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Saint Mary’s University

School of Teacher Education and Humanities
Bayombong, Nueva Vizcaya
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ART APPRECIATION
PREPARED BY: DOMINGO T. GUNTALILIB JR.
 DEFINITION OF ARTS
- came from the Latin term ‘ars’ which means ability or skill. It
is a process of creation and also includes those areas of
artistic creativity.
- something that is created with imagination and skills and that
is beautiful or that expresses important ideas or feelings
- skills acquired by experience, study or observation.
- the conscious use of skill and creative imagination especially
in the production of aesthetic objects.
Imagination and creativity are essential in the
arts. According to Leaño and Agtani (2018),
“imagination is about seeing the impossible, or
unreal. Creativity is using imagination to
unleash the potential of existing ideas in order
to create new and valuable ones”.
 Universal

Cultural
- Expression
Empathy and
Experience
Not Nature
Creation

ASSUMPTIONS
Art is Universal
- created by people at all times
- one of the oldest and most important means of expression developed by man.
- No matter what epoch or country, there is always art. Art lives because it is a
fundamental part of man’s life (Zulueta, 2007).
“Art is not confined to a boundary. Furthermore, art is apparent in religion,
politics, trade and industry, as well as in the government. Its presence cannot be
ignored (Ortiz, Erestain, Guillermo, Montano and Pillar, 1976) because art is
everywhere.”
Art is Cultural
- Although art is universal, it does not necessarily follow that
the arts are the same in all cultures.
- It still varies as much as it is culture-bound. Art is also
present among ethnic and cultural groups.
“Hence, art can be seen in different forms and styles because
individuals have different ways of perceiving things.“
Art is Expression
- Art has grown out of man’s need to express himself. It could be in the
form of writing or speaking, painting, or music. The means of
expression is not limited to one’s feelings, experiences, or ideas.

“The social values and the underlying psychological insights are also
expressed through the artwork. The arts produced embody the unique
personality of the artists because as they are involved in the process of
completing the artwork, they are consciously and/or unconsciously
affected by their environment, traditions, national traits, religious
beliefs, economic conditions and their ideals (Estolas, 2007).”
Art is Empathy and Experience
THREE MAJOR KINDS OF EXPERIENCES INVOLVED IN THE ARTISTIC ACTIVITY.
a. It starts with the experience that the artists want to communicate.
b. Secondly, the act of expressing this experience is also another form of
experience in itself.
c. Finally, the artists feel another experience when the work is done which
is the sense of accomplishment that they experience.
“John Dewey posited that art must not be separated from experience. He
also stated that the ‘aesthetic experience resides in the recognition of the
wholeness of the interrelationships among the things presented or
depicted’.”
But there is more into the experience that artists
experience in the making of their artwork. This refers
to what an onlooker or listener undergoes when he
perceives the work of art. The perception may kindle
an experience which is, or could be, similar or related
to that which the artist tried to express (Estolas,
2007).
Art and Nature
- Art is not nature. A work of art is man-made. Artists make
use of nature as their inspiration and medium but this does
not mean that the artwork is automatically nature.
- The nature-based artwork may closely resemble nature but it
could never be a duplicate of nature. Through a camera,
nature could be closely resembled but the output is only a
record of the subject or the scene.
Art is Creation
Art is a planned activity. Although artists think out a design,
select their materials and arrange them according to their design,
their work is never wholly original. They may have envisioned a
particular artwork but sometimes the finished product may not be
what they originally envisioned. In the creation process, the artists
are involved in a constant correction and redirection, and this
depends on the demands of the material and the challenges it poses.
 DEFINITION: ART APPRECIATION
• According to Leaño and Agtani (2018, citing Ariola, 2014),
‘art appreciation refers to the pursuit of knowledge and
understanding of the universal and timeless qualities
characterizing works of art. It invokes an analysis of the
works based on acknowledged elements of composition and
principles of design, through which enjoyment of the
humanities is enhanced’.
 Representation:
Plato vs Aristotle

Expression:
Escape: Form of
Anthropomorphic
play
PHILOSOPHICAL properties
PERSPECTIVES

Aesthetic Form: Significant

Experience: form
Aesthetic pleasure
Art as Representation.
The concept of the arts as imitation may be traced
back to Plato and Aristotle. Plato, who was an idealist,
believed that art exists in the realm of ideals. Empiricist
Aristotle, on the other hand, believed that art is a mirror
of reality. Although Plato and Aristotle differed in their
concept of the universal, both shared the same perspective
as to the idea that through imitation art portrays the
universe (Maguigad, 2007).
Art as Expression
According to Caroll (2013), “the concept of expression
that interests philosophers of art ranges over qualities such
as emotive qualities and qualities of character”. She added,
“expression is the manifestation, exhibition, objectification,
embodiment, projection or showing forth of human
qualities, or, as they are also called, “anthropomorphic
properties” (properties that standardly apply only to
human persons).”
• Caroll mentioned one theory, called the common view regarding art
as expression, to wit:
An artist expresses (manifests, embodies, projects, objectifies)
x (some human quality) if and only if:
1. the artist has been moved by a feeling or an experience of x to
compose his artwork (or a part thereof);
2. the artist has imbued his artwork (or some part of it) with x (some
human quality); and
3. the artwork (or the relevant part) has the capacity to give the artist
the feeling or experience of x when he or she reads, listens to
and/or sees it again, and, consequently, to impart the same feeling or
experience of x to other readers, listeners and/or viewers.
Art as Form
Formalism arose as a reaction to the representational theories of art.
The artistic practices that were particularly relevant to the emergence of
formalism were the developments in painting and sculpture that have come
to be known as modern art or modernism. Their aim was not to capture the
perceptual appearances of the world but often to make images noteworthy
for their visual organization, form, and arresting design.
Significant form is comprised of arrangements of lines, colors, shapes,
volumes, vectors, and space (two-dimensional space, three-dimensional space,
and the interaction thereof).
Art as Aesthetic Experience
A thing of beauty gives man pleasure as he perceives it. The delight that
he experiences is called aesthetic pleasure. ‘Man’s desire for beauty stems
from a primordial sense of order and consistency’ (Ortiz et al., 1976). We
tense up and show gestures of displeasure when we see objects or things
that do not meet our taste. But we show contentment when we perceive,
touch, and hear pleasurable things and sound.
However, what is beautiful is relative. As Ortiz et al. (1976) stated, ‘our
attitude is usually conditioned by many factors’ and ‘this attitude is colored
by some personal preferences and biases’.
Furthermore, as cited by Caroll (2013), the aesthetic
definition of art maintains that x is an artwork if and
only if (1) x is produced with the intention that
it possesses a certain capacity, namely (2) the
capacity of affording aesthetic experience.
Art as Escape
There are many things that confront man. He is confronted
by the clutter of work, personal dilemma, relationship with other
people and so on. He then finds time and other things to which
he can find expression for his predicaments. Artists can make use
of art as an outlet. As stated by Immanuel Kant in his Critique of
Judgment, art in itself is fun and it is closer to play than to work.
Besides, Plato observed that art is a form of play for the artist.
 FUNCTIONS

- Personal: educate senses and

sharpen perception

Social: reform man

Physical: form and function

FUNCTION OF ARTS
Art has the general function of “satisfying our
(1) individual needs for personal experience,
(2) social needs for display, celebration and
communication, and (
(3) physical needs for utilitarian objects and structure”
(Ortiz et al., 1976).
Personal Function
Art helps educate man’s senses and sharpen his perception
of the elements in the environment such as color, forms, textures,
designs, sounds, rhythms, and harmonies. It can also lead to an
intensified awareness of the beautiful life and it refines and
elevates an individual’s aesthetic taste. It also provides insights for
other ways of thinking, feeling and imagining those that have
never occurred.
Social Function
Art is a powerful means to reform man and change his
deviant behavior into a socially accepted one. It can move
man from immoral or disorderly actions (Zulueta, 2007) to
an improved human condition (Ortiz et al., 1976). It tends
to influence the collective behavior of humans for a cause
(Zulueta, 2007).
Art functions socially when:
(1) it seeks or tends to influence the collective behavior of
people
(2) it is created to be seen or used primarily in public
situations,
(3) it expresses or describes social or collective aspects of
existence as opposed to individual and personal kinds of
experiences” (Zulueta, 2007).
Physical Function
Whenever art has function, this function influences and
often determines the form. If an object is made for a certain
function, it should be made in such a way that it can
perform its function. Functions change according to form,
and if there are many functions, there will be many forms
(Zulueta, 2007).
 Functional works of art can be classified as either
tools or containers. Tools and containers are objects which
function to make our lives comfortable. A spoon is a tool;
so is a car. A building and a community are containers. These
tools and containers fulfill particular purposes. However, the
functional works of art must not only be aesthetically
pleasing but must also perform its function efficiently (Ortiz
et al., 1976).
Self-Assessment Questions:
1. Why is the study of humanities important?
2. What is art appreciation?
3. What is creativity? Why is creativity necessary in art making?
When can you say that a person is creative?
4. Why do people create works of art?
5. If you were an artist, what kind of artist would you be?
6. What art field will you explore? Why?
7. How can you utilize the arts to express yourself, your community,
and your relation to others and with the earth?
8. Does art always have its function? If artwork does not have any
function, will it remain as art?
9. Why is art ageless and timeless?
10.Why does art involve experience?
Required activity:
Erasure Poetry: This is a written activity on the importance of the
arts. You will be provided an article in which you will be instructed
to erase some words, phrases, sentences or paragraphs by the use
of pen or marker. Put together words or phrases that were
retained and create a poem that describes the importance of the
arts. Rewrite the poem in the activity page. Attach or append the
article where the erasures were placed.
THANK YOU!!!