Four Traditional roles of art Four traditional roles of the artist As defined by Henry M. Sayre in his book, A World of Art
To Record the world Keeping a Historical Record History can be recorded visually. Much of the ancient art was made when people were illiterate.
Autun Cathedral, Last Judgment, West tympanum, c. 1130, Autun Cathedral
To Giving form to feelings Giving Form to Intangibles Art makes emotions, and experiences, more visible.
Auguste Rodin, The Thinker in The Gates of Hell, c. 1917
Francis Bacon, Study for the Head of a Screaming Pope, 1952
To Reveal hidden truths A skilled artist can bring out hidden or obscure truths. Picasso’s Guernica is a great example of revealing the suffering of the massacre at Guernica in 1937.
PABLO Picasso, Guernica, 1937
To Help us see the world in a new Innovative way An artist sees the same things as others, but interprets them in an innovative way.