Archive for the ‘art courses’ Category
Where Can I Take Art Courses in Vancouver, BC?
Hi I’ve been meaning to take some art, either drawing or painting, courses during the summer. Do you know of where they would offer these classes in Vancouver?
Thank you
The best of the best is Emily Carr University of Art and Design.
Check out their web site for more info.
http://www.ecuad.ca/home
It’s in the Granville Market properties, one of the top tourist attractions and sits on the waterfront . . .beautiful location.
Face Shading & Online Art Classes!
Yes, yes, I am a goof. 
I like it that way. To see the final image of this, go here: http://www.flickr.com/willowing check out my online art classes here: http://www.willowing.ning.com – etsy: http://www.willowing.etsy.com & http://www.willowing.org – i like emails! tam[at]willowing[dot]org – lots of love to dyouououou xoxox
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The Appreciation of Fine Art
The term “art appreciation” is one that is heard quite often, and most colleges and universities offer a course or a series of courses under that name. But how does one “appreciate” art? For that matter, how does one appreciate opera or classical music? Most people would be able to recognize the inherent beauty of these art forms even if they lacked an in-depth knowledge of them. But with greater understanding of these subjects, the more your enjoyment of these art forms can increase, and fine art is no different.
To explain how one can enjoy a greater familiarity with art, I’m going to take a different approach than I usually do: I shall teach by example, using a painting that is well known to everyone, Leonardo Da Vinci’s “Mona Lisa,” or “La Gioconda,” as the painting is known to the Italians. I have had the rare fortune of seeing Leonardo’s famous painting in the Louvre Museum in Paris; it is arguably the most renowned work of art in the world.
When introduced to the Mona Lisa at the age of eighteen, I have to admit that I was not as impressed by it as I should have been; after having viewed the Baroque spectacle of the Rubens Room, with its huge tumultuous canvases, Leonardo’s small, quiet panel was something of a disappointment to me. Perhaps I can be excused for this, given my youth and the fact that this painting has suffered from considerable overexposure in modern times. Fortunately my opinion of Leonardo’s painting improved over the years as I learned more about art in general and Leonardo’s work in particular. And this is a fine example of how deepening my understanding of art allowed me to revise my attitude about this remarkable painting.
The Mona Lisa is a small easel painting, approximately 18 inches by 24 inches, done in oil paint on a wooden panel. Commissioned by the sitter’s husband, a Florentine merchant named Francesco del Giocondo, the artist worked on the portrait from 1503 to 1506, taking it with him from Italy when he traveled to France to join the court of King Francis I. Like most of Leonardo’s work, it remains unfinished.
When I look at reproductions of the Mona Lisa today, the first thing that I notice is the soft and gentle rendering of the forms, created by Leonardo’s “sfumato,” an Italian term that refers to the gentle transition between light and dark. This effect was made possible by the use of oil paint, still relatively new at the time, rather than the more traditional tempera. This, along with the muted color scheme and the strange landscape in the background, gives the composition an air of mystery and subtle drama.
The figure of the woman is characterized by obvious grace and beauty, and the gentle melancholy of her eyes is reinforced by the famous “smile that doesn’t smile.” One side of her mouth is higher than the other, giving an ambiguous expression. This is also found in the face of St. Anne in Leonardo’s “The Virgin and Child with St. Anne,” also in the Louvre. In fact, St. Anne bears a noticeable resemblance to Mona Lisa, suggesting that the artist was painting an archetypal female, rather than a portrait of a specific individual. This may have been why the portrait was rejected by the lady’s husband.
The landscape in the background seems less realistic than one would expect from Leonardo, considering that his scientific study of the natural world combined with his artistic sensibility made him a master of landscape. This is instead a dream world, with winding roads overshadowed by dark cliffs and a sense of foreboding, a world both graceful and turbulent. Along with its atmosphere of mystery, it is also a land that is devoid of human beings; we see evidence of Man’s activity, such as the roads and the aqueduct, but not Man himself. A welcoming world this is not; contemporary accounts describe Leonardo as reserved and secretive, and undoubtedly the cold world that Mona Lisa inhabits reflects the wariness that the artist felt towards his own society. And as every work that an artist undertakes is a portrait of his own psyche, the contrast between the serenity and elegance of the woman with the ominous background may reflect the duality of Leonardo’s soul; the reserved and dignified exterior, concealing the turmoil within.
The Mona Lisa represents Leonardo’s mature style, and was imitated by many of his pupils and later artists; none of these efforts could equal that of the master himself. Perhaps only Raphael, with his unsurpassed ability to absorb the influence of other artists, realized the grace and refinement of Leonardo’s style without resorting to mere imitation. For five hundred years the Mona Lisa has been seen as a consummate example of the power of the painter’s craft; its ability to engage and enthrall generations of admirers is unequaled, and the mystique that surrounds this painting is matched only by the brilliance of the man who conceived it.
As you can see, the previous six paragraphs constitute a critical appraisal of the Mona Lisa, and it will be evident that my perceptions of this painting are highly personal. Each individual will be affected differently by this marvelous painting, and this is the way it should be. Every work of art is a personal experience; a way for the viewer to find his own answers to the questions that the artist poses. The viewer is not a passive participant; the viewer is as much a part of the artist’s work as any element on the canvas itself. To this end, the artist should never make his message too explicit: it is left to the viewer to complete the painting.
One can also make a more technical assessment of an artwork, taking into consideration such things as design, composition, technique, color and medium, and how the artist used these to convey his idea to the viewer. To evaluate a work of art in this manner requires a familiarity with those subjects, and I have written about some of these topics in previous articles. It is also helpful to know something about the life and personality of the artist, as well as the time period and the society in which he lived. These factors have a major impact on the artist’s style, subject matter and technique; understanding these considerations gives us a sense of how the artist viewed the world around him, and perhaps how he viewed himself.
No single work of art exists in isolation: it must always be viewed along with the rest of the artist’s body of work, and within the broader history of art itself. An acquaintance with other examples of the artist’s work allows us to see how his ideas and style evolved over time; also by gaining an insight into one work by the artist we may better understand another. We also need to see how the artist’s work fits into the larger context of art: how he was influenced by his contemporaries; how his work was influenced by earlier artists; and how subsequent artists were themselves influenced by his art.
The impact that the artist’s work makes on the viewer validates the efforts of the artist; a painting that has no effect on anyone is a failure. As a teenager, standing before Leonardo’s small painting, I could appreciate its obvious greatness. Nonetheless, my ignorance allowed me to miss a great deal of what it had to offer. As I expanded my knowledge and familiarity with art, I was able to correct that unfortunate situation and to see the Mona Lisa for the treasure that it is. I hope that my experience with this legendary painting will help you to undergo that same transformation, not only in regard to the Mona Lisa, but with the whole of the world’s legacy of fine art.
Charles Griffith
http://www.articlesbase.com/visual-art-articles/the-appreciation-of-fine-art-705905.html
Does anyone know of any Universites in Germany (Berlin especially) that teach Masters Art courses in English?
I’m hoping to move to Berlin next year and would like to continue my studies in Fine Art/ Digital Media, however I don’t speak German well enough to take a German taught course. Help!
Don’t think such an animal exists.
where is a good place online i can take art history courses?
I’m currently enrolled in a private college for art education and right now bc the program is so intense it looks like i may have to spend a extra semester there which is something i don’t want to do, but my advisor said i could take courses online and have them transfered, does anyone know of anywhere online i can just take a few credited courses, any art history courses are what i’m aiming for, i’m also looking for something pretty affordable too so price does matter, thank you!
As I know, this site has top listing of such college courses online – schools.iblogger.org
Superchunk – Art Class
Art Collecting: the Essentials on Authenticating and Attributing Art
You can find art for sale almost anywhere, most of it coupled with a variety of forms of certification, documentation, authentication, provenance, attribution, and all other claims that the piece is by this artist, etc. But guess what? None of these papers, claims, certificates of authenticity, documents or even tall tales mean a thing if they’re not stated, authored, or else traceable to or directly associated with accepted, recognized, and qualified authorities about the art in question, and also the artist themselves.
So here are some of the essentials to know on attributing and authenticating art, how it works and who the people to be trusted are.
They’re All Connected-Not!
One of the most pervasive problems in selling art deals with “attributed” art. It’s so common that every kind of unqualified individual would attribute artworks to different kinds of artists, sad to say 100% of these attributions are considered to be worthless.
How come? Simply because in the art industry, legitimate attributions are only made by known and recognized authority figures that have legitimate authority on the attributed artists’ names.
Defining “Attributed”
Officially and technically speaking, “attributed” means a specific work of art, which is most likely an original, is at the hand and is certified by a qualified authority on the matter. Take note that your keywords here are “qualified authority”. Thus, if the attribution is done by an unqualified person, then it would be meaningless.
Who Are The Qualified Authority?
A qualified authority is someone who really knows what he/she is talking about and has the proof to anything he/she says. Qualified authorities are those people that have deliberately studied the artist under consideration, have already published papers about the artist, and have curated major gallery shows or museums catering the works of the artist.
They can also be someone who have taught courses about the artist; bought or sold at least dozens or even hundreds of artworks by the artist; have written magazine articles, books, or catalogue essays about the artist, and the like.
The artist him/herself can also be a qualified authority, along with his relatives, employees, direct descendants, and heirs. Also, people who have formal, legal, or estate-granted sanctions or entitlements in able to pass judgment the artist’s works are considered to be qualified authorities. Most importantly, they should be recognized throughout the whole art community to the people in charge when it comes to the matter of dealing with works by that artist.
Who Are Not Qualified?
The list of people whom are not qualified could take forever to complete. However, here are some of the general characteristics of those unqualified people who most likely say that they are qualified.
First off, you should watch out for those who think that the piece they are selling is by this certain artist just because the work ‘looks like’ it is done by that artist; also, those who think that the piece is by that artist because they saw some illustrations from art books that are similar to the piece at hand.
Additionally, sellers that answer you with “that is what the previous owner told me” kind of questions are not to be trusted. You really can’t rely on tattle-tailing to very if the work is an original or not. This is just the same if they say that the work is by such artist because the previous owner is rich and famous.
You should also watch out for art appraisers, since they only appraise and not authenticate; unless they have qualifications to do so. Take note that appraisal and authentication are two different things.
So, if you’re planning on buying a so-called original, then you must make sure that the person you’re talking to is a qualified authority, or better yet, the artist himself!
Nicholas Tan
http://www.articlesbase.com/art-articles/art-collecting-the-essentials-on-authenticating-and-attributing-art-670229.html
I want an architecture major but will I be able to take courses like foreign languages or art also?
Architecture isn’t what I’m 100% with. But it’ll bring more food to the table unlike a digital art major or art eduation or asian studies (as my parents tell me…) but I would still like to take a few of these courses along with architecture. But if architecture is so time consuming and demanding…will I be able to take on my asian or art courses at the same time?
Yes, you’ll have some classes called "electives" to take, where you can take pretty much whatever you want.
Can anybody recommend any intermediate art courses in Liverpool-it’s a present for my mum?
My mum is 75 but has a love for art, painting & design. She’s only an intermediate but I’d like to buy her for Xmas a 10 week course in a type of art. I’m certainly no artist but perhaps this might be in impressionism. I’m looking for a recommended community college probably that concentrates on the arts? Any help greatly appreciated.
Try Liverpool Community College. They have an arts centre on Myrtle Street. They also do courses for leisure, not just academic ones. If you don’t want to send your mother into town there are also local ‘DISCS’ run by the college. These are in most areas. The contact number for the college is 01512521515. Hope this helps!
Art Courses at Edgewater Community Education
Community Art classes at Edgewater Community Education in Pakuranga, New Zealand
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