Art Theories and Art Histories – Comprehensive Notes

WHAT IS ART AND WHAT IS ART HISTORY?

  • The 2006 RA Summer Exhibition incident with David Hensel's sculpture, "One Day Closer to Paradise," highlights key questions about art. Selectors displayed only its plinth and renamed it "Another Day Closer to Paradise."

  • This event, widely publicized, showed the art world's "cultural parody" and institutional dynamics.

  • It prompts central questions: What is art, and what is art history as a discipline?

  • These notes explore art history's origins, evolution, art's purpose, and recent developments.

WHAT IS ART?

  • E.H. Gombrich stated, "There really is no such thing as Art. There are only artists" (Gombrich 1984: 4). 'Art' is a collective term for diverse creations by artists, from ceramics to performance art.

  • Fine Art vs. Craft-Based Arts:

    • Fine art traditionally included painting, drawing, and sculpture, seen as intellectual pursuits.

    • Craft-based arts were functional items like ceramics and textiles, viewed as manual labor.

    • Contemporary art blurs this boundary; artists like Grayson Perry use 'craft' media in fine art contexts.

    • A subtle line still separates functional design from works for display or aesthetic contemplation.

  • Broader Definitions of Art: Art can include film, performance, and architecture due to their aesthetic value.

    • Movements like the Bauhaus integrated fine art with design and architecture.

  • Contemporary Definitions: Modern art definitions are not always medium-specific or based on conventional aesthetics. They often involve the Institutional Theory of Art.

    • Institutional Theory: Art is defined by an artist and recognized "art-world institutions" (museums, galleries, critics).

    • Pros: This framework is expansive, accepting diverse, unconventional practices.

    • Cons: Critics argue it risks becoming arbitrary if only based on institutional designation, lacking clear criteria.

  • Ultimately, art definitions reflect their originating culture, history, and language. Understanding art needs appreciating its social and cultural roots.

THE CLASSICAL CONCEPT OF ‘ART’

  • In Western history, 'art' was primarily a practical, craft-based activity.

  • Ancient Greek terms like techne (skill, craft, art) and technites (craftsman) emphasize this. A technites applied skill to create practical objects.

  • Classical crafts like statues and mosaics served public and functional roles, not just aesthetic ones.

  • A Zeus sculpture was judged by technical standard (realism) and civic function.

  • Western art's link to craft depends on context, culture, and audience.

  • From the late 16th century, social institutions (academies, museums) formalized art definitions, distinguishing fine art from craft.

  • Labeling something as art involves evaluative judgment. Art's meanings are historically and culturally specific, evolving with society.

  • Notation: Academic discourse now uses CE/BCE (Common Era/Before Common Era) to avoid Christian chronology bias.

FINE ART AS AN EXCLUSIVE CATEGORY

  • Academy frameworks created lasting distinctions, privileging "fine art" over "craft."

  • By the late 19th century, avant-garde artists challenged these conventions and traditional subjects.

  • Artists like Cézanne, Picasso, and Braque explored collage, using "everyday objects" to question art's purity.

  • Academy conventions also marginalized non-Western art, often through a Eurocentric lens. Colonial encounters led to collecting non-Western objects.

  • This fueled Primitivism in avant-garde movements (Braque, Derain, Kirchner, Matisse). These artists romanticized "primitive art" while sometimes acknowledging its social and political dimensions within original contexts.

  • Categorization persists, ranking traditional forms (painting) above contemporary ones (installation). Media debates often occur publicly, as in "Not the Turner Prize."

  • David Hensel's "empty plinth" incident shows these deep-seated categorizations and anxieties about what "counts" as art today.

ART AS IMITATION

  • Mimēsis (imitation) is an ancient theory: art's primary role is to mirror nature or reality. Art aims to replicate observations.

  • Resemblance examples:

    • Lucas Cranach the Elder's "Adam and Eve" (1526) aims for reality in a biblical scene.

    • John Singer Sargent's "Mrs Fiske Warren and Her Daughter Rachel" (1903) captures a lifelike resemblance.

  • Perspective is a Western hallmark of imitation, especially from the Renaissance. Single-point perspective creates the illusion of depth on a flat surface.

  • Plato's relation to imitation: In The Republic, Book 10, Plato criticized painting as a "copy of a copy."

    • For Plato, ultimate reality is ideal Forms. A carpenter's table copies the ideal Form; a painting of it copies the carpenter's table. Thus, it's twice removed from reality, lacking utility or truth.

    • Plato profoundly influenced the classical view that art should represent underlying truth or ideal Forms, not just superficial appearances.

  • The Renaissance shift intensified accurate representation through linear perspective and anatomy, aiming for viewer suspension of disbelief.

  • Complexity and limitations: Imitation is not universal. It doesn't apply to music, architecture, poetry, or abstract art.

  • Critiques: Simple copying is insufficient for art. The theory struggles with abstract works, photography (mechanical replication), and non-Western traditions not prioritizing literal imitation.

PROBLEMS WITH ART AS IMITATION

  • The theory of art as imitation (mimēsis) fails because imitation is neither necessary nor sufficient for defining all art.

  • Not Necessary: Many art forms do not imitate. Abstract and non-representational works challenge mimetic criteria.

    • Kasimir Malevich’s "Black Square" (c. 1929) is a prime example; it avoids recognizable objects, focusing on pure form.

  • Cultural Variations: Many non-Western traditions don't prioritize literal imitation.

    • Daoist-inspired Chinese art (post-Han Dynasty) aimed to align with the dao (cosmic harmony), not accurate visual replication.

  • Perception is subjective; representation is interpretative, not objective. Even naturalistic images involve artistic choices.

  • The rise of photography in the 19th century further challenged imitation's dominance. Photography's accuracy questioned painting's unique contribution, forcing art to re-evaluate its role beyond copying.

FORMALIST THEORIES OF ART – ART AS ‘SIGNIFICANT FORM’

  • Formalist aesthetics rose with Clive Bell’s Art (1914), shifting art appreciation to the artwork's intrinsic form.

  • Bell asked: "What quality is shared by all objects that provoke aesthetic emotion?" (Bell 1949: 8). He called this "significant form."

  • He claimed aesthetic responses come solely from visual elements: lines, colors, shapes, and tones. Significant form intuitively evokes "aesthetic emotion," independent of narrative.

  • A criticism is Bell's circularity. He defines significant form as that which produces aesthetic emotion, and vice-versa, making objective application difficult.

  • Despite criticism, Bell extended significant form to design, craft, and architecture, promoting a more inclusive aesthetic understanding.

  • Impact: Bell's formalism profoundly shifted art criticism, moving from resemblance to direct perceptual experience. This influenced the development and reception of avant-garde abstraction.

BELL AND AVANT-GARDE ABSTRACTION

  • Clive Bell and Roger Fry championed Cézanne and the Post-Impressionists, bringing them public attention through London exhibitions (1910, 1912).

  • Bell argued that an artwork's narrative content or subject matter is irrelevant to its aesthetic status. Art's value is purely in its form.

  • These ideas helped audiences accept avant-garde abstraction and broadened "what counts as art," allowing non-representational forms to be appreciated.

THE THEORY OF ART AS EXPRESSION

  • R. G. Collingwood (1889–1943) in The Principles of Art (1943) stated, "Art is the community’s medicine for the worst disease of mind, the corruption of soul" (Collingwood 1975).

  • Collingwood argued that art proper expresses and clarifies a unique emotion. It's about discovering previously unarticulated emotions for artist and audience.

  • Art's ultimate purpose is to show the audience "the secrets of their own hearts," leading to self-knowledge and a more fulfilling life.

  • Collingwood’s is a normative view, prescribing what art should be. It emphasizes art’s communicative role and connection to humanity's inner life.

  • While aligning with Expressionist movements, his theory is controversial due to moralistic tones and devaluing forms like craft.

OBJECTIONS TO COLLINGWOOD’S THEORY

  • Critics of Collingwood's theory have several objections:

    • Overemphasis on Moral/Psychological Ends: Opponents argue he overemphasizes art's moral benefits, underplaying the immediate pleasures of looking at art, which can be purely aesthetic.

    • Downplaying Craft: Collingwood distinguishes "art proper" from "craft." Craft requires a conceived final idea (fixed plan), while true art is exploratory, discovered during creation without a rigid plan. This marginalizes craft.

    • Dated View: His strict definition is dated for post-1960s art. The rise of conceptual and hybrid forms makes a definition based on an artist's "unique emotion" problematic. Many contemporary works invite multiple interpretations.

    • Potential Misclassification: His framework could undervalue significant art. Highly devotional religious art or codified Renaissance works made to patrons' specifications might not fit his definition, potentially becoming "craft" despite their significance.

ART AS ABSTRACTION OR IDEA

  • Collingwood's framework, by excluding direct imitation or moral instruction, points to a broader understanding: authentic art can increasingly include abstraction.

  • Malevich’s Black Square (c. 1929) exemplifies art communicating meaning through pure form or concept, not recognizable depiction.

  • Collingwood (early 20th century) focused little on contemporary visual art. His philosophy favored meaning conveyed through form and imaginative association, not straightforward representation.

  • A common critique is that many modern and postmodern works resist easy interpretation. Meaning can be fluid, multifaceted, or absent, inviting intellectual engagement over emotional or mimetic understanding.

  • The idea that art is about form or an idea, not accurate depiction or explicit narrative, gained traction in modern and postmodern art. This champions art that provokes thought or explores conceptual realms.

ART UNDERSTOOD AS ‘FAMILY RESEMBLANCE’

  • Influenced by Ludwig Wittgenstein, some philosophers reject a single, universal definition for art. Instead, art is identified by family resemblance.

  • Like family members sharing overlapping features but no single common one, different art types share qualities with some "art family" members but not others. Overlapping similarities allow new forms to join the "family."

  • A problem with family resemblance is distinguishing exhibited (visible) vs. non-exhibited (non-visible) properties.

  • Critics argue that superficial resemblances are insufficient. Some art links by non-visible relational features (audience expectations, historical contexts, institutional approvals) not inherent to the artwork itself.

  • Philosophers like Mandelbaum (1995), Neill and Ridley (1995) note issues with vague "family resemblance" without stricter criteria.

THE INSTITUTIONAL THEORY OF ART

  • The Institutional Theory of Art defines art as what the artist and the art world community designate it to be. It emphasizes art's social and conventional identity, shifting definition from intrinsic qualities to institutional acceptance.

  • Classic examples:

    • Duchamp’s Fountain (1917): A urinal designated as art by its context and art world recognition.

    • Tracey Emin’s My Bed (1999): Became art by artist creation, exhibition, and art world discussion.

  • Strength: This theory is highly flexible and accommodating, incorporating diverse, unconventional practices and new media.

  • Risk: It may overlook specific attributes of art. If designation is the sole criterion, art's criteria can become arbitrary, based on shifting tastes and power dynamics, divorcing art from intrinsic qualities.

  • This foundational theory will be explored deeper in Chapter 7.

AESTHETIC THEORIES OF ART

  • Aesthetic theories move beyond defining "what art is." They focus on the nature of aesthetic appreciation—how we experience and judge art.

  • A core question: Define beauty instead of art? Is aesthetic experience universal or subjective?

  • Defining beauty remains unresolved. Aesthetic judgments are intuitive but can clash ("Beauty is in the eye of the beholder"). Aesthetic experiences involve varied responses: detachment, disgust, awe, not just pleasure.

  • Immanuel Kant (1724–1804) argued aesthetic judgments, especially of beauty, are disinterested (not driven by personal use). Though subjective, they presume universal validity—we want others to agree. However, criteria for universal validity remain elusive.

  • The aim of aesthetic theories is to understand how philosophical approaches explain our judgments about art and beauty, exploring the mechanisms of such experiences.

DIFFERING DEFINITIONS OF ART: FROM PLATO TO THE POSTMODERN

This section synthesizes major theories on art's definition:

  • Imitation (Mimēsis): Art as a "mirror of nature," emphasizing representation. Historically dominant (classical Greek, Renaissance), but questioned for universality in abstract art or music.

  • Significant Form (Formalism): Clive Bell's theory. Art is judged by intrinsic form (lines, colors, shapes) and perceptual qualities, not subject matter. Emphasizes direct aesthetic experience.

  • Expression: R.G. Collingwood's theory. Art is a communicative act revealing inner states or emotions, leading to self-knowledge. Normative, but can be viewed as moralistic and downplays craft.

  • Family Resemblance: Wittgenstein-inspired concept. Art lacks a single essence but shares overlapping features, like family members. Allows new forms to be recognized as art.

  • Institutional Theory: Modern theory. Art is what "art world" institutions and artists designate. Context plays a crucial role, as seen in Duchamp's Fountain.

  • Aesthetic Theories: Focus on beauty and the subjective/universal bases for aesthetic experiences and judgments, rather than defining art itself.

Historical Arc in the Western Tradition:

  • Pre-18th Century: Art emphasized naturalistic representation, often serving religious, historical, or civic functions.

  • Late 18th–Early 19th Centuries (Romanticism): Elevated subjective responses to nature and emotion, shifting from objective imitation to individual experience.

  • Late 19th–Early 20th Centuries (Avant-garde): Emergence of abstraction. Artists (Cézanne, Picasso, Braque) challenged traditions, exploring new forms and materials.

  • 20th Century Onward: Pluralistic art discourse. Integrated institutional, formalist, expressionist, and postmodern perspectives. Art definitions became open-ended and fluid.

FUNCTIONALIST THEORIES OF ART

  • Functionalist theories define art by its purpose or function, rather than its intrinsic qualities, the artist's intent, or institutional approval.

  • Core Idea: An object is considered art if it serves a specific function characteristic of art within a given context.

  • Common Functions of Art:

    • Aesthetic Function: To provide aesthetic pleasure or a unique sensory experience.

    • Expressive Function: To communicate emotions, ideas, or experiences (overlapping with Expressionism).

    • Social/Political Function: To comment on society, critique norms, or promote change.

    • Ritual/Religious Function: To serve spiritual or ceremonial purposes (e.g., devotional art, masks in indigenous cultures).

    • Communicative Function: To convey stories, historical events, or cultural narratives.

    • Therapeutic Function: To aid in healing or emotional well-being.

  • Strengths: This approach can account for the diversity of art across cultures and historical periods, emphasizing art's role in human life and society.

  • Weaknesses: The challenge lies in defining what counts as a 'function of art' exclusively, as many functions (like communication or pleasure) can be served by non-art objects. It also risks being too broad or too vague without clear criteria for distinguishing artistic functions from other types of societal functions.