PASSI CITY COLLEGE
City of Passi, Iloilo
SCHOOL OF BUSINESS AND MANAGEMENT
COURSE NO. GE 5
COURSE TITLE: ART APPRECIATION
MODULE: 1
OVERVIEW
This module covers the introduction and assumption of art
that always been part of man's growth and civilization. Since the
dawn of time, man has always tried to express his innermost
thoughts and feelings about reality through creating art.
LEARNING OUTCOMES
At the end of the module the student should have:
 identified the history of art;
 characterized artistic expression based on personal experiences
with art;
 categorized works of art by citing personal experiences.
INSTRUCTOR: MYGILL THERESE P. HUBAG
GE 5 – ART APPRECIATION
PAGE NO. 1
MODULE NO.1
PASSI CITY COLLEGE
City of Passi, Iloilo
LESSON 1: WHAT IS ART; INTRODUCTION AND ASSUMPTION
Art is something that is perennially around us. Some people
may deny having to do with the arts but it is indisputable that life
presents us with many forms of and opportunities for communion
with the arts. A bank manager choosing what tie to wear together
with his shirt and shoes, a politician shuffling her music track while
comfortably seated on her car looking for her favorite song, a
student marveling at the intricate designs of a medieval cathedral
during his field trip, and a market vendor cheering for her bet in a
dance competition on a noontime TV program all manifest concern
for values that are undeniably, despite tangentially, artistic.
Despite the seemingly overflowing instances of arts around
people, one still finds the need to see more and experience more,
whether consciously or unconsciously. One whose exposure to music
is only limited to one genre finds it lacking not to have been
exposed to more. One, whose idea of a cathedral is limited to the
locally available ones, finds enormous joy in seeing other prototypes
in Europe. Plato had the sharpest foresight when he discussed in the
Symposium that beauty, the object of any love, truly progresses. As
one moves through life, one locates better, more beautiful objects of
desire (Scott, 2000). One can never be totally content with what is
just before him. Human beings are drawn toward what is good and
ultimately, beautiful.
Figure 1. A Medieval Cathedral
INSTRUCTOR: MYGILL THERESE P. HUBAG
GE 5 – ART APPRECIATION
PAGE NO. 2
MODULE NO.1
PASSI CITY COLLEGE
City of Passi, Iloilo
Let’s Get Started
In the first column of the table below, list down your most striking
encounters with arts. On the second column, explain why you think each
encounter is an experience with art.
My Encounters with Arts
INSTRUCTOR: MYGILL THERESE P. HUBAG
GE 5 – ART APPRECIATION
Why?
PAGE NO. 3
MODULE NO.1
PASSI CITY COLLEGE
City of Passi, Iloilo
Let’s Get Down to Business
Why Study the humanities?
For as long as man existed in this planet, he has cultivated the
land, altered the conditions of the fauna and the flora, in order to
survive. Alongside these necessities, man also marked his place in
the world through his works. Through his bare hands, man
constructed infrastructures that tended to his needs, like his house.
He sharpened swords and spears. He employed fire in order to melt
gold. The initial meaning of the word "art" has something to do
with all these craft.
The word "art" comes from the ancient Latin, ars which means
a "craft specialized form of skill, like carpentry or smithying or
surgery" (Collingwood, 1938), Art then suggested the capacity to
produce an intended result from carefully planned steps or method.
When a man wants to build a house, ho plans meticulously to get to
what the prototype promises and he executes the steps to produce the
said structure, then he is engaged in art. The Ancient World did not
have any conceived notion of art in the same way that we do now.
To them, art only meant using the bare hands to produce something
that will be useful to one's day-to-day life.
Ars in Medieval Latin came to mean something different. It
meant "any special form of book-learning, such as grammar or
logic, magic or astrology" (Collingwood, 1938), It was only during
the Renaissance Period that the word reacquired a meaning that
was inherent in its ancient form of craft. Early Renaissance artists
saw their activities merely as craftsmanship, devoid of a whole lot of
intonations that are attached to the word now. It was during the
seventeenth century when the problem and idea of aesthetics, the
study of beauty, began to unfold distinctly from the notion of
INSTRUCTOR: MYGILL THERESE P. HUBAG
GE 5 – ART APPRECIATION
PAGE NO. 4
MODULE NO.1
PASSI CITY COLLEGE
City of Passi, Iloilo
technical workmanship, which was the original conception of the
word "art." It was finally in the eighteenth century when the word
has evolved to distinguish between the fine arts and the useful arts.
The fine arts would come to mean "not delicate or highly skilled
arts, but 'beautiful' arts" (Collingwood, 1938). This is something
more akin to what is now .considered art.
"The humanities constitute one of the oldest and most
important means of expression developed by man" (Dudley et al.,
1960). Human history has witnessed how man evolved not just
physically but also culturally, from cave painters to men of exquisite
paintbrush users of the present. Even if one goes back to the time
before written records of man's civilization has appeared, he can
find cases of man's attempts of not just crafting tools to live and
survive but also expressing his feelings and thoughts.
Figure 2. The Galloping Wild Boar
Pre-historic men with their crude instruments, already
showcased and manifested earliest attempts at recording man's
innermost interests, preoccupations, and thoughts. The humanities,
INSTRUCTOR: MYGILL THERESE P. HUBAG
GE 5 – ART APPRECIATION
PAGE NO. 5
MODULE NO.1
PASSI CITY COLLEGE
City of Passi, Iloilo
then, ironically, have started even before the term has been coined.
Human persons have long been exercising what it means to be a
human long before he was even aware of his being one. The
humanities stand tall in bearing witness to this magnificent
phenomenon. Any human person, then, is tasked to participate, if
not, totally partake in this long tradition of humanizing himself.
Assumption of Art
 Art is universal.
Literature has provided key works of art. Among the most
popular ones being taught in school are the two Greek epics, the
Iliad and the Odyssey. The Sanskrit pieces Mahabharata and
Ramayana are also staples in this field. These works, purportedly
written before the beginning of recorded history, are believed to be
man's attempt at recording stories and tales that have been passed
on, known, and sung throughout the years. Art has always been
timeless and universal, spanning generations and continents
through and through.
In every country and in every generation, there is always art.
Oftentimes, people feel that what is considered artistic are only those
which have been made long time ago. This is a misconception. Age is
not a factor in determining art. An "...art is not good because it is
old, but old because it is good" (Dudley et al., 1960). In the
Philippines, the works of Jose Rizal and Francisco Balagtas are not
being read because they are old. Otherwise, works of other Filipinos
who have long died would have been required in junior high school
too. The pieces mentioned are read in school and have remained to
be with us because they are good. They are liked and adored
because they meet our needs and desires. Florante at Laura never
fails to teach high school students the beauty of love, one that is
universal and pure. [bong Adarna, another Filipino masterpiece,
has always captured the imagination of the young with its timeless
lessons. When we recite the Psalms, we feel in communion with King
David as we feel one with him in his conversation with God. When we
INSTRUCTOR: MYGILL THERESE P. HUBAG
GE 5 – ART APPRECIATION
PAGE NO. 6
MODULE NO.1
PASSI CITY COLLEGE
City of Passi, Iloilo
listen to a kundiman or perform folk dances, we still enjoy the way
our Filipino ancestors whiled away their time in the past. We do not
necessarily like a kundiman for its original meaning. We just like it.
We enjoy it. Or just as one of the characters in the movie Bar Boys
thought, kundiman makes one concentrate better.
Figure 3. Ibong Adarna
The first assumption then about the humanities is that art has
been crafted by all people regardless of origin, time, place, and that
it stayed on because it is liked and enjoyed by people continuously. A
great piece of work will never be Obsolete. Some people say that art is
art for its intrinsic worth. In John Stuart Mill's Utilitarianism
(1879), enjoyment in the arts belongs to a higher good, one that lies
at the opposite end of base pleasures. Art will always be present
because human beings will always express themselves and delight in
these expressions. Men will continue to use art while art persists and
never gets depleted.
 Art is not nature.
In the Philippines, it is not entirely novel to hear some
consumers of local movies remark that these movies produced locally
are unrealistic. They contend that local movies work around
INSTRUCTOR: MYGILL THERESE P. HUBAG
GE 5 – ART APPRECIATION
PAGE NO. 7
MODULE NO.1
PASSI CITY COLLEGE
City of Passi, Iloilo
certain formula to the detriment of substance and faithfulness to
reality of the movies. These critical minds argue that a good movie
must reflect reality as closely as possible. Is that so?
Paul Cézanne, a French painter, painted a scene from reality
entitled Well and Grinding Wheel in the Forest of the Chäteau Noin
The said scene is inspired by a real scene in a forest around the
Chåteau Noir area near Aix in Cézanne's native Provence.
Comparing the two, one can see that Cézanne's landscape is quite
different from the original scene. Cézanne has changed some
patterns and details from the way they were actually in the
photograph. What he did is not nature. It is art.
One important characteristic of art is that it is not nature. Art
is man's expression of his reception of nature. Art is man's way of
interpreting nature. Art is not nature. Art is made by man, whereas
nature is a given around us. It is in this juncture that they can be
considered opposites. What we find in nature should not be expected
to be present in art too. Movies are not meant to be direct
representation of reality. They may, according to the moviemaker's
perception of reality, be a reinterpretation or even distortion of
nature.
This distinction assumes that all of us see nature, perceive its
elements in myriad, different, yet ultimately valid ways. One can
only imagine the story of the five blind men who one day argue
against each other on what an elephant looks like. Each of the five
blind men was holding a different part of the elephant. The first was
touching the body and thus, thought the elephant was like a wall.
Another was touching the beast's ear and was convinced that the
elephant was like a fan. The rest were touching other different parts
of the elephant and concluded differently based on their
perceptions. Art is like each of these men's view of the elephant. It is
based on an individual's subjective experience of nature. It is not
meant, after all, to accurately define what the elephant is really like
INSTRUCTOR: MYGILL THERESE P. HUBAG
GE 5 – ART APPRECIATION
PAGE NO. 8
MODULE NO.1
PASSI CITY COLLEGE
City of Passi, Iloilo
in nature. Artists are not expected to duplicate nature just as even
scientists with their elaborate laboratories cannot make nature..
Figure 4. The Elephant and the Blind Man
 Art involves experience.
Getting this far without a satisfactory definition of art can be
quite weird for some. For most people, art does not require a full
definition. Art is just experience. By experience, we mean the "actual
doing of something" (Dudley et al., 1960). When one says that he
has an experience of something, he often means that he knows what
that something is about. When one claims that he has experienced
falling in love, getting hurt, and bouncing back, he in effect claims
that he knows the (sometimes) endless cycle of loving. When one
asserts having experienced preparing a particular recipe, he in fact
asserts knowing how the recipe is made. Knowing a thing is different
from hearing from others what the said thing is. A radio DJ
dispensing advice on love when he himself has not experienced it
does not really know what he is talking about. A choreographer who
cannot execute a dance step himself is a bogus. Art is always an
experience. Unlike fields of knowledge that involve data, art is
INSTRUCTOR: MYGILL THERESE P. HUBAG
GE 5 – ART APPRECIATION
PAGE NO. 9
MODULE NO.1
PASSI CITY COLLEGE
City of Passi, Iloilo
known by experiencing. A painter cannot claim to know how to
paint if he has not tried holding a brush. A sculptor cannot produce
a work of art if a chisel is foreign to him. Dudley et al. (1960)
affirmed that "[a]ll art depends on experience, and if one is to know
art, he must know it not as fact or information but as experience."
A work of art then cannot be abstracted from actual doing. In
order to know what an artwork is, we have to sense it, see or hear it,
and see AND hear it. To fully appreciate our national hero's
monument, one must go to Rizal Park and see the actual sculpture.
In order to know Beyoncé's music, one must listen to it to actually
experience them. A famous story about someone who adores Picasso
goes something like this: "Years ago, Gertrude Stein was asked why
she bought the pictures of the then unknown artist Picasso. 'l like to
look at them,' said Miss Stein" (Dudley et al., 1960). At the end of the
day, one fully gets acquainted with art if one immerses himself into
it. In the case of Picasso, one only learns about Picasso's work by
looking at it. That is precisely what Miss Stein did.
Figure 5. Pablo Picasso
In matters of art, the subject's perception is of primacy. One can
read hundreds of reviews about a particular movie, but at the end
of the day, until he sees the movie himself, he will be in no position
to actually talk about the movie. He does not know the movie until
he experiences it. An important aspect of experiencing art is its being
highly personal, individual, and subjective. In philosophical terms,
perception Of art is always a value judgment. It depends on who the
INSTRUCTOR: MYGILL THERESE P. HUBAG
GE 5 – ART APPRECIATION
PAGE NO. 10
MODULE NO.1
PASSI CITY COLLEGE
City of Passi, Iloilo
perceiver is, his tastes, his biases and what he has inside him.
Degustibus non disputandum est (Matters of taste are matters of
dispute). One cannot argue with another person's evaluation of art
becaUSG one's experience can never be known by another.
Finally, one should also underscore that every experience with
art is accompanie by some emotion. One either likes or dislikes,
agrees or disagrees that a work art is beautiful. A stage play or
motion picture is particularly one of those art form that evoke
strong emotions from its audience. With experience comes emotions
feelings, after all. Feelings and emotions are concrete proofs that the
artwork has been experiences.
LET’S WRAP IT UP
Humanities and the art have always been part of man's growth and
civilization. Since the dawn of time, man has always tried to express his
innermost thoughts and feelings about reality through creating art. Three
assumptions on art are its universality, its not being nature, and its need
for experience. Art is present in every part of the globe and in every period
time. This is what is meant by its universality. Art not being nature, not
even attempting to simply mirror nature, is the second assumption about
art. Art is always a creation of the artist, not nature. Finally, without
experience, there is no art. The artist has to be foremost, a perceiver who is
directly in touch with art.
LET’S WORK ON THIS!
Answer the following questions as precisely yet as thoroughly as possible.
1. If you were an artist, what kind of artist would you be? (10 points)
2. Why does art involve experience?
INSTRUCTOR: MYGILL THERESE P. HUBAG
GE 5 – ART APPRECIATION
PAGE NO. 11
MODULE NO.1
PASSI CITY COLLEGE
City of Passi, Iloilo
Rubric will be the used for grading:
LET’S MAKE IT HAPPEN!
ASSESSMENT
Choose one artwork under each category that you are familiar with. This can be
the last artwork that you have come across with or the one that made the most
impact to you. Criticize each using your activity sheet.
Categories
1. Movie
2. Novel
3. Poem
4. Music
5. An Architectural Structure
6. A piece of clothing
Category: __________________________________
Artwork: __________________________________
1. What is it about? What is it for?
2. What is made of?
3. What is its style?
4. How good is it?
INSTRUCTOR: MYGILL THERESE P. HUBAG
GE 5 – ART APPRECIATION
PAGE NO. 12
MODULE NO.1
PASSI CITY COLLEGE
City of Passi, Iloilo
References



Caslib, B.N., Garing D.C Casaul, J.A Art Aprreciation (2018)
Collingwood, R.G. (1983). The Principles of Art. Read Books Ltd.
Dudley, L., and Faricy, A. (1960). The Humanities. New York: McGraw-Hill.
_______________ END OF MODULE 1 _____________
INSTRUCTOR: MYGILL THERESE P. HUBAG
GE 5 – ART APPRECIATION
PAGE NO. 13
MODULE NO.1