Art Lesson 1 Study Questions

Lesson 1 Study questions:

1) Define and list art processes?

As process, art encompasses acts such as drawing, painting, sculpting, designing buildings, and using the camera to create memorable works. The definition is ever expanding, as materials and methods are employed in innovative ways to bring forth a creative product.

2) What does context mean in examining a work of art?

When describing art, context means the environment in which the work was created. Context can refer to a physical setting, historical time, social setting or political climate. Understanding the context of an artwork helps the viewer to interpret and understand it.

Art historians often examine work in the context of its time. At best, this is done in a manner which respects its creator's motivations and imperatives; with consideration of the desires and prejudices of its patrons and sponsors; with a comparative analysis of themes and approaches of the creator's colleagues and teachers; and with consideration of iconography and symbolism. In short, this approach examines the work of art in the context of the world within which it was created.

Examining a work in its historical, social, and political context will enable you to have a more meaningful dialogue with that work. Typically, the creative process has been intertwined with world events and individual personalities.

Why was it created? What was it’s purporse?

3) Ideal beauty is represented by several artists and civilizations in Chapter 1.

Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa enchants generations of viewers with the eternal beauty and mysteriousness of the smiling Mona Lisa. The stately repose and refined features of this Italian woman is tied to a Western concept of beauty.

Kenyan woman, Masai tribe. Standards for beauty can differ from culture to culture.

The Birth of Venus, by Sandro Botticelli

The iconography of Birth of Venus is very similar to a description of the event (or rather, a...