Art Criticism and AestheticsChapter 4

Art Criticism: Aesthetic Qualities

• Art critics search for aesthetic qualities that can increase their understanding of the works and serve as the criteria on which their judgments are based.

• The following slides cover thoseaesthetic qualities that we willbase our criteria on and defines the role of the art critic.

Artist Criticism

• Define the steps for art criticism.• Use the work by Diego Rivera in this power

point in order to help you understand these terms.

• Apply the terms to the Blue Dog Painting at the end of this power point.

Four Steps of Art Criticism

• There are four steps of art criticism: Description, Analysis, Interpretation, and Judgment.

• You will look for specific information in each step.

• This information you look for is your criteria that you will base your judgments.

• Criteria means standards of judgment.

Art Criticism Steps• Description: Literally, everything that you see

and the Elements of Art.• Analysis: The principles of art organize the

elements of art. Look for the principles of art. • Interpretation: the meaning, mood, or idea

communicated to the viewer. • Judgment: Base your judgment on the first

three steps and the aesthetic theory(s) you choose.

Art Criticism Approach

• What is seen in the artwork? Description

• How is the artwork designed? Analysis

• What does it mean? Interpretation

• Is it a successful work of art? Judgment

• Let us practice going through these steps together.

• Refer to the videos linked in this power point to better help you understand these steps.

Art Criticism ApproachDescription

• Literal Qualities: realistic presentation of subject matter, and the elements of art found in the work.

• First you must describe everything you see in the work (people, animals etc).

• Second you must describe the elements of art present in the work. Color, line, shape/form, value, texture and space.

Practice DescriptionVideo link of Description.

This video will help you understand how to go through the Description step.

Diego Rivera, The Flower Carrier, 1936

Art Criticism ApproachAnalysis

• Design qualities: how well the work is organized, or put together.

• The principles of art organize the elements of art.

• What principles of art did the artist use to organize the elements? balance, emphasis, harmony, variety, movement, rhythm, and proportion.

Practice with Diego Rivera

Practice Analysis

View this video to better understand Art Criticism.

Diego Rivera, The Flower Carrier, 1936.

Art Criticism ApproachInterpretation

• Expressive Qualities: the meaning, mood, or idea communicated to the viewer.

• Base your interpretation on your description and analysis

• Your interpretation is personal.• Different people will have different

interpretations of the work.

Aesthetics and Art Criticism

• We know that Aesthetics is a branch of philosophy concerned with identifying the clues within artworks that can be used to understand, judge, and defend judgments about those works.

• Artist critics use aesthetic theories in order to judge and defend their judgments.

• There are many aesthetic theories. We will look at three of them.

Chapter 3 Lesson 2

Imitationalism (Realism)•Imitationalism (realism): Realistic presentation of subject matter. Reminds viewers of what can be seen in the real world.•Stresses the importance of the literal qualities.

Andrew Wyeth, Master Bedroom,1946.

Formalism•Formalism: a theory of art that emphasizes design qualities. depends on the effective organization of design qualities.•Design qualities: the Principles of Art

Jasper Johns, False Start, 1959. Oil on Canvas, 67 1/4 x 54 in.

Emotionalism•Emotionalism: The artwork communicates an emotion or idea to the viewer. •Importance is placed on moods, feelings, ideas and expressive qualities.

Jacob Lawrence, Confrontation on The Bridge,1975

Practice Interpretation

View this video to better help you understand Interpretation.

Diego Rivera, The Flower Carrier, 1936.

Art Criticism ApproachJudgment

• Judgment: Decision making about the work’s artistic merit.

• Is the work successful.• You must be able to defend your judgment of

the work’s success/merit.• This depends on the aesthetic theory that you

favor as an artist critic.

Watch this video to better help you understand Judgment.

Diego Rivera, The Flower Carrier, 1936.

Art Criticism ApproachJudgment

Nonobjective Art•Nonobjective Art: Any artwork that contains no apparent reference to reality.•Importance is placed primarily on the manner in which the elements and principles of art are used.•Follow the same procedure you would use with a realistic work.•The only difference occurs during description. There is no recognizable subject matter to identify. Just look for the art elements. Stuart Davis, Swing Landscape, 1938.

George Rodrigue, Blue Dog: You Light Up My Roses.