MMA132: 1 Art Evaluation

The task of evaluating a work of art, such as a painting or a sculpture, requires a combination of

objective information and subjective opinion

Yes, it's true that art appreciation is \_____________, but the aim of evaluating a picture is not simply to ascertain whether you like/dislike a picture, but WHY you like/dislike it.

And this requires a certain amount of \___________.

highly subjective

knowledge

Similarly, one cannot use the same standards when evaluating the true-to-life qualities of a realist portrait compared with an expressionist portrait.

This is because the expressionist painter is not trying to capture the same degree of visual objectivity as his realist counterpart.

To put it simply, art evaluators need to generate facts upon which to base their opinions: namely, facts about

(1) the context of the artwork
(2) the artwork itself

Once we have the facts, we can then make our assessment.

The more information we can glean about the context, and the work of art itself, the more reasoned our assessment will be.

Art Evaluation is "Not Simply--

Not Simply Liking or Disliking

Before going into detail about how to evaluate art, let us again re-emphasize that the whole point of art appreciation is to explain ___*we like or dislike something, not simply _*___ we like it or not.

WHY

WHETHER

For example, you may end up disliking a picture because it is too dark, but you may still like its subject matter, or appreciate its overall message. To put it simply, saying "I don't like this painting" is insufficient. We need to know the \_________ behind your opinion, and also whether you think the work has any positive qualities.

reasons

The easiest way to get to understand and therefore appreciate a work of art is to \________.

investigate its context, or background

This is because it helps us to understand what was (or might have been) in the mind of the artist at the time he created the work in question. Think of it as basic detective work. Start with these questions

describe what you see

Description

in-depth examination of how the technical elements were utilized by the artist

Analysis

apply your own supposition to the artist's intended purpose for the artwork

Interpretation

draw conclusions and reach judgments about the artwork

judgement

Describe what you see. This is the objective portion of the art critique. It involves a technical description-nothing more.

Description

Description should include things like:

"Just the details, just the facts."

Evolve the art criticism from a technical description to an in-depth examination of how the technical elements. were utilized by the artist to create the overall impression conveyed by the artwork.

Analysis

In Analysis, consider the most \______________ that were used in the artwork. Describe how the artist used them to organize the elements.

significant art principles

In Analysis, technical elements you need to analyze when you critique artwork include:

"How did the artist organize the art work?"

Evolve the art criticism from a technical description to an in-depth examination of how the \_____________ were utilized by the artist to create the overall impression conveyed by the artwork.

technical elements

This part of an art critique is more subjective than the others, as you are expected to use your analysis of the technical aspects of the piece of art to apply your own supposition to the artist's intended purpose for the artwork.

Interpretation

In interpretation, this part of an art critique is more \___________ than the others, as you are expected to \_______________ of the piece of art to \__________________.

subjective

use your analysis of the technical aspects

apply your own supposition to the artist's intended purpose for the artwork.

In interpretation, try to accomplish the following things when formulating your interpretation:

“What is the artist’s intention?”

This is a summation of the art criticism process leading up to this point. Use your analysis and interpretation to draw conclusions and reach judgments about the artwork.

Judgement

In judgement, use your analysis and interpretation to \_____________ about the artwork

draw conclusions and reach judgments

In Judgement, you ask questions like:

"Was the artist successful?"