Art
(by
N. Murenia)
Our
world has become a very visual one – we have art all around us. Understanding
art is understanding our world! A good first step is to try to understand what
we mean by art. The arts include visual arts, literary arts and
the performing arts, like music, theatre, and film, among
others.
The
types of visual art include architecture, animation, collage, comics, design,
drawing, graffiti, illustration, installation art, photography, sculpture and
so on.
The
first time that the question of what art is came up in the 19th century in an
essay by Leo Tolstoy. In his work he argues against
numerous theories which define art in terms of
the good, truth, and especially beauty. In Tolstoy’s
opinion, art at the time was much more than that. According to him,
art must create an emotional link between artist and audience, one that “infects”
the viewer.
But
of course there are people who view the art as a commercial idea. As Frank
Zappa once said, “Art is making something out of nothing and selling it.”
For
someone art can be therapy. There is even a term “art therapy”. The aim of art
therapy is to improve or maintain mental health and emotional well-being.
In
my opinion art plays a large part in making our lives infinitely rich. Art
stimulates different parts of our brains to make us laugh or cry, calm down or
start shouting. You could say “Art is something that makes us more thoughtful
and well-balanced humans.”
The
most frequent association with the word art is painting. Painting has had a
long and glorious world history as an independent art. From Giotto to Picasso,
painting has never ceased to produce great exponents who have expressed not
merely the taste but the aspirations, the concepts of space, form, and color,
and the philosophy of their respective periods.
Belarusian
artists have made an enormous contribution to the development of world culture.
In the 12-18th centuries the most popular genres of fine arts in Belarus were
frescos, icon and portrait painting. The 16th century portraits created in
Belarus were influenced by the Italian and German Renaissance. Ivan Chrutsky
(1810-1885) is considered to be the greatest figure in Belarusien art of the
19th century. His sentimental portraits and luminous (светящиеся)
still-life paintings had been assiduously (усердно) collected by Russian
and Polish art galleries.
An
important role in the formation of young artists in Belarus was played by the
opening of art schools in Vitebsk (1898) and Minsk (1906).
Among
the various genres of Belarusian fine arts water-colour painting is of
undoubting importance and interest. Here we should mention V. Tsvirko, one of
the leading Belarusian artists. His water-colours Willows Have Burst into
Blossom, The Melted Snow and April are superb.
The
most famous Belarusian artists who painted in oils are M. Savitski, E. Zaitsev
and I. Akhremchik. The war theme predominates in their pictures, though, of
course, they also painted landscapes and portraits. The series Figures on the
Heart by M. Savitski has become a specific phenomenon in Belarusian art.
At
the beginning of the 20th century a new trend of abstract painting developed in
Vitebsk. Among the artists who belonged to that trend were the world famous M.
Chagal, K. Malevich, G. Pen and others. Some of them had to leave Belarus and
live abroad.
Here
I would like to insert some words about abstract art. Understanding abstract
art does not come naturally for everyone but it can’t leave people indifferent.
To understand abstract art you have to open up your intuition and see where the
painting takes you. Abstract art allows the viewer to decide what the artwork
is about, on a very personal level. It requires an open mind and a big
imagination. What people don’t realize is that the best abstract artists have
excellent drawing skills, a fine sense of composition, and a deep understanding
of the workings of color. Instead they choose to express their emotions by
creating a piece that is more free, free of the weight of objects. If you want
to fully understand an artwork, it’s important to know the artist’s intention
behind it. Knowing the artist’s thought process for creating a certain work of
art adds to the meaning and value of a painting.
Pablo
Picasso once said: “Everyone wants to understand art. Why not try to understand
the song of a bird?” Picasso has a point. Art can’t be explained in words,
because its influence on people is very personal.
Art
echoes the natural world. Art is a means of communion as well as communication.
Art creates awareness of social issues. Art may express and reflect the
religious, political, and economical aspects of cultures. Art is and can be
what ever a culture says it is or what ever they want it to be. Art also helps
us to express our sentimental relations. It can beautify, surprise, inspire,
stimulate imagination, inform, tell stories, and record history. As someone once said,
“Art is life.”
