Panathenic Amphora c.600 BC

As we study art through history we will examine clothes, statues, furniture, jewelry, books, maps and works of art. All of these are art. Art is all around you,  all the time. As you study art you will begin to notice works of art in your everyday life. You may have taken them for granted but as your interest and your knowledge becomes more broad you will appreciate the aesthetic value of everything in your life. Think about your favorite shirt of your favorite pair of shoes, why are they your favorite? Is it the color, or the way something fits? When we examine paintings , will you like the colors and the texture? Will you always prefer realism? As we look at all the attributes of art we can divide our study into four major parts:

Aesthetics – our personal response to a work

Art History– the study of works of art through out time which teach us about the culture and history of civilizations of the past.

Art Production-through the creation of our own works we understand the process of art works through time. Using our own creative process to produce art we begin to appreciate the value of the works of all that came before us.

Art Criticism– value and judging works of art. The criticism process in art history is slightly different from what we have used in our other art classes. We analyze all of the sensory, formal and expressive qualities in works from the past and the present to determine the artistic merit of a work. What is the style of a work? What do we know about the artist? Has the work made an important contribution to history?

Add the information for each word in bold print. Search for additional information on these topics record your findings in your book.

Georges Seurat    Edgar Degas     Sir Peter Paul Rubens

Look at the art work for the above named artist. Do a sketch in your book for each work, write down various attributes that make these works important to history. Why were these works created? Look at other works by these artists. Write down the things that you find continuously for each specific artist. You will notice a use of color, light or brush stroke or technique that is unique to each artist, this is the artist style. Make a note of each artist’s style in your documentation.

Project:   Look around your house or grand parent house, find three objects that are family relics, do a drawing using Graphite and colored pencil or other medium of your choice of these family objects and what they represent for your family