The Nature of Art:

WHAT IS ART?
Jherome L. Sarona, LPT
What is Art?
“Untitled”
by Jean-Michael Basquiat
• Sold for $110.5 million
at Sotheby’s auction in
May 2017
 Etymology
• The term “art” is related to the Latin word
“ars” meaning, arts, skills or craft.
• The first known use of word comes from
13th-century manuscripts.
 Philosophy of Art
2 Subtexts:
• The essential nature of art
• Social importance
 Philosophy of Art
3 Categories:
1. Art as Representation: Mimesis
2. Art as Expression of Emotional Content
3. Art as Form
 Philosophy of Art
3 Categories:
1. Art as
Representation:
Mimesis
 Philosophy of Art
3 Categories:
2. Art as Expression of
Emotional Content
 Philosophy of Art
3 Categories:
3. Art as Form
 History of How Art is Defined
“…we cannot escape viewing works of art in the
context of time and circumstance, whether past or
present. How indeed could it be otherwise, so long
as part is still being created all around us, opening
our eyes almost daily to new experiences and thus
forcing to adjust our sights?”
- H.W. Janson, author of The History of Art
 History of How Art is Defined
• Western Culture from the 11th to 17th Century
• Romantic Period of the 18th Century
• The Avant-Gart Art Movement began in the
1850s
 QUOTES
• “Art evokes the mystery without which the world not
exist.”- Rene Magritte
• “Art is a discovery and development of elementary
principles of nature into beautiful forms suitable for
human use.”- Franklin Lloyd Wright
• “Art enables us to find ourselves and lose ourselves at the
same time.”- Thomas Merton
• “The purpose of art is washing the dust of daily life off
our souls.” – Pablo Picasso
 QUOTES
• “All art is but imitation of nature.” – Lucius
Annaeus Seneca
• “Art is not what you see, but what you make others
see.”- Edgar Degas
• “Art is the signature of civilizations.”- Jean Sibelius
 TASK 1
• Task 1 INSTRUCTION:
The American writer and comedian
Groucho Marx once declare. "Well, art • MAKE YOUR PERSONAL
is, isn't it? Still, on the other hand, DEFINITION OF ART IN
water is water! And east is east and MINIMUM OF 3-4
west is west and if you take cranberries SENTENCES or more
and stew them like applesauce they
taste much more like prunes than
rhubarb does. Now, uh.. now you tell Mode of Submission:
me what you know." So, what makes • Put your namem, section, and
art, "Art"? What is "Art" to you? How
do you know if something is an "Art"?
program above
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