6 Chapter 1 Most people would say that they recognize art when they see it But what is art really What do we mean when we say the word art Are intricately balanced rocks in a creek a form of art How about splattered paint on a canvas Or a carved column on an ancient building What about a stick figure drawn with crayon Most people think of art as something beautiful and creative that expresses important ideas or feelings But what an individual sees as beautiful depends on his or her culture values and experiences Art historians believe beauty is not simply a colorful image or a smooth marble statue They believe the power of a work of art comes from its ability to evoke emotion or insight What Is Art
7 People throughout history have created and valued art for many different reasons But what is art really
MEDIA In art the term media refers to the materials an artist uses to create a piece The oldest human art forms were carved from stone shaped from clay or painted on rock walls Humans later sculpted works of art from marble wood ivory and other materials Today’s sculptors use a wide variety of media from plastics to steel Prehistoric peoples used animal plant and mineral materials to make their paints Painters today use oil paint acrylics and watercolors New modern media also include digital photography video and computer-generated art Must a work be created by an artist to be considered art If so what makes someone an artist For a long time after the invention of the camera photographers were not considered artists Photos were not seen as a form of art but rather as a mechanical process Today few people would say photography is not art Likewise for thousands of years women were not considered artists in the male-dominated world Those women who did participate in the arts were often not taken seriously Others had their work attributed to male artists or simply left their work unsigned In the Western world of today however the artistic abilities of women are considered every bit as worthwhile as those of their male counterparts French-American artist Marcel Duchamp’s work in the early twentieth century is famous for raising questions about what art is and what it means to be an 8
artist One of his most famous works is an embellished recreation of Leonardo da Vinci’s well-known Mona Lisa painting Duchamp’s piece is a fraction of the size of the original and includes a mustache and beard on the figure Duchamp intended to ridicule the world’s fascination with Mona Lisa and reverence for oil paintings His piece suggests anything can be art so long as it is seen as such American pop artist Andy Warhol also addressed the question of what art is He suggested art is not about skill or beauty at all Instead it is about communicating an idea He believed art is a visual language Therefore the quality of a work should be judged not on the technical ability used to create the piece Instead it should be judged on the power of the message it broadcasts Looking at Art One does not need to be an art historian or even an artist to look at and enjoy art In museums people are attracted to certain pieces for many different reasons Perhaps one of the best ways to think about art is to consider one’s personal response to a piece and why it may or may not be attractive or interesting Viewers might also think about the title of the work the artist’s life and the time period in which the piece was created Viewers can also consider how a work of art is composed the lines and shapes it presents and its patterns textures and colors 9
