Art is a broad spectrum of human activities concerned with aesthetic beauty, creative skill, beauty, emotion, technical ability, or simply conceptual notions. The word “art” comes from the Greek word “azo” (meaning “at rest”). It has become an increasingly popular term to describe a range of visual arts and performance that have developed throughout history.
In order to appreciate art, it is important to understand its three key points: beauty, form, and composition. Beauty is a subjective aesthetic judgment about how a work of art affects the observer in some way. In terms of art’s aesthetic beauty, the appearance of the work of art is typically taken as the basic, definitive element. Beauty entails a special kind of subjective judgment, one that differs from, and sometimes matches, the aesthetic judgments made by the majority of people. Subjective aesthetic judgments are subjectively true or false, depending on how they are evaluated and which qualities a person finds most appealing.
Form is any arrangement of parts that allows an artist to manipulate, exaggerate, or beautify a physical creation. The most famous and general aesthetic judgment of art involves how a painting relates to the subject it depicts. An example of this kind of formation is the beauty of a figure. A work of art may be considered beautiful because it successfully captures the attention of its audience. This ability to successfully “mark” an object is an essential component of aesthetics.
Composition is a combination of the elements of form and aesthetic judgment. In art, composition is used to create meaning within the artwork. Aesthetics and art should not be divorced from the application of composition in art. Aesthetics should supplement and enhance the ability of the creator to build aesthetic judgment.
Technical skill is a special form of skill used to make a physical creation appear original. Although the majority of artists do not need to master technical skills, painting in the style of Michelangelo is a testament to his technical skill. Another famous example of technical skill is Picasso’s use of color in his “Cubism”. Aesthetics are important to consider when creating art, but technical skill is an important aspect of successful artistic creation. When a work of art includes multiple periods of repetition, a technical skill can be considered necessary for making the painting aesthetically appealing.
Aesthetics and art are not mutually exclusive, and the relationship between aesthetics and art can vary depending on the viewer and creator. These are some key points that show how aesthetics and art can overlap, and why experimentation and interpretation can be as powerful as purely visual interpretation. Appreciation of art comes in all forms; it is up to the viewer to determine what is important to them and how they choose to make their judgments. Understanding these key points can help to create an appreciation for art that is open to all forms of art, whether the art includes purely visual interpretation or includes some type of technical skill.