Chapter 2

What Is Art?

Prof. J. Schiek Art 100 North Idaho College, Spring 2024

Chapter 2: What Is Art?
Key Terms

• Outsider Art • Embodied Meaning

• Disinterested Contemplation • Materials & Technique (examples:
Woodcut, installation, etc.)
• Representational (examples:
Naturalistic, trompe l’oeil) • Form, content (also called subject
matter) and context.
• Abstract/Stylized
• Iconography
• Nonrepresentational/Nonobjective
Art • But, before we begin…
• Deconstruction
Your Responses
“When I think of art I don't think of museums,
paintings, or famous artists, I think of the
creative ways people express themselves.”
“At its core, art is difficult to describe at
best. It is subjective.”
“In my opinion, art is the way humans express the world
around them, the thoughts they have, and emotions
they’re feeling in a unique and creative way.”
“Art is a mixture of beauty and expression and is
something that is up to interpretation.”
“I would define art as the expression of ideas through a
creative medium…As long as humanity still has its
fighting spirit, we will see good art.”
“Art is anything you feel, love, or create…It really doesn't
have a definition to words as much as it does to each
person and what it makes them feel.”
“To me art is self expression. Anything can be art.”
“Overall, I think anything can be said to have some sort
of artistry behind it, no matter what it is. “
“At it's simplest art is a form of communication
specifically visual communication.”
 “Art is an expression through an outward medium…
sometimes that idea being expressed is the lack of an
idea, and that's art too.”
“I like to think of art as the way we should view other people: a
certain piece may not be attractive to you in any way, however
you can still appreciate its beauty because of the artist who
put themselves into it and so much time creating it.”
“Overall, art is something that allows others to feel
without talking or communicating.”
“Art is an infinite spectrum of possibilities that span as
far as the mind of the artist.”
“I believe that art is the visual representation of the
struggles and success of each individual human.”
“Art has no limits.”
“…art involves a symbolic transformation of materials…
art can really be anything, and I think that creating a
comprehensive definition for it is almost impossible.”
“In my eyes art is any form of creation.”
“…art is a medium that helps a person express
themselves.”
“I see art as an outlet to express yourself where you may
not be able to otherwise.”
“I don't think there is a specific definition to art because
it think it is just an expression that is hard to put into
words.”
“Art is an emotional expression of myself that cannot be
spoken or heard only expressed visually.”
Synthesis:
“Art is a uniquely human form of language, a mode of
creative, emotional or other expression that
supersedes when other modes of communication are
insufficient to convey the felt message of the creator.”
“It ain’t art until it’s sold.”

Harry Hickman
Artist & Audience
Cost & Value

• Outsider Art refers to artwork

made specifically by
nonprofessional artists.

• According to the U.S. Bureau of

Labor Statistics, roughly 1.6% of
the population are making a living
solely as artists.

• Why do you think more value is

generally placed on professional Artist Damien Hirst with his controversial “The Physical Impossibility of Death
in the Mind of Someone Living” (1991), reportedly sold to a private buyer for
artists versus folk, or outsider art? $8 million.
 Diego Velasquez, Las Meninas (The
Maids of Honor), 1656, oil on canvas

In this painting, Velasquez depicts

himself in the background engaging in
the act of painting on a large canvas of
which we can only see the back.
Scholars debate as to what he is actually
painting there, but the key message here
is that Velasquez saw art as an exclusive
act of skill, vision and practice.
 Left: Leonardo Da Vinci, La Gioconda
(Mona Lisa), c. 1503, oil on wood panel

Right: Prado Mona Lisa, from the

studio/workshop of Leonardo Da Vinci,
c. 1503-1516, oil on wood panel
Leonardo da Vinci. Mona Lisa. ca 1503 - 05. Andy Warhol. Thirty are better than one. 1963.
Marilyn Diptych, 1962.
Marcel Duchamp,
L.H.O.O.Q. or La
Joconde, defaced
postcard, 1919
Previous work:
L.H.O.O.Q, 1919.

Marcel Duchamp,
Fountain, 1917
James Hampton. Throne of the Third Heaven of the Nations’ Millennium General Assembly. ca. 1950–64.
James Hampton
Art For An Audience of One

• James Hampton had no formal art

training, and, as the textbook states,
“…the only audience he ever sought
during his lifetime was himself.”

• Hampton worked professionally as a

janitor, and created the piece he’s seen
with at right in a rented garage.

• The piece was only discovered after the

artist’s death in 1964.

• Given the aesthetic visual appeal of art,

what does this artist and his work
communicate?
Art & Beauty
More Vocabulary

• Aesthetics, as we’ve already

discussed in Chapter 1, is in
reference to the sensory experience
of art.

• Aesthetics might also be described

as a philosophy of art and its relative
beauty.

• Disinterested Contemplation is a
term referring to one’s ability to look
beyond the actual, practical and
personal in search of underlying
beauty and pleasure.
 Photography in particular
presents an ideal medium
for disinterested
contemplation for its ability
to capture subject forms
and phenomena
instantaneously.

2.9 Edward Weston, Cabbage Leaf, 1931.

 Another aspect of disinterested
contemplation is the contrast or
juxtaposition of beauty and horror.

In Francisco Goya’s piece, which

we’ve seen previously, we see a
horrific scene of cannibalistic
violence rendered in a beautiful,
painterly way with solid
compositional arrangement.

Art need not always be about beauty

and pleasure, as shock, awe, horror,
and sadness all have some value ti
impart. Perhaps as a means of
reminding himself of this fact, Goya
painted this image (and others in a
series) on the walls of his own home.

2.11 Francisco de Goya, Saturn Devouring

One of His Children, ca. 1820 – 22.
Art & Appearances
A Recap

• We covered all of this in our first week of class, but as

a reminder/recap, art (particularly art of the Western,
or European/American) World into three areas of
visual appearance:

• Representational: Objective or figurative works of art

that depict recognizable aspects of reality.

• Non-Representational: Non-objective, non-

figurative, often considered abstract in appearance.
Non-representational art is purely about itself. It has
no reference to the natural world.

• Abstract: Exclusive to neither representational or

non-representational, abstract, or abstraction is the
purposeful distortion of a work for aesthetic effect.

• Style: In art, style refers to any characteristics, Pablo Picasso, Girl Before a Mirror, c.1932, oil on
generally in a larger body of work, recognized as canvas. While the image depicts recognizably human
constant, recurring, or coherent. figures, they have been abstracted to achieve a different
look or aesthetic appeal.
“Somewhere between naturalism and
abstraction lies stylization.”
(Getlein, 35)
Pablo Picaso,
First Communion, 1896.
 Compare these two pieces by
Pablo Picasso. Painted roughly
12 years apart, the first piece
shows Picasso’s skill with more
traditional, naturalistic painting.

The second piece, which is

more indicative of the style for
which Picasso would later be
known, while a depiction of
similar subject matter, is more
reliant upon the artist’s internal
vision for abstraction than any
prerequisite artistic skill.

Barefoot Woman, 1895. Seated Woman Holding a Fan, 1907.

Representational
Sub Categories

• Representational art features forms that resemble those found in

the natural world. The result is a recognizable likeness of objects
and forms.

• Within that broad definition, there are two sub-categories worth

taking a look at:

• Trompe L’oeil: French for “fool the eye,” trompe l’oeil is

concerned with the creation of illusory images often
indistinguishable from surrounding reality except upon closer
inspection.

• Naturalistic: This refers to artwork that is faithful to the visual

experience of the represented objects and forms in terms of
size, weight, texture and lighting.

• In Antonio Perez de Aguilar’s painting, The Painter’s Cupboard

(c.1769) at right, Aguilar adopted a naturalistic approach—which
had been the goal of painting since the Renaissance—to depict
the interior of his cupboard exactly as he saw it, himself.

• Ergo, the style adopted here is naturalistic, and the

compositional illusion—that we are looking into the painter’s
cupboard, ourselves—is an instance of trompe l’oeil.
Deconstruction
Artistic Forest Fires

• Your book points to the social elevation of

art and artists during the periods leading up
and through the Renaissance as the source
of our valuation of art as a product of rich
talent and skill.

• Artists like Picasso, steeped in the traditions

of the past, used their talent and skill
against the accepted norms of art to explore
different modes of creation and abstraction.

• When an artist embarks to dismantle the

accepted modes or rules of any artistic Pablo Picasso, Bottle of Vieux Marc, Glass, Guitar and Newspaper, 1913,
medium, the products of their printed papers. In this work, Picasso used his own knowledge of traditional
experimentation are often referred to as still life imagery to create an abstraction, or deconstruction of the more widely
accepted (and lauded) types of naturalistic imagery.
deconstructions.
Watchmen
Pop Culture Case Study

• In 1986-87, writer Alan Moore, along with artist Dave

Gibbons, created a mini-series for DC Comics that
was largely a deconstruction of the publisher’s bread
and butter of super heroic characters and larger than
life occurrences.

• Featuring a cast of original superheroes (with some

notable similarities to established cape & cowl hero
vigilantes), Moore effectively sought to destroy the
superhero genre using superheroes as a weapon.

• In Moore’s work, the previously perceived altruistic

heroes were replaced with intensely human Above: Alan Moore offset by three of his creations, Silk Spectre, Dr. Manhattan,
characters, each capable of making mistakes, some and Night Owl.
even committing acts of rape and murder.

• Effective deconstruction in the arts will always bare

some of the component parts of its source. Think
of it perhaps along the lines of dismantling a car’s
transmission and turning it into a carburetor.
Art & Meaning
Acquired Tastes & Skills

• Understanding art is a cultural skill that must

be learned.

• Within that acquired understanding, there are a

number of considerations (think of it as a three
element lens) by and through which all works
of art are ultimately judged.

• Embodied Meaning: The notion that art is

always about something.

• Form: This term ultimately gets recycled a

number of ways, but for present purposes, this
refers simply to the way a work of art looks.

• Content: The subject matter of a work of art.

The message. What it is about.
Form
Surface Substance

• Form, again, is the way a work of art

looks, and includes:

• Media: The material(s) used to make

the work, ie: Paint, chocolate, gold,
toenail clippings, etc.)

• Style: Constant, recurring or coherent

traits in a single work, or body of work.

• Composition: The formal organization

of design elements and principles of Elaine de Kooning, Bullfight, c.1959-60, oil on canvas

design (all of which we will discuss in

detail in later chapters)
Content
Art’s Chewy Nougat Center

• Content is what a work of art is

about, and includes:

• Subject Matter: Objects/events/

phenomena depicted in a work
of art.

• Message: The more specific

meaning of a work of art,
whether hidden or overt.
Eugéne Delacroix, Liberty Leading The People, c.1830, oil on canvas. An
ostensibly political painting depicting the female embodiment of Liberty leading
the French people in the July Revolution of 1830 (not the French Revolution as
is commonly thought), the painting is loaded with message and meaning.
Materials & Technique
Art Supplies & Instruction

• Pretty straight forward:

• Materials refers to the specific
medium or media (pencil, oil paint,
chicken blood, etc.) with which a
work of art is made.

• Technique, for our purposes,

refers to the specific methods of
an artist, from the selection of
materials, to the use/application We will talk art supplies in much greater detail in chapters 6 & 7.

of those materials in the final

product/work of art.
2.28 Janine Antoni.
Gnaw. 1992.
Iconography
Discerned Meaning

• Iconography is the identification,

description, and interpretation of subject
matter in a work of art.

• Understanding iconography requires

knowledge of specific times, beliefs and
cultures.

• The image of Saint Sebastian (right) is a

fair enough example of iconography in
action.

• One need be only familiar with the

Sebastian’s death (pierced with many
arrows) to identify him in any work in
which he appears.
Context
Situational Meaning

• Context refers to understanding a work of art

as created by an artist at a specific time, and
in a particular culture.

• Understanding the context of a work of art,

then, is dependent upon prior knowledge of
the viewer.

• For instance, what is the context of the piece

at right? What does it require you to know to
fully understand it?

• Consider the nature of that prerequisite

knowledge: Is it something you had to seek
out and learn? Or, was it something more
ubiquitous, perhaps part of your own culture
or upbringing?
Art & Purpose
A Bit More Recap

• During the 20th century, artists

began to question the purpose and
role of art in contemporary society.

• As we discussed in the first week,

artists like Jackson Pollock set
their focus upon the artistic
process, rather than the art object.

• Even before Pollock, Duchamp

began to deconstruct process to
isolate intention and selection as
integral aspects of art.
 2.32 Kara Walker. At the behest of Creative Time Kara E. Walker has confected: A Subtlety, or the Marvelous Sugar Baby, an
Homage to the unpaid and overworked Artisans who have refined our Sweet tastes from the cane fields to the Kitchens of the New
World on the Occasion of the demolition of the Domino Sugar Refining Plant. Installation view: A project of Creative Time, Domino
Sugar Refinery, Brooklyn, New York, May 10–July 6, 2014.
2.42 Banksy. Mural (now painted over) on Leake Street. London, 2008.
Commercialism
• Representational, non- • Is this relatable in any way?
representational or process?
• How does it make you feel?
• Is anyone familiar with this painting
or its painter? • Do you enjoy it? Are you disgusted
by it? Or, are you otherwise
• What is your overall impression of ambivalent toward it?
paintings of this sort? Ie: Pastoral
scenes that depict a sense of • Does mass production undermine
blissful existence outside the more the artistic value of certain pieces?
urbane aspects of human culture/
society.
Thomas Kincade
“Painter of Light” (1958 - 2012)

• Thomas Kincade was an American painter, perhaps

most famous for the mass marketing of his work.

• Creating a “prefabricated base,” Kincade had a

number of apprentice artists who would finish out
many/most of his paintings.

• At the height of his fame, entire mall stores were

dedicated to the sale of his embellished prints and
paintings.

• Must, then, the artist produce all aspects of the

painting in process? Or, is it possible for an artist to
work collaboratively to produce singular art
objects?

• When mass produced in an almost factory like

setting, does this still satisfy our distinctions for
art?
• Another golden oldie… differences in approach to anatomy and
brushwork.
• This is The Baptism of Christ, by Andrea del
Verocchio. • And yet…This painting hangs in the Ufizzi
Museum in Florence, Italy, and is credited to
• Del Verocchio was the painting master to Verocchio (to be fair, Leonardo is mentioned
whom the infinitely more famous Leonard Da on the placard).
Vinci was apprentice.
• Is this the same as Kinkade’s use of
• It was not uncommon during the Renaissance apprentices to mass produce artwork in a
(and likely before) for an apprentice to assist style he established? Or, is this different?
with elements of a master’s paintings.
• Does the delineation of responsibilities in
• In this case, Leonardo painted the central creating a work diminish its artistic value? In
figure of Christ in the finished image. Looking other words, do too many cooks truly spoil
closely, you can spot some of the stylistic the pot?
Quality/Craft
Quality/Craft
Secrets of The Sauce

• One thing that might be said of most of the pieces shown, thus far, is that
they all require a fair amount of skill or resourcefulness to execute.

• Perhaps Jackson Pollock, with his emphasis on process is our biggest

proponent thus far, but is the overall quality of the art object as receipt of
process, an important factor for consideration?

• Must a work of art, either representational or non (or purely focused upon
process) be visually pleasing to earn the title of art?

• Do any exceptions spring immediately to mind?

Making Marks
• Thoughts? • RIGHT?!
• To be fair, this is a child’s color • So, is skill then a factor in the
crayon scribbling. creation of art?

• On the surface, there isn’t much if • Why or why not?

anything to analyze outside of the
predictable (and inarticulate) act
that all children are capable.

• Anyone could (potentially) do this,

right?
• This is an untitled piece by the • How long do you imagine it would
notable abstract expressionist take you to make a similar piece?
painter, Cy Twombley.
• But, we didn’t. And Cy Twombley
• This piece, and several others like it did. So, does that make this art?
hang in the Tate Museum of Modern
Art in London. • Does the reputation or fame of the
artist itself make their works art?
• Unlike the works of Da Vinci,
Gericault, Kincade, and even that • Or, is it more to do with opportunity
guy with the paint roller, this piece and sheer nerve?
does not appear to require any sort
of great prerequisite skill to execute.
Monstrosity
“Caught up in life, you see it badly. You suffer from
it or enjoy it too much. The artist, in my opinion,
is a monstrosity, something outside of nature.”

Gustave Flaubert
 Portrait of the artist, Francisco
Goya, circa 1915

Near as we can tell, does this man

appear to be a monstrosity? A monster?

Why, or why not?

Is art an outward representation of the

inner darkness of an artist?

How else might one’s inner darkness

manifest itself outside of art?
• Clearly a representational image, • Is this art, or, like Thomas Kincade,
does this painting reflect any inner an engagement with pastoral or
or outer monstrosity that you can idyllic kitsch?
detect?
• Would you like to meet the person
• What is your overall impression of who painted this work?
this painting, and what conclusions
does it lead you to draw of its
painter?
Summary/Conclusion
Key Topics

• Artist & Audience

• Art & Beauty
• Art & Appearances
• Art & Meaning
• Art & Objects
Summary/Conclusion
Key Terms

• Outsider or folk art • Embodied meaning

• Disinterested contemplation • Materials & technique
• Representational (figurative or • Form, content & context
objective) art
• Installation
• Abstract/abstraction
• Non-representational (nonfigurative
or nonobjective) art

• Deconstruction
Homework
Short Writing Assignment

• Now that we have discussed—at length—what art is from both technical and
philosophical standpoints, it’s time to get your two cents. In a single page or
paragraph, write out your own definition of what is or is not art. Sometimes these
slippery kinds of topics can be difficult to put into words, so it might be better/easier to
think of a work of art you enjoy or respond to, and speak to why that particular piece
qualifies as art.

• Example: “Leonardo Da Vinci’s Mona Lisa is my favorite painting because it is so

universally recognizable, and still a stunning display of great artistic skill and finesse.
Mona’s little half smile is spooky and enigmatic, hinting at something the viewer should
perhaps know but doesn’t, and I believe that good art should always leave some
questions unanswered.”

• Due Wednesday, September 6th by start of class (9am-ish).