Modul

e Humanities and Art Appreciation

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Lesson 1: Understanding Humanities and Art Appreciation

Introduction
Art is an expression made visible by any form. The presentation contained an attempt to
translate the unnamed and the unknown. Intrinsic to our existence as humans is our quest to
create meaning, and Art allows that process to take place.
This module is focused on humanities and art appreciation. Appreciating any form of art
helps us value even more the uniqueness of God’s greatest masterpiece-humans.
In this module, you will explore topics on humanities and art appreciation, basic
assumption, nature, functions, and philosophy of arts, and the difference of subject and
content form artworks.
Intended learning outcomes:
At the end of this module, you are expected to:
 recognize the meaning of Humanities, Art, and art appreciation;
 explain the assumptions and nature of arts;
 describe the functions of art; and
 compare and contrast the subject and content of art.

Preliminary activity

Look around your surroundings. Do you see any presence of arts? If so, give at least three (3)
insights why do you consider it as an art?

Relevance of Art Appreciation

 Art has played a significant role throughout our history. It will continue to be part of our
future and the future of our loved ones for many generations to come.
 Art is not meant to be looked at only for what it is.
 Art Appreciation develops an open mind and understanding that there is more than just
one solution. It also helps to develop an appreciation for each other and celebrate each
individuality.
Importance of Studying Art Appreciation and Philosophy
 Having appreciation for art also helps us to develop an appreciation for each other and
how we are all unique in our own way.

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  Develop literacy and Communications Skills.
 Make sense of our world.
 Philosophy – from Greek, by way of Latin, philosophia, “love of wisdom”
Meaning of Humanities and Art Appreciation
 Humanities
o Latin word humanus, meaning refined or cultured human.
o stories, the ideas, and the words that help us make sense of our lives and our
world (White, 1997).
 Art Appreciation
o referred to the knowledge of the general and everlasting qualities that classify all
great art.
o Referred to the pursuit of knowledge and understanding of the universal and
timeless qualities characterizing works of art.
o The ability to interpret and understand human-made arts and enjoy them
through actual work experience with art tools and materials
o Possession of the works of art for one’s admiration and satisfaction.
o The knowledge and understanding of the general and everlasting qualities that
classify all great arts
o The introduction and exploration of visual and performing art forms.
o Analysis of the form of artwork to the general audience to enhance their
enjoyment and satisfaction of the works of art.
Art History
 Study of objects of art in their historical development and stylistic contexts; that is genre,
design, format, and style.

Creativity and Imagination

 Creativity is doing something meaningful with your imagination
 Imagination allows us to think of things that are not real or around us at any given time
 It’s quite possible to be imaginative without being creative (Naiman, 2016).
If you have ideas, but don’t act on them, you are imaginative but not creative.
 We are all born with imagination but creativity is learned.

Hereunder are some of the definitions of Art given by various authors and writers:
 Art is derived from the Latin word “ars,” meaning ability or skill-(J.V. Estolas)
 Art is taken from the Italian word “artis” which means craftsmanship, skill, mastery of
form, and ideas between material and technique-(A.Tan)
 Art is a product of man’s need to express himself.-(F.Zulueta)
 Art is that which brings life in harmony with the world-(Plato)
 Art is the life that helps us to realize the truth-(Pablo Picasso)

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  Art is an attitude of spirit, a state of mind that demands for its satisfaction and fulfilling,
a shaping matter to new and more significant form.-(John Dewey)
 Art is not what you see but what you make others see-(Georgia ‘Keeffe)
 Art is the desire of man to express himself, to record the action of his personality in the
world he lives in.-(Amy Lowell)
 Art is never finished, only abandoned.-(Leonardo Da Vinci)
 Art is not a handicraft. It is the transmission of feeling the artist has experienced.-(Leo
Nikolaevich Tolstoy)
 Art realizes the external form of a real idea and is traced back to that natural love of
imitation, which characterizes humans. -(Aristotle)
 Art is the conscious creation of something beautiful or meaningful using skill and
imagination-(Lisa Morder)
 Art is concerned itself with the communication of specific ideas and feelings utilizing
sensuous medium, color, sound, bronze, marble, words, and film (C. Sanchez)
Nevertheless, a glimpse of the above definitions brings us four (4) standard essentials of arts:
1. Art is human made, not God made
2. Art is creative, not imitative
3. Art benefits and benefits man- when he uses Art in practical life through artistic
principles, taste, and skill
4. Art is expressed through a particular medium or material by which the artist
communicated himself to his fellows
Importance of Art
 Art highlights and heightens the importance of certain events to keep them memorable
and pleasurable
 Art enables us to get a glimpse of the thoughts, feelings, ad beliefs of the people in their
time and faces in the environment that influenced them.
 a consequence of our encounter with arts
 Art may influence us to change our ways and behavior as a result of the aesthetic
experience we derived from the arts
 Arts are valuable sources of inspiration and delightful aesthetic experience through the
artist's works of Art.
According to Swara Swami (May 31, 2016), here is the list why Art is essential:
 Arts improve your creativity skills
 Arts give you joy and satisfaction.
 Arts relieve stress.
 Arts allow you to showcase your talent.
 Arts give you the confidence in performance

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 Arts help you do well academically
 Arts help you learn visually
 Arts help you to express your emotions

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 Activity

NOTE
Submit your accomplished Activity in an A4 Size Document. Type your name (Last
Name, First Name) and course on the header. Upload in CLMS.
For CBL
e-mail: [email protected]
subject Art Appreciation Module 1 Lesson 1
:

INSTRUCTIONS
React on the various assumptions about art. Expound your position in not more than
250 words.
1. If you were an artist, what kind of artist will you be? What art will you explore?
2. How can you utilize the arts to express yourself, your community and your relation
to others and with the environment?
3. Select a topic below and give your insights:
a. Why is art ageless and timeless?
b. Why is art not nature?
Why does art involve experience?

Quiz

Multiple Choice: Choose the letter of the correct answer

__________ 1. Humanities is derived from what Latin Word?
A. Hominae
B. Humanus
C. Homos
D. None of the above
__________ 2. Art is not meant to be looked at only for what it is. It is meant to:
A. Stimulate thought
B. Stimulate reaction
C. Stimulate mental awareness
D. All the above
__________ 3. History is also a part of our:
A. Thoughts
B. Mental guide
C. Lives
D. Character

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__________ 4. Creativity requires that we have a:
A. Knowledge of the idea
B. Motivation and freedom to explore
C. Enerty to see the process
D. All the above
__________ 5. As a term, art history is:
A. Distinguished from art criticism
B. Encompasses several methods of studying the visual arts
C. Limited to relatively rich societies with sophisticated tehnologies
D. None of the above
__________ 6. Which of the following statement is true of culture:
A. Nature is culture.
B. Archeologist are scientists.
C. Culture is power that create something.
D. Art is part of culture.
__________ 7. With imagination, our focus can be on:
A. Things that are impossible
B. Things that might be possible
C. Things that are present
D. Things that are probable
__________ 8. As fields of study, the humanities emphasize analysis and
A. Exchange of ideas
B. Limitations of humans
C. Possession of wealth
D. None of the above
__________ 9. Which of the following is true?
A. Imagination is thinking of something
B. Art is discipline
C. Philosophy develops intellectual abilities
D. All of the above
__________ 10. Philosophy means
A. Love of material thing
B. Love of wisdom
C. Goals
D. All the above

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 Lesson 2: Basic Assumptions and Nature of Arts

Introduction
As humans our quest is to create meaning and art allows that process to take place. Making
meaning involves understanding our surroundings and marking our experiences.
Art is an expression, an expression of feeling, belief, and character.
The assumption is a thing that is accepted as accurate as sure to happen, without proof. It is
something that you receive as precise without question or evidence. Many assumptions have
been written about arts, and some of these are:
 Art involves experience.
 To experience something, you have to make use of your five senses. Hence,
there can never be an appreciation of Art without having experienced it.
 Fulfillment and consummation of an act conclude the experience.
 Art is not in nature.
 Man and nature make the art of God. However, the character can be enhanced
by man. They improve the beauty and artistry of nature; they can be classified as
art.
 Art is cultural.
 Art is the work of humans, and anything that has been created by a human is
part of the culture. Art becomes cultural when it depicts people's way of life,
religious practices, mores, and traditions, etc.
 Art is a form of creation.
 Art is created with imagination and skill, beautiful, or that expresses important
ideas or feelings. As it is said, the human is the creator of Art. No art can be
created without humans, which uses imagination and creativity to produce Art.
Nature of arts
 Art is a diverse range of human activities.
 In creating visual, auditory, or performing artworks, expressing the authors
imaginative or technical skill, intended to be appreciated for their beauty or
emotional power.
 Art represents reality.
 The use of signs that stand in for and take the place of something else. Symbols
are arranged to form semantic constructions and express relations. So, there is a
sense in which Art represents the mind’s eye or what the imagination perceives.
 Art is an expression.
 The expression is contained in the form is an attempt to translate then unnamed
and the unknown. Intrinsic to our existence as humans are our quest to create
meaning, and Art allows that process to take place.

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  Art serves as a means of communication of emotions.
 The purpose of works of art may be to communicate political, spiritual, or
spiritual or philosophical ideas, to create a sense of beauty, to explore the nature
of perception, for pleasure, or to generate strong emotions. Art is an act of
expressing feelings, thoughts, and observations of human conditions.
 Art matters.
 The arts matter because they allow us to express ourselves and illustrate the
world around us in a different light, helping us understand people and society
and give hope while living in this world. Art matters because it represents human
experiences.
 Art is universal.
 Art can be found in every corner of the world. Art is everywhere, and it is
embedded into the way of life of people.
 Art is creation.
 It combines existing material elements into new forms, which become the
realization of a preconceived idea.

Functions of Art
 Aesthetic function
 Through Art, man becomes conscious of the beauty of nature. They benefit from
their work and from those who have done for their fellowmen.
 Utilitarian function
 Through Art, man is provided with shelter, clothing, food, light, medicine,
beautiful surroundings, personal ornamentals, entertainment, language,
transportation, and other necessities and conveniences in life.
 Cultural function
 Through the printed matter, Art transmits and preserve skills and knowledge
from one generation to another. It makes man aware of their cultural
background, making him more knowledgeable, making their life more enduring
and satisfying.
 Social function
 Through civic and graphic arts, man learns to love and help each other.
International understanding and cooperation are fostered, and nations become
more unified, friendly, cooperative, helpful, and sympathetic.
 Political function
 Art reinforces and enhances a sense of identity and ideological connection to
specific political views, political parties, and politicians.
 Educational function
 There are art symbols and signs to illustrate the knowledge and attitudes that
are not expressed in words.

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  Spiritual function
 Some artworks express spiritual beliefs, customs, ceremonies, and rituals about
the meaning and destiny of life. These artworks may have religious significance.

Activity

NOTE
Submit your accomplished Activity in an A4 Size Document. Type your name (Last
Name, First Name) and course on the header. Upload in CLMS.
For CBL
e-mail: [email protected]
subject: Art Appreciation Module 1 Lesson 2

INSTRUCTIONS
React on the various assumptions about art. Expound your position in not more than 250
words.

“Man learned to draw before he can even start to talk.”

“Art is ageless and timeless.”
“Artistic expression may be expressed 100% in the conscious mind.
INSTRUCTIONS
Give at least one (1) example of each function of art. Provide pictures and describe
each. Please follow the format given below in presenting your work.

Functions of Art
Aesthetic Utilitarian Cultural Social Political Educationa Spiritual
l

description description description description description description description

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 Lesson 3: The Visual Arts

Introduction
The Visual Arts are art forms that create works that are primarily visual in nature, such as
ceramics, drawing, painting, sculpture, printmaking, design, crafts, photography, video, film making and
architecture.

Visual arts include the following:

1. Fine Arts
a. Fine arts refers to an art form practiced mainly for its aesthetic value and its beauty
rather that its functional value.
2. Contemporary Arts
a. Visual arts include a number of modern art forms, such as: assemblage, collage, mixed-
media, conceptual art, installation, happenings and performance art, along with film-
based disciplines such as photography, video art and animation.

3. Decorative Arts
a. The general category of visual arts encompasses a number of decorative art disciplines
and crafts, including ceramics and studio pottery, mosaic art, mobiles, tapestry, glass
art, and others.
4. Others
a. Graphic design, fashion design, and interior design.
b. Tattoo art, face painting, and body painting.

Philosophical Perspective of Arts

1) Art as mimesis (Plato).
o Mimesis id derived from the Greek work “mimos” meaning to imitate.
o Plato believed that all artistic creation is mimesis. It exists in the “world of ideas”
and is created by God. The tangible things that human-made are just shadows
created by man’s mind. All artists are imitations of nature.
o Aristotle speaks of tragedy as an “imitation of an action” that falls from a higher
to a lower estate. Thus, when an artist is a skillfully select and present material,
that artist is purposely seeking to imitate or copy the action of life.
2) Art as Representation (Aristotle).
o Are represents something. When an artist uses signs and symbols to take
something else, it uses Art to represent such signs and symbols.
o It is through representation that people organize the world and reality through
the act of naming its elements. Signs and symbols are arranged to form semantic
constructions and express relations with the other things.
3) Art for Art’s sake (Kant).

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 o Immanuel Kant's main interest was not in Art per se, but beauty is sublime. Kant
being an enlightenment writer though that beauty or sublimity were not
properties of objects but how we respond to items.
o Kant pointed out that beauty is not the form of the beautiful but about the taste.
o Kant’s concern is not on the subjective aesthetic response but the function of an
individual or personal taste.
4) Art as an Escape
o According to Allen Weinstein, without mental escape, we build up a lot of
anxiety within ourselves. Artists has to get rid of this anxiety and pressure
because if we keep these worries and concerns within our mind, they will come
out in the form of anger and even hatred.
5) Art as Functional
o The artist's intent in creating a functional piece of Art is to bring creativity,
beauty, and usefulness into people’s everyday lives.
The Subject of Art
 In any art from-painting, music, sculpture, architecture, or dance-there is always a
subject that serves as the foundation of creating the work of Art.
 The subject of Art is usually anything that is represented in the artwork. It is varied-it
maybe a person, object, scene, or event.
Two Types of Subject Art
1. Representational or Objective.
Representational Art or figurative art represents objects or event in the real world,
usually looking easily recognizable.
2. Non-representational or Non-Objective
These are those arts without any reference to anything outside itself. It is non-objective
because it has no recognizable objects.
Sources of Subject Art
1. Primary Sources
Provides first-hand testimony or direct evidence concerning a topic under investigation.
They are created by witnesses or recorders who experienced the events or conditions
being documented.
Example: Artwork, autobiographies, the film of the artist, interviews, diaries, speeches,
documents, nature, history, mythology, Christian tradition, sacred oriental text.
2. Secondary sources
Interpret and analyze primary sources. Because they are often written significantly after
events by parties not directly involved but who have special expertise, they may provide
historical context or critical perspectives.
Some of these sources of art subjects are:

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 1. Nature – animals, people, landscape
2. History – events taking place in the world
3. Greek and Roman mythology – gods and goddesses, deities and heroes
4. Judaeo Christian Tradition – religion and art, the Bible, the Apocrypha, the rituals
of the church
5. Oriental Sacred Texts – Hinduism and Buddhism
6. Other works of art

Kinds of Subject
1. Still Life – These are groups of inanimate objects arranged in an indoor setting.
2. Landscape, seascapes and cityscapes – physical environment
3. Animals
4. Portraits – are realistic likeness of a person in sculpture, painting, drawing or print
5. Figures – sculptures chief subject has traditionally been the human body, Greeks believe
that physical beauty is the symbol of moral and spiritual perfection
6. Everyday Life
7. History and Legends – consists of verifiable facts, legends, of unverifiable ones. History
can be pieced from costumes and accessories, status symbols, kinds of dwellings or
means of transportation.
8. Religion and Mythology – Art has been maiden of religion. Most of the world’s religions
have used the arts to aid in worship, to instruct, to inspire feelings of devotion and to
impress and convert non-believers.
9. Dreams and Fantasies – dreams are usually vague and illogical. Artists especially
surrealists have tried to depict dreams as well as the grotesque terrors of apprehensions
that lurk in the depths of the subconscious.
Different Levels of Meaning
1. Factual meaning – the literal meaning or the narrative content; objects presented are
easily recognized. E.g. Stones, river, house, etc.
2. Conventional meaning – refers to the special meaning that a certain object has in a
particular culture or group of people. E.g. Flag symbol of a nation, cross for Christianity,
crescent moon for Islam.
3. Subjective Meaning – any personal meaning consciously or unconsciously conveyed by
the artist using a private symbolism which stems from this own association of certain
objects, actions or color with past experience.
Content in Art
 Refers to the meaning or significance and or feeling imparted by a work of Art. This is
not the same thing as the subject matter the work depicts.
 The content of Art is inextricably linked with form; form refers to the visual aspects of
Art such as word, design, and choice, abut shapes, sizes, colors, contrast, medium, soft
or hard edges, and many other decisions.

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 Activity

NOTE
Submit your accomplished Activity in an A4 Size Document. Type your name (Last
Name, First Name) and course on the header. Upload in CLMS.
For CBL
e-mail: [email protected]
subject: Art Appreciation Module 1 Lesson 3

INSTRUCTIONS
Differentiate subject and content in arts by filling in the advanced organizer presented
below. Use a separate paper for this activity.

CONTENT
SUBJECT

SIMILARITIES

_________________
_________________
_________________
_________________ DIFFERENCES DIFFERENCES
____________.
_______________ _______________
_______________ _______________
_______________ _______________
_______________ _______________
_______________ _______________
_______________ _______________
_______________ _______________
_______________. ____________.

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SUMMARY:
Art is not meant to be looked at only for what it is. It stimulates thought because it
allows viewers to draw their own emotions and pull from their personal experiences when
viewed. It is compelling in this way, and it naturally develops critical and innovative thinking
skills. Art is a subject under humanities. There is no one universal definition of Art since Art is
subjective. It is personal in the sense that people differ in their perception of an object or thing.
From the purposes of Art, it can be concluded that there are several ways of defining Art as
there are many people, authors, and writers in the universe. Each definition is influenced by the
unique perspective of the above authors and writers and their personality and character. Art is
an expression, an expression of feeling, belief, and morality. Our lives as humans are full of
complications and complexities, and our thought and experienced feelings, ideas, and
characteristics are reflective of these complexities. As it is said, the human is the creator of Art.
No art can be created without humans which, in turn, uses the imagination and creativity to
produce Art. According to the world's most basic definition, an artist is simply a person who
creates Art. Art is subjective. Henceforth, it cannot be measured by its significance or the level
of skill with which it is created. Its nature makes art only measurable quality is whether it exists.

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References
Textbooks

 Leano, Roman D., (2018) Art Appreciation for College Students. Mindshapers Co., Inc.
 Solmerano, Ernesto M., (2019) Art Appreciation. Books Atbp. Publishing Corp.
 Ariola, Mariano M. (2018) Art Appreciation. Unlimited Books Library Services &
Publishing Inc.
 Devilles et al. (2018) Art sense: Sensing the Arts in the Everyday by C & E-publishing,
Inc.,

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