense mode of individualism

that the world has known.
---Oscar Wilde