Art Appreciation

The word art has hundreds and hundreds of different definitions. Everyone has a different definition of what art is to them. Art is perceived differently from one person to the next. According to famous artist Frank Lloyd Wright, “Art is a discovery and development of elementary principles of nature into beautiful forms suitable for human use” (Atlantic Monthly Group, 2014). The Oxford Dictionary defines art as “The expression or application of human creative skill and imagination, typically in a visual from such as a painting or sculpture, providing works to be appreciated primarily for their beauty and emotional power” (Oxford University Press, 2014).

There are many different types of art. Painting is a very popular one. “The Mona Lisa” by Leonardo Da Vinci is a very popular painting. This is a painting of a woman described as ‘Mona Lisa”. She is sitting very still in front of a river. The water in background draws your attention as well as the actual portrait. This painting was created through someone’s creativity expressed through paint. Leonardo Da Vinci captured the beauty of a woman through the use of simply applying pigment and color to a surface. “The Kiss” is a famous marble sculpture by French sculptor Auguste Rodin. This sculpture is of two people kissing but also tells a story about a wife who gets caught cheating with her husband’s brother and he kills them both. The fact that you can merely tell all this from a sculpture is pure art itself. It is not only beautiful but makes you feel something while looking at it. An example of architecture would be St Paul’s Cathedral in London. This shows a tremendous amount of human effect and creativity. It is such a compelling building and the design is phenomenal. If this is not art what is? A famous photograph although very simple would be “The Footprint on the Moon” in 1969. This is simple beautiful and considered art because it makes a huge impact on the world. This changed a lot of things. When first glancing at the photograph it looks very ordinary it is literally a footprint in dirt but when really looking at it, it’s incredible how meaningful and beautiful it really is. Printmaking is a bit tougher to find but upon searching one that really stood out was “A flood on Java” by Raden Saleh. This printmaking art looks like a huge wave almost coming towards you. The artist really captures the intensity of the wave. This defines the word art as the artist expresses his work to be appreciated by others.