Intro To The Arts

What questions does this cartoon raise about the Arts?
“The supreme goal of man is to

fulfil himself as a creative, unique
individual according to his own
unique potentialities and within
the limits of reality” Swiss psychiatrist and psychoanalyst who founded
analytical psychology
Carl Jung
Discussion:
1. What does Jung mean by this?
2. Do you agree?
Learning Objectives:
✔ To consider what counts as Art
✔ To reflect on whether aesthetic judgement is objective or
subjective
✔ To identify how the arts may contribute to our knowledge
of the world
✔ To consider similarities and differences between the arts
and other AoKs
How do we define ART?
Art must be man made, but we must also consider: -
1. The intentions of the artist

2. The quality of the work
3. The response of the spectators
According to this, something is a work of art if
it has the intention of evoking an aesthetic
response from the audience
Art need only be planned, but not accidental.
It need not be practical in any way.
“All art is quite useless”
Oscar Wilde (1854-1900)
Do you agree?
What does Wilde mean in this provocation?
What is the intention of a piece of art?

William Carlos Williams, ‘The Red Wheelbarrow’
so much depends What does this poem mean
upon to you?
a red wheel What can you point to to

create meaning from this?
barrow
Does it matter what Williams
glazed with rain intended as the meaning?
water
beside the white

chickens
The quality of the work
• If the artist has a skill (for poetry, music, sculpture etc)

then we may judge this as art.
• This helps to distinguish artists from untalented people,

and sets them apart
• Art has to do with revealing beauty

Beauty
According to one definition ‘beauty is the proper

conformity of the parts to one another and the whole’.
• Do you agree with this definition?

• Can you suggest a better one?
• Is there a universal standard of beauty?
• Can art reveal the beauty in something that has not

previously been considered beautiful?
Two Dictionary Definitions
“The art of combining sounds with a view to beauty of

form and expression of emotions” 1911
“The science or art of ordering tones or sounds in

succession, in combination, and in temporal relationship”
1974
What do these definitions suggest about the changing role of beauty in the
arts?
John Keats wrote, in ‘Ode on Grecian Urn’
"Beauty is truth, truth beauty,—that is all
Ye know on earth, and all ye need to know."
How does an idea of beauty tie to an idea of truth?

• The most popular/wanted painting in the USA
• Is this kitsch art?
The quality of the work
• What do you think of this

painting?
• Is it any good?
• Should it’s value depend

on who painted it?
• This is Van Meegeren's best
known forgery --->
• At its so-called discovery Art
experts were tripping over
themselves to praise the work
• It was assumed to be a genuine
painting by the C17 Dutch artist
Johannes Vermeer (you may
know his famous ‘Girl with the
Pearl Earring’) ---->
• The Dutch Museum Boijmans (in Rotterdam)
paid the huge sum of 520,000 Dutch guilders
for its acquisition
• Van Meegeren skillfully applied several aging
techniques to give the painting a 17th century
look and feel
• The light entering from the left and the faces of
the figures are all typical Vermeer
• His forgeries fooled everyone….
Check out this 5 min Ted-Ed talk on Van Meegeren
Check out this article (reading time: 10 mins)
For Discussion
1. Why are copies of paintings

worth less than the
originals?
2. Can this difference be
justified?
3. Is it an irrational prejudice?
4. What’s wrong with forgeries
if they continue the legacy
of the original artist?
Art must be man made, but we must also consider: -

2. The quality of the work
3. The response of the spectators
The Response of the Spectators
“Time reverses the judgement of the foolish crowd”
18th Century poet: Percy Shelley

Stravinsky: Rite of Spring
• In 1913 this was

booed off stage (it is
now considered one
of the greatest works
of C20 music)
• Have a listen for 2

mins….what do you
make of it?
Picasso: Les Demoiselles d'Avignon
• In 1907 this artwork
was met with shock,
anger and disgust
• Now it is considered
one of the greatest
artworks worth
hundreds of millions of
dollars
• What would you have

thought about this at
that time?
https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/ap-art-history/later-europe-and-americas/modernity-ap/v/picasso-les-demoiselles-d-avignon-1907
Discuss
• Why are expert opinions so important in the arts?

• If the experts don’t agree, does that make it more or less
likely that something is considered art?
• Are experts more problematic in the Arts than say
Science? Why?
TASK: Reflection entry
In the relationship between the artist and the consumer,

who does more to define what art is?
Is it different for different art forms?
Extension Reading for the ToK Journal
Study Finds Artists Become Famous through Their Friends,

Not the Originality of Their Work

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What questions does this cartoon raise about the Arts?

“The supreme goal of man is to

Art must be man made, but we must also consider: -

1. The intentions of the artist

What is the intention of a piece of art?

a red wheel What can you point to to

beside the white

• If the artist has a skill (for poetry, music, sculpture etc)

• This helps to distinguish artists from untalented people,

• Art has to do with revealing beauty

According to one definition ‘beauty is the proper

• Do you agree with this definition?

• Can art reveal the beauty in something that has not

“The art of combining sounds with a view to beauty of

“The science or art of ordering tones or sounds in

How does an idea of beauty tie to an idea of truth?

• What do you think of this

• Should it’s value depend

1. Why are copies of paintings

Art must be man made, but we must also consider: -

1. The intentions of the artist

18th Century poet: Percy Shelley

• In 1913 this was

• Have a listen for 2

• What would you have

• Why are expert opinions so important in the arts?

In the relationship between the artist and the consumer,

Study Finds Artists Become Famous through Their Friends,

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