What Is Art Appreciation? - Teresa Bernard Oil Paintings

art appreciation

Art appreciation is an understanding of the qualities that identify what great art is. It goes beyond the enjoyment of mere aesthetics. Art appreciation also involves having a knowledge of art movements, art history, and art styles or techniques.

Art Movements

An art movement is a distinctive style of art characterized by a group of artists practicing or adhering to the same creative concept, philosophy, purpose, style, or method within a specified time frame or region. Each art movement is subtly or distinctly different from another. Other art movements, however, have influenced some movements as they show obvious similarities, while others seem to defy them. It is fascinating to study the differences between art movements and art periods.

Art History

Art history is the study of the development of artworks in painting, sculpture, drawing, architecture, and other visual arts. The history of art spans from the earliest cave drawings to the present. The two primary goals of art history are to determine (1) who produced a particular work of art and when, and (2) understand the stylistic approach or school of thought that the artists used to create the piece.

Art Styles or Techniques

The style or technique of a particular artist, school, or movement. It is that ‘thing’ that makes you recognize a specific painting as being by a particular artist before you’re close enough to see a signature or to read the image label. A painting style refers to: (1) the technique or brush strokes used to paint; (2) the subject(s) chosen; (3) the range of colors used in a painting; or (4) a specific color used in every painting.