Module 1 - Introductions and Definitions

OVERVIEW
This module gives a basic understanding of how art is defined and the different ways it
functions in societies and cultures. It covers the following topics:

 What is Art
 Form and Content
 Aesthetics
 Subjective and Objective Perspectives
 Artistic Roles
 Artistic Categories
 Artistic Styles
 Ideas of Perception and Visual Awareness

OBJECTIVES
Upon successful completion of this module, you should be able to:

 Define ‘art’ within a cultural perspective.

 Explain the difference between ‘objective’ and ‘subjective.’
 Explain the different roles art plays within different cultures.
 Define the term ‘subject matter.’
 Define the categories ‘realistic’, ‘abstract,’ and ‘non-objective.’
 Recognize, evaluate, and describe artistic styles.
 Discuss the meaning of ‘aesthetics’ and its relationship to cultural conventions.
 Identify and discuss issues of visual awareness.

WHAT IS ART?

Panorama of a section of A Thousand Li of Mountains and Rivers, by Wang Ximeng from the 12th-
century Song Dynasty
This image is in the public domain
How would you define ‘art’? For many people art is a specific thing; a painting, sculpture
or photograph, a dance, a poem or a play. It is all of these things, and more. They
are mediums of artistic expression. Webster’s New Collegiate dictionary defines art as
“The conscious use of skill and creative imagination especially in the production of
aesthetic objects.” Yet art is much more than a medium, or words on a page. It is the
expression of our experience. Joseph Brodsky hints at a definition of art in his poem
“New Life”:
“Ultimately, one’s unbound
curiosity about these empty zones,
about these objectless vistas,
is what art seems to be all about.”
Art is uniquely human and tied directly to culture. It takes the ordinary and makes it
extraordinary. It asks questions about who we are, what we value, the meaning of
beauty and the human condition. As an expressive medium it allows us to experience
sublime joy, deep sorrow, confusion and clarity. It tests our strengths, vulnerabilities and
resolve. It gives voice to ideas and feelings, connects us to the past, reflects the present
and anticipates the future. Along these lines, art history, combined with anthropology
and literature, are three main sources in observing, recording and interpreting our
human past. Visual art is a rich and complex subject whose definition is in flux as the
culture around it changes. Because of this, how we define art is in essence a question
of agreement. In this respect, we can look again to the dictionary’s definition for an
understanding of exactly what to look for when we proclaim something as ‘art’.
FORM & CONTENT
Two basic considerations we need to be acquainted with are form: the physical and
visible characteristics inherent in works of art, and content: the meaning we derive
from them. Formal distinctions include a work’s size, medium (painting, drawing,
sculpture or other kind of work) and descriptions of compositional elements such as the
lines, shapes and colors involved. Issues of content include any visual clues that
provide an understanding of what the art tells us. Sometimes an artwork’s content is
vague or hidden and needs more information than is present in the work itself.
Ultimately these two terms are roped together in the climb to understand what art has to
offer us. As we examine art from different time periods, styles and cultures, the issues
of form and content will apply to all of them. We’ll explore form and content further in
Modules 3 and 4.
AESTHETICS
Aesthetics is the philosophical argument about the nature of beauty. It’s an idea central
to any exploration of art. Aesthetics deals with notions of taste, cultural conventions –
ideas of art being ‘good’ and ‘bad’ based on specific cultural information and beliefs and
the judgments we make based on our perceptions.
As deep as visual art is embedded in the fabric of our lives, it still is the source of
controversy and irony. It thrives on common experience yet contradicts ideas of
ourselves. Art is part of the culture it’s created in, but can reflect many cultures at once.
From where you and I stand today art has become probably more complex than ever in
its use of imagery, mediums and meanings. We need a way to access the visual
information of our society, of past cultures, and cultures not known to us to have a way
to understand what we are looking at.
SUBJECTIVE & OBJECTIVE PERSPECTIVES
The first level in approaching art is learning to LOOK at it. In future discussions we will
spend more time in pure observation than you probably have done before. Generally,
we tend to look at art in terms of "liking" it FIRST, and "looking" at it later. From this
perspective, the subjective (knowledge residing in the emotions and thoughts of the
viewer) almost completely dominates our way of looking at art. In the arts, it’s especially
important to begin to develop an informed or objective opinion rather than just an
instinctual reaction. An objective view is one that focuses on the object’s physical
characteristics as the main source of information. This does not mean that you will
remove or invalidate your subjective feelings about a work, in fact you will find that the
more informed you become, the more art work will affect you emotionally and
intellectually. It does mean that you will learn alternative ways to approach art, ways
that allow you to find clues to meaning and to understand how art reflects and affects
our lives.
It’s complex, but the satisfaction of looking at art comes from exploring the work to find
meaning, not shying away from it simply because we may not understand it.
ARTISTIC ROLES
Visual artists and the works they produce perform specific roles. These roles vary
between cultures. We can examine some general areas to see the diversity they offer –
and perhaps come up with some new ones of our own.
Description
A traditional role of visual art is to describe our self and our surroundings. Some of the
earliest artworks discovered are drawings and paintings of humans and wild animals on
walls deep within prehistoric caves. One particular image is a hand print: a universal
symbol of human communication.
Portraits
Portraits, landscapes and still life are common examples of description. Portraits
capture the accuracy of physical characteristics but the very best also transfer a sense
of an individual’s unique personality. For thousands of years this role was reserved for
images of those in positions of power, influence and authority. The portrait not only
signifies who they are, but also solidifies class structure by presenting only the highest-
ranking members of a society.
The portrait bust of Egyptian Queen Nefertiti, dated to around 1300 BCE, exemplifies
beauty and royalty.

Egyptian, Bust of Nefertiti, painted sandstone, c. 1370 BCE, Neues Museum, Berlin.

The full-length Imperial Portrait of Chinese Emperor Xianfeng below not only shows
realism in the likeness of the emperor, it exalts in the patterns and colors of his robe and
the throne behind him.

Imperial Portrait of Emperor Xianfeng, China, c. 1855. Palace Museum, Bejing.

Landscapes
Landscapes – by themselves – give us detailed information about our natural and
human made surroundings; things like location, architecture, time of day, year or
season plus other physical information such as geological elements and the plants and
animals within a particular region.
In many western cultures, the more realistic the rendering of a scene the closer to our
idea of the ‘truth’ it becomes. In the 15 century German artist Albrecht Durer creates
th

vivid works that show a keen sense of observation. His Young Hare from 1495 is
uncanny in its realism and sense of animation.

Albrecht Durer, Young Hare, c. 1505, gouache and watercolor on paper. Albertina Museum, Vienna.
Image in the public domain.

Scientific Illustration
Out of this striving for accuracy and documentation developed the art of scientific
illustration. The traditional mediums of painting and drawing are still used to record
much of the world around us. Linda Berkley’s Merino Ram uses a layered approach to
record in great detail the physical anatomy of the head of the great sheep.
Merino Ram, composite drawing, colored pencil, acrylic on Canson paper, 2009. Linda Berkley, Illustrator.
Used by permission of the artist

Enhancing our World

Enhancing the world of our everyday lives is another role art plays. This role is
more utilitarian than others. It includes textiles and product
design, decorative embellishments to the items we use every day and all the aesthetic
considerations that create a more comfortable, expressive environment
Narratives: How Artists Tell Their Stories
Artists can combine representation with more complex elements and situational
compositions to bring a narrative component into art. Using subject matter – the
objects and figures that inhabit a work of art -- as a vehicle for communicating stories
and other cultural expressions is another traditional function of visual art.
The narrative tradition is strong in many cultures throughout the world. They become a
means to perpetuate knowledge, morals and ethics, and can signify historical contexts
within specific cultures. Narrative takes many forms; the spoken or written word, music,
dance and visual art are the mediums most often used. Many times one is used in
conjunction with another. In his Migration Series by Jacob Lawrence paints stark, direct
images that communicate the realities of the African American experience in their
struggle to escape the repression of the South and overcome the difficulties of adjusting
to the big cities in the North.
 Migration Series Jacob Lawrence
In contrast, photographers used the camera lens to document examples of segregation
in the United States. Here the image on film tells its poignant story about inequalities
based on race.

Man Drinking at a Water Cooler in the Street Car Terminal, Russell Lee, Oklahoma City, 1939.
Photo from the National Archives and in the public domain

Spirit, Myth and Fantasy

Tied to the idea of narrative, another artistic role is the exploration of other worlds
beyond our physical one. This world is in many ways richer than our own and includes
the world of spirit, myth, fantasy and the imagination; areas particularly suited for the
visual artist. We can see how art gives a rich and varied treatment to these ideas. Artist
Michael Spafford has spent his career presenting classical Greek myths through
painting, drawing and printmaking. His spare, abstract style uses high contrast images
to strong dramatic effect. A Smiling Figure from ancient Mexico portrays a god of
dance, music and joy. A third example, Hieronymus Bosch’s painting the Temptation of
Saint Anthony), gives the subject matter both spiritual and bizarre significance in the
way they are presented. His creative imagination takes the subject of temptation and
raises it to the realm of the fantastic. There is an entire module devoted to the idea of
the other world later in this course.
 Smiling figure Temptation of St. Anthony

ARTISTIC CATEGORIES
Visual arts are generally divided into categories that make distinctions based on the
context of the work. For example, Leonardo da Vinci’s ‘Mona Lisa’ would not fall into the
same category as, say, a graphic poster for a rock concert. Some artworks can be
placed in more than one category. Here are the main categories:

Fine Art

This category includes drawings, paintings, sculptures, photographs and, in the last
decade, new media that are in museum collections and sold through commercial art
galleries. Fine art has a distinction of being some of the finest examples of our human
artistic heritage. Here is where you will find Leonardo Da Vinci’s Mona Lisa (below),
also ancient sculpture, such as the Gandhara figure from India (also below), and
stunning ceramics) from different cultures and time periods.

Mona Lisa, Leonardo Da Vincic. 1503-19. Oil on poplar. 30” x 21”. The Louvre, Paris
Image licensed through Creative Commons
Stucco Ganhara figure, India, 4th–5th century CE. Victoria & Albert Museum, London.
Licensed through GNU

Popular Culture

This category contains the many products and images we are exposed to every day. In
the industrialized world, this includes posters, graffiti, advertising, popular music,
television and digital imagery, magazines, books and movies (as distinguished
from film, which we’ll examine in a different context later in the course). Also included
are cars, celebrity status and all the ideas and attitudes that help define the
contemporary period of a particular culture.

Handbills posted on telephone poles or the sides of buildings are graphic, colorful and
informative, but they also provide a street level texture to the urban environment most of
us live in. Public murals serve this same function. They put an aesthetic stamp on an
otherwise bland and industrialized landscape.

Street handbills. Image by Christopher Gildow

Licensed through Creative Commons
 Public Mural, Seattle. Public Mural / Baguio city
Image by Christopher Gildow

Craft

Craft is a category of art that shows a high degree of skilled workmanship in its
production. Craft works are normally associated with utilitarian purposes, but can be
aesthetic works in themselves, often highly decorated. The Mexican ceramic vessel
below is an example. Handmade furniture and glassware, fine metalworking and leather
goods are other examples of craft.

Ceramic bowl, Mexico. Date unknown. Ifugao wooden ritual box (Punamhan)
Painted clay. Anahuacalli
Museum, Mexico City.

ARTISTIC STYLES
Style
The search for truth is not exclusive to representational art. From viewing many of the
examples so far you can see how individual artists use different styles to communicate
their ideas. Style refers to a particular kind of appearance in works of art. It’s a
characteristic of an individual artist or a collective relationship based on an idea, culture
or artistic movement. Following is a list and description of the most common styles in
art:
Naturalistic Style
Naturalistic style uses recognizable images with a high level of accuracy in their
depiction. Naturalism also includes the idealized object: one that is modified to achieve
a kind of perfection within the bounds of aesthetics and form. William Sydney Mount’s
painting The Bone Player) gives accuracy in its representation and a sense of character
to the figure, from his ragged-edged hat to the button missing from his vest. Mount
treats the musician’s portrait with a sensitive hand, more idealized by his handsome
features and soft smile.
The Bone Player

Abstract Style
Abstract style is based on a recognizable object but which is then manipulated by
distortion, scale issues or other artistic devices. Abstraction can be created by
exaggerating form, simplifying shapes or the use of strong colors. Let’s look at three
landscapes below with varying degrees of abstraction in them to see how this style can
be so effective. In the first one, Marsden Hartley uses abstraction to give the
spare “Landscape, New Mexico” a sense of energy. Through the rounded forms and
gesture in treatment we can discern hills, clouds, a road and some trees or bushes.

Landscape, New Mexico, Marsden Hartley, about 1916. Pastel on paper. The Brooklyn Museum, New
York.
 Image in the public domain

Georgia O’Keeffe’s Birch and Pine Trees employs abstraction to turn the painting into a
tree-filled landscape dominated by a spray of orange paint suggesting a branch of birch
leaves at the top left. Vasily Kandinsky’s Landscape with Red Spots goes further into
abstraction, releasing color from its descriptive function and vastly simplifying forms.
The rendering of a town at the lower left is reduced to blocky areas of paint and a black
triangular shape of hill in the background. In all three of these, the artists manipulate
and distort the ‘real’ landscape as a vehicle for emotion.

Birch and Pine Trees

It’s important to note the definition of ‘abstract’ is relative to cultural perspective. That is,
different cultures develop traditional forms and styles of art they understand within the
context of their own culture (see ‘Cultural Styles’ below), and which are difficult for other
cultures to understand. So what may be ‘abstract’ to one could be more ‘realistic’ in
style to another. For example, the Roman bust of Sappho below looks very real from a
western European aesthetic perspective. Under the same perspective, the African mask
would be called ‘abstract’.
Roman bust of Sappho. Capitoline Museum, Rome.
Image in the public domain.

African mask photo by Cezary.

Image in the public domain.

Yet to the African culture that produced the mask it would appear more realistic. In
addition, the African mask shares some formal attributes with the Tlingit ‘Groundhog
Mask’ (below under ‘Cultural styles’) from Canada’s west coast. It’s very possible these
two cultures would see the Roman bust as the ‘abstract’ one. So it’s important that we
understand artworks from cultures other than our own in the context in which they were
originally created.
Questions of abstraction can also emerge from something as simple as our distance
from an artwork. View and read about Fanny/Fingerpainting by the artist Chuck Close.
At first glance it is a highly realistic portrait of the artist’s grandmother-in law. You can
zoom it in to see how the painting dissolves into a grid of individual fingerprints, a
process that renders the surface very abstract. With this in mind, we can see how any
work of art is essentially made of smaller abstract parts that, when seen together, make
up a coherent whole.

Fanny/Fingerpainting

Non-objective imagery has no relation to the ‘real’ world – that is – the work of art is
based solely upon itself. In this way the non-objective style is completely different than
abstract, and it’s important to make the distinction between the two. This style rose from
the modern art movement in Europe, Russia and the United States during the first half
of the 20th century. Pergusa Three by American artist Frank Stella uses organic and
geometric shapes and strong color set against a heavy black background to create a
vivid image. More than with other styles, issues of content are associated with a non-
objective work’s formal structure.

Pergusa Three
Cultural Styles
Cultural styles refer to distinctive characteristics in artworks throughout a particular
society or culture. Some main elements of cultural styles are recurring motifs, created
in the same way by many artists. Cultural styles are formed over hundreds or even
thousands of years and help define cultural identity. We can find evidence of this by
comparing two masks; one from Alaska and the other from Canada. The Yupik dance
mask from Alaska is quite stylized with oval and rounded

forms divided by wide bands in strong relief. The painted areas outline or follow shapes.
Carved objects are attached to the mask and give an upward movement to the whole
artwork while the face itself carries an animated expression.

Ifugao cultural motif Yupik dance

By comparison, a ‘Groundhog Mask’ from the Tlingit culture in coastal northwestern
Canada exhibits similar forms and many of the same motifs. The mouths of each mask
are particularly similar to each other. Groundhog’s visage takes on human – like
characteristics just as the Yup’ik mask takes the form of a bird. This cultural style
ranges from western Alaska to northern Canada.
 Ground Hog Mask,Tlingit, c. 19 century. Carved and painted wood, animal hair.
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Collection the Burke Museum, University of Washington, Seattle.

Celtic art from Great Britain and Ireland shows a cultural style that’s been identified for
thousands of years. Its highly refined organic motifs include spirals, plant forms
and zoomorphism. Intricate and decorative, the Celtic style adapted to include early
book illustration. The Book of Kells is considered the pinnacle of this cultural style.

Page from the Book of Kells, around 800 CE. zoomorphism

Trinity College, Dublin.
Image in the public domain.

IDEAS OF PERCEPTION & VISUAL AWARENESS

Images from media and the environment around us – dominate our perception. Our
eyes literally navigate us through a visual landscape all our lives, and we all make
decisions based on how and what we see. Separating the subjective and objective
ways we see helps us become more visually aware of our surroundings. Scientifically,
the process of seeing is the result of light passing through the lens in our eye, then
concentrating it on the retina at the back of the eye. The retina has nerve cells that act
like sponges, soaking up the information and sending it to the visual cortex of our brain.
Here the light is converted to an image that we can perceive – the ‘truth’ – as we
understand it to be. We are exposed to so much visual information every day, especially
with the advent of mass media, that it’s hard to process all of it into specific meaning.
Being visually aware is more complicated than just the physical act of seeing because
our perceptions are influenced by exterior factors, including our own prejudices, desires
and ideas about what the ‘truth’ really is. Moreover, cultural ties to perception are many.
For example, let’s look at two images that share one particular element; that of raised
arms, and see how we perceive each one according to what we know about them.
 Standing Bather with Raised Arms 1930, Aristide Maillol, Marble

Touchdown Jesus , Monroe, Ohio

Art is a resource for questioning our perceptions about how objects and ideas present
themselves. The Belgian artist Rene Magritte used his easel as a soapbox to confront
the viewer with confounding visual information. Click the hyperlink to watch a short
video where Magritte considers language and perception.
As was mentioned at the beginning of this module, there is a difference
between looking and seeing. To look is to glance back and forth, aware of surface
qualities in the things that come into our line of sight. To see is more about
comprehending. After all, when we say “I see” we really mean that we understand.
Seeing goes beyond appearances. So, as we confront the huge amounts of visual
information coming at us we start to make choices about what we keep and what we
edit out. We concentrate on that which has the most meaning for us: a street sign that
helps us get home, a view of the mountains that lets us enjoy a part of nature’s
spectacle, or the computer screen that allows us to gather information, whether it’s
reading the content in this course or catching up on the day’s news or emails. Our gaze
becomes more specific, and with that comes specific meaning. At this point what we
see becomes part of what we know. It’s when we stop to contemplate what we see –
the view of the mountain mentioned above, a portrait or simple visual composition that
catches our eye – that we make reference to an aesthetic perception. That is, when
something is considered for its visual properties alone, and their relation to our ideas of
what is beautiful, as a vehicle for meaning.
No matter how visually aware we are, visual clues alone hinder our ability to fully
comprehend what we see. Words, either spoken or read as text, help fill in the blanks to
understanding. They provide a context; a historical background, religious function or
other cultural significance to the art we are looking at. We ask others for information
about it, or find it ourselves, to help understand the meaning. In a museum or gallery, it
may be wall text that provides this link, or a source text, website or someone
knowledgeable about the art.
Now that we have a basic understanding of what art is, the cultural roles it plays and the
different categories and styles it can belong to we can begin to explore more specific
physical and conceptual issues surrounding it. Let’s continue with the next module.