Quiz #1 Study Guide

How does D'Alleva define art?

"art" is any material or visual thing that is made by a person or persons that is invested with social, political, spirtual, or aesthetic value by the creator, user, viewer, and or/ patron.

In what century did the "modern" museum come into being?

18th century (1700's)

The definition of "art" is the same among all cultures and across all time periods. True or false and why?

False. What is considered "art" is culturally constructed and dependent on time and place.

History is based on:

Evidence (which included first hand accounts, scholarship, primary source, secondary soruce, documents, photos, material culture, ect...)

What two methods of inquiry are the foundations of art historical interpretation?

Formal analysis (the physical and visual aspects of a work of art) and the contextual analysis ( understanding how a work of art expresses or shapes the experineces, ideas, and values, of the individuals and groups that make, use, view or own it) are the foundation of art-historical interpretations.

Museums are neutral space where you can view art without influence of judgment. True or false and why?

Museums are institutions that carry their own set of values and bias. The display of art within museums is often problematic because "museums have their own cultural agendas, histories, and politics that must be taken into account in any experience of art you have in a museum." pg 57

In the most general terms, Art Historians try to understand what artists are expressing in the work, and what views perceive in it. True or false?

True

A formal analysis can never be completely void of context because we filter our interpretations of things through our own experiences, no matter how neutral we try to be. True or false and why?

True: "The way that you interpret things is based on who you are-- a person living in your place and time, which your education and expereriences-- and that inevitably shapes your interpretation.

History is an act of interpretation. True or false and why?

True: Historians interpret evidence that they have collected about the past and then write a stroy based on that evidence. Historians interpret evidence that they have collected about the past and then write a story based on that evidence.

What is the problematic about claiming that the Parthenon is austere, white marble structure?

When it was originally decorated with bright colors and bronze disks. As stated on page 28, engaged in formal anaylsis remeber works of art change with the passage of time. Thus, when you are noy sure about the changes over time in the work of art, you may want to consult outside sources rather working on purely from your vistual experience.

What are the objectives of a contextual analysis?

When you undertake a contextual analysis, you're trying to understand the work of art in a particular cultural moment. This can mean focusing on the work of art as it exists today, or on the work in its own time or at another point in history. It can also mean looking at the social, political, spiritual, and/or economic significance of the work. There are many questions that you may ask to engage in a contextual analysis. Pages 53-54 provide many more pointed questions that you can consider when crafting a contextual analysis.

Does context matter?

Yes, very true! The context in which you view, interpret, and learn about art has a direct influence on your understanding of the artwork. This is why acknowledging and understanding the various circumstances, which have brought a work of art into existence is of particular importance to art historians. Check out pages 59 -64 for a detailed discussion of a contextual analysis.

A basic formal analysis takes into consideration all of the following? Except which of the following; Color, line, space, mass, artists biography, and scale.

artist bio

The term ____ is used to describe how an artist puts together all these elements: line, color, space, mass, and scale.

composition