Our world
has become a very visual one – we have art all around us. Understanding art is
understanding our world! A good first step is to try to understand what we mean
by art. The arts include visual arts, literary arts and
the performing arts, like music, theatre, and film, among
others. If you ask people in the street what art is, paintings and statues are
common answers. But actually it’s more than that. The types of visual art include
architecture, animation, collage, comics, design, drawing, graffiti,
illustration, installation art, photography, sculpture and so on.
The first
time that the question of what art is came up in the 19th century in an essay
by Leo Tolstoy. In his work he argues against numerous theories which
define art in
terms of the good, truth, and
especially beauty. In
Tolstoy’s opinion, art at the
time was much more than that. According to him, art must create an emotional
link between artist and audience, one that “infects” the viewer. Some
researchers believe that art is actually about communicating the feelings of
the artists.
But of
course there are people who view the art as a commercial idea. As Frank Zappa
once said, “Art is making something out of nothing and selling
it.”
For someone
art can be therapy. There is even a term “art therapy”. The aim of art therapy
is to improve or maintain mental health and emotional well-being. In my opinion
art plays a large part in making our lives infinitely rich. Art stimulates
different parts of our brains to make us laugh or cry, calm down or start
shouting. You could say “Art is something that makes us more thoughtful and
well-balanced humans.”
Art is form
and content. Form means the elements of art, the principles of design and the
actual, physical materials that the artist has used. Content is idea-based and
means what the artist meant to say, what the artist actually did say and how we
react, as individuals, to the author’s messages.
The world of
art is really fascinating. It is the world of fine artists and sculptors, art
historians and critic curators, designers and photographers. We can enjoy
masterpieces of both old and modern art in such world famous museums as the
Louvre (Paris), the British Museum and the National Gallery (London), the State
Hermitage (St. Petersburgh), the Tretyakov Gallery (Moscow), the Prado Museum
(Madrid) and many others.
A lot of
young people enjoy graffiti – the so called street art, though some older
people consider it to be illegal and ugly. I think we have to accept it as part
of our lives. A lot of companies use graffiti imagery to promote their things.
The most
frequent association with the word art is
painting. Painting has had a long and glorious world history as an independent
art.
Belarusian
artists have made an enormous contribution to the development of world culture.
In the 12-18th centuries the most popular genres of fine
arts in Belarus were frescos, icon and portrait painting. The 16th century portraits created in Belarus were
influenced by the Italian and German Renaissance. Ivan Chrutsky (1810-1885) is
considered to be the greatest figure in Belarusian art of the 19th century. His sentimental portraits and
luminous (светящиеся) still-life
paintings had been assiduously (усердно) collected by Russian and
Polish art galleries.
An important
role in the formation of young artists in Belarus was played by the opening of
art schools in Vitebsk (1898) and Minsk (1906). Among the various genres of
Belarusian fine arts water-colour painting is of undoubting importance and
interest. Here we should mention V. Tsvirko, one of the leading Belarusian
artists. His water-colours Willows Have Burst into Blossom,
The Melted Snow and April are
superb.
The most
famous Belarusian artists who painted in oils are M. Savitski, E. Zaitsev and
I. Akhremchik. The war theme predominates in their pictures, though, of course,
they also painted landscapes and portraits. The series Figures on the Heart by M. Savitski has become a
specific phenomenon in Belarusian art.
At the
beginning of the 20th century a new trend of
abstract painting developed in Vitebsk. Among the artists who belonged to that
trend were the world famous M. Chagal, K. Malevich, G. Pen and others. Some of
them had to leave Belarus and live abroad.
Here I would
like to insert some words about abstract art. Understanding abstract art does
not come naturally for everyone but it can’t leave people indifferent. To
understand abstract art you have to open up your intuition and see where the
painting takes you. Abstract art allows the viewer to decide what the
artwork is about, on a very personal level. It requires an open mind and a big
imagination. What people don’t realize is that the best abstract artists have
excellent drawing skills, a fine sense of composition, and a deep understanding
of the workings of color. Instead they choose to express their emotions by
creating a piece that is more free, free of the weight of objects. If you want
to fully understand an artwork, it’s important to know the artist’s intention
behind it. Knowing the artist’s thought process for creating a certain work of
art adds to the meaning and value of a painting.
Pablo
Picasso once said: “Everyone wants to understand art. Why not try to understand
the song of a bird?” Picasso has a point. Art can’t be explained in words,
because its influence on people is very personal.
Art echoes
the natural world. Art is a means of communion as well as communication. Art
creates awareness of social issues. Art may express and reflect the religious,
political, and economical aspects of cultures. Art is and can be what ever a
culture says it is or what ever they want it to be. Art also helps us to express
our sentimental relations. It can beautify, surprise, inspire, stimulate
imagination, inform, tell stories, and record history. As someone once said,
“Art is life.”
Let’s talk about art.
1. Tell me what forms of art you enjoy most.
2. Is graffiti a form of art or an act of vandalism?
3. Ask me questions about the comedy I have lately seen.
4. Give me a piece of advice on what architectural monuments are worth visiting in Belarus.
5. Are you interested in videoblogs? Why or why not?
Write the answers to the questions in comments.
