Chapter 2: What Is Art?

The Hamzanama is an example of a work of art commissioned for what purpose?

The enjoyment of a royal patron and his court

Despite the use of objects, what makes Tara Donovan's pieces nonobjective?

The focus is placed on formal qualities such as shape.

What makes the Mona Lisa so valuable to current society?

The hype created when it was stolen and recovered

The form used in Giorgione's Adoration of the Shepherds creates what type of atmosphere?

Tranquil and inviting

Context helps the viewer do what with a work of art?

Understand how a work is perceived in its original setting

Scholars first look at which aspects when trying to decipher what a work of art is about?

Title Content Material

Art that presents the visual world in such a way that we recognize its likeness is described as ______.

representational

Art that seeks to present the world as it appears in nature is known as ______.

representational

When a set of traits or style is associated with a particular group of artists, the group is known as ______.

school

Representational art that conforms to a preordained set of conventions for the depiction of the world is described as being ______.s

stylized

Japan shares what aesthetics characteristics with Western art?

A focus on design

Naturalistic

Art that emphasizes the objective observation and accurate imitation of appearances. Ex. Antonio Perez (Painter's Cupboard)

What makes Janine Antoni's Gnaw unique compared to other sculptural pieces?

The artist uses her mouth instead of tools to cut away materials.

Sfumato

A term used to describe a subtle blending of colors and tones to such an extent that they seem subtly to melt into one another.

What philosophical field asks questions about the nature of art and its audiences?

Aesthetics

Style

An art form in which an entire room is tested as a work of art to be entered and experienced.

Abstract

Art where the forms of the visual world are purposefully simplified, fragmented, or otherwise distorted. Ex. Pablo Picasso (Bottle of Vieux)

What does the Navajo philosophy hozho encompass?

Beauty and happiness

Which are characteristics of abstract art?

Compositions that distort perspectives Recognizable forms that lack detail Sections of an object dispersed in a composition

What would be the most historically accurate context in which to see an Akan linguist's staff?

Displayed during certain public event

What is a key characteristic of nonrepresentational art?

Emphasis on formal qualities

Why is the Buddha considered to have conventions of iconography?

Established styles have been passed down for centuries.

True or false: Seeing an Akan linguist's staff in a museum will give the viewer a good idea of how the staff was viewed by the society that produced it.

False

True or false: The content of a work of art consists of everything the eye registers about it, such as colors, shapes, and internal organization.

False

How did the attitudes of artists change toward producing objects during the 20th century?

Focus shifted from the final product to the process of making.

According to some art theories, what is a characteristic of art that differentiates it from other kinds of skilled making?

Has significance and communicates

What study involves the interpretation of art, which is an important activity of art scholars?

Iconography

Stylization often involves the artist depicting objects in what kind of way?

Idealized

What is iconography?

Identifying, describing, and interpreting an image

What caused artists to explore abstract and nonrepresentational art?

Invention of the camera

Why is meaning important for art?

It distinguishes itself it from other works that require the same skills.

Why do we now consider James Hampton's Throne of the Third Heaven of the Nations' Millennium General Assembly a work of art?

It has a unique visual expression.

What might be the reason Rodin used marble for The Kiss?

It was the typical material used for sculptures.

By creating precious items from the blocks of lard and chocolate, Janine Antoni causes the viewer to do what?

Link the cultural expectations of the items to their raw form

Pérez de Aguilar goal with Painter's Cupboard was to create what kind of work?

Naturalistic

Art that decried any use of the visible world as a starting point was know as what kind of art?

Nonrepresentational

What characteristics make Perez de Aguilar's Painter's Cupboard representational?

Painting the light as it appears in the real world Recreating the materials as they appear Using shadow to reveal the direction of the light

What is part of the iconography of Amida Buddha?

Religion

How can meaning be found for works that are difficult to interpret?

Research

Which are aspects of form?

Shape Color

Which are aspects of form?

Shape Color

Why did Louise Bourgeois avoid representational works that were naturalistic?

She wanted the focus to be on emotions.

Louise Bourgeois's Woman with Packages abstracts the figure of a standing woman by using what shape?

Slender vertical column

According to one theory, what distinguishes artists from other "skillful makers"?

Style

What is the term that categorizes art by its appearance?

Style

According to some theories what formal qualities contribute to the perception of beauty?

Symmetry Pure colors Simple geometric shapes

Which statement best describes the performance of Joseph Beuys' How to Explain Pictures to a Dead Hare?

The artist has a spiritual role that required participation in social and political change.

How do museums influence the way a work of art is seen?

The original setting is removed, changing the meaning of a piece.

Without the title, how does Louise Bourgeois ensure that the viewer is able to interpret Woman with Package?

The piece is grouped with similar sculptures from the series.

What causes the viewer to question the setting in El Greco's Adoration of the Shepherds?

The placement of clouds

Without the presence of recognizable images, how is Elaine de Kooning able to get the viewer to see the act of bullfighting in the painting Bullfight?

The quick motions of the brushstrokes

How is the viewer able to recognize what Picasso has painted in Bottle of Vieux Marc, Glass, Guitar and Newspaper?

The simplified forms are still recognizable.

What informs abstract works of art?

The visible world

In what ways does nonobjective art differ from abstract art?

Visual elements are central to what is represented. It avoids depicting a visual relationship to the visible world.

Art that simplifies forms of the visible world is known as ______.

abstract

Andrea del Verrocchio's David was ______ by Piero de' Medici, one of wealthiest and most influential men in 15th-century Florence.

commissioned

When trying to understand a piece based on a theme, the viewer is looking at ______.

content

Analyzing an artist's journals and letters for biographic details that impact our understanding of a work of art is an example of establishing ______.

context

The same theme in works of art can take on different meanings based on ______.

context

Understanding a work of art based on who made it, the society that interacted with it, and its original function is known as ______.

context

Abstraction allowed Louise Bourgeois to focus her subject around _____.

emotions

The structural composition of a work of art is known as ______.

form

Representational art that records the true texture, color and actual lighting of materials is known as ______.

naturalistic