Throughout this course, I have learned more about the details of art and its impact on our society. Art has always inspired me but by becoming more educated about art, I can now appreciate it even more. Before this class, I had never taken an art class but had only studied on my own. This class allowed me an opportunity to learn the basic principles of art theory and design that I had not been able to learn before. This class taught me about how artists form their paintings and went down to the fundamentals before the artist’s style impacts the painting.
However, after learning about the fundamentals in a new way that I had not discovered before, this class gave me an opportunity to discover well-known artists that I would not have discovered on my own. I have always enjoyed Monet’s work as well as the other Impressionist painters. However, this class did point out to me artists like Georges Seurat, Alfred Bierstadt, and Jacob Lawrence. I hope to further study these artists in the future and learn more about their styles and techniques.
At the beginning of this Western Art Appreciation course, I was encouraged to discover the style of art that I would put on my home’s fireplace mantel. As I said before, some of my favorite works have always been Impressionist because of their simple beauty and texture. However, I also really enjoyed the works from the Rococo period. Although I enjoy the paintings, my only concern with works from this period is the meaning behind them that sparked the French Revolution. These paintings are beautiful to me because of the subtle hues, graceful figures, and whimsical subjects. But these same subjects were aristocrats that were oppressive to their people and negligent of their responsibilities. So I am not so sure that I want a painting that represents this negligence on my mantel. Rather, I would enjoy finding my own piece with a specific meaning to me. Maybe I will find this piece on a journey in another country, on my honeymoon, or just simply at a flea market on a Saturday morning. I would love to have a whimsical and graceful piece of art that has a beautiful memory attached to it and this class has inspired me to discover this piece of art on my own.
In November of 2010, 270 pieces of art were brought forward by an electrician looking for authenticating papers to claim that they were given to him by Pablo Picasso. If this is true, these works are valued at $80 million. The French courts have not yet determined the rightful owner of these works. However, the electrician claims that they have been in his possession since 1973. Art should be put on display for the public so that everyone can receive the educational benefits of the display. But these works should not be stolen from the private collections of individuals. They should be donated or purchased by the museums through a private or public auction.
The re-discovery of significant pieces of art should be as significant to the world as they are to the art community. These little pieces of art define our culture, society, and history. They represent the way that one person views the world and these worldviews should be important to every one of us because they are a reflection on us. I understand that the world has “bigger” problems according to some. But should the destruction or deterioration of our culture not also be a major concern of society?
Picasso said that “everyone wants to understand art. Why not try to understand the song of a bird? Why does one love the night, flowers, everything around one, without trying to understand them? But in the case of a painting people have to understand. If only they would realize above all that an artist works of necessity, that he himself is only a trifling bit of the world, and that no more importance should be attached to him than to plenty of other things which please us in the world, though we can’t explain them. People who try to explain pictures are usually barking up the wrong tree.”
This statement refers to Picasso’s opinion on understanding art, and of course, particularly his art. He is saying that the artists themselves should have relatively no importance to the mind of the viewer. Pictures should not be explained or understood, according to Picasso.
However, some critics have referred to him as a materialist who does not want you to perceive his art as having any deeper spiritual meaning than what is physically represented. Rather, to interpret the feeling behind the images and then to begin to understand the meaning and purpose of the artist.
I agree with Picasso’s statement to an extent. There is a time and place for understanding and explaining art but there is also a time for feeling the emotions of the art and immersing oneself into the images. Sometimes going through the process to understand and explain paintings can only heighten the feelings and emotions for the painting. However, the analytical process can also sometimes become an obstacle to truly viewing the art from the perspective of the artist.
(Source: Guardian)
When I think of traditional art, I often picture the Renaissance styled paintings with Mary holding baby Jesus and the halo around their heads – the typical church setting. However, more modern art has had a clash with the depictions of Christianity and they are actually often seen as rivals. This creates quite the predicament for Christian Contemporary artists.
Most Christian artists use their creative talent to worship God. However, it has been said that “there is a line between creating contemporary art and worship and you do not cross the line. If you do, you are, in essence setting yourself up for crucifixion.” This confrontational view of Contemporary art and worship could have derived from the fact that traditional art was so strongly rooted in Christianity and almost created a prison for contemporary artists. The strict guidelines that the Catholic Church set on art was exactly what Contemporary artists were fighting against; thus creating the clash between creating Contemporary art and worshiping God.
This cultural “fight” goes both ways, in that the Church has often been suspicious of the art world. However, I believe that the Church is starting to emerge out of this view and come to see art and artists as a very vital part of the Christian community. Art is such an intricate and powerful force of society that Christians must move into this sector so that they can use this force to influence people for Christ. It can give a picture of Christianity that can be portrayed in no other way.
Makoto Fujimura is a Christian Contemporary artist is seeking to merge Christianity and his art together. He believes that his work “invites the reader to connect art and Scripture, helping to reconnect beauty with truth. “ His simple creations are inspiring portrayals of the truths of Christ and his passion for merging art and faith is very evident through these works. The barrier between Contemporary art and Christianity must continually be brought down by artists like him so that Christ’s message of love, truth, and hope can be brought to a whole other community that could not otherwise be reached. It is vital to the Gospel that Christians move past the traditional view of art so that they can begin to view every creation through Christ’s eyes.
When anyone mentions art, the first thing that comes to most people’s mind is a painting, sculpture, or photograph. However, my definition of art is an image, idea, or belief that someone creatively portrays through some kind of medium. This definition does follow along with the fact that God is the Creator, the Artist God. He created humans out of the desire to make something out of His own image. His mediums, rather than paint or pencils, were words that breathed into being cells to form together His beautiful creation. We can see that beauty is important to God through the way that He designed this world and the care that He put into designing each person so uniquely beautiful. Beauty is completely subjective. Rather than being concretely defined and limited, beauty is different for each person and God, especially.
Madeleine L’Engle says that “to paint a picture or write a story or to compose a song is an incarnational activity.” This statement implies that creating in itself is the work of the Holy Spirit within us coming to life, because God is the ultimate Creator and has gifted us with this ability to create. Of course our little acts of creation are minute in comparison to the creation of the world, but yet they are still representations of the creative work of God.
The ultimate act of creating is the act of making something out of nothing. It is this redemptive work that appeals to people. This theme of redemption is used in books, movies, and plays because of the innate desire in people to be redeemed and made into something better than they are. My favorite book, Persuasion by Jane Austen, is no exception to this rule. It is the story of a woman who loses love when she is young, but later in life she encounters the same man that she still loves and has been waiting for. Not only is her physical beauty refreshed, but their love is also renewed. It is this theme of creation and re-creation that pulls on the hearts of people everywhere and ultimately leads people to want to create their own love, book, or piece of art.
“True Christianity means the lordship of Christ over the total man.”
This statement says to me that all that Christians do should reflect Christ and His impact in our lives. We, as Christians, should be seeking to glorify Christ in all that we do, including art. Our creations should reflect the ultimate Creator.
Francis Bacon said the following concerning a recovery from the Fall: “Man by the Fall fell at the same time from his state of innocence and from his dominion over nature. Both of these losses, however, can even in this life be in some part repaired; the former by religion and faith, the latter by the arts and sciences.” Perhaps it is true that man can regain dominion over nature by depicting it in their own creations, but I think that most artists, particularly renaissance artists, created works that depicted nature so that they could study more of how it worked or could be viewed.
The description of the priests’ garments given in Exodus says that they wore skirts with blue, purple, and scarlet pomegranates around the hem. This little description tells us that the Lord finds artistic depictions of nature not only beautiful but also worthy of being in His presence. It also shows us the creativity of the Lord when He describes a blue pomegranate because these are not found in nature.
Not only do these priestly garments show us how God feels about nature in art, but there was also a bas relief in the Temple of Solomon that had cherubim, palm trees, and flowers. This would have been a beautiful piece of art that was found worthy to be placed in the most holy place on Earth. Nature and heavenly creations are magnificent themes of art that should be put on display as depictions of our Creator’s various creations.
I expect to see art in heaven because of the creativity that I see God has placed in us. We are a reflection of Him and He is obviously a wonderfully creative God.
This quote from Winston Churchill begins with a statement that leads the reader to believe that art needs to follow tradition in order to have any direction at all. At first glance, I disagreed with that idea. However, if you think about it, without the traditions of history there really would be no modern art. Art builds upon itself and tradition provides the foundation for future originality.
There are certain traditions that almost insist on being carried into the various styles of art such as form, color theory, and symbolism. With this basis of artistic theory, artists can create their own innovative style and technique which gives the variety and beauty of art that makes it so appealing.
Abstract art was founded because of the innovation of photography and the idea that if real life pictures could be taken then there was no longer a need for the traditional naturalistic paintings. It gave the innovative artists a chance to step outside of the norm and experiment with the traditions.
It is this innovation that Winston Churchill says gives art life. Without originality, art would cease to be creative and inspiring. But rather, it would simply be a series of empty canvases. Innovation is what led Pablo Picasso to create Cubism after he had already mastered the naturalistic style. It is what led Claude Monet to develop the distinctly impressionist style of painting after being inspired by a sunrise. Innovation is what sparked Leonardo da Vinci to paint the Mona Lisa with that unique pose and background. Without these advancements and improvements upon the traditions, art would have died many centuries ago.
This is the picture that Winston Churchill painted for us with his words. It is an inspiring message to continue moving forward but to not forsake the traditions that have led us this far.
First of all, I am beginning this blog for the purpose of fulfilling the journal requirement for my Western Art course. However, this could be fun to continue on past the course! We will see what happens…
Art is anything that positively inspires those who discover it.
It could be the traditional beautiful sculpture or painting, but it could also be a magnificently presented plate of food or lovely decorated room.
Personally, I love paintings, specifically impressionist paintings. However, I also love discovering the new styles that local artist’s are exploring.
One of my recent discoveries is from an artist in Asheville, North Carolina. I was at a restaurant in the Biltmore Village of Asheville and wandered upstairs looking for the restroom. But I actually ended up finding a larger dining area for parties. The restaurant was featuring a local artist’s landscape paintings that were on squares of plywood. They had left parts of the painting exposed to the wood so that the grain and knots in the wood were coming through. It was beautiful and something I hadn’t ever seen before. The landscapes of the North Carolina mountains and horses mixed with the exposed plywood brought a uniquely rustic perspective to the paintings.
I thoroughly enjoy finding art scattered throughout my everyday life. These discoveries have led me to aspire to become a director of art museums so that I can share magnificent works of art with the public. So, after finishing my Bachelor’s degree in International Business, I am going to get my Master’s degree in Arts Management.
The reason I am taking this class is because it is the only art class offered at my university and I want to take advantage of the opportunity. I have not had any formal training in art or art history but I have read various books on the subject. I am hoping that this class will expose me to more variations of art than I could have discovered on my own.
I am looking forward to the new perspectives that will be presented to me through this class and cannot wait to share a class with other students who are (hopefully) just as passionate about art as I am.
