Why Study Art?

Why Study Art?

This is a painting by the famous painter Claude Monet. Imagine that you walk into an art gallery and see this painting. You could enjoy the painting without knowing anything about the painting or the painter. You might stop and look at the colors or think about how it reminds you of a place that you have been. Art does not require that we study it in order to enjoy it.

If we can appreciate art without study, why should we bother to learn more about art and artists? One of the reasons that we study art is it gives us information about the past. The study of history is often about the events of the past, including wars, political changes, and migrating people. Art history also gives us information about the past, but it is focused more on what was happening within people, including their hopes, dreams, aspirations, fears, and view of themselves.

Think about the early cave paintings that have been found. These date to around 30,000 BCE and give us valuable information about the people who created them. In fact, because there was no written language at this time, most of what we know about these people we learned from their cave paintings and the things these groups left behind.

Art from other ancient societies gives us information about what was important to them and how they may have lived their lives. For example, the paintings on early Greek vases depict musical instruments, what Greek theaters looked like, and athletes competing in the first Olympic Games. These paintings help us better understand these aspects of Greek society in ways that we might not have without the paintings on the vases. Likewise, ancient architecture can give us information about the physical structure of a group of people. Some ancient ruins and buildings give us information about ancient religions through the carvings on the architecture. Walls around a settlement can indicate that the group feared neighboring groups, and the structure of temples or other religious areas can give us information about the role of religion in society. The information may not always be perfectly clear to us today, as in the case of England's Stonehenge and its function to the society that build it, but we have more information than if these forms of art were not present and known.

Another reason that the study of art is important is art affects other parts of our lives. In some cases, art has been used to influence religious views or help individuals worship. For example, many of the cathedrals built in Europe were designed to point worshippers to God through their tall spires. In the 20th century, some photographers used their artistic creations to bring attention to social injustice and other social problems.

Finally, some pieces of art also have functional purposes beyond their artistic value. Architecture, for example, is a part of buildings that give us shelter and protection. Ancient vases were sometimes used to carry water and other items. Drawings and paintings have been used to convey information to others. Artists create some pieces of art by using valuable materials, including gold and gems.