Art History

Art history is studying art objects within their era period (IESA International, n.d.). Contrary to popular thoughts, it
does not mean listing all the art movements and placing them on a timeline. Instead, art history involves analyzing
visual arts' meaning (painting, sculpture, architecture) in the context of the period when they were created.
According to Britannica Encyclopedia, art history or art historiography is the historical study of the visual arts. It is
mainly involved with "identifying, classifying, describing, evaluating, interpreting, and understanding the art products
and historical development of different kinds of art".

Art Appreciation

The term "art appreciation" refers to the knowledge of general and everlasting qualities that classify all great arts. It
refers to the exploration of visual art forms or the introduction of basic principles of visual literacy. It also includes
interpretation without reference to the subject matter, symbolism, or historical context. Moreover, art history relates to
analyzing a particular artwork for general audiences to enhance their enjoyment of such works of art.

Art appreciation can be subjective. It can depend on personal preferences for aesthetics and form or based on
several elements and principles of design, depending on social and cultural acceptance.

C. S. Flores (1999) states that art appreciation aims to make man humane. To be humane is to be a free person-
reflecting, feeling, and feeling relating. Thus, art appreciation trains the students to reflect critically and logically from
a broad perspective with a depth of vision. It enables students to communicate clearly as the need arises forcefully;
and form evaluative judgments based on a correct sense of values.

Art appreciation can bring reflection, self-criticism, and enlightenment in the quest for individual identity. For some,
the act of discovery can be in itself a reward of accomplishment in art, music, and literature.

Nature of Art

Art is used in many ways. It covers various areas of artistic creativity that seek to communicate beauty primarily
through the senses. It embraces the visual arts (e.g., painting, sculpture, architecture, and graphic arts), auditory arts,
and performing arts (e.g., music, dance, theater, opera, and cinema).

In a specific sense, art applies to activities that express aesthetic ideas using skill and imagination to create objects,
environments, and experiences shared with others. Beardsley (1981) pointed out that artists produce artwork to give,
referring to the capacity to satisfy the aesthetic interest. The word "intention" in art means a combination of desire
and belief to produce any work that captivates aesthetic interest.
Anything accomplished with remarkable skills is art. Art may serve as an exercise in skill and manual dexterity. The
artists' works can be examined as a result of a skilled manipulation of materials.

For example, these specialized arts may include the art of teaching and the art of acupuncture. Specialized art may
also comprise speaking art, sartorial art, culinary art, carpentry, pottery making, ceramics making, and metallurgy art.
Art is present in almost all human activities- even in modern technology, the phrase "state of the art" means superior
or technically perfect artistry.

When we speak of art, we must not be deceived into believing that the term corresponds to some natural, objective,
and fixed body of works. The category of art is made to operate merely as a

descriptive rubric. Instead, we must understand it as a concept- not as a natural, preordained creation but as an
academic instruction or criteria for a defined set of topics felt to be of exceptional value.

Creativity, Imagination, and Expression

● Creativity focuses on the process of forming original ideas through exploration and discovery.
● According to Albert Einstein, imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited.
Imagination personifies the world.
● According to Robin George Collingwood, expression is what an artist does to emotion. The artist
discovers their own feelings and creates something beautiful out of them simultaneously through
expression.

Art and Nature

Art is not in nature. The skill of an artist is not a naturally found or inherently endowed characteristic in all men.
Although artists make art using nature as their inspiration and medium, nature is not automatically art.

Nature inspires perception, and that vision is what produces the artwork. It is through this perception of the nature of
things and the world that artists create different artworks. Because of socio-cultural diversities, artists interpret nature
differently, and this results in different meanings.

Art is a product of humans and not limited to what is perceived by our senses—this is a gift that the Creator gave us
humans. We were given the capability to produce something out of what we perceive.

The human mind can produce something original out of what it perceived from nature. Art is the man's expression of
his interpretation of nature.

Bissell (1997) defined art as a human creation, whereas nature is an intrinsic reality. Art is the unique human
interpretation of their natural surroundings. It is manufactured and expresses what humans perceive around
themselves, driven by creativity and imagination (Caslib et al., 2018).
Abstract painters produce artwork that is not merely a copy of nature but instead as a product of their reception about
it. If an artist used another shape to draw a leaf, such as a square, we could not say that it is not art because that is
their expression of what they perceive from nature.

Assumptions (and Theories) of Art

Art is Universal

Art is universal and timeless, spanning generations and continents thoroughly. It transcends cultures, conditions, or
situations. Some works of art that were created long ago are still famous today.

They are widely accepted by different worldwide people worldwide despite their different geographies, beliefs, and
cultures. This phenomenon shows that an actual work of art stands out regardless of any circumstance.

In appreciating the beauty of art, age is never a factor to determine if an object is an actual work of art. It is a popular
misconception that artworks need to be old and dated before they can be recognized as art. This belief about art is
not valid. According to Dudley (1960), "Art is not good because it is old, but it is old because it is beautiful." Age is not
a factor; instead, the art's art quality is what makes it stand out through time.

Art imitates life and reality.

Art is born in experience; it is the footprint or fingerprint of the artist's experience of reality. Since artists live in a given
time, place, and culture, their artworks are statements that probe the concepts of life and reality during their time.

Art has intrinsic worth: The value is in itself

Humanities are generally regarded as the areas in which human values, expressiveness, and creativity are
celebrated. Every creative work of art enhances the value of life in total. Although art can be used similarly to spiritual
values, it cannot be used identical to spiritual values so that it cannot be used up or exhausted. A great masterpiece
of art is never out of date, and they tend to magnify their value through the ages to come.

Art is Imitation

The concept of arts as imitation may be traced back to two renowned Greek philosophers, Plato and Aristotle. Plato,
the idealist, believes that art is far removed from reality, which exists in the realm of ideas or universals. Our world is
but an imperfect imitation; art is, in turn, only an imitation in our world. He places art on the same level as shadow
and water reflections, all mere illusions of reality.

Aristotle, an empiricist, rejected the belief in the realm of ideas. Instead, he believed that reality exists right in the
world, around us, and within us, as our senses perceive. Art is a mirror of reality; therefore, it brings us in contact with
it.

Art is Pleasure

Neither Plato nor Aristotle ignored the role of pleasure in art. On the contrary, they both believed that art gave
pleasure by representing the physical world. Aristotle, in his Nicomachean ethics, explained the connection between
imitation, learning, and pleasure. Imitation is natural to humans from childhood. One of the advantages of men over
lower animals is that man is the most imitative creature globally and learns first by imitation.

The truth of this point is shown by experience. However, although the objects themselves may be painful to see, we
delight in viewing the most realistic representations of them in art. The idea is that imitative and pleasurable qualities
go together. However, this phenomenon does not indicate that what is not imitative will not give pleasure.

Art is a Play

Like artists, everybody needs a break from routine and drudgery; we need an outlet to vent our passions, emotions,
and other forms of uncontrolled expression of energy. Artists find this in art; they feel it indirectly through their
expression of their craft.

Art is Expression

Our reactions to art depend on two related assumptions. First, artists express their emotions. Second, the expression
is one of the sources of aesthetic value. However, art as an expression is concerned with the relationship between
the artist and their work of art.

Art is also concerned with the relationships between the artist's work of art and its audience.

The expression has been taken to mean different things by various writers. While some have concentrated on the
artists' creative process- others have stressed evoking the audience's emotion.

Categorizations of Art

According to the ArtHearty website, "visual art can be defined as a form of art that uses any medium to represent the
artist’s idea, emotion, and imagination". Visual art, such as paintings, sculptures, and architecture, has evolved
through time. Different eras saw the emergence of various art movements. The most famous art movements and
styles include impressionism, cubism, surrealism, expressionism, favism, art nouveau, realism, and relativism.
 1. Painting is the method of applying paint, pigment, color, or other media to a solid surface (support
base).
2. Sculpture is making 2D or 3D representative or abstract forms, especially by carving stone or wood or
casting metal or plaster.
3. Photography is the art, application, and skill of creating images by recording light or other
electromagnetic radiation through an image sensor or light-sensitive materials.
4. Drawing is a form of visual art. It is when a person uses various drawing instruments to mark on
paper or another 2D medium.

Performing Arts. According to the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization or UNESCO
(2020), "performing arts range from vocal and instrumental music, dance, and theatre to pantomime, sung verse, and
beyond".

1. Theater is a collaborative form of fine art that uses live performers, typically actors or actresses. Its
goal is to present the experience of an actual or created event before a live audience in a physical
place, such a stage.
2. Music is a type of art and cultural activity that uses sound as its medium. It is also considered as a
sound that is organized in time.
3. Film is a series of still images that, when shown on screen, create the illusion of moving images.
4. Dance is a performing art form consisting of purposefully selected sequences of human movement
(Solmerano, 2019). Dance is a kind of nonverbal communication where the body’s movement is
aesthetically pleasing and harmonious.

Literature refers to writing considered to have artistic merit:

1. Prose is a form of language that has no formal metrical structure. It applies a natural flow of speech
and ordinary grammatical structure instead of rhythmic structure, such as traditional poetry.
2. Poetry is a type of literature based on the interplay of words and rhythm. It often uses rhyme and
meter (a set of rules governing the number and arrangement of syllables in each line). In poetry,
words are strung together to form sounds, images, and ideas that may be complex or abstract to
describe directly.

Applied arts is a broad subject area that combines aesthetics, design, consumer need, and finding practical solutions
to problems. It is an area where innovation and decoration come together to create objects and ideas that are useful
and beautiful (Murphy, 2019).

1. Architecture is the art and science of designing building and nonbuilding structures.
2. Fashion design is a form of art dedicated to creating clothing and other accessories that form part of
someone’s lifestyle. Modern fashion designing can be further divided into two broad categories:
ready-to-wear and haute couture.
3. Any object made of wood that is aesthetically pleasing to the eye and functional is called wood crafts.
4. Interior design is the art and science of enhancing the interior of a building to achieve a healthy and
aesthetically pleasing environment for the people using the space.