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 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 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 man-made 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.