ART, MAN & SOCIETY

LATIN humanus (human, cultured & refined)

HISTORY OF HUMANITIES The first Medieval Universities were established in the 12th & 13th Centuries wherein the professors were mostly churchmen which were interested in arguing about Metaphysics & Religion (Scholasticism) To them, HUMANITIES meant primarily PHILOSOPHY & THEOLOGY HUMANISTS of the RENAISSANCE asserted the intrinsic value of mans life on earth as opposed to the Medieval interest in eternity.

HUMANITIES included disciplines which would make mans life richer and more meaningful: - the languages & literature of GREECE & ROME - fine arts - music - philosophy
The 19th Century witnessed a certain loss of prestige of the HUMANITIES to the SCIENCES & SOCIAL SCIENCES, because many men believed that SCIENCE could procure everything that man needed or wanted.

The Federal Government has set up a Foundation of the Arts & Humanities to: 1. promote scholarships & progress in these subjects; and 2. leaven the alarming materialism of modern civilization
The emphasis has shifted to modern literature although masterpieces of Philosophy, History, Theology & Science are often included. Included also are the historical studies of the fine arts and music with the emphasis on serving man as an individual rather than as a social being.

1. To help appreciate our cultural heritage.

2. To give a background for understanding & evaluating the arts of our own day. 3. To discover what the arts can tell us about how men thought and felt in the historical period which produced them.

Environment Traditions National traits Religious beliefs Economic condition Patron Geography Climate Each work of true art represents the individual genius of its creator, and the general character of the age and locale in which it was born.

Greek Golden Age 500 B.C. 410 B.C.

Hellenistic 336 B.C. A.D. 146

Roman 146 323

Medieval 323 1400

Renaissance 1270 1594

Mannerist 1530 1616

Baroque 1600 1750

Classic 1644 1793

Rococo 1715 1774

Romantic 1773 1848

Realist & Naturalist 1827 1927 Impressionist 1863 1900 Modern 1895 - present

Common Elements in Arts: Rhythm Line Medium Structure Style color

Elements of Fine Arts:

Subject focus or object of the

masterpiece

Medium
- materials which an artist uses