Where Does Art Come From?

Ways of Evaluating Art

  • Ask questions to reveal the context and meaning of the artwork.
    • What can I see?
    • How was it made?
    • When was it made and what was happening in art and broader history at that time?
    • Why did the artist create this work and what does it mean to us now?

The Creative Impulse

  • Many believe it's a spiritual quest, a survival instinct, a search for truth, or a means to assert control.
  • Humans are hardwired for creativity.
  • Artists want to have an impact, nourish, bring joy, and build awareness.
  • Creative people are endowed with talent or genius, sometimes seen as divine gifts.

Myth of the Muses

  • Ancient Greeks believed muses, the nine daughters of Zeus, were the inspiration of human creativity.
    • Muses sounds like music.
  • Renaissance: Michelangelo was called "El Divino."
  • Today: Female opera star is a "diva."
  • Universal tendency to equate artists with powerful beings, such as Gods.

Gods as First Artists

  • Italian artist Daso Dawsey shows Zeus as a painter of nature:
    • Butterflies symbolize the soul (caterpillar = earthly existence, cocoon = death transition, butterfly = soul).
    • Color in the rainbow represents part of nature.
  • Hinduism:
    • Vishnu dreams the universe into existence.
  • Middle Ages:
    • God was conceived as the architect of the universe drawing it with a compass.
    • Circle symbolizes perfection.
  • Egypt:
    • Architect Imhotep was elevated to divine status through his art.
  • Leonardo DaVinci:
    • Artists are the grandsons of God and create replicas of nature.

Creative Thinking and Visual Metaphors

  • Artists define art origins by emphasizing visual metaphors.
  • Visual metaphor:
    • Forms inspire imagery and associations.
    • Example: Conveyor belt represents a disenfranchised factory worker's circumstances.
  • Picasso's Bad Boone:
    • Merges a car image with a baboon's face as a visual metaphor.
  • Cave paintings at Alta Mira:
    • Inspired by natural bulges in the cave wall.
    • Creativity is not limited by time and place.

Art and Religious Restrictions

  • Figurative forms in art are not universal.
  • Judaism:
    • Second Commandment prohibits graven images.
  • Islam:
    • Muhammad forbids representation of humans and animals.
    • Idolatry is prohibited.
    • Islamic artists draw inspiration from plants and foliage.
    • Islamic iconoclasm stems from prohibition of idolatry and belief that creating living forms is God's domain.

Nature and Landscape

  • Nature and landscape captivate many artists.
  • Examples:
    • Winslow Homer's seascapes.
    • Hokusai's "The Great Wave off Kanagawa."

Urban Landscape

  • The urban landscape has inspired artists in a variety of ways.
  • Ideal City.
  • Real City: Johannes Ramir and Toggle view of Delft.
  • Fernand Leger: The City.

Psychological Images

  • Artists are inspired by internal, psychological images.
  • Andre Rousseau: The Dream.
  • Queen Maya's dream:
    • Dreamed of a white elephant.
    • Represents longevity, power, and spiritual purity.
    • Gave birth to Prince Siddhartha.