Reality Through the Arts, 7th Edition

Reality Through the Arts provides a comprehensive introduction that covers both arts history and aesthetic perception in western and non-western cultures by covering all the artistic disciplines: drawing, painting, printmaking, photography, sculpture, architecture, theatre, music, dance, cinema, and literature.

 

Reality Through the Arts is a brief text ideal for the one-semester introduction to humanities course.  This is a successful text because of its unique organization, which makes it an excellent alternative to the standard chronological organization found in most other humanities text.  The Introduction puts the humanities in perspective by discussing the arts and ways of knowing, art's main concerns, purposes, and functions, as well as artistic style and how to apply critical skills.  Part I, “The Media of the Arts,” offers independent chapters on two dimensional art (drawing, painting, printmaking, and photography), sculpture, architecture, music, theatre, cinema, dance and literature.  Part II, “The Styles of the Arts,” is a chronological history of the arts of Africa, the Americas, Asia, Europe, and the Middle East, organized by artistic discipline andfocusing on styles rather than encyclopedic detail.  The book is written at a level for students with little or no background in the arts.

MAP 10

PREFACE 12

FACULTY AND STUDENT RESOURCES 13

 

INTRODUCTION 14

 

Using this Book 14

ORGANIZATION 14

PRONOUNCING NAMES AND TERMS 18

THE COMPANION WEBSITE

AND ACCOMPANYING MUSIC CD 18

Putting this Study in Context 19

REALITY THROUGH THE ARTS 19

THE ARTS AND WAYS OF KNOWING 19

WHAT ARE ART’S MAIN CONCERNS? 21

Creativity 21

Aesthetic Communication 21

Symbols 22

Fine and Applied Art 22

WHAT ARE ART’S PURPOSES AND FUNCTIONS? 23

Purposes 23

Functions 23

HOW SHOULD WE PERCEIVE AND RESPOND? 25

Applying Critical Skills 25

APPROACHES TO CRITICISM 27

Formal Criticism 27

Contextual Criticism 29

MAKING JUDGMENTS 29

Artisanship 29

Communication 29

Style 30

HOW CAN WE ANALYZE STYLE? 30

STYLE AND CULTURE 33

HOW DOES A STYLE GET ITS NAME? 33

Thinking Critically 36

 

PART I

THE MEDIA OF THE ARTS

What Artists Use to Express “Reality” 37

 

CHAPTER ONE

TWO-DIMENSIONAL ART

Drawing, Painting, Printmaking,

and Photography 38

Formal and Technical Qualities 38

MEDIA 38

Drawing 38

DRY MEDIA 39 WET MEDIA 40

Painting 41

Mixed Media 43

Printmaking 43

RELIEF PRINTING 44 INTAGLIO 44

PLANOGRAPHIC PROCESSES 46

Photography 48

PHOTOGRAPHY AND ART 48 DOCUMENTARY PHOTOGRAPHY 50

PHOTOGRAPHIC TECHNIQUES 51

PROFILE Pablo Picasso 53

COMPOSITION 53

Elements 53

LINE 53 FORM 56 COLOR 56 MASS 57 TEXTURE 57

Principles 58

REPETITION 58 BALANCE 59 UNITY 59 FOCAL AREAS 59

OTHER FACTORS 60

Perspective 60

Chiaroscuro 60

Content 62

PAINTING & HUMAN REALITY Géricault,

The Raft of the “Medusa” 61

Sense Stimuli 62

CONTRASTS 62

DYNAMICS 64

TROMPE L’OEIL 65

JUXTAPOSITION 65

FOCUS 66

Sample Outline and Critical Analysis 67

Cyber Study 67

Important Terms 67

 

CHAPTER TWO

SCULPTURE 68

Formal and Technical Qualities 68

DIMENSIONALITY 68

Full-Round 68

Relief 70

Linear 71

METHODS OF EXECUTION 71

Subtraction 71

Construction 72

Substitution 72

Manipulation 72

COMPOSITION 74

Elements 74

Principles 75

SCULPTURE & HUMAN REALITY Michelangelo,

David 76

PROFILE Michelangelo 78

OTHER FACTORS 78

Articulation 78

Focal Area (Emphasis) 79

Ephemeral and Environmental 79

Found 80

Sense Stimuli 81

TOUCH 81

TEMPERATURE AND AGE 81

DYNAMICS 81

SIZE 82

LIGHTING AND ENVIRONMENT 83

Sample Outline and Critical Analysis 84

Cyber Study 84

Important Terms 84

 

CHAPTER THREE

ARCHITECTURE 85

Formal and Technical Qualities 85

STRUCTURE 86

Post-and-Lintel 86

Arch 87

Cantilever 94

Bearing-Wall 94

Skeleton Frame 95

BUILDING MATERIALS 95

Stone 95

Concrete 97

Wood 97

Steel 97

LINE, REPETITION, AND BALANCE 98

SCALE AND PROPORTION 99

CONTEXT 101

PROFILE Frank Lloyd Wright 101

SPACE 102

ARCHITECTURE & HUMAN REALITY Le Corbusier,

Villa Savoye 102

CLIMATE 105

Sense Stimuli 105

CONTROLLED VISION AND SYMBOLISM 107

STYLE 108

APPARENT FUNCTION 110

DYNAMICS 111

SCALE 112

Sample Outline and Critical Analysis 113

Cyber Study 113

Important Terms 113

 

CHAPTER FOUR

MUSIC AND OPERA 114

Formal and Technical Qualities 114

CLASSICAL FORMS 115

Mass 115

Cantata 115

Oratorio 115

Art Song 115

Fugue 115

Symphony 116

Concerto 116

JAZZ FORMS 116

Blues 117

New Orleans Style 117

Ragtime 117

Free Jazz 117

Fusion 117

Groove 117

COMPOSITION 118

Sound 118

PITCH 118 DYNAMICS 120 TONE COLOR 120 DURATION 120

Rhythm 120

BEAT 121 METER 121 TEMPO 121

Melody 121

Harmony 122

PROFILE Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart 122

Tonality 123

Texture 123

MONOPHONY 123 POLYPHONY 123 HOMOPHONY 123

Sense Stimuli 123

OUR PRIMAL RESPONSES 123

THE MUSICAL PERFORMANCE 124

Opera 125

TYPES OF OPERA 126

THE OPERA PRODUCTION 126

MUSIC & HUMAN REALITY Bizet, Carmen 128

Sample Outline and Critical Analysis 130

Cyber Study 130

Important Terms 130

 

CHAPTER FIVE

LITERATURE 131

Formal and Technical Qualities 131

FORMAL DIVISIONS 132

Fiction 132

NOVELS 132 SHORT STORIES 132

Poetry 134

NARRATIVE 134 DRAMATIC 135 LYRIC 136

Nonfiction 136

BIOGRAPHY 136 ESSAY 138 RELIGIOUS LITERATURE 139

Drama 139

TECHNICAL DEVICES 139

Fiction 139

PROFILE Toni Morrison 140

POINT OF VIEW 139 APPEARANCE AND REALITY 139 TONE 140

CHARACTER 140 PLOT 141 THEME 141 SYMBOLS 141

Poetry 141

LANGUAGE 141 STRUCTURE 143 SOUND STRUCTURES 143

METER 143

Nonfiction 143

LITERATURE & HUMAN REALITY Alice Walker,

Roselilly 144

FACTS 146 ANECDOTES 146

Sense Stimuli 146

PICTURES 146

SOUNDS 146

EMOTIONS 146

Sample Outline and Critical Analysis 147

Cyber Study 147

Important Terms 147

 

CHAPTER SIX

THEATRE 148

Formal and Technical Qualities 148

GENRES 149

Tragedy 149

Comedy 149

Tragicomedy 150

Melodrama 150

Performance Art 150

THE PRODUCTION 151

Script 151

Plot 151

EXPOSITION 152 COMPLICATION 152 DÉNOUEMENT 152

FORESHADOWING 152 DISCOVERY 152 REVERSAL 152

Character 153

Protagonist 153

Themes 153

Visual Elements 153

THEATRE TYPES 153 SCENE DESIGN 155 LIGHTING DESIGN 156

COSTUME DESIGN 157 PROPERTIES 158

Aural Elements 158

Dynamics 158

Actors 159

PROFILE William Shakespeare 159

Lifelikeness 160

Sense Stimuli 161

THEATRE & HUMAN REALITY David Rabe,

Hurly-Burly 162

Sample Outline and Critical Analysis 164

Cyber Study 164

Important Terms 164

 

CHAPTER SEVEN

CINEMA 165

Formal and Technical Qualities 166

CLASSIFICATIONS 166

Narrative 166

Documentary 167

Absolute (Avant-Garde) 167

THE PRODUCTION 167

Mise-en-scène 167

Director 168

Techniques 168

EDITING 168 CAMERA VIEWPOINT 168

CUTTING WITHIN THE FRAME 170 DISSOLVES 171 FOCUS 171

MOVEMENT 172 LIGHTING 172

CINEMA & HUMAN REALITY Sergei Eisenstein,

Battleship Potemkin 169

Sense Stimuli 172

VIEWPOINT 172

CROSSCUTTING 173

TENSION BUILD-UP AND RELEASE 173

DIRECT ADDRESS 173

MAGNITUDE AND CONVENTION 174

STRUCTURAL RHYTHM 175

PROFILE D. W. Griffith 176

AUDIO 177

Sample Outline and Critical Analysis 179

Cyber Study 179

Important Terms 179

 

CHAPTER EIGHT

DANCE 180

Formal and Technical Qualities 180

FORMS 180

Ballet 181

Modern Dance 181

World Concert/Ritual Dance 181

Folk Dance 182

Jazz Dance 182

CHOREOGRAPHY 182

Formalized Movement 183

Line, Form, and Repetition 184

Rhythm 185

PROFILE Akram Khan 187

Mime and Pantomime 187

Theme, Image, and Story Line 187

Music 188

Mise-en-Scène 188

Lighting 189

DANCE & HUMAN REALITY Martha Graham,

Appalachian Spring 190

Sense Stimuli 190

MOVING IMAGES 191

FORCE 191

SIGN LANGUAGE 191

COLOR 191

Sample Outline and Critical Analysis 192

Cyber Study 192

Important Terms 192

 

PART II

THE STYLES OF THE ARTS

How Artists Portray “Reality” 193

 

CHAPTER NINE

ANCIENT APPROACHES

c. 30,000 to c. 480 B.C.E. 194

The Context 194

THE STONE AGE 194

THE MIDDLE EAST 195

ASIA 195

AMERICA 195

EUROPE 195

The Arts 196

THE STONE AGE 196

THE MIDDLE EAST 198

Sumerian Art 198

MASTERWORKS The Tell Asmar Statues 201

Assyrian Art 202

Egyptian Art 205

PROFILE Nefertiti 207

Hebrew Art 211

ASIA 213

AMERICA 214

EUROPE 214

Thinking Critically 218

Cyber Study 218

Important Terms 218

 

CHAPTER TEN

ARTISTIC REFLECTIONS

IN THE PRE-MODERN WORLD

c. 480 B.C.E. to c. 1400 C.E. 219

The Context 219

EUROPE 219

Greece 219

Rome 220

The Middle Ages 220

THE MIDDLE EAST 220

Byzantium 220

Islam 220

ASIA 221

China 221

India 221

Japan 221

AFRICA 222

AMERICA 222

The Arts 222

EUROPE 222

Greek Classicism and Hellenism 222

MASTERWORKS Myron, Discus Thrower 224

CLASSICISM 222 SCULPTURE 223 THEATRE 225

ARCHITECTURE 227 LITERATURE 229 HELLENISTIC STYLE 230

Imperial Roman Classicism 231

SCULPTURE 231 LITERATURE 231 ARCHITECTURE 234

Medieval Music 236

PROFILE Hildegard of Bingen 237

Romanesque Style 237

Medieval Literature 239

Gothic Style 241

TWO-DIMENSIONAL ART 241 ARCHITECTURE 242

SCULPTURE 245

Medieval Theatre 246

THE MIDDLE EAST 246

Byzantine Style 246

ARCHITECTURE 247 MOSAICS AND IVORIES 250

Islamic Art 251

TWO-DIMENSIONAL ART 251 MUSIC 251 LITERATURE 251

ISLAMIC STYLE IN ARCHITECTURE 252

ASIA 254

Chinese Art 254

SCULPTURE 254 ARCHITECTURE 255 PAINTING 255

Indian Art 257

SCULPTURE 257 ARCHITECTURE 257

Japanese Art 259

ARCHITECTURE 259 PAINTING AND SCULPTURE 260

THEATRE AND LITERATURE 261

AFRICA 262

Nok Style 262

Igbo-Ukwu Style 262

Ife Style 262

Djenne Style 263

AMERICA 263

Thinking Critically 265

Cyber Study 265

Important Terms 265

 

CHAPTER ELEVEN

ARTISTIC STYLES IN THE

EMERGING MODERN WORLD

c. 1400 to c. 1800 266

The Context 266

EUROPE 266

The Renaissance 266

The Reformation and Counter-Reformation 267

The Enlightenment 267

ASIA 268

AFRICA 268

AMERICA 269

The Arts 269

EUROPE 269

The Early Renaissance 269

PAINTING 269 SCULPTURE 271 LITERATURE 272

ARCHITECTURE 274

The High Renaissance 276

LEONARDO DA VINCI 278 MICHELANGELO 278

PAPAL SPLENDOR: THE VATICAN 279 RAPHAEL 281

THE HIGH RENAISSANCE IN VENICE 281

Northern Europe 282

TWO-DIMENSIONAL ART 282 THEATRE 284 MUSIC 286

MASTERWORKS William Shakespeare, Hamlet 285

Baroque Style 288

PAINTING 289 SCULPTURE 291 ARCHITECTURE 291 MUSIC 292

LITERATURE 295

PROFILE Johann Sebastian Bach 293

The Enlightenment 296

ROCOCO STYLE 296 THE ENGLISH SCHOOL 298 GENRE 298

NEOCLASSICAL PAINTING 298 NEOCLASSICAL ARCHITECTURE 298

NEOCLASSICAL MUSIC 300 LITERATURE 303

MASTERWORKS Jacques-Louis David, The Oath of

the Horatii 299

ASIA 306

Chinese Art 306

MING SCULPTURE AND CERAMICS 306 PAINTING 306 MUSIC 306

Indian Art 308

RAJPUT STYLE 308 PUNJAB STYLE 308

MUSLIM AND HINDU ARCHITECTURE 309

Japanese Art 310

PAINTING STYLE 310 IMARI PORCELAIN 311

KABUKI THEATRE 311

AFRICA 311

Benin Style 311

Mali 313

AMERICA 313

Aztec Art 313

Incan Art 313

Thinking Critically 316

Cyber Study 316

Important Terms 316

 

CHAPTER TWELVE

ARTISTRY IN AN AGE OF

INDUSTRY

c. 1800 to c. 1900 317

The Context 317

EUROPE 317

ASIA 318

AFRICA 318

AMERICA 318

The Arts 319

EUROPE 319

Romanticism 319

PROFILE Rosa Bonheur 321

MASTERWORKS Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice 324

PROFILE Johannes Brahms 327

PAINTING 320 LITERATURE 322 MUSIC 324 THEATRE 330

BALLET 331 ARCHITECTURE 333

Realism 334

PAINTING 334 THEATRE AND LITERATURE 336

Aestheticism 338

Impressionism 339

PAINTING 339 SCULPTURE 341 MUSIC 341 LITERATURE 342

Post-Impressionism 343

SEURAT 343 CÉZANNE 344 GAUGUIN 344 VAN GOGH 344

Art Nouveau 345

ASIA 347

AFRICA 350

AMERICA 351

American Indian Art 351

African American Music 354

Thinking Critically 356

Cyber Study 356

Important Terms 356

 

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

THE ARTS IN A MODERN,

POSTMODERN, AND

PLURALISTIC WORLD

1900 to the Present 357

The Context 357

MODERNISM 357

POSTMODERNISM 358

PLURALISM 358

HISTORY 359

The Arts 360

MODERN DIRECTIONS 360

Expressionism 360

Fauvism 361

Cubism 362

Futurism and Mechanism 363

Dada 365

Abstraction 366

Surrealism 367

Minimalism 367

Absurdism 368

Realism 369

Abstract Expressionism 370

Pop Art 371

Hard Edge 371

Environmental and Ephemeral Art 372

Architectural Modernism 373

MASTERWORKS Frank Lloyd Wright,

Kaufmann House 375

Modernism in Music 377

HINDEMITH 378 BARTÓK 378 STRAVINSKY 378

SCHOENBERG 378 IVES AND COPLAND 379 GERSHWIN 379

BERNSTEIN 379

Modern Dance 380

DUNCAN 380 DENISHAWN 380 GRAHAM 380

CUNNINGHAM 380 TAYLOR 381 AILEY AND NIKOLAIS 381

Literary Modernism 381

POSTMODERN DIRECTIONS 381

Neoabstraction 382

Media Art and “New” Media 382

Photography 383

“New” Realism 385

Feminist Art 385

Postmodern Architecture 386

Postmodern Music 386

MINIMALISM 387 EXPERIMENTATION 387

IMPROVISATION AND MUSIQUE ACTUELLE 389

SOUND LIBERATION 389

PROFILE Richard Danielpour 388

Postmodern Literature 389

CONCRETE POETRY 390 MAGIC REALISM 390

CONFESSIONALISTS 390

PLURALISM 391

African American Art 391

HARLEM RENAISSANCE 391 JAZZ 393

DANCE AND THEATRE 395

American Indian Art 397

LITERATURE 397 VISUAL ART 397 MUSIC AND DANCE 398

Latino Art 400

Thinking Critically 403

Cyber Study 403

Important Terms 403

 

NOTES 404

GLOSSARY 406

BIBLIOGRAPHY 417

INDEX 419

CREDITS 430

SELECTIONS FROM “MUSIC FOR THE

HUMANITIES” 432