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Unit II: Philosophical Perspective of Arts

Formalism and Hedonism

Lesson 1. Concept/Principle
Lesson 2. Artists
Lesson 3. Masterpieces
Lesson 4. Outstanding Contributions
Lesson 5. Influences to Philippine Art

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 Intended Learning Outcomes

1. Describe Formalism
2. Identify the prominent artists, their masterpieces, and outstanding
contributions under Formalism
3. Create original artworks based on Formalism

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 REFERENCES
Readings
Kandinsky, W. (1911). “Theory” excerpt from Concerning the Spiritual in the Arts, pp. 46-52.
http://www.semantikon.com/art/kandinskyspiritualin art.pdf
Kandinsky, W. (1911). Excerpt from Concerning the Spiritual in Art, 1911.
http://www2.hawaii.edu/~freeman/courses/phil330/23.%20Kandinsky.pdf
Maude, A. (1899). Tolstoy: What is Art?
http://web.mnstate.edu/gracyk/courses/phil%20of%20art/printerfriendly/Tolstoy_on_Art_TWO_COLUMNS.pdf
Long, T. (1998). A Selective Defence of Tolstoy’s What is Art?
https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/19150834.pdf
Wikipedia. Formalism (art).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Formalism_(art)
Panofsky, E. (1955). The History of Art as a Humanistic Discipline. Meaning in the Visual Arts. Australia:
Penguin Books.
Philosophy Terms. Hedonism.
https://philosophyterms.com/hedonism/
Matthen, M. & Weinstein, Z. (2020). Aesthetic Hedonism.
https://www.oxfordbibliographies.com/view/document/obo-9780195396577/obo-9780195396577-0223.xml

Video
The Philosophy of Hedonism.
https://youtu.be/UBKrTh1Jb98
Elena and Alejandro Dance Scene - The Mask of Zorro (1998) 4K Movie Clip
https://youtu.be/UBKrTh1Jb98
Art or Prank? | The Art Assignment | PBS Digital Studios. (Jul 28, 2017)
https://youtu.be/2ZlrHyzIwcI

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Lesson 1. Concept/Principle

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Which among this artworks do you consider according to
Representationism?

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Formalism is a critical and creative position which holds that an artwork's value lies in the relationships it
establishes between different compositional elements such as color, line, and texture, which ought to be
considered apart from all notions of subject-matter or context. Although the term primarily indicates a way
of interpreting rather than making art, certain painters and sculptors, from Paul Cézanne to Jackson
Pollock, have been associated with a Formalist approach. Originating in the mid-19th century, the ideas of
formalism gained currency across the late nineteenth century with the rise of abstraction in painting,
reaching new heights in the early 20th century with movements such as Cubism. During the mid-
20th century, the North American critic Clement Greenberg defined a Formalist approach with
unprecedented levels of detail and rigor. Since then, the term has been associated primarily with him, and
with the artists he championed, such as the Abstract Expressionists.

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In art history, formalism is the study of art by analysing and comparing form and style. Its discussion
also includes the way objects are made and their purely visual or material aspects. In painting,
formalism emphasizes compositional elements such as colour, line, shape, texture, and other
perceptual aspects rather than content, meaning, or the historical and social context.

Formalism describes the critical position that the most important aspect of a work of art is its form – the
way it is made and its purely visual aspects – rather than its narrative content or its relationship to the
visible world.

At its extreme, formalism in art history posits that everything necessary to comprehending a work of art
is contained within the work of art. The context of the work, including the reason for its creation, the
historical background, and the life of the artist, that is, its conceptual aspect is considered to be
external to the artistic medium itself, and therefore of secondary importance.

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Key Ideas & Accomplishments

❑ The rise of Formalism as a critical approach is inseparable from the rise of abstraction in painting across the 19th
century. As naturalistic detail receded from the canvas, so elementary compositional elements such as color
relationship, shapes, and textures rose to prominence in the viewer's perception. This both paved the way for, and
was heralded by, the emergence of critical approaches which championed "Formal" effects over and above
figurative detail as key to artistic value.
❑ In the hands of its most famous advocate, Clement Greenberg, Formalism came to stand for all that was
intellectually sophisticated and forward-thinking in art, as opposed to what was kitsch and vulgar. For Greenberg,
the aim of avant-garde art was to offer encoded analyses of the formal parameters of artistic expression itself, a
subtle self-reflexivity that was only possible through the compositional play and daring of a Formalist approach.
❑ Formalism has, throughout its history, been associated with a kind of political and ethical quietism, because of the
assertion, so central to the school, that proper analysis of an artwork should be separated from all contextual
consideration, and therefore all ideas of art as an agent of social change. This has occasionally led to an affinity
between Formalism and the political right, which tends to preach acceptance of the social status quo. For example,
Formalism in North America has been associated with the right-wing cultural journal The New Criterion.
❑ Formalism, in spite of its history as a specific school of thought, is implicit in all engagement with art or literature,
because what sets apart artistic expression from non-artistic is attention to the way that a subject is represented,
whether in paint, sculpture, language, etcetera. As such, Formalism can be seen not only as a movement, but as an
aspect or facet of all art criticism and appreciation.

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 Formalism Art is NON-FIGURATIVE because
does not contain any representation.
FORMALISM
Art is the combination of perceptual elements. NON-FIGURATIVE
ART has no
representation
AUDITORY VISUAL
Rhythm Line
Pitch Shape
Melody Value
FORM = ART
Harmony Texture
Dynamics Color
The way of
presenting
the subject is
NON-OBJECTIVE

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Lesson 2. Artists

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 CLIVE BELL PAUL CEZANNE
(1881-1964) 1839-1906

“To appreciate art, we “Artists need to look at

bring with us nothing nature and things only
from life.” What is as forms made up of
essential in art is only spheres, cylinders,
the “significant form”. cones.”

ART
=
Significant
Form

“Art for art’s sake.”

THEOPHILE GAUTIER
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REPRESENTATION FORM

Green
Isosceles THIN AND
Triangle THICK BLACK
Brown SLANTING
Vertical LINES AND
Rectangle SHAPES

Pine Tree

Cezanne, Mount Sainte-Victoire, 1902 Cezanne, Apples and Oranges 13

REDUCTION OF REPRESENTATION
INTO FORM

There is no pornography in formalism!

You see only shapes and sizes, not genitals nor the sex act.
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Lesson 3. Masterpieces

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 CATEGORIES OF KANDINSKY’S PAINTINGS
WASSILY KANDINSKY
(1881-1964)
Paintings which retain
IMPRESSIONS some naturalistic
Concerning the
representation.
Spiritual in the Arts,
1923

Paintings which convey

IMPROVISATIONS deep emotions inspired
REPRESENTATIONAL ART PURELY FORMAL ART by events of a spiritual
Sign of Materialism in Would bring about
the Society Spiritual Life type.

“Every work of art is the child of its age….

It follows that each period of culture
produces an art of its own which can never Purely formal paintings
be repeated.” COMPOSITIONS
done carefully, over a
Art is born from the inner necessity of the
period of time, after
artist in an enigmatic, mystical way through preliminary studies.
which it acquires an autonomous life; it These are his most
becomes an independent subject, animated complicated works.
by a spiritual breath.” 16
 Kandinsky, Kandinsky,
Impression III Composition
(Concert) No. 3, 1923
1911

He painted this He painted

after attending this after a lot
a concert by of preliminary
Schonberg. sketches.

Kandinsky,
Improvisation
No. 30 (Canons)
1913

He painted this
because of the
constant talk
about the
incoming war.
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 VISUAL MUSIC
PAINTING
Color REPRESENTATION Sound

“Yellow is the color of middle C on a brassy trumpet; black is the

color of closure, and the end of things; and that combinations of
colors produce vibrational frequencies, akin to chords played on
a piano.” KANDINSKY Kandinsky and
Schonberg
SYNAESTHESIA: The ability to perceive color https://youtu.be/
I0DXYTN0OAM
or sound simultaneously by two senses.
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Kandinsky, Color Composition

Kandinsky, Transversed Lines, 1923

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 STYLE
De Stijl NeoplasticismConcretism

Mondrian
Composition with Red,
Yellow and Blue, 1924

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 STYLE
Suprematism

Malevich, White on White Malevich Black Square Malevich, Black Rectangle, Blue Triangle Malevich, Eight Red Rectangles

Malevich Red Square Malevich, Suprematist Painting Malevich, Suprematist Painting

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 OP ART
Shows optical illusion
Riley, Current

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OPTICAL ILLUSION ART
By Vassarely

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FORMAL PATTERNS IN THE DESIGN

TINALAK

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 ARABESQUE
The formal geometrical design in Islamic Art
32-Arabesque Islamic Art

52-Arabesque Islamic Art

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Alhambra Palace Granada Spain Royal Palace Museum Istanbul Turkey

ARABESQUE ARABESQUE
WINDOW DESIGN WALL DESIGN

Taj Mahal -Agra,India Royal Palace Museum Istanbul Turkey

ARABESQUE ARABESQUE WALL

DOOR DESIGN AND DOOR DESIGN 26
PURELY FORMAL MUSIC
Form of Classical Music

SUNG (VOCAL) MUSIC. There are lyrics, and may

CANTATA be accompanied by sounds of instruments. Music
becomes representational because of the lyrics.

INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC. There are only pure

SONATA sounds of musical instruments.

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 Pachelbel
(1810-1849)
TONAL MUSIC C Dm Em F G Am Bdim7 Canon in D
7-Tone Scale (7 Chords in Triad Notes) Major

ATONAL MUSIC
C Cm Caug5 Cdim7 C# C#m C#aug5 C#dim7
D Dm Daug5 Ddim7 D# D#m D#aug5 D#dim7
12-Tone Scale
E Em Eaug5 (Etc. total of 56 Chords in Triad Notes)

Schonberg (1874-1951)
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String Quartet No. 1 in D Minor
Can you relate a personal experience about this philosophy?

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If we say that the aim of any activity is merely our pleasure, and define it solely by that
pleasure, our definition will evidently be a false one. But this is precisely what has occurred in
the efforts to define art. Now, if we consider the food question it will not occur to anyone to
affirm that the importance of food consists in the pleasure we receive when eating it. Everyone
understands that the satisfaction of our taste cannot serve as a basis for our definition of the
merits of food, and that we have therefore no right to presuppose that the dinners with cayenne
pepper, Limburg cheese, alcohol, etc., to which we are accustomed and which please us, form
the very best human food.

And in the same way, beauty, or that which pleases us, can in no sense serve as the basis for the
definition of art; nor can a series of objects which afford us pleasure serve as the model of what
art should be.

To see the aim and purpose of art in the pleasure we get from it is like assuming (as is done by
people of the lowest moral development, e.g., by savages) that the purpose and aim of food is
the pleasure derived when consuming it.

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Just as people who conceive the aim and purpose of food to be pleasure cannot recognize the
real meaning of eating, so people who consider the aim of art to be pleasure cannot realize its
true meaning and purpose because they attribute to an activity the meaning of which lies in
its connection with other phenomena of life, the false and exceptional aim of pleasure. People
come to understand that the meaning of eating lies in the nourishment of the body only when
they cease to consider that the object of that activity is pleasure. And it is the same with
regard to art. People will come to understand the meaning of art only when they cease to
consider that the aim of that activity is beauty, i.e., pleasure. The acknowledgment of beauty
(i.e., of a certain kind of pleasure received from art) as being the aim of art not only fails to
assist us in finding a definition of what art is, but, on the contrary, by transferring the
question into a region quite foreign to art (into metaphysical, psychological, physiological,
and even historical discussions as to why such a production pleases one person, and such
another displeases or pleases someone else), it renders such definition impossible.

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Hedonism is the philosophy of pleasure. It means doing whatever brings you the greatest amount of
pleasure, regardless of any other effects.

At first glance, hedonism seems pretty simple; just do whatever you like! Eat whatever you want, treat
people rudely, lie around in bed all day! But things are not so simple. Philosophers speak of the paradox
of hedonism, which refers to the way pleasure seems to go sour after a while.
Example
If you’ve ever eaten too much candy at one time, you know how this works. You may enjoy
the candy at the time, but soon after you get a terrible stomachache, and in the long run,
your teeth will rot away.

As it turns out, behaving “hedonistically” is likely bring you more pain than pleasure, eventually! To get
out of the paradox of hedonism, philosophers have suggested all sorts of methods for maximizing
happiness in the long term. These methods are sometimes contrasted with pure hedonism, which is
pursuing pleasure from moment to moment without regard for the future.

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Hedonism, in ethics, a general term
for all theories of conduct in which
the criterion is pleasure of one kind
or another. The word is derived from
the Greek hedone (“pleasure”), from
hedys (“sweet” or “pleasant”).
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Hedonistic theories of conduct have been held from the earliest times. They have been regularly
misrepresented by their critics because of a simple misconception, namely, the assumption that the
pleasure upheld by the hedonist is necessarily purely physical in its origins. This assumption is in
most cases a complete perversion of the truth. Practically all hedonists recognize the existence of
pleasures derived from fame and reputation, from friendship and sympathy, from knowledge and
art.

Aesthetic Hedonism starts from the fact that human beings “like” art; aesthetic value is then
understood as the instrumental value of giving them what they like. However, great tragedy arouses
negative emotions, and the best art is cognitively difficult to understand. These are psychological
barriers to engagement and appreciation. Aesthetic Hedonism must show why these barriers do not
reduce value. Most aesthetic hedonists address the difficulty by delimiting the scope either of
hedonism or of aesthetic pleasure. Some scholars, e.g. Hume, say that art must be valued relative to
the response of somebody who has been sufficiently exposed to it, and has thus developed “taste”;
only the pleasure that such subjects take in art is probative. Others, e.g. Kant, posit a special kind of
pleasure characteristic of aesthetic appreciation. This, he says, is “disinterested,” and thus different
from the mere “agreeability” of food and sex, and also of low art—it is, nevertheless, a form of
pleasure. 34
 AESTHETIC
HEDONISM

ARISTIPPUS
EPICURUS

BEAUTY = PLEASURE
UGLY = PAIN
The Philosophy
of Hedonism
“Eat, drink and be merry https://yout
u.be/UBKrT

for tomorrow you die.” h1Jb98

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B PLEASURE
Bodily
E Sensual
Personal
A Subjective
Relative
U Temporal

T
Momentary
Limited

Y
Gratifying
EXPERIENCE
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 Hedonistic Art
FASTFOODS
Delicious foods for the
CULINARY
?
pleasure of eating
but no nutritive value

What is pleasurable and not pleasurable art?

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 Duchamp
The Fountain
1917

'Fountain' by Marcel
DuchampJul 13, 2010
https://you https://you
tu.be/ieVw tu.be/2Zlr
3Mey5GQ HyzIwcI

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 What is pleasurable and not pleasurable art?
Leonardo, The Mona Lisa, 1501 Sotein Woman in Pink 1924 SEXUAL PLEASURE

EROTIC DANCE

Antonio Banderas and

Catherine Zeta-Jones
Dancing the Tango
Mask of Zorro, 1998

https://youtu
.be/fG79p5q
nPCg

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Lesson 4. Outstanding Contributions

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Gus Albor
Gus Albor (born August 1948) is a painter and
sculptor known for his minimalist abstraction works
and has been a stalwart of the Philippine art scene
since the 1970s. A graduate of the University of the
East School of Music and Fine Arts and a recipient
of a British Council study grant to the West Surrey
College of Fine Art, his works have been shown in
exhibitions in Germany, Italy, Japan, France, and
the United States to name a few. Albor’s distinct
partiality for minimal colour registers, with extreme
subtlety, soft transitions, and muted harmonies,
creates a sensual experience. While many abstract
artists may contend that they are creating artworks
as objects, Albor regards his paintings as
emanations of his conviction and concepts, indeed Sagitta
an exposition of his existence. Acrylic on canvas
76 x 76 cm
1986
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 Painter and sculptor Augusto Albor
has come to be known as one of the
premiere abstractionists in the
Philippine Art scene. An abstract
Minimalist, Albor’s aesthetic features
a unique use of space. Although
Minimalistic in his approach, his use
of paint in his works is all but sparse.

Albor’s artistic leanings take from

that of Suprematism and
Neoplasticism, but with much less
rigidness in execution. Such, overall,
has allowed Albor’s art to speak
more freely — welcoming his
audience to partake in his alluring
Augusto (Gus) Albor Augusto (Gus) Albor brew of expression and restrain.
In The Midst of Time, 2016 Untitled, 1997
Sale Date: September 9, 2023 Sale Date: March 9, 2024 In one sense this is a great strength;
Auction Closed Auction Closed Albor’s paintings are secure from
incorporation in any movement or
tendency towards "design".
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Lesson 5. Influences to Philippine Art

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Defining Abstract Painting

Contrary to popular belief, abstract art isn’t just an exercise in

emotional self-expression and catharsis. It isn’t a thoughtless
or unskilled flinging and rubbing of paint on canvas. It was
from the beginning, a varied artistic approach that has
encompassed many techniques and ideas. The Philippines’
National Artist for the Visual Arts, Jose Joya, for example,
incorporated layers, loose impasto, drips, and sand and other
mixed-media approaches to create his paintings that capture
the colors and sensations of the Philippine landscape and
culture, such as its rice paddies, golden sun, and its festivals.

To define abstract art in one simple idea, it is non-objective.

Compared to figurative art, it does not seek truthful or
realistic depiction or imitation of nature or the world. It
focuses on elements of a painting like shape, form, color, and
line. By going beyond physical reality, it can be vastly open to
interpretation, embodying ideas of morality, spiritualism,
purity, modernity, music, and even art itself. The term can
also refer to painting based on an object, figure, or
landscape, where forms have been simplified or
schematised. 44
A Short History of Philippine Abstract Painting

Forms of abstract art have stretched far back throughout history. It’s seen, for instance, in the art of the Tang
dynasty of China and in various aboriginal art from different regions. In the Philippines, it can be identified in
various artforms, such as Islamic non-representational art, tribal tattoos patterns, and indigenous weaving in
the Philippines.

But in modern art, the concept and the term itself emerged into its own from late 19th century and early 20th
century artistic movements, each one being a departure from the classical naturalism that can be traced back
to the ideals of the Greeks and the Renaissance. Movements like Impressionism, Post-Impressionism, Cubism,
Surrealism, Futurism, Expressionism, Primitivism, Fauvism, Suprematism, and Neo-plasticism reinforced the
idea that art could or should be less faithful in depiction of nature and can even make no reference to nature.
The idea represented progress and coincided with other advancements in the modern world of that time.

Non-objectivity embraces a whole spectrum of abstract painters or a multitude of styles, approaches, ideas,
and goals. They’ve included history’s most brilliant minds like Picasso, Miro, Pollock, Rothko, and the usual
names that art history credits as propelling modern art forward. But three artists stand out as pioneers of a
purely abstract art: Wassily Kandinsky, Piet Mondrian, and Kazimir Malevich. Each was radical in their own
way. Kandinsky used abstraction to depict the spiritual, likening his paintings to music. Mondrian’s
compositions of abstract elements were based on dialectics. And Malevich declared his black painting as the
zero of painting or the beginning of a new era of art.
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In the Philippines, groups of artists like the 13 Modernists
and the Neorealists adopted these developments. They
included artists like Victorio Edades, Vicente Manansala,
Hernando Ocampo, and Cesar Legaspi. Both of these
groups emerged shortly after World War II and sought to
break away from the conservative standards inherited
from Spanish and European academies of fine art. They
were supported by Filipino Intelligentsia who agreed that
contemporary art was more than the popular naturalistic
and idyllic paintings of the likes of Fernando Amorsolo.
These groups painted subjective depictions of reality that
included the many facets of an artist’s mind and the
darker sides of life and the aftermath of the war. It paved
the way for abstract painting to be accepted into
Philippine modern art.

Ang Kiukok, Lee Aguinaldo, Roberto Chabet, Jose Joya, Liao Lianben, Arturo Luz, Romulo
Olazo, Rodolfo Samonte, Nena Saguil, and Pacita Abad represent some of the biggest
influences and advancements in the history of abstract art and painting in the
Philippines. And abstraction or non-figurative painting is so firmly entrenched in
Philippine contemporary art that it would be difficult to define and characterize it. It has
become so accepted that contemporary artists easily mix abstraction with other
approaches to painting. 46
 INDIVIDUAL ACTIVITY

Make a Painting in the style of Formalism. The art should contain only colors, shape, lines and other
visual elements, without any recognizable representations of things.

INSTRUCTIONS:
a. Use 1/8 illustration board or painting canvas of the same size or close to the size of the 1/8 illustration board.
b. You can use any of the following painting materials:
✓ regular paints
✓ Poster paints
✓ water-based paints but not quick dry enamel
✓ acrylic paints
✓ oil paints
✓ Water colour
✓ Crayons
✓ Pencil colours
✓ Colored sands
c. Submit over the Google Classroom one piece collage picture of your artwork as provided from the example.
d. Give a “Title” for your art work.
e. Introduce the idea/concept of your artwork in 100 words.
DR. ALLAN C. ORATE, UE
47
 RUBRICS FOR GRADING

Excellent Good Fair Needs Improvement

CRITERIA
(20 points) (15 points) (10 points) (5 points)

The formalist theory of art is The composition correctly The formalist theory is The composition does
Formal
correctly applied in the applies the formalist theory incorrectly applied to many not apply the formalist
Artwork
whole composition. except to some parts of it. parts of the composition. theory at all.

DR. ALLAN C. ORATE, UE

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