Purpose of Art
What Is Art?
What Does Art Do?
The Dinner Party, Judy
Chicago, 1974-79
Modern Ideas about Art
Artists of the past had different
assumptions on the nature of their tasks.
The purpose of their artwork was specific
and much different than artists working
today.
The audience was usually very specified
as well, and the viewers had different
ideas about the art’s purpose as well as
how they considered the artist.
Today:
We take it for granted that the artist’s task
is to pursue his or her own vision of art.
Art today is seen as a way for the artist to
express his or her own ideas, insights and
feelings.
We assume art is for anyone that takes an
interest in it and have galleries and
museums, books and magazines
dedicated to sharing art with the world.
Art and Beauty
Beauty is deeply linked to our
thinking about art.
During the 18th century, when
the “category” of ART came
into being beauty and art were
discussed together.
art was considered something
that gave one pleasure to look
at- just as beauty does.
This was an intellectual
pleasure-one achieved
Through disinterested
contemplation.
Edward Weston, Cabbage Leaf,
1931.
Is all Art “beautiful”?
Some theories link
beauty to formal
qualities such as
symmetry, simple
geometric
shapes and pure
color.
Francisco Goya. Chronos Devouring
One of His Children, c. 1820-22.
Originally a wall painting in Goya’s house.
Art can be beautiful…
But it can also inspire
sadness, horror, pity,
awe and a full range of
other emotions.
The common thread in
each case is that we
find the experience of
looking
to be valuable for its
own sake
Art makes looking
worthwhile.
Art can be beautiful, but not all Art tries to be beautiful and
beauty is not a requirement of Art.
Giovanni Bellini, Pieta, c. 1500-05, Oil on Wood, 25’ X 35”
Representational vs. Abstract
Not only does art not
have to be “beautiful”
it also does not have
to faithfully represent
“real life”.
Louise Bourgeois,
Woman with Packages,
Bronze, 1949
65 x 18 x 12”
Louise Bourgeois
 Abstracted the visual impact of a woman
standing all the way to a slender vertical column
topped by an egg shaped element.
 Woman with Packages belongs to a series of
sculptures that she called Personages.
 A personage is a fictional character, as in a
novel or play. Bourgeios often arranges them in
groups or pairs- implying a story for them.
Why Abstract Art?
 Since the invention of photography artists have
questioned whether the role of the artist paint
subjects that the “camera lens can establish so
clearly” ?
 Paintings that refer clearly to the visible world
are considered representational.
 Painting in a way that is very faithful to the visual
experience, recording how forms are revealed
by light and shadow, how bodies reflect inner
structure of bone and muscle, how fabric drapes
of bodies and objects and how gravity make
weight feel is called naturalistic.
Pablo Picasso, First Communion, 1895
Representational (and Naturalistic)
Pablo Picasso, Seated Woman, 1910
Abstract
 Picasso could paint realistically but he chose not
to. He was part of a courageous generation of
artists that opened up a new territory for artists.
 These artists were trained in the traditional arts
(representational) yet they chose to try
something new.
 These artists were the first generation to take
photography for granted. Before photography
any and ALL images in the world were created
by hand.
 Since the invention of photography- some artists
felt free to do other things.
On the other end of the spectrum- there is Trompe l’oeil.
Duane Hanson, Flea Market
Duane Hanson,
Tourist Couple,
Autobody filler, polychromed,
mixed media with accessories,
life size
Trompe l’oeil- To fool the eye
Nonrepresentational Art
Artists at the beginning of the 20th century turned
their backs on the visual world altogether as a
starting point for art.
Nonobjective or nonrepresentational artists like
Vasily Kandinsky compared art to music.
“Music”, Kandinsky said,”does not represent
anything outside of itself.”
Kandinsky’s paintings are composed of colors and
shapes arranged on a flat surface.
Composition IX
Vasily Kandinsky, 1936 (120 Kb); Oil on canvas, 44 5/8 x 76 3/4 in
What Is Art?
* Visual Creation that enhances our daily lives
* Art encompasses many meanings
including ability, process, and
product
*Ability- the human capacity to
make things of beauty and things
that stir us = creativity
*Process- drawing, painting,
sculpting, designing
*Product- art as the completed
work-an etching, a bowl, a
sculpture, an installation
Ease, 1987, Bridget Riley
Personal experience/encounters with art
are:
unique and depend upon the nature of the
individual, the time, place and culture of
the artwork and the viewer.
Two Fridas,
Frida Khalo,
1940
The language or vocabulary of art
includes the
Elements ofArt
Principles of Design
Style of the Artist
Form and Content
The Temptation of
Adam and Eve, Sistine
Chapel, Michelangelo,
1510
Art Helps Us Understand History
 Examining a work in its
historical, social, and
political context will
enable you to have a
more meaningful dialog
with that work.
 The creative process has
been intertwined with
world events and
individual personalities
There are many different opinions on the
purpose of art:
 No purpose, exists for
its own sake
 Transcends the
human occupation
with usefulness
 Beauty and wonder
 Some think in trying to
analyze art, you lose
sight of its meaning.
Just What Is It That Makes
Today’s Homes So Different,
So Appealing, Richard Hamilton,
Collage, 1956
Understanding and appreciation of art can
be enhanced by asking
Why was this created?
What is its purpose?
There may not be a
single definition of art,
but we can come
to understand art by
knowing what art does.
Themes of Art
 Themes do not reduce art into neat
categories- they provide a framework for
exploring how complex a form of
expression it can be.
Art enhances our daily lives
Art helps us envision the sacred realm, helps us honor it and communicate with it.
Art has served to project the presence and authority
of rulers to the people throughout their lands. (Art depicts politics and social
order)
Art reveals the Here and Now
Art Expresses Fantasy and Invention
Art reflects the Human Experience
Art tells stories and histories
Art speaks of nature and our relationship to it
Art can be made for the sake of ART
What Does Art Do?
* Art Enhances Our Daily Life Artists imitate nature's
beauty or aim to improve upon nature by developing an
idealized form.
The Railroad,
Edouard Manet,
1872
Beauty is in the eye of the society's
beholder
Depending on
the time period,
geographical
location and
society- the
“beauty” in Art
varies greatly.
A miniature, Kishengarh, Jaipur, Rajasthan
*Art Enhances Our Daily Life
Art delights our senses-turns ordinary
environments into pleasurable havens
Paintings, murals, tapestries, sculptures,
fountains, stained glass, mosques,
cathedrals
San Francisco Mural,
1931, Diego Rivera
Whatever other functions works of art
may serve, they can change our
environment:
*Art Reveals the Here and Now
Art is a powerful tool-can be used to
replicate reality. Literal truths or describe
truths about humanity or themselves. (selfportraits, photographs)
Guernica, Pablo Picasso,
1937
Seurat, Georges
For Seurat, painting in his “here and now” meant including
Bathers at Asnieres
the factories in the background of this tranquil beach scene.
1883-84 (retouched 1887) Seurat found beauty in the factories and dignity in ordinary
79 x 118 1/2 in
workers.
Subject: signs of the times, a mix of high art imagery (Sistine ceiling in the upper left) and low art,
popular culture references (sunkist oranges); nature (the bald eagle) and culture (the red industrial
landscape in the lower right); America, the beautiful, in all its urban sprawl splendor.
Context: transition between the Abstract Expressionism of the 50s and the Pop Art of the 60s; brings
back subject matter by shifting art away from abstraction and the studio and toward the outside world
becomes a kind of modern-day history painter, reporting on the changing times.
Robert Rauschenburg
Windward, 1963
Oil and silkscreened ink on canvas
8’ x 5’ 10”
Art is a powerful tool for revealing truth
Art can be used to replicate reality in the
finest detail
Art can also reveal truths about humanity
or about the artist themselves.
Chuck Close, Big SelfPortrait , 1967-1968
Negress Notes
1996, Kara Walker
*Art Expresses Religious Beliefs
 Symbolism is important in almost all religious art.
 Art has long been used to express hopes for
fertility, to propitiate the gods, to represent great
events, and values and to commend
heavenward the souls of the departed.
 Buildings are also vehicles for expressing beliefs
and emotions. In western culture, examples of
this are found in Romanesque and Gothic
churches of the late Middle Ages
The Sacred Realm
The sacred realm can not be seen with
human eyes, yet artists throughout the
ages have been asked to create images of
gods, goddesses, angels, demons and all
manner of spirit beings.
Religious images may serve to focus the
thoughts of the faithful by giving concrete
form to abstract ideas.
Inupiaq, Ceremonial Death Mask
Greek god
Standing Buddah (India)
The End of Modernity,
Josiah McElheny, 2006
Crucified Christ, Susan Young
*Art Expresses Fantasy and Invention
 Art serves as a vehicle by which artists can express their
innermost fantasies. Some artists labor to reconstruct
reality and commemorate actual experiences- others
vent their imaginary inner lives.
 Many fantasies, dreams, day-dreams, and
objects/landscapes conceived by the imagination are
created in an attempt to capture the inner self.
 Many 20th century artists looked to psychoanalytic
writings of Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung to help them
reach their inner thoughts.
 Marc Chagall was a Russian- born French artist who
used his work to recreate memories of his childhood.
I and the Village, Marc Chagall
1911
The Garden of Earthly Delights,
Hieronymus Bosch, c. 1505-10
Oil on panel, 7 ‘ x 6’ (center panel)
*Art Records and Commemorates
Experiences (tell stories and histories)
 "Art is not a handicraft;
it is the transmission of
feeling the artist has
experienced"- Leo
Tolstoy
From prehistoric cave paintings to the Vietnam Memoria
in Washington, D.C.- art has been used to inform future
generations.
*Art Immortalizes (History/Stories)
 Warhol saw commercialization and marketing as art
forms in themselves. He set up his studio to be like a
factory (he called it the "Art Factory") where he
manufactured works like any other product. He also
realized that personalities were also products that could
be marketed. He practiced this using cultural icons like
Elvis Presley and Marilyn Monroe.
Turquoise Marilyn,
1962,
Andy Warhol
Andy Warhol
Art can defy mortality by creating a work
that will keep the public conscious of a
person long after their death
(ex. Benjamin Franklin)
*Art Reflects the Human Experience
 Artists frequently record the activities and objects of their
time and places, reflecting contemporary fashions and
beliefs as well as states of crafts and sciences.
 Edward Hopper, Richard Hamilton. Edward Hopper and
many of the American artists of the 1930's and 40's were
interested in creating an identity that would buoy the
American spirit during those times of war and hardship.
 Hopper was loosely associated with the American
Regionalist movement, a group of artists who were
interested in reflecting the strength and character of
America.
Nighthawks, Edward Hopper, 1942
*Art Depicts Politics and Social Order
Artists seek analogies in apocalyptic
events such as war, famine, or natural
Guernica, Pablo
catastrophes
Picasso, 1937
*Art Protests Injustice and Raises Social
Consciousness
Guerrilla Girls
Eugene Delacroix (French Romanticism)
"Liberty Leading the People", 1830
Artists use their creativity to persuade
others to join their cause.
Guerrilla Girls
Liberty Leading the People, Eugene Delacroix, 1830
Art depicts nature and our relationship to
it.
Robert Smithson, Spiral Jetty,
1970, rock, salt crystals, earth,
Algae, coil length 1500’
*Art Meets the Needs of the Artist
Art for Art
Art can permit individuals to earn a living
and to attain achievement
American painter Barnett Newman gave
his reason for painting, “ To have
something to look at”.
Art is an activity we have to come to
pursue for its own sake. Art can be its own
theme.