This document provides an overview of art and aesthetics. It discusses theories of aesthetics such as imitationalism, formalism, and emotionalism. It also covers elements of art and design, principles of art and design, art movements like Impressionism and Cubism, the process of art appreciation in four steps, and rules of art composition including the rule of thirds, rule of odds, rabatment, and the golden ratio.

1. ART &
Aesthetics
SUBJECT: ART APPRECIATION
Submitted by: Archy Bhatt, 2501
DIP ARCH 3, SEM-5

2. CONTENTS
• INTRODUCTION TO ART AND AESTHETICS
• THEORIES OF AESTHETICS
• ELEMENTS OF ART & DESIGN
• PRINCIPLES OF ART & DESIGN
• ART MOVEMENTS
• INTRODUCTION TO ART APPRECIATION
• ART COMPOSITION RULES

3. • The expression or application of human creative skill and
imagination, typically in a visual form such as painting or
sculpture, producing works to be appreciated primarily for
their beauty or emotional power.
• A set of principles concerned with the nature and appreciation
of beauty.
• The branch of philosophy which deals with questions of beauty
and artistic taste.
AESTHETICS
ART

4. THEORIES OF AESTHETICS
• The following three aesthetic theories apply
to most visual artworks:
• Imitationalism.
• Formalism.
• Emotionalism.

5. IMITATIONALISM
• The aesthetic theory known
as imitationalism applies
to artworks that look
realistic.
• These artworks contain
recognizable, realistic looking
objects and scenes that closely
imitate what we see in the real
world.
• An imitationalist artwork is
judged as good if it
accomplishes this to a high
degree.

6. FORMALISM
• The aesthetic theory known
as formalism stresses the visual
qualities of an artwork.
• The focus is onthe effective
arrangements of lines, colors,
shapes and other elements of
art.
• If it does have recognizable
objects, they are often distorted
or portrayed in an abstract
way. They are not intended to
look realistic.
• A formalist artwork is
considered to be successful if
the artist has created a visually
interesting design.
Nude Descending a Staircase is done
in what is called the Cubist style. It
has an abstract, angular appearance.

7. This artwork by David Siqueiros is designed
to draw your attention to the horrors of
war. A screaming baby's head emerges
from the destruction. The artist is making
the point that no child could survive in that
environment for very long.
EMOTIONALISM
• The aesthetic theory known
as emotionalism stresses
the expressive qualities in an
artwork. The primary purpose of
an emotionalist artwork is to
vividly communicate moods,
feelings and ideas to the viewer.
• The main point of the artwork is
to get the viewer's attention in a
dramatic way and to impact the
viewer's emotions.
• A good emotionalist artwork will
succeed in getting the artist's
message across.

8. Elements of design

9. What we use to
organize the
Elements of Art, or
the tools to make art.
The laws of designing

10. ART MOVEMENTS
• They are the collective titles that are given to
artworks which share the same artistic ideas,
style, technical approach or time frame.
• They are a historical convenience for grouping
together artists of a common period, style or
technique so that they may be more easily
understood.
• Some movements are Impressionism, Dadaism,
Post Impressionism, Fauvism, Cubism etc.

11. IMPRESSIONISM
Impressionism was an art movement in France at the end of the 19th century. The
Impressionists were a group of artists renowned for their innovative painting
techniques and approach to using colour in art.
CLAUDE MONET (1840-1926)
'Waterlilies and Japanese Bridge', 1899
(oil on canvas)
ALFRED SISLEY (1839-99)
'Flood at Port Marley', 1876 (oil on canvas)

12. POST IMPRESSIONISM
Root of Modern Art
• Post Impressionism was not a
formal movement or style. The
Post Impressionists were a few
independent artists at the end
of the 19th century who
rebelled against the limitations
of Impressionism. They
developed a range of personal
styles that focused on the
emotional, structural,
symbolic and spiritual
elements that they felt were
missing from Impressionism.
VINCENT VAN GOGH (1853-1890)
'View of Arles-Orchard in Bloom with
Poplars', 1890 (oil on canvas)

13. CUBISM - THE FIRST STYLE OF
ABSTRACT ART
• A typical Cubist painting depicts
real people, places or objects,
but not from a fixed viewpoint.
Instead it will show you many
parts of the subject at one time,
viewed from different angles,
and reconstructed into a
composition of planes, forms
and colours. The whole idea of
space is reconfigured: the front,
back and sides of the subject
become interchangeable
elements in the design of the
work.
PABLO PICASSO (1881-1973)
'Factory, Horta de Ebbo', 1909 (oil on
canvas)

14. ART APPRECIATION
Art Appreciation is the knowledge and
understanding of the universal and timeless
qualities that identify all great art.
Art appreciation involves having an
understanding of all of the qualities that
comprise a great work of art.
Art appreciation also involves learning about
certain time periods, movements, styles and
techniques so that a person has a better
understanding of the basis for the art as well as of
the art itself.

15. PROCESS OF ART APPRECIATION
1. Description
2. Analysis
3.Interpretation
4. Judgment

16. Step 1 – Description
• In the description step you will make observations about
what you see. For this first step your observations must be
objective. Try not to express your opinions yet. “describe
only the facts.
• Also facts likes:
1. The name of the artist, his or her nationality, and date of
birth and death
2. 2. The name of the art or and the year or years it as
made.
• Now really look at the artwork and describe in great detail
what you see. Use the appropriate visual Arts vocabulary
(line, shape, form, space, texture, colour and value).

17. Step 2 Analysis
• In this step consider the most significant art principles that were
used in the artwork. Describe how the artist used them to
organise the elements.
• BALANCE
• CONTRAST
• EMPHASIS
• HARMONY
• VARIETY
• UNITY
• GRADATION
• MOVEMENT
• RHYTHM
• PROPORTION
• DEPTH
• COMPOSITION

18. Step 3 – Interpretation
• Based on what you have learned so far about
the artwork, what do you think the artist was
trying to say?
• Why did the artist create this artwork?
• What do you think it means?
• What feelings do you have when looking
at this artwork?
• Do you think there are things in the artwork
that represent other things 4 symbols?

19. Step 4 Judgement
• Do you like this artwork?
• Do you think it is a good artwork?
• Do think it is an important artwork would display
this artwork in your home? Is this artwork good
enough to put in a museum?
• Justify your opinion.
• Explain why you feel the way you do about this
artwork based on what you have learned about
it. What criteria do you base your Judgment on?

20. ART COMPOSITION RULES
1) RULES OF THIRDS
What is the Rule of Thirds?
Divide a canvas in thirds both horizontally and vertically, and place
the focus of the painting either one third across or one third up or
down the picture, or where the lines intersect.

21. In this, the eye is drawn straight
into the centre of the image
and you tend to ignore the rest
of the picture.
In this, the lion's face is on one of
the Rule of Thirds 'hotspots', your
eye is drawn the lion's face, then
around the painting following the
curve of the body.

22. The Rule of Thirds also works
well for creating balance in a
design.

23. ART COMPOSITION RULES
2) RULES OF ODDS
One of the simplest ways to make a
composition more dynamic is to have
an odd number in the composition, say
three, five, or seven, rather than an
even number, say two, four, or six. It's
called the Rule of Odds.

25. ART COMPOSITION RULES
3) THE RABATEMENT
What is the rabatment of a rectangle?
It’s the perfect square found inside any rectangle.

26. Notice how the two spaces work in concert:
the baby fits entirely within the rabatment
while the head of the mother looks down at
the infant from outside the rabatment.
Artists use the area outside the
rabatment is to complete whatever story
is being told.
The figure (which is the center of interest) is
located directly on the edge of the rabatment,
with the trees located inside it. Outside the
rabatment is an obliqued-shaped building that
redirects the viewer’s eyes to the center of
interest.

27. ART COMPOSITION RULES
4) THE GOLDEN RATIO
The ratio of 1 to 1.618—has many names. Most often it is called
the Golden Section, Golden Ratio, or Golden Mean, but it’s
also occasionally referred to as the Golden Number, Divine
Proportion, Golden Proportion, Fibonacci Number, and Phi.

28. Visual points of interest
inside a golden rectangle
These points—represented by the green dots
in the diagram above—are called the “eyes of
the rectangle.”
Edward Hopper’s composition, below, sets the
sailboat right on the lower right eye (with the
tip of the sails extending nearly to the upper
right eye).In this painting, Carolyn Anderson places her
subject’s hands around that spot too.