| Aesthetics
In this Art Quest you will have the opportunity to get a better understanding
of aesthetics. In learning how the subject, composition, and content of
an artwork relate to aesthetics, you will visit various museums, including
the National Gallery of Art, the Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco, and
the Carnegie Museum of Art.
What is aesthetics? Aesthetics is the study of the nature of beauty
and art.
What is beautiful?
Is the following piece of art beautiful? Why or why not?
Luminous
Tree, 1917
Charles Burchfield
Are the trees in the following work of art beautiful? Explain your answer.
Road
and Trees, 1962
Edward Hopper
Is the field in sunlight in the following piece of art beautiful? Why
or why not?
Corn
Hill (Truro, Cape Cod), 1930
Edward Hopper
Is late afternoon sunlight beautiful? Why or why not?
Sun
Glitter, 1945
Charles E. Burchfield
Are the houses in the following pieces of art beautiful? Why or why not?
Taste is a personal matter. The clothing you like may differ from the
clothing that your parents like. This doesn’t make anyone wrong
or right. It is simply differences in taste.
When we talk about art, we refer to different “aesthetic views”
to talk about these differences in taste. An aesthetic view is an
idea or school of thought on what is most important in a work of art.
What do you think is most important in creating a good work of art?
- Making it look real, or lifelike?
- Successfully using the elements and principles of art?
- Having an important idea to communicate?
Subject
When the most important goal in creating an artwork is to make it look
very real and convincing, we call that having a subject view.
A work’s subject is an image viewers can easily
identify.
Look at this painting again:
Haskell's
House, 1924
Edward Hopper
What would someone with a subject view think of this painting?
Composition
A second aesthetic view of art is the composition view.
In this view, the most important factor in an artwork is its composition.
The composition is the way the principles are used to
organize the elements of art.
Take another look at this painting:
Railroad
in Spring, 1933
Charles E. Burchfield
Look closely. Would you say that the artist had a subject view or a composition
view? What facts would you use to support your opinion?
Content
A third aesthetic view is the content view. Content in
an artwork refers to the message, idea, or feeling expressed by a work
of art. If you believe that expression is most important in an artwork,
then you are taking the content view.
Look again at the following painting. Do you think that the artist is
trying to express a feeling or idea in it? If so, what? Do you think that
content is the most important factor in this painting? Why or why not?
Sun
Glitter, 1945
Charles E. Burchfield
Test Yourself!
Go back and look at the paintings by American artists Edward Hopper and
Charles Burchfield. See if you can classify each painting according to
an aesthetic view. Be ready to support your opinion with your observations
of each painting.
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