ART HISTORY
Art history is an integral part of Visual Art. Well as you have seen history is a branch of "mother art"; it falls under the liberal art.
Ordinarily when we hear the term history our minds goes to story of the past but that is actually a myopic understanding of what history stands for. In the real sense history is a three way discipline. It discusses the past, the present and the future. History draws data from the past to understand the present and to forecast the future. Hence we can simply define history as the study of human, how he lived in the past, how he is living at present and how he will live in the near future.
Sometimes we may wonder if there would be any benefit from studying art history. There are many benefits from studying Art History they include.
1.) Art History helps us to be better artist. This is true because when we study art history we come across different art works that were done in time past and this helps us to add to our store of knowledge on different concepts that we can use as themes for our art work.
2.) Art History helps us to see beyond the visual. An art scholar Dr Ese Odokuma defines art as a "spiritual signal generating creativity". This is very true because there is always a story behind every artwork. When non artists sees an art work most times they just appreciate its visual and visible beauty. But when an artist who as sound knowledge on art history sees art work they do not stop at just the physical characteristics, they move further into the metaphysical characteristics. They probe into such questions as what is this art work expressing? What is the psychological thinking of the artist? What might have made the artist to create this work? Under what genre can this work be place? and so on.
The reason for this difference between one who as knowledge on Art History and one who do not is because in art history students come across different methodologies like Iconography, psychoanalysis semiotics, stylistic analysis and so on. This helps art historians to widen there sense of seeing.
3.) Art history also help students to widen their knowledge on other areas or fields in life. Art historians always dive into other fields in life, such geography, agriculture, religion & philosophy, sociology, and even chemistry. In geography for example we describe lands and regions where art antiquities are found we also make good use of maps to buttress points. Religion and philosophy cannot be separated from art. In fact one of the sole aim for creating art in time past was for religious expressions. In Chemistry we dive into chemical properties of the media used in creating our beautiful antiquities. Hence art history is a wholistic discipline that can give one insight into diverse areas of life.
4.) Art history also have a lot of social, economic, and political importance. For example talking about architecture, which is also a part of art, a closer look at some beautiful architectural designs today, will easily remind of Greek and Roman Architecture. Cultural displays in ceremonies largely employs the use of art antiquities and practices that were pass on from one generation to another. In some countries large revenues are gotten from from art institutions that deals largely on art history such Museums and research centers.
Clearly there are a lot of benefits from studying Art History!
Art history is an integral part of Visual Art. Well as you have seen history is a branch of "mother art"; it falls under the liberal art.
Ordinarily when we hear the term history our minds goes to story of the past but that is actually a myopic understanding of what history stands for. In the real sense history is a three way discipline. It discusses the past, the present and the future. History draws data from the past to understand the present and to forecast the future. Hence we can simply define history as the study of human, how he lived in the past, how he is living at present and how he will live in the near future.
Visual Art has been define as self expression through visual media such as clay, wood, raffia, metals and so on.
Having understand the meaning of History and the meaning of Art, we can now easily understand the meaning of Art History. Art History is the study of art under its historical contents such as genres, styles or movement. Art History is a branch in art that helps us to gain insight into the way different people have practice art over the years. When we see the way art changes overtime and the reason behind such changes it helps us to better understand where we stand as artist in the stream of time.
WHY STUDY ART HISTORY?
Sometimes we may wonder if there would be any benefit from studying art history. There are many benefits from studying Art History they include.
1.) Art History helps us to be better artist. This is true because when we study art history we come across different art works that were done in time past and this helps us to add to our store of knowledge on different concepts that we can use as themes for our art work.
2.) Art History helps us to see beyond the visual. An art scholar Dr Ese Odokuma defines art as a "spiritual signal generating creativity". This is very true because there is always a story behind every artwork. When non artists sees an art work most times they just appreciate its visual and visible beauty. But when an artist who as sound knowledge on art history sees art work they do not stop at just the physical characteristics, they move further into the metaphysical characteristics. They probe into such questions as what is this art work expressing? What is the psychological thinking of the artist? What might have made the artist to create this work? Under what genre can this work be place? and so on.
The reason for this difference between one who as knowledge on Art History and one who do not is because in art history students come across different methodologies like Iconography, psychoanalysis semiotics, stylistic analysis and so on. This helps art historians to widen there sense of seeing.
3.) Art history also help students to widen their knowledge on other areas or fields in life. Art historians always dive into other fields in life, such geography, agriculture, religion & philosophy, sociology, and even chemistry. In geography for example we describe lands and regions where art antiquities are found we also make good use of maps to buttress points. Religion and philosophy cannot be separated from art. In fact one of the sole aim for creating art in time past was for religious expressions. In Chemistry we dive into chemical properties of the media used in creating our beautiful antiquities. Hence art history is a wholistic discipline that can give one insight into diverse areas of life.
4.) Art history also have a lot of social, economic, and political importance. For example talking about architecture, which is also a part of art, a closer look at some beautiful architectural designs today, will easily remind of Greek and Roman Architecture. Cultural displays in ceremonies largely employs the use of art antiquities and practices that were pass on from one generation to another. In some countries large revenues are gotten from from art institutions that deals largely on art history such Museums and research centers.
Clearly there are a lot of benefits from studying Art History!
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