The Purpose & Functions of ArtChapter 2

Art for Delight

• We need delight, enjoyment, pleasure, decoration, amusement and embellishment in our lives to “lift us above the stream of life”

• Aesthetics: refers to an awareness of beauty or that quality in a work of art or other manmade or natural form which evokes a sense of elevated awareness in the viewer.

• Classical: in reference to ancient Greece or Renaissance

• Monochromatic: based mostly on one color James Abbott McNeil Whistler.

Nocturne: Blue and Gold- Old Battersea Bridge. 182-1875

Art as Commentary

• Artists who view art’s primary goal as communication between the artist and the viewer by the means of subject matter.

• Prints: works that exist in multiple copies

Francisco Goya. I saw This (The Disasters of War), 1810. Etching, drypoint and burin.

Art as Commentary

Painterly: loose or spontaneous brushworks • Testifies clearly to what the

artist experienced and takes us to a specific place and time.

Berthe Morisot. In a Villa at the Seaside, 1874. Oil on Canvas.

Art in Worship and Ritual

• Another function of art has been to enhance religious contemplation, and most of the world’s religions have found ways to incorporate artists’ creativity into their sacred rituals, places, and ceremonies.

Art for Commemoration• Commemoration is something

done as an aid to memory• More often a public act, perhaps

celebrating a significant person or event, or honoring patriotic actions.

• Commemoration of any kind connects us with the chain of humanity that stretches back for millennia, making human life seem more significant and valuable.

• “Crown of the Palace” was a tomb for the Mughal ruler Shah Jahan’s favorite wife, who died in childbirth.

• It sits at one end of a four-part paradise garden that recalls the description of Paradise in the Qur’an.

Taj Mahal. Agra, India. 1632-1648

Art for Persuasion

• Government buildings, public monuments, television commercials, and music videos all harness the power of art to influence action and opinion.

• They invite and urge us to do or think things that we may not have otherwise thought of.

• idealism: the representation of subjects in an ideal or perfect state or form.

Augustus of Prima Porta. Early 1st Century AD. Marble

Art for Self-Expression

• Art fulfills an expressive function when an artists conveys information about his or her personality or feelings or worldview, aside from a social cause, market demand, commissioning ruler, or aesthetic urge.

• Art becomes a meeting site between artist and viewer, the viewer feeling empathy and gaining an understanding of the creator’s personality.

• Self-portraiture has traditionally been an important vehicle by which artists reach out to us.

Felix Nussbaum. Self-Portrait with Jewish Identity Card. 1943 Oil on Canvas.