What is Art?

EVALUATING ART THROUGHOUT THE AGES

Throughout the history of art , evaluation of artistic works has continued even long after the artist 's lifetime . This is because the proper evaluation of any work of art involves an understanding of its cultural and historical context , its philosophy and the message the artist tries to convey . Although beauty (aesthetics ) used to be an important component of art evaluation , post-modern and abstract art have delegated it to obscurity (Schaeffer

Below are some criteria relevant to evaluating art from any period of history

1 . Technical

quality and brilliance

These consist of form (structure and expression , contrast (separation of object from background in many instances , texture colour display or the use of lines (in line art , composition of various objects in the artwork and quality of craftsmanship

2 . Artistic integrity and vision : Artists should remain true to their worldview and to themselves . This means not only uniqueness and originality , but also remaining committed to the ideal and style he is trying to depict

3 . Philosophy and world view : This is often referred to the work 's hidden meaning , and the values it represents . E .g .in prehistoric cave art , the world view would often be related to the day-to-day wish fulfilment of bountiful hunting . Salvador Dali 's artistic philosophy was based on surrealism ( picture , which often had a dream-like quality

4 . Relation to the artist 's life 's work , its genre and period in history : Many of these qualities cannot be completely evaluated during the...