AAP 101: ART APPRECIATION

Unit I: Discovering Art and the Arts

Lesson 1, Part 2: The Nature of Art

What is Art Appreciation?

Art Appreciation is the capacity to appreciate and understand works of art. It deals with our
encounter with the artworks, the artists, and how we are affected by it.

Why Study Art Appreciation (AAP)?

1. Studying the AAP helps students become nationalistic in minds and hearts by
appreciating Philippine arts.

AAP will inspire and motivate every student to be proud of “being Filipino.” Being
Filipino is a call to be human in understanding the thoughts, feelings, and aspirations
of every artist, and culture by taking pride in our Filipino ingenuity as embedded in
our history.

2. Studying AAP will give students the privilege to witness in reality the arts being
discussed inside the classroom.

AAP is a venue to widen our horizon in the arts. AAP will enlighten the minds of the
students in seeing the world anew. Students will have the privilege to dialogue with
the artists and witness the significance that every artwork evokes.

3. Studying AAP will allow students to understand the development of arts in

history.

The timeline of arts in history has primary importance in AAP. Knowing the different
periods greatly helps every student how the progress of the arts in every challenge
and innovation is portrayed in time. Studying AAP will enable students to gain a
holistic perspective through the knowledge of world cultures.

4. Studying AAP will open the students’ minds that they are not just learners of
art but “agents of truth, beauty, and goodness.”

Studying AAP envisions students becoming proactive at the end of every semester.
Students are not just listeners but active participants in and out of the classroom.
Being refined means being formed and inspired in every detail and aspect of the arts.

5. Studying AAP will increase our students’ respect for cultural and individual
differences through an analytical study of achievements and contributions
shared for human development.

Studying AAP will give students access to communities with diverse cultures through
different academic activities or art exposures – regional centers of studies and
museum visits, festivals, concerts, theater performances, and acknowledgment of
local artists.
The Classifications of Art

Categories Forms & Types

1. Dance – choreography, direction, 1. Aerobic dance
performance 2. Ballet
3. Cheerdance
4. Dancesport
5. Folk Dance
2. Music – composition, direction, 1. Film Music
performance 2. Liturgical Music
3. Novelty Song
4. Pop Music
5. Rock Music
3. Theater – direction, performance, 1. Balagtasan
production design, light and sound 2. Moryonan/Moriones
design, playwriting 3. Huling Hapunan (Ultima Cena)
4. Musical Theater
5. Street Theater
4. Visual Arts – painting, sculpture, 1. Advertising Art
printmaking, photography, installation 2. Bamboo Art
art, mixed media works, illustration, 3. Book Design
graphic arts, performance art, imaging 4. Effigies
5. Food Art
5. Literature – poetry, fiction, essay, 1. Epic
literary/art criticism 2. Folk Poetry
3. Komiks
4. Pasyon
5. Poetry
6. Film – direction, writing, production 1. Aksiyon
design, cinematography, editing, 2. Dokyu
animation 3. Drama
4. Horror
5. Komedi
7. Architecture and Allied Arts – 1. Bahay Kubo
architecture, interior design, landscape 2. Bahay na Bato
architecture, urban design 3. Church
4. Commercial Buildings
5. Retablo
8. Broadcast Arts – radio, television, 1. Advertisement
significant programs, stations, groups 2. Aksiyon on Radio and Television
3. Arts and Culture Programs
4. Children’s Programs
5. News Programs

The Subject Matter of the Art

➢ The Subject Matter refers to what is depicted in the artwork. It usually answers the
following questions: What do you see? What is the image about? Can you identify
the image?
There are various subjects used in various artworks.

1. Portraiture (people) – representations of an individual,

group of people, or historical figures such as great
leaders (kings, pharaohs, emperors, presidents,
founders of religions), patriots (heroes and heroines,
revolutionary leaders), and innovative minds
(philosophers, scientists, inventors, builders). Artworks of
this kind are good indicators of class, social status, race,
and nationality.

Portrait of Fernando Zobel as a Teenager

1945
Fernando Amorsolo
Oil on wood
Ateneo Art Gallery

2. Still life – painting of objects, furniture, utensils, flowers,

fruits, and vegetables placed on a table or another
setting. The goodness of having a still life as a subject is
its availability and capability to be organized.

Examples of still life are, a basket of fruits, a bag of

groceries, a pack of cigarettes, a bunch of flowers, and a
bucket of chicken

Still Life with Green Guitar

1952
Vicente Manansala
Oil on plywood
Ateneo Art Gallery

3. Animals and Plants – symbolic images and interpretations of various animals and
plants associated with visual arts (painting, sculpture, and architecture), pottery and
weaving, etc.

Water Buffalos
Felix Garzon (Man) / Francesco Riccardo Monti (Woman)
Provincial Capitol Lagoon and Park, Bacolod City
4. Places – historical wonder cities of the world with legacies in the preservation and
promotion of culture and the arts. Thus, high points of painting, urban planning, and
tourist destinations.

Vigan City, Ilocos Sur (1572)

New Wonder City of the World
December 8, 2014

Other Wonder Cities of the World:

✓ Beirut, Lebanon (3000 BCE)
✓ Doha, Qatar (1825)
✓ Durban, South Africa (1880)
✓ Havana, Cuba (1515)
✓ Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (1859)
✓ La Paz, Bolivia (1548)

5. Events – rekindling and paying homage

to historical accounts (tragedies,
revolutions, triumphs) that have moved
the people with awe and trembling.

Battle of Kakarong De Sili Shrine

Pandi, Bulacan

6. Religious items – artworks depicting the Trinity, Jesus,

Mary and Joseph, the angels, and the saints. Within the
walls of the churches lie the sacred vestments, relics, icons,
books, and utensils used in liturgical activities.

Crucified Christ
17th Century
Ivory
58 x 53 cm
UST Museum of Arts and Sciences

*Single longest ivory corpus in Christian art in Asia

7. Mythological – the gods and goddesses adorned and

revered in the great civilizations of Egypt, Greece, and
Rome.

Malakas at Maganda
1974
Anastacio Caedo
Vargas Museum, UP Diliman
8. Country Life – images and scenes of the daily life of
various provinces such as fiestas and festivals,
fishing, farming and harvesting, recreation, and
games.

Bayanihan
1962
Carlos “Botong” Francisco
Oil on Canvas
544 cm. x 544 cm.
United Laboratories Collection

9. Landscape – various landforms – volcanoes, mountain ranges, hills, valleys, plains,

plateaus, and cliffs – depicted in landscape paintings and architecture.

Paco Cemetery & Park (1823/1966) San Miguel Corporation Head Office (1984)
Paco, Manila, Philippines Mandaluyong City, Philippines

10. Seascape – forms of water – ocean, sea,

river, lake, brook, pond, and falls –
illustrated in paintings and today’s
aquascaping (underwater gardening).

Bato Springs Resort

Man-made falls

San Pablo City, Laguna

 11. Edifices – sacred spaces, commercial spaces, and
megastructures from around the globe recognized as
cosmic, sacred, and modern.

Grand Hyatt Manila

2017
BGC, Taguig, Metro Manila

***Height: 318 meters (1,043 ft)

Number of floors: 66
:

12. Dreams and Fantasies –

supernatural and mystical ideas of
men and women who can portray
what is beyond the senses and
reality.

Dragonfly (triptych)
2014
Rom Villaseran
Acrylic on canvas
104.5 x 68 inches

Art Styles: Methods in Presenting the Subjects

➢ Artists have differences yet the beauty they pass on to generations stirs wonder,
where wonder becomes astonishment and unspeakable joy.

➢ Artists use different styles. A style refers to how the artists employ materials, use
techniques, and how a subject matter is portrayed. Style is generally divided into two
(2) branches namely: Representational or Objective and Non-representational or
Non-objective.

✓ Representational. Representations are artworks that depict something easily

recognized by most people. The images and figures are taken from the world of
people and nature. Examples of art forms under this category are painting,
sculpture, architecture, and graphic arts.

✓ Non-representational. These are artworks that have no resemblance to any real

subject. They are made up primarily of lines, colors, textures, and shapes. They
do not form figures, as such they do not represent anything and they are what
they are. They are referred to as abstract art.

Every artist has his own style of doing his artwork. He has the preference to choose any of
the following methods in presenting his/her subject:
1. Realism. It is the method of presenting subjects as they appear in real life. It
advocates Plato’s concept called mimesis, or copying nature the way it looks.
 The Filipino foremost painter, Fernando Amorsolo (1892-1972), is the Father of
Philippine Realism; he painted Philippine rural scenes such as:

Planting Rice
1946
UCPB Collection

Sunday Morning Going to Town

1958
Ayala Museum Collection

2. Abstractionism. It is “drawing away from realism.” It was derived from the verb
abstract meaning ‘to draw away.’ An abstractionist draws away from reality as he
creates his artwork. His product is a departure from what is present in real life.

Jose Joya is distinguished by creating authentic Filipino abstracts. He is known as

the ‘epitome of Philippine abstraction.’ Some of his selected works were:

Granadean Arabesque
1958
Ateneo Art Gallery Collection

Dimension of Fear
1965
Cultural Center of the Philippines
Collection
3. Surrealism. Surrealism is “beyond realism.” It is concerned with presenting the
subconscious reality of the artist. It projects the subject as if the subject is not part of
reality but belongs to the world of dreams and fantasy. In surrealist paintings, the
images look nightmarish and weird.

One of the Thirteen Artists of CCP, Jaime de Guzman (1942- ), was able to channel
the anxieties of the modern man, leading him to his most celebrated works:

Metamorphosis I, II, III

1970
Cultural Center of the Philippines Collection

GomBurZa Martyrs
1970
Cultural Center of the Philippines Collection

4. Symbolism. Symbolism is presenting the subject symbolically, that is, the artist
shows his subject as it appears in real life, but he intends to let it represent
something.

Among the symbolic artworks known to us are:

Spoliarium
1884

Juan Luna
National Museum Collection
 UP Oblation
1958

Guillermo Tolentino
UP Diliman Oblation Plaza

5. Expressionism. Expressionism is emotional realism. It presents the real-life subject

to express emotions, chaos, fear, violence, defeat, morbidity, and tragedy.
Expressionists do not copy the natural colors of subjects but instead use colors that
may express what they feel.

One notable Filipino expressionist and National Artist is

Ang Kiukok (1931-2005) pursued an expression imbued
with nationalist fervor and a sociological agenda. Some
of his works include:

Man on Fire
1980
Central Bank of the Philippines Collection

6. Impressionism. It presents the real-life subject with emphasis on the impression left
in the artist’s mind or perception, particularly the effect of light on the object used as
a subject. Some examples of impressionism in the Philippines include:

Jones Bridge, 1975 Tampuhan, 1895

Emilio Aguilar Cruz Juan Luna
National Museum Collection Rosalinda Orosa Collection