The Philosophy of

ArtExploring the Emotional

Expression TheoryBy Lyndzie Taylor, Danielle Lavoie, Damale Kifuko and

Sarineh Hossepian

Why do we need a criteria for judging

art?•Otherwise everything would be

considered the same•To obtain a better

understanding of art and its purpose

•To distinguish good art from bad art

Art is the objectification of feeling.

-S. Langer

Art as an Expression of Emotion

The purpose of art is for the artist to express an emotion, and in turn, evoke emotion in its

audience.

Through artistic expression, we can tap

into a deeper understanding of life,

reality, etc.

How does the emotion theory work?

Art expresses emotions and illuminates life. A good artist succeeds at

expressing emotion through their work, as well as communicating

emotion for the audience to experience.

A bad work of art fails to execute these things

successfully.

Why is this theory sufficient for

evaluating art? •Art is creative, and

requires the artist to have “intuitive knowledge” which comes from the imagination. •Philosopher Benedetto Croce

said, “the spirit only intuits in making, forming,

expressing.”

What about other theories? •Imitation

•Form•Art Authority

Good art does not always imitate life or follow form, nor does the artworld always agree on which works are good

or bad. More often, the artist has a

feeling behind his or her work of art that they are

expressing and attempting to convey to their audience.

Failed Attempt:

QuickTime™ and aTIFF (Uncompressed) decompressor

are needed to see this picture.

“Convergence” by Jackson Pollock

Evidence

QuickTime™ and aTIFF (Uncompressed) decompressor

are needed to see this picture.

Successful Attempt:

“Saturn Devouring One of His Children”

By Francisco De Goya

Evidence

QuickTime™ and aTIFF (Uncompressed) decompressor

are needed to see this picture.

In Conclusion