Guiding Question
• How can we appreciate and interpret an
artwork effectively?
Appreciating Beauty
• How to experience and appreciate beauty
• How to appreciate artists’ artworks
• Learn the methods of appreciating art
• Understand the attitudes of appreciating art
• Understand the points to note when visiting
art exhibitions
What is a beauty?
• How do you determine whether it is
beautiful or not.
• We all have different ideas about beauty
around us.
• From appreciation, we can express our
thoughts and feelings for a beauty.
Activity 1
• Each student from the group think about
one thing he/she thinks is beautiful. Then
discussing with each others. Finally,
choose the best thing from each group.
• Give 5 reasons based on the sense of
beauty for why you choose it.
Experiencing Beauty
• There is beauty in natural and man-made.
• Different people have different ideas of
what is beautiful.
Natural Beauty - Sunrise
•
Natural Beauty - Sunset
•
Some natural beauty only last for a short time.
So be aware of beauty and appreciate it when
you can.
How can you appreciate beauty?
• If you observe, feel and appreciate the
natural environment.
Man-made beauty
• Man-made beauty is designed for a number of
purposes and functions.
• For example, it may show an artist’s emotions
and feelings or it may be used to sell something.
• We can express our feelings about beauty to
other people though visual arts such as painting,
drawing, sculpture, printmaking, calligraphy and
design.
Ancient people painted on the walls of caves
•
The Starry Night
Vicent Van Gogh
1889, Oil on canvas, 73 x 92 cm
Liu Kuo-song
I Come Here to Hear Heavenly Sound
1960, oil on canvas
79.5 cm x 41 cm private collection
Form of Appreciation
Title of work of art
Artist
Medium
Year
Content: (Description can be done either by written
words or drawing)
I like this work of art because:
1.
2.
3.
Homework
• Take 2 photos of natural beauty and manmade beauty (original photos, not from
internet)
• Print them out and stick to DW. Explain
why you think they are beautiful.
Attitudes and Methods of Appreciating Art
Perception – your initial feelings towards a work of art.
Description – your overall impression of a work of art after
observation.
Analysis – your account of a work of art using your artistic
knowledge.
Interpretation – your understanding of a work of art you
have described and analyzed it.
Comments – your opinions of a work of art after you have
described, analyzed, and interpreted it.
Art Criticism
Step 1 - Description
• Describe the theme, content, form and other
visual elements
• Observe carefully and use the appropriate
words to describe what you see
• Objective
Step 2 - Analysis
• Analyze how artists arranging the work of
art by linking up all the elements together
• Find out the way that artists arrange the
visual elements: colour, line, form,
composition….
• Mainly objective with little subjective
Step 3 - Interpretation
• Interpret the theme, message and feelings
that the artwork conveys
• Interpret why artists create the artwork
base on the analysis in step 1 and step 2,
together with the information of artists:
personal background and cultural
background…
• Mainly subjective with little objective
Step 4 - Comments
• Point out the merits of the artwork and
suggest any improvement
• Express your personal thought and feelings
(Share your own opinions)
• Subjective
• Description – your overall impression of a
work of art after observation.
• Analysis – your account of a work of art
using your artistic knowledge.
• Interpretation – your understanding of a
work of are you have described and
analyzed it.
• Comments – your opinions of a work of art
after you have described, analyzed, and
interpreted it.
Example
Fish Magic, Paul Klee, 1925, oils, watercolor,
cotton cloth and paper plates. 77.5 x 98.4 cm
Description
•
This picture shows a busy underwater
world. There are some fish swimming in
the water. There are also some plants
with flowers distributed on the bottom
and left top hand corner. Finally, we can
see some unusual objects: a moon, a
clock, some red circles and a human
figure with faces.
Analysis
• The colors of the objects contrast with the
background. The artist used bright colors, such
as red, orange, light green and light blue, for
the objects. The shapes of the objects are
simple.
• It can be observed that the artist used simple
technique and skill to create the artwork. The
background is in black color. The objects are
randomly distributed on the black sea and
sharply stand out from the background.
Interpretation
• Look at the picture carefully, you can see
that the artist used different painting
techniques. For example, he scratched and
pasted things on the painting. It led the
audience think of making their artwork in
their infant time. The unusual objects also
arouse the curiosity and imagination of the
audience. Together with bright colors and
simple forms, the picture expresses naivety.
Comments
• To sum up, I think the artist successfully
expressed naivety because the visual
elements, the content, and the techniques he
used can convey naivety (cold be elaborated
it a little bit more.
Classwork
• Do an art critique of the following artwork.
• Not less than 100 words for all sections
Starry Night
Vincent Van Gogh
Visiting an Exhibition
• Read leaflets at the exhibition. These will
help you to understand the works of art on
display.
• Your knowledge of art history will also
help.
• Do not get too close to artworks.
• Do not touch them, especially you care not
allowed to do so.
Visiting an Exhibition
• Don’t break pottery works or sculptures of
art.
• Try to stand back to appreciate painting or
calligraphy. Then move closer to look at
the brushwork.
• You can also view a sculpture from
different angles.