Developing an Understanding of the Context of an Art Work Depends on
Context of Creation
The political, socioeconomic, and cultural setting that a work of art is created in will impact how it is perceived within fine art history.
Learning Objectives
Recognize the importance of an artwork's context of creation to fine art history
Primal Takeaways
Central Points
- Patronage of the arts, and art history by extension, has been used throughout history to endorse the ambitions and agenda of the dominant power of any given historic period. Fine art history is the academic study of objects of art in their historical evolution and stylistic contexts (i.e., genre , design, form , and style ).
- Art conveys political, religious, and philosophical themes and judgments that ascend as much from the artist's surroundings as they do from his or her creative impulse.
- Some of the contextual forces that shape artists and their work are their teachers and the influences of preceding styles; their patrons and their demands; their audiences; and their general socioeconomic, political, and cultural climate.
Primal Terms
- iconography:The branch of art history which studies the identification, description, and the interpretation of the content of images.
- oeuvre:The complete torso of an artist'due south work.
Art has existed almost as long as humankind itself and serves as a vehicle for the expression and communication of ideas and emotions. The canon of art history, however, has historically conveyed the political, religious, and philosophical ideals of the dominant power. Art history categorizes artworks and theories with a heavy reliance on the context or environment that the artwork was created in (i.east., its political, social, cultural, and economical settings).
Art history is the academic report of art objects in their historical development and stylistic contexts (i.e., genre, pattern, form, and style). A piece of work of art from a particular historical period can exist treated as an original source of data that was created at the time under written report, and provides data about that time. Art historians written report the contextual forces that shaped artists and their oeuvres , including their teachers and the influences of preceding styles; their patrons and their demands; their audiences; and their general socioeconomic, political, and cultural climate. These factors produce and influence unlike artistic styles and iconography , which are feature of their age and geographical location with reference to visual appearance, technique, and form.
In many ways, the historical backbone of fine art history is a celebratory chronology of cute creations of art commissioned by religious or civic institutions or wealthy individuals. Patronage of the arts has been used throughout history to endorse the ambitions and agenda of these institutions and individuals, and has been particularly important in the creation of religious art . For instance, the Roman Cosmic Church was an enthusiastic sponsor of the arts that resulted in a tremendous outpouring of architecture, painting, sculpture , and decorative crafts in medieval and Renaissance Europe.
The Cosmos of Adam by Michelangelo, Sistine Chapel ceiling: Michelangelo painted the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican City under the patronage of Pope Julius II between 1508 and 1512.
Intended Context of Reception
Art'due south context of reception depends on a variety of circumstances, both on the part of the creative person besides as the artistic community the creative person is participating in.
Learning Objectives
Identify the not-motivated, as well as motivated, factors that have given rise to art
Fundamental Takeaways
Fundamental Points
- Art arises from a combination of non-motivated factors driven by the intrinsic human impulse towards harmony and inventiveness as well equally motivated factors, which consciously aim to communicate specific messages to other individuals.
- Art may be used to evoke detail emotions or moods, for social inquiry and political change, for questioning and criticizing society, or as a means of propaganda or commercial advertisement for influencing pop conceptions.
- Religious art uses religious inspiration and themes in order to illustrate the principles of the religion and to provide spiritual instruction to audiences.
- Patronage of the arts was typically used as a means of expressing and endorsing political, social, and cultural agendas and of displaying personal prestige. Works of art commissioned by wealthy patrons commonly reflect their desires and aims.
Primal Terms
- patron:An influential, wealthy person who supports an creative person, craftsman, scholar, or aristocrat.
- motif:A recurring or dominant chemical element in a piece of work of art.
Art's context of reception depends on a variety of circumstances, both on the part of the artist likewise as the artistic community and climate that the creative person is participating in. Throughout human history, art has been created across a range of media for many different reasons and to serve many different functions. Some of these purposes are intrinsic to the human instinct for harmony and balance, as well as the homo desire to experience mysterious things and express the human imagination. Art can transcend the concept of utility or external purpose. These ideas are called the not-motivated purposes of art. However, art besides comes from intentional, conscious actions that aim towards specific external goals, and those authorize as the motivated purposes of art. Motivated purposes usually arise from the artwork's historical context, which consists of a multitude of unlike factors, including the social, political, economic, and cultural settings of the period; the creative person's patrons; and the artist's intended audience.
Primarily, art is a course of advice, and similar most forms of communication, has intents and goals directed toward other people. It may exist used for entertainment, seeking to evoke particular emotions or moods in viewers , or for social enquiry and political change by portraying aspects of lodge in gratis or critical means.
Eugène Delacroix, Liberty Leading the People, 1830: This painting reflects contemporary events, commemorating the July Revolution of 1830, which toppled Charles X of French republic. A woman personifying liberty leads the people forwards over the bodies of the fallen, holding the flag of the French Revolution in ane mitt and brandishing a musket with the other. The painting reflects the context of the fourth dimension: namely, a shift towards representing political electric current events in fine art.
Similarly, art may as well be used as a form of propaganda by subtly influencing popular conceptions, or for commercial purposes, by making specific products more attractive to potential consumers. Religious or sacred art uses religious inspiration and motifs in club to illustrate the principles of a religion in a tangible form, and is often intended to provide spiritual education and connection with believers.
Sandro Botticelli, Madonna and Child with Eight Angels, 1478: An example of religious art, this painting was deputed by the Catholic Church during the Renaissance. Like a great deal of religious art, the painting is meant to communicate the spiritual dazzler of the religious concept echoed in the aesthetic beauty of an oil painting. The piece of work reflects the context of its time, in which fine art was driven nearly exclusively past religious institutions and used to illustrate and provide instruction about the principles of the religion.
Through the course of history, much of art has traditionally been patronized by wealthy and powerful individuals, including rulers and aristocrats, as well every bit diverse borough and religious institutions. Patronage of the arts was typically used every bit a ways of expressing and endorsing political, social, and cultural agendas and of displaying personal prestige. Works of art commissioned by wealthy patrons normally reflect their desires and aims.
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Source: https://courses.lumenlearning.com/boundless-arthistory/chapter/historical-context/