2. I. The Subject of Art
A “beautiful” subject does not necessarily produce a
good work of art, or an ignoble subject an ignoble work.
The value of art does not lie in the subject but in what the
artist does in his subject. The greatness of art comes not
from the subject but the artist.
Non-objective or Non-representational art. They are
what they are without reference to anything in the natural
world.
Objective or representational art. Those arts with
subjects.
3. II. Kinds of Subjects
a.)
Landscapes, Seascapes, and
Cityscapes:
15. Souls Sent to Hell, Pulled down by
Demons: Scene from Michelangelo's
Last Judgment Fresco (c.1534)
Sistine Chapel, The Vatican.
The Conspiracy of Claudius Civilis
(1661) Swedish National Museum.
By Rembrandt.
A scene from the rebellion of the
former inhabitants of Holland
(the Batavians) against the Romans,
as described by the historian Tacitus.
16. III. Beautiful and Ugly Subjects of Art
The agreeable, the lovely, and the
beautiful, are subjects but are not the only
ones. Any subject may be and can be a
subject of art.
We like in art what we do not like in
nature, because we see the subject as it
has been interpreted for us by the artist.
17. IV. Methods in Presenting the Subject
in Art
a.Realism: The function of the artist is to illustrate as
accuracy and honesty as possible what he
observed through his senses.
18. b. Abstraction: The artist simplifies the work of art to
convey his emotion for a particular subject or theme.
He may use geometric figures, alter colors, and
normal perspective depending upon his intensity and
his mood.
20. V. The Medium of Art
It is the stuff out of which the artist creates a
work of art. – Dudley & Faricy,p.79
It also refers to the materials used by the artist
in crating work of art. It answers the question, “what it
is made of?”
There can be art without a subject, just as there
can be art without a function, but there can be no art
without a medium.
“A work of art could not be known if it did not exist in
some medium” (Dudley,p.80)
21. Classification of art base on its Medium:
Visuals:
- paintings, sculpture, tapestry, architecture,
glassware, etc.
Auditory:
- Music and Literature.
Time arts:
- are those in auditory arts
Space arts:
- are those in visual arts
22. Theatre and the opera are known as
combined arts, being both visual and
auditory, and space and time art as well.
Dance, though it is being both visual
and auditory, but it is largely visual, yet is
classified as combined arts both time
and space.
23. VI. The Artist and His Medium
When an artist uses medium, he
chooses the on that can best express
what he wants to say. The choice of
medium is part of the meaning of the
work. It is the signifier of the meaning of
the work in the context of the work’s total
meaning.
24. VII. Problem and Limitation of Medium
What is said for one medium cannot be
said for the other medium; thus, it logically
follows that no work can ever be translated
from one medium to another medium. A
description of a scene and a painting of the
same scene do not tell the same story.
Admittedly, what they convey are different. A
replica of a statue from marble into bronze will
miss something from the original, (Dudley &
Faracy)
