HUMANITIES AND ART heart against Maat’s feather before the deceased can

be presented to Osiris, God of the Underworld.

HUMANITIES - “HUMANUS” So what is the connection between humanities and
- human, refined, cultured art?

SHORT HISTORY What is ART?

Medieval humanities - “ARS” - ability / skill

- Any human activity that expresses aesthetic
- 12th and 13th century Centered on ideas using skill and imagination in the
theology and philosophy Interest was in the creation of objects, environments and
concept of eternal experiences which can be shared with
others to help create an aesthetic
Renaissance humanities
experience in the viewer.
- 14th – 18th century Focused on the intrinsic
“Imagination is more important than knowledge. For
value of man’s life on earth Disciplines that
knowledge is limited to all we now know and
would make man’s life richer and more
understand, while imagination embraces the entire
meaningful (languages and literature, fine
world, and all there ever will be to know and
arts, music, philosophy)
understand.” - Albert Einstein
19th Century
1. Why do we need to study art?
- Science ruled humanities took a back stage 2. What value does it have for you?
3. Why do I need to know about artworks in
Today, humanities include/emphasize modern my chosen field/profession?
literature, critical and historical study of fine arts 4. Why is it important?
and music with an emphasis on serving man as
an individual rather than as a social being. ART is important because:

HUMANITIES 1. Art connects us to the past

2. Art helps us gain insight into the human
 Philosophy, ethics, jurisprudence, language,
condition
linguistics and literary studies, art and art
history.
3. Art teaches us to construct meaning and
articulate thought
 Study of human culture and the human
condition
FUNCTIONS & PHILOSOPHICAL
 Thoughts, beliefs, values and feelings of
man PERSPECTIVES OF ART
“telos” / purpose

“For a thing to reach its purpose, it has to also

fulfill its function.” – Aristotle

Telos and function are related to a

thing’s identity. What makes a human being a
human being is its capacity for thinking, its
Last judgment of Hunefer, from his tomb at Thebes, Egypt, 19th Dynasty, ca.
1300–1290 bce. Painted papyrus scrolls, 1′ 6″ high. British Museum,
supposed function. Without this function, the
London. human being ceases to be a human being. In
The Book of the Dead contained spells and knowing the function of a thing, we know its
prayers. This scroll depicts the weighing of Hunefer’s telos.
Functions of Art 2. Art has the ability to be instructive and
teach the audience about life.
A. PERSONAL
3. ART AS A COMMUNICATION OF
 This function is varied and highly
EMOTION – Leo Tolstoy
subjective.
For Tolstoy, art serves as a language, a
 Created for the artist’s own self
communication device that articulates
expression, entertainment, therapy, or
feelings and emotions from artist to
merely as art for art’s sake.
audience
B. PHYSICAL Art serves as a mechanism for social
 Created to serve a physical purpose. unity. It makes accessible feelings and
 Decorative art/applied art emotions of people from the past and
Example: architecture, jewelry, interior present, from all parts of the world.
design
WHY DO WE MAKE ART?
C. SOCIAL Some of the earliest evidence of recognizable
 Address a particular collective interest human activity includes not only practical things
as opposed to a personal interest like stone tools and fire pits, but also decorative
 Depicts social conditions objects used for personal adornment. For
 Created to rally people toward a example, these small beads made by piercing
particular end sea snail shells, found at the Blombos Cave on
Philosophical Perspectives the southeastern coast of South Africa, are
dated to the Middle Stone Age, 101,000-70,000
1. ART AS MIMESIS – PLATO BCE. (Figure 1.19) We can only speculate about
Mimetic Theory of Art: Art is essentially the intentions of our distant ancestors, but it is
an imitation of nature. clear that their lives included the practice of
conceiving and producing art objects. One thing
Art is an imitation of life and the world we appear to share with those distant relatives
of forms/ “idea” is the ultimate reality. is the urge to make art.
Art, especially poetry, clouds rationality because A culture can be defined as a group of people
it rouses emotions and feelings. It leads man who agree about what is important Today many
away from the cultivation of intellect. Therefore, different human cultures and sub-cultures co-
art was useless and potentially dangerous. exist; we can find in them a broad range of ideas
2. ART AS A REPRESENTATION – Aristotle about art and its place in daily living. One main
Art is indeed a form of imitation, but it goal of Australian Aboriginal artists, for
aids in revealing the truth. Art does not example, is to "map" the world around them.
reflect reality as it is but provides a (Figure 1.20) In this painting on bark, pictorial
vision of what might be, a symbols tell the story of the great hunter snake
representation of the possible versions in colors such as red for desert sand and yellow
of reality. for the sun. (Figure 1.21) In a similar way,
though with different materials, Buddhist sand
For Aristotle, art serves two purposes: paintings known as mandalas present a map of
the cosmos. These circular diagrams also
1. Art allows for the experience of
represent the relationship of the individual to
pleasure
the whole and levels of human have special powers of healing or other positive
awareness(Figure 1.22) The need to make art influence.
can be divided into two broad categories: the
these art objects share a common purpose: they
personal need to express ideas and feelings
are all intended to express a feeling or idea that
and the community’s needs to assert common
is valued either by the individual artist or by the
values. In the following sections, we'll look at
larger community.
some of these motivations to more clearly
understand and identify artist intent in the
ARTIST AND ARTISANS
works of art that we encounter.
ARTISANS
1.5.1 The Personal Need to
Create also referred to as craftsmen; in the
Catharsis Medieval period (13th to 15th cent) towns had
formalized groups of artisans who took on a
Artworks can be created thus as a means of particular specialization or trade: textiles and
exploring one’s own experience, a way of glass workers, carpenters, carvers, masons,
bringing hidden emotions to the surface so that armorers, and weapon- makers, etc.
they may be recognized and understood more
clearly. The term for this process is catharsis. Artisans commit to a particular trade,
developing immense skill and expertise in his
1.5.2 Communal Needs and Purposes craft. They form guilds and sometimes produce
convention manuals.

is an agreed upon way of thinking, speaking, or Master artisans hire apprentices. This was a
acting in a social context. There are many kinds way of transferring knowledge and skills.
of conventions, including visual conventions. A
Renaissance ushered in pivotal changes:
good example in visual art would be a
conventional sense of direction. - the transformation of the
Monuments - artisan to an independent artist the
widespread patronization of secular art
Communities can remind citizens of public
virtues by commemorating the individuals who - the assertion of cognition, will and
displayed those qualities in monuments. individuality
Since ancient times, murals, paintings on walls, DIFFERENCES
have been created in both public and private
places. Ancient Egyptians combined images with ARTISTAN ARTIST
Skilled worker Performs creative art,
writing in wall paintings to commemorate past
who employs skill, products are visually
leaders. Some of these murals were
talent and pleasing, for the
intentionally erased when the leader fell out of
experience in enjoyment/appreciation
favor. creating of the viewer with no
icon Greek word eikon, or “to be like” functional objects apparent functional
such as weavers, value
refers to an image or likeness that is used as a carpenters,
guide to religious worship. The holy figures potters
depicted in icons are thought by believers to Focuses on Focuses on AESTHETICS
UTILITY with and CREATIVITY
aesthetics
BUYERS

Those who initially assess and survey the

artwork that collectors are interested in. They
oversee the sale on behalf of the collector.

OTHER PLAYERS IN THE WORLD OF ART

CURATOR

The role of the curator is more in the

interpretation and development of the
artwork(s) of the collection(s) through
establishing the significance, relationship and
relevance of these materials.

BUYERS and COLLECTORS

Acquire artworks for a variety of reasons:

- For appreciation and enjoyment

- To safeguard and preserve
- For investment
- To communicate a way of life/lifestyle

ART DEALERS

Those whose direct hand is in the distribution

and circulation of the artworks-through direct
sales, galleries or auction houses.