Which Art Historical Method I Would Use: The Ideas of Erwin Panofsky and Adrian Piper

Finally, not only do we learn to be more conscious because of the arts, but we learn of the past from it too. Walsh writes, “Through art we learn the joy felt during times of happiness and we see the pain and despair during times of suffering...It shows us how those events impacted the people living them.” Students can be given a photograph of a painting--or can even visit a museum--and be told to study it. They will be able to see the movement in the art alone. As a result, the students will have time to think about what they are seeing rather than learning it from a textbook.

The inclusion and value of ‘external evidence’, information concerning the artist and his interpretation and reasoning of his piece, has frequently been debated by philosophers. Many argue that external evidence should not be considered in the interpretation of a piece of art; better yet, the audience would seemingly benefit from not having any prior knowledge of the artist or his implications. Other theorists counter that while we should not judge a piece with the artist in mind, having some general knowledge does give important insight into the culture that is expressed through the piece.

When deeper investigation is taken place, you are able to bring light to the surface, that there is a deeper connect between the young lady and gentleman laying in front of her. Discrete symbolic figures and actions are tangled up in the oil painting.

Although examining art requires a huge knowledge, my intention in this essay is to analyze a piece of art, besides lyrics and the context, I’m going to examine it by following the steps presented by Alain de Botton.

Art History is the study of objects of art in their historical development and stylistic contexts. The history of art, we feel, can sometimes be confused with art criticism. However, Art History is concerned with finding the value of the artistic piece in respect with others in the same category of art or movement, and art criticism is more of an evaluation of art. The art examined best represents the culture during the time period, visions the artist imagined, and history behind an event. It also represents society in a specific area, beliefs the people may have, writing that tells a story, the natural world and environment, conflict between people and areas, and the human body. With these representations, artwork overall represents the life in which we live (d). Each piece has its own genre, design, format and style to it. This makes each piece extremely different, yet pleasing to the eye. They also vary between paintings, sculptures and architecture. These different types also make a variety of artwork to be seen by all people. The art pieces that I chose, Jar, Bottle and Glass by Juan Gris, The Persistence of Memory by Salvador Dalí, and Starry Night by Vincent Van Gogh, seemed interesting to me and I believe to best represent the context in which they were created, along with the major artistic movements of the time. I went on to research them more thoroughly to better understand the history behind them,

To counter their belief of looking skill, Bagley then analyzes Taylor’s book, declaring that Taylor inspects artworks without any reliable referencesthe instances Taylor presented are limited on media, origin, and time period and with incomplete information. Bagley further points out that professor X and Taylor are limited by their beliefs making them unknowingly emphasize the looking skill. Citing an instance from Honour and Fleming’s book, Bagley believes an art historian’s job is to decipher the artist’s intention and to convey an understanding rested on knowledge external to the described object. At the end, he insists art history is reliant on comparisons which are shaped by personal experiences, ideas, and knowledge. Comparison is fundamental to the field, and without it there is nothing new in art history.

Overall, the painting creates unity. All of the elements that are put into this painting creates a sense of completeness. For example, if we didn’t have the element color, then the painting would be black and white, which wouldn’t give you the entire story. Like the blood that is

For my essay I will discuss the theory of formalism, and how it is described in Shlovsky’s “Art as Technique.” Using my formulated definition, I will then apply my findings to the text “I am Bigfoot,” in order to relate the text to the definition. The definition of formalism is to study a text without any outside influences. In Victor Shklovsky’s “Art as Technique” formalism is suggesting that art makes objects unfamiliar. “Art is a way of experiencing the artfulness of an object: the object is not important.”

To get the strongest understanding of a piece of art, the viewer must go through the necessary steps of identification, classification, and interpretation to gather enough of a description of the painting to fully see the composition for what it truly means. Analyzing images is an important aspect of art history because

Alberti makes it clear that he is not concerned with painting’s origins, even though he briefly discusses them. Subsequently, the author uses old writings as reference to strengthen his point of view on how highly painting is esteemed above other “crafts” history. It is therefore clear that the author believes painting to be somewhat in metaphysical nature, something beyond the ordinary.

Arthur C. Danto in “The Artworld” provides us with the argument that, “To see something as art requires something that the eye cannot descry-an atmosphere of artistic theory, a knowledge of the history of art: an artworld.” Danto shows us the importance of the artworld in order to know that a work of art is more than just what we can plainly see. Danto provides two theories he calls the “IT” (Imitation theory) and the “RT” (Reality theory). With these two theories, Danto explains how we can define art and why “The Artworld” is needed to help understand art, because after all, “these days one might not be aware he was on artistic terrain without an artistic theory to tell him so.”

Throughout the vast history of art, historians can find connections throughout the centuries. Artists from the beginning of humankind have been inspired by the world around them. From the Apollo 11 stones to present day, history and culture have provided inspiration and have been the focus of various pieces. Examining artwork from the 15th-18th century, viewers can be shown a whole world that would be unknown to us without these artist’s contributions. History, religion, and cultural events have sculpted the art world, and we can observe this through many pieces during the 15th-18th centuries.

As onlookers peer into the artworks in front of them, there is no question as to whether or not they considered what the artwork means, where it came from and what the artist was interested in who created it. The

The history of art dates back to ancient times. Artwork can be, and was, found around the world. What makes art interesting is that it can be created in any way, shape or form with any materials. It seems that the artwork can also tell us a lot about the artist. Art seems to be simply, a direct, visual reflection of the artist’s life. Therefore, one can assume that an artist’s life experiences and beliefs directly influence their art. If we look at examples from different periods of art we will be able to see the connection between the artist and the art.

“Painting today is pure intuition and luck and taking advantage of what happens when you splash the stuff down. “- Francis Bacon. However when I learnt more about history of art and the way each movement and happenings in the world inspired artist to make new works, I was able to see much more than just a canvas with random paints and sketches. The interesting part about this concept is that each piece of art could be interpreted in many different ways. In contemporary art there isn’t right and wrong, each of us view and find different meanings and connections with artworks.