Chapter one Art Appreciation

1. Chapter 1
The nature of art and creativity
What is art?
What is it good for?
What are some characteristics of creativity?

2. Janet Echelman, Her Secret is Patience, 2009, Polyester fiber twine, rope,
height 100’, Civic Space Park, Phoenix, AZ
Mixed Media- art made from a variety of materials
construction amateur daytime

3. Pablo Picasso, “La Reve” (The Dream), oil on canvas, 1932, 51”x38”
Portrait of Marie Therese Walter until recently owned by Steve Wynn

4. Pablo Picasso, “La Reve” (The Dream), oil on canvas, 1932, 51”x38“
Originally purchased for $7000 (100K) by Ganz, the first piece they
collected. Sold at auction 1997 for $48, and in 2001 for $60 to Wynn.
2006 the “Wynn incident” drops to $85 after 90K repair. Claimed on
insurance and reportedly sold again to Cohen in March 2013 for $155!

5. “Three Studies of Lucian Freud”, Francis Bacon, triptych, oil on canvas, 78”x58”
each. Sold seperately in the 70’s and then reassembled by a collector in Rome in
the late 80’s. Sold at auction in late 2013 for $142 mil

6. One of 4 versions of “The Scream” by Edward Munch, this one in pastel- not even
a painting(!) sold for $120 mil in 2012. The other three versions are in museums.

7. Jackson Pollock, No.5, oil and enamel on canvas, 1948, 48”x96”
Sold by David Geffen to David Martinez in a private sale in 2008.
Last known sale of a large work was 1973 (!)

8. Wassily Kandinsky, Composition iv, 1911, Oil on canvas
Art is:
A visual expression of an idea or experience formed with skill through the
use of a medium- material and technique

9. Art is also what the artist says is art
Tom Sachs, Prada Toilet, 2000, actual size

10. Robin Rhode. He Got Game. 2000.
Twelve color photographs. Example of Creativity
The ability to bring forth something new that has valueRelevance or new way
of thinking
Not a novelty. Potential to influence future thought or action

11. Romare Bearden. Prevalence of Ritual: Tidings. 1967.
Photomontage. 36" × 48".
Suggestive of the Annunciation
IBM CEO interviews (1500 in 60 countries)-
Creativity
Video: Romare
Bearden Discusses His
Work

12. Romare Bearden.
Influence of childhood in North Carolina, Grew up in Harlem- Harlem
Renaissance
Jazz and musician friends a big influence. Studied in Paris
Author and song writer

13. Romare Bearden. Rocket to the Moon. 1971.
Collage on board. 13" × 9-1/4".
Fascinated with ideas of Home, homecoming and place

14. Nuestro pueblo, Sabatino “Simon” Rodia, mixed media, Watts (LA) California 1921-
1954, height 100ft. Rodia was an untrained artist, an Italian immigrant who was a
tile setter.

15. Sabatino "Simon" Rodia. Nuestro Pueblo. Watts, CA. 1921–1954.
Height 100'. He built this piece out of cast off materials over many years.

16. Sabatino "Simon" Rodia. Detail of Nuestro Pueblo. Watts, CA. 1921–
1954.

17. James Hampton, “Throne of the third heaven of the nation’s millennium general
assembly”,1950-1964, mixed media 180 pieces 10’6”x27’x14’6”. Hampton was a
Baptist minister and night janitor in Washington DC who built this work in his garage.

18. Retablo. 1915.
Paint on tin. 9" × 11".
Man falsely accused credits “the fervent prayers of my dear parents and my
aggrieved wife” for saving him

19. Alana, age 3. Grandma.
Until about age six, children depict the world in symbolic rather then
representational ways using more mental constructs that visual realism

20. Representational artwork-Depicts the appearance of things. Represents
(presents again) objects in the everyday world- Objects represented are called
subjects.

21. William Harnett. A Smoke Backstage. 1877.
Oil on canvas, 7" x 8 1/2".
An example of Trope l’oeil- “to fool the eye” Like a painting in HD

22. Rene Magritte, The treason of images, oil on canvas, 1929.
Ceci n’est pas une pipe - “this is not a pipe”
What is it?

23. Richard Estes, Times Square, woodblock print, 2000 20 blocks

24. Jan Van Eyck, Portrait of Giovanni Arnolfini and his Wife ('The Arnolfini Portrait'), 1434,
80x60cm. While the figures are somewhat stiff, the room and everything in it is
extremely accurate in its representation.

25. Abstract- to extract
the essence, “to
take from”
Natural objects are
simplified, distorted,
exaggerated.
Artist changes
natural appearance
to reveal or
emphasize certain
qualities.

26. Chief's stool. Late 19th–early 20th century.
Wood plant fibre. Height 16-1/2".
Western Grasslands, Cameroon
Abstraction is common in many cultures-choice
to emphasize certain elements

27. Chilkat Blanket. Tlingit. Before 1928.
4' 7" x 5' 4". What creatures can you pick out?

28. Theo van Doesburg (C.E.M. Kupper). Abstraction of a Cow. c. 1916.
4 5/8" x 6 1/4".

29. Theo van Doesburg (C.E.M. Kupper). Abstraction of a Cow. c. 1916.
4 5/8" x 6 1/4".

30. Theo van Doesburg (C.E.M. Kupper). Composition (The Cow). c. 1917.
15 5/8" x 22 3/4".

31. Theo van Doesburg (C.E.M. Kupper). Composition (The Cow). c. 1917.
14 3/4" x 25".

32. Marlene Dumas, Wailing Wall, 2009, Oil on Linen, 70”x118”
Dumas uses strong brushwork and solid shapes to convey emotion

33. Yoshitomo Nara, oil on canvas, 2001
Nara exaggerates features like eyes and head.

34. Non-representational -Visual forms with no specific reference to
anything outside themselves. Pure visual forms.

35. Alma Woodsey Thomas. Gray Night Phenomenon. 1972.
Acrylic on canvas. 68-7/8" × 53-1/8".

36. Maori peoples, New Zealand. Tukutuku panels. 1930s.
Dyed, plaited flax strips over wood laths. Dimensions variable.
Te Whare Runanga, Maori Meeting House, New Zealand

37. Jackson Pollock, Blue poles: Number 11, 1952 enamel and aluminum
paint with glass on canvas, 82 7/8" x 15' 11 5/8”.
Pollock sought to activate the surface through line and color while not
depicting any specific thing.

38. Bridget Riley, Current, 1964, emulsion on canvas 55x55.
Riley is interested in how the eye sees images.

39. Richard Serra, Snake, forged steel, 1994-97, Bilbao, Spain.
Serra uses large steel forms to carve space

40. Why is this photograph of a
pepper so important?
“28 years of effort… have gone
into the making of this pepper,
which I consider a peak of
achievement”
Edward Weston,Pepper#30,
1930
•Photograph exposed over 2
hours
•What is the difference
between “looking” and
“seeing”?
•more than a pepper: abstract, in
that it is now completely outside
subject matter…takes one beyond
the world we know in the conscious
mind”

41. Much of our thinking is visual using visual memory
and imagination.
“To see is itself a creative
operation, requiring an
effort. Everything we see
in our daily life is more or
less distorted by acquired
habits…the effort needed
to see things without
distortion requires
something very like
courage”
- Henri Matisse 1953
How much more true is
this today in light of TV,
cell phones, the internet,
video games?

42. Auguste Rodin, The Kiss, marble, 1901-04
Representational- bodies are defined in detail

43. Contantin Brancusi, The Kiss, 1916 Limestone, 23x13x 10.
How does Brancusi’s sculpture differ from Rodin’s?
It’s abstract, how do you know that?

44. Cornelia Parker, Kiss, one mile of string and Rodin’s Kiss, 2003
Form is what we see, content is the meaning we get from what we see.
How do they change in this Kiss compared to the previous two?

45. Georgia O'Keeffe. Oriental Poppies. 1927.
30" x 40 1/8".

46. Georgia O'Keeffe. Jack-in-the-Pulpit No. V. 1930.
48" x 30".

47. Albrecht Durer Knight, Death and Devil,1513, Engraving, 24 x 19 cm.
Durer is using Iconography to tell a larger story.
Iconography is the symbolic meaning of signs, symbols and images.

48. Circle of Diego Quispe Tito. The Virgin of Carmel Saving Souls in
Purgatory. Late 17th Century., oil on canvas, 41" × 29".
Christian symbols, actors, scapular garments for protection

49. Amida Buddha. 12th century. Japan
Wood with traces of lacquer, pigment, and gilding. Height 52-1/2".
Topknot- Enlightenment, Earlobes- previous life weath, lotus- enlightenment,
hands meditative