The Evolution of Art: Art Appreciation - Essay Example

The Evolution of Art in a Century: Art Appreciation Full Art has always been a part of humans even before it was popularized in itsearly known years. It is probably a shadow of man that you ca not separate from him as this is a part of almost all his dealings with nature and other human beings. Its many forms might have been recognized at different times but could have existed even earlier than its recovery. Perhaps the most common form of art is the art of communication which could not have been so much appreciated because they do not leave as much visual effects as paintings and sculptures do. With its varied forms, the definition of art also had its evolution as artists of different ages sprung to express themselves in their works they all arts. From around 1850, realists came out to reject romanticism (Duiker & Spielvogel) which has existed for decades, expressing so much on the theme on emotions, especially love. As their name implies, realists defined their work of art as the expression of beauty in ordinary characters from actual life instead of romantic heroes from folk and fairy tales (Duiker & Spielvogel). This was embraced by American artists but not as late as the popularized period of the realists. It has been known that early Indian civilization portrayed life in their works as simply as they saw it and as the European colonizers settled in their land, they embraced this kind of expression (Linden, et al.). With the decline of romantic arts, ordinary things came in abundance as the theme of artists’ works such as Marie Rosalie Bonheur, John Singleton Copley, Gustave Courbet, Honoré Daumier, Hilaire Germain Edgar Degas, Thomas Eakins, Ignace Henri Theodore Fantin-Latour, Wilhelm Leibl, and Edouard Manet (HuntFor.com) came to life in paintings of horses, people portrayed in their daily lives and many more. As everything that is borne in this world has a time to reach its death, realism reached its decline when modern art or abstractionism came alive. This begun in France as a reaction to the fixed demands of the realistic arts, with the artists moving from the careful planning of their canvasses in their studios to working outdoors and making swirling forms and seemingly chaotic patterns. This kind of art went against what has been socially accepted through the years and initially received hostility from the public. The formless and completely disordered works called abstracts were not appreciated as they did not meet the usual, established definition of beauty. It was like a rebellious act of artists to the realist artists who worked on forms where there is a readily recognizable image. In contrast, abstracts are with no identifiable forms but are presented in an unattractive and less eye catching manner even with the use of combined colors. Abstractionism has received a fairly great number of critiques which popularized it and eventually succeeded in being accepted as a work of art. Since then, it has been influential to other artists so that even to this day, there are still a number of artists engaging themselves in this kind of expression. Jackson Pollock was one of the more famous artists known to be an abstractionist made a fairly large number of abstract pieces (Duiker & Spielvogel). Along with abstractionism came Dadaism after World War I, which formerly was originated by its authors as a defiance to art aiming to become the very opposite of it. Dadaism was an open expression against the atrocities of war which was the perfect opposite of arts and has shown disbelief in beauty when such ugliness of the realities of war abound (HuntFor.com). It was at this time that the controversial Marcel Duchamp came up with his “Fountain” which was but a urinal with his pseudonym “R. Mutt”, a down right claim of his opposition to arts. This piece of work was considered taboo and an overstatement to protests against arts that it was lost thereafter. With its loss though, came the popularity of the work so that it has been replicated to be in museums these days. From abstractionism was born the contemporary arts which could be about just anything and everything where art is defined as the expression of one’s thoughts and emotions in his/her work. One of the controversial contemporary artists is the American photographer Andres Serrano with his photograph of a crucifix submerged in urine and entered in an exhibition of his work at the National Gallery of Victoria in Melbourne in 1997 where this photograph was included and entitled “Piss Christ”. This outraged the Catholic Church and eventually gained popularity through the controversy. One of the less controversial but equally popular contemporary artists is John Olsen who might rightfully represent the contemporary definition of arts. His works show a combination of the realistic and abstractionist’s point of view in the field. With the travels he takes as an artist, his themes became more inclined on nature like birds and other animals as well as man’s way of life. He is now a respected figure who represents his country, Australia around the globe and prides himself of being one of the treasures of his country (evabreuerartdealer.com). Whatever time, whatever perspectives there are about arts, one that is probably common to its definition is the expression of one’s thoughts and emotions in any way where beauty is seen. Again, there exist the differences of how we define beauty which is the very essence of arts. One thing might be beautiful for someone but not to the other. As they always say, beauty is in the eyes of the beholder. Aesthetics in contemporary arts brings a lot of colors and controversy to it and might bring us even to debate on what is beautiful and what is not. Maybe this very debate or argument makes it beautiful in itself that there is something to talk about, something that would cause men to think and not just accept everything as they are presented. This would bring us to different thoughts about arts and beauty, maybe affected by our family backgrounds as well as cultural and religious backgrounds and make the differences on what we describe as beautiful. Moreover, art is man’s way of preserving culture and appreciating what he sees in his present time. For instance, to a group of people, the handy woodworks of people depicting aboriginals of a country is subconsciously preserving how the original people at that particular place look like. Art is good. To some, it could be the very essence of their lives, bringing relaxation and healing. It is the release of what is on one’s mind which I believe no one has the right to question it no matter how grotesque it might be. For Duchamp’s fountain, I do not know what his real intentions were in using a urinal in his art work but I guess it served its purpose. Personally, I am amused thinking of a grown man releasing his anger in such a way. I do not see it as hurting the social system rather I find it funny and find myself in awe at the weirdness of Duchamp’s train of thoughts. On the other hand, Bruce Nauman, another contemporary artist considered as one of the most important living artists, whose works are rather weird in nature using the human body in most of his works. Examples of such work are “Le Cercle des mains” which won him the Golden Lion for best national participation at the 53rd International Art Exhibition of the Venice Biennale (Nauman, 2009) and the “Elusive Signs: Bruce Nauman Works with Light”, both portraits of the human body, with the former a bit out of this world. The award-winning piece is a picture of cut hands stretched to grasp another cut hand. Though I may not appreciate the work so much and not find beauty in it, I respect his work as the expression of himself. In observing those who are recognized in the field, I can say that Nauman has the right chemicals for the job. Something in the head that would allow an artist to think of the weirdest thoughts, bring it to life and attract critiques from different walks of life with different perspectives, making it a piece to talk about and eventually become popular. Considering this, maybe I will find something that would stir people into rage and work on it then maybe one day, I will be as popular as these artists are. Works Cited Duiker, William J. and Jackson J. Spielvogel. 2005. The Essential World History: 2nd Edition. Belmont, California: Thomson Wadsworth. (Pages 410 & 605). Huntfor.com. Dadaism. n.d. Web. December 10, 2010. < http://www.huntfor.com/arthistory/C20th/dadaism.htm > Libby, Wendy M. L. 2000. Using Art to Make Art. Albany, NY: Thomas Learning: Delmar. (p. 8). Linden, Glenn M., Elizabeth Aston Wassenich, Dean C. Brook and Wesley J. Jones, Jr. 1981. A History of our American Republic: 2nd Edition. Illinois: Laidlaw Brothers Publishers. (p.648) Nauman, Bruce. 2009. Great artist Bruce Nauman Wins Golden Lion at Venice Biennale!. Rocknrollin Cycling Team. Web. December 10, 2010. . Olsen, John. n.d. evabreuerartdealer.com. Web. December 10, 2010. Read More