The Functions of Art

Every art form has a definite function since it satisfies a particular need. Some find meaning in
art in its ability to serve the purpose for which it was designed.
The seven (7) functions of art are:

1. Aesthetic function – Through art, man becomes conscious of the beauty of nature. He
benefits from his own work and those done by his fellowmen. He learns to use, love, and
preserve them for his enjoyment and appreciation.

2. Utilitarian function – With the creation of the various forms of art, man now lives in
comfort and happiness. Through art, man is provided with shelter, clothing, food, light,
medicine, beautiful surroundings, personal ornamentals, entertainment, language,
transportation, and other necessities and conveniences of life. Art does not only enrich
man’s life, It also improves nature through landscape gardening, creation of
superhighways, and through propagation and conservation-of natural resources.

3. Cultural function – Through printed matter, art transmits and preserves skills and
knowledge from one generation to another. It makes man aware of his cultural
backgrounds, making him more knowledgeable, making his life more enduring and
satisfying.

4. Social function – Through civic and graphic arts, man learns to love and help each other.
International understanding and cooperation are fostered and nations become more
unified, friendly, cooperative, helpful, and sympathetic.

5. Political function – Art reinforces and enhances a sense of identity and ideological
connection to specific political views, political parties, and politicians.

6. Educational function – There are art symbols and signs that illustrate knowledge and
attitudes that are not expressed in words.

7. Spiritual function – Some artworks express spiritual beliefs, customs, ceremonies, and
rituals about the meaning and destiny of life. These artworks may have religious
significance.

Source: Art Appreciation by M.M. Ariola

Philosophical Views of Art and Beauty

1. Art as imitation
“The tendency is to conceive art as essentially an imitation of objects or aspects of the material
world, and as being therefore of limited moral and educational value. It is a fictional creation,
does not offer reality but unreal imitations.” “Poetry and the arts feeds and waters the passions
instead of starving them. Philosophy exercises and appeals to reason; poetry and the arts openly
address the feelings.”

In his theory of Mimesis, Plato says that all art is mimetic by nature; art is an imitation of life.
He believed that 'idea' is the ultimate reality. Art imitates idea and so it is an imitation of
reality.

Plato “The Republic”

2. Art as an imitation of nature
“Art has this character common with nature. For art, too employs materials—concrete images,
human actions, and sounds—and it deals with these materials as form or meaning emerges or
dawns through them.” “Art is an imitation of nature, and have healthful and formative effects on
the mind.”

Aristotle
3. Art and Beauty
“The basic function of art is to express emotions rather than create beauty, but at the same time,
beauty is a legitimate standard in the criticism of works of art. The choice of a standard is
ultimately an expression of personal preference, and that taste is subjective and relative. Beauty
is defined as the capacity of an object aesthetically contemplate to yield pleasant feelings.”
“There is, then, no such thing as an authoritative opinion concerning the beauty of a given
object.”

Curt Ducasse
4. Art is a Lie
“There are no concrete or abstract forms, but only forms which are more-or-less convincing lies.
Yet art is more than the artificial, Art is a lie that makes us realize truth.”

Pablo Picasso

5. Art as an Abridgement of reality

“Art is the imitation of nature; it tries to offer an abridgment of reality. In speaking of an
imitation one cannot get very far without understanding what it imitates.”

Coleridge
 6. Social function of art
“The value of art lies in its obvious social usefulness. The function of art, in other words, is to
spread and still specific social ideas in human minds.” He said; “there are two kinds of art: one is
real and the other one is counterfeit. Real, are those according to Tolstoy: “Art forms that were
enjoyed by the great majority of the masses, the other, were those enjoyed by the elite.”

Tolstoy
7. Art for art’s sake (L’art pour l’art)
"Art for art's sake" was a bohemian creed in the nineteenth century, a slogan raised in defiance of
those who – from John Ruskin to the much later Communist advocates of socialist realism –
thought that the value of art was to serve some moral or didactic purpose. It was a rejection of
the Marxist aim of politicizing art. "Art for art's sake" affirmed that art was valuable as art, that
artistic pursuits were their own justification and that art did not need moral justification – and
indeed, was allowed to be morally neutral or subversive.

"L'art pour l'art" is credited to Théophile Gautier (1811–1872), who was the first to adopt the
phrase as a slogan in the preface to his 1835 book, Mademoiselle de Maupin. Gautier shared the
same idea, the likes of; Victor Cousin, Benjamin Constant, and Edgar Allan Poe.”

The Elements of a work of art

Without pretending to exclusivity, we should judge art based on the following three
aspects:

Formal elements. What kind of artwork is it? What materials are employed? What is its
composition in terms of structure? In terms of pure form, how does this particular work look
when compared to a similar work of the same or another artist?

Symbolic elements. What is this artwork attempting to “say”? Is its purpose didactic,
propagandistic, to give pleasure, or what? How well do the formal elements contribute to the
symbolic statement being attempted in the work of art?

Social elements. What is the context of this work of art? Who is paying for it and why? Whose
purpose does it serve? At this level, many different philosophies come into play. A Marxist critic
might judge a work in terms of its sense of class or economic aspects, while feminist might
inquire whether it affirms women or acts as an agent of subjugation and/or exploitation.

It is possible to restrict formal criticism of an artwork (Is this well-done in terms of craft
and composition?), but such an approach does not do full justice to what the artist is trying to do.
Conversely, to judge every work purely in terms of social theory excludes the notion of artistic
work and, as a consequence, reduces art to politics or philosophy. For a fuller appreciation of art,
then, all the elements mentioned above need to come into play.
Qualities of a Good work of Art

To be able to appreciate a good work of art and to develop a good sense of artistic
evaluation of it, you must bear in mind these qualities of good art.

1. It must be an expression of the inner vision of the artist who through the skillful
manipulation of the medium makes such a vision concrete and well-illustrated.

2. It must be able to communicate the embodied concept or message of the artist to the
viewer or listener, etc.

3. It must have form and must obey the laws of form as dictated by whatever medium the
artist uses.

4. It must be self-contained, i.e. it must have a beginning and end. The pattern must be
clearly delineated or there will be no clear perception of the artist’s vision and
craftmanship if the pattern is lacking.

The Values of Art

Material Value
Works of art may be valued because they are made of precious material. Gold, for
example, was used in Egyptian art to represent divinity and the sun. These associations recur in
Christian art, which reserved gold for the background of religious icons (the word icon is derived
from the Greek word eikon, meaning “image”) and for haloes on divine figures.

Religious Value
One of the traditional ways in which art has been valued is in terms of its religious
significance. Paintings and sculptures depicting gods and goddesses make their images
accessible. Such buildings as the Mesopotamian ziggurat (stepped tower), temples in many
cultures, and Christian churches have served as symbolic dwellings of the gods, relating
worshippers to their deities. Tombs expresses belief in the afterlife. During the European Middle
Ages, art often served an educational function. One important way of communicating Bible
stories and legends of the saints to a largely illiterate population was through the sculptures,
paintings, mosaics, wall-hangings, and stained-glass windows in churches. Beyond its didactic
(teaching) function, the religious significance of a work of art may be so great that the entire
groups of people identify with the object.

Intrinsic Value
A work of art may contain valuable materials, but that is not the primary basis on which its
quality is judge. Its intrinsic value depends largely on the general assessment of the artist who
created it, and on its on esthetic character. The Mona Lisa, for example, is made of relatively
modest materials—paint and wood but it is a priceless object nonetheless, and arguably the
Western world’s most famous image. Leonardo da Vinci, who painted it around 1503 in Italy,
was acknowledged as a genius in his own day, and his work has stood the test of time.
Nationalistic Value

Works of art have nationalistic value since they express the pride and accomplishment of
a particular culture. Nationalistic sentiments was a primary aspect of the richly carved
triumphant arches of ancient Rome because they were gateways for returning military victors.

The nationalistic value of certain works of art has frequently made them spoils of war.
When ancient Babylon was defeated by the Elamites in 1170 B.C., the victors stole the statue of
Marduk, the chief Babylon god, together with the Law Code of Hammurabi. In the early
nineteenth century, when Napoleon’s armies overran Europe, they plundered thousands of works
of art that are now part of the French national art collection in the Musee du Louvre, in Paris.

Psychological Value

Another symbolic value of art is psychological. Our reactions to art span virtually the
entire range of human emotion. They include pleasure, fright, amusement, avoidance, and
outrage.
One of the psychological aspects of art is its ability to attract or repel us, and this is not
necessarily a function of whether or not we find a particular image esthetically pleasing. People
can become attached to a work of art, as Leonardo was to his Mona Lisa. Instead of delivering it
to the patron, Leonardo kept the painting until his death.

Subjects of Art

The term subjects in art refer to the main idea that is represented in the artwork.
The subject in art is the essence of the piece and the foundation of the creation of the work of
art. From the ancient period up to the Renaissance, artists and academicians identified four most
common sources of subjects in art: Nature, Mythology, Bible, History, and Sacred oriental texts.

Types of Subjects

1. Representational or Objective Arts.

Some artworks depict something easily recognized by most people. Painting, sculpture,
graphic arts, literature, and theater arts are generally classified as representational arts, although
some paintings and sculptures are without subjects.

Music and dance may or may not have subjects. Traditional sculptures and paintings have
subjects. When looking at a traditional painting or a statue, one expects to recognize the subject –
a man, animals, a landscape, a waterfall, figures, dreams, fantasies, seascape, still life, etc.
 1. Non-Representational or Non-Objective Arts

Some artworks have no resemblance to any real subjects, they do not represent anything and
they are what they are, they rather appeal directly to the senses primarily because of the
satisfying organization of their elements.

Some contemporary painters have shifted their interest to the work of art as an object in
itself, an exciting combination of shapes and colors that fulfill the aesthetic need without having
to represent an image or tell a story. Many modern paintings have purely visual appeal, so
difficult that literal-oriented spectators cannot appreciate them.

Content in Art

Contents in art refer to the meaning or significance, and/or feeling imparted by a work of
art. This is not the same thing as the subject matter the work depicts. Content of art is
inextricably linked with form, Form refers to the pictorial aspects of art such as word, design,
and choice, about shapes, sizes, colors, contrast, medium, soft, or hard edges, and many other
decisions.
Content in art may be classified as factual, conventional, and subjective.