POLYTECHNIC INSTITUTE of TABACO

100, Panal, Tabaco City, Albay

Course Code:

Course Title: Art Appreciation

Course Description:

Art Appreciation is a three-unit course that develops students’ ability to analyze, and
critique works of art. Through interdisciplinary and multimodal approaches, this course
equips students with a broad knowledge of the practical, historical, philosophical, and social
relevance of the arts in order to hone students’ ability to articulate their understanding of the
arts. The course also develops students’ competency in researching and curating art as well as
conceptualizing, mounting, and evaluating art productions. The course aims to develop
students’ genuine appreciation for Philippine arts by providing them opportunities to explore
the diversity and richness and their rootedness in Filipino culture.

Credit Unit/s: 3

Prerequisite:

Duration: SY: 2021-2022

Instructor: Albert B. Bocalig

Consultation Time:

Consultation Venue: Google Meet

Sculpture

2.1 Introduction:

Sculpture comes from the Latin word “sculpere” which means “to carve”. Technically
all sculptures are three (3) dimensional images which set it apart from other forms of visual
arts. It is defined as the art of carving or molding which also includes the process of cutting or
hewing wood, stone, metal to make a desired 3D representation of the subject. It could be in
the form of statues, ornaments in any material that could be worked on by the sculptors.

2.1 Learning Objectives:

By the end if this module, you will be able to:

1. Acquire basic theoretical orientation in Humanities and learn the different

concepts and terminologies related to Arts and Humanities.
2. Examine the essence and nature of man that makes possible his self-
expression and contemplation in the world of arts.
3. Gain insights on the origin, development, meaning and importance of arts in
man’s cultural and social life.
2.2 Tools:
Internet:

2.3 Learning Concepts:

History of Sculpture

 Egyptian – sculptures are idealized representations of the gods/goddesses and the

holy, the feature is immobile and always frontal in pose. There is a strong geometric
emphasis to the body, with the shoulders and chest plane resembling an inverted
triangle.
 Mesopotamian – Sumerians are noted to carve small marble deities with wide, staring
eyes. Other details are schematically treated and similarity between sculptures to
others are schematically less likely.
 Greek – there are two major development in Greek sculpture:
1. 7th and 1st centuries be – working on a monumental scale, they almost
perfected depiction of the human form.
2. 5th and 4th centuries be – naturalism was attained and images were well
proportioned and there were signs of movement. Faces remained immobile.
Gods and athletes were favorite subjects during this period.
 Roman – Romans are known to be an avid collector of anything that is Greek from
whom they also inherited and imitated their sculptural styles and technique, the
distinct contribution of the Romans in sculpture is realistic portraiture.
 Early Christian Sculpture – sculptures dating back from the 4 th century were
stylistically no longer corresponded to the classical ideal of beauty but centers on
representation of the characters in the bible.
 Gothic Sculpture – in the gothic period, remarkable sculpture was produced in France,
Germany, and Italy. Most sculpture were made in conjunction with church
architecture. Some were also found on tombs, pulpits, and other church funishings.
 Renaissance Sculpture – there are two principal components of Renaissance styles:
1. Revival of the classical forms originally developed by the ancient Greeks and
Romans.
2. And intensified concern with secular life.
 Baroque – sculptors roughly spanning the 17th century. They were characterized by
dynamic intensity and an emphasis on movement and emotion.

The Ecstasy of St
Teresa (1647-52)

-Gian Lorenzo Bernini 

 Neoclassical – inspired mainly by the excavated figures and sculptures in
archaeological sites of Greek and Roman colony, some sculptures revived the Greek
and Roman tradition in its purest form.

 Romanticism – a major movement in the 19th century that happened when sculptors
freed themselves from past models and their new works were created based on their
imagination and appealed to the emotions of the audience.

The Departure of the Volunteers

of 1792 (ca. 1835)
-François Rude

 20th century – there was a revolution in sculptural techniques, methods, subjects and
materials that was employed by sculptors in the 20th century. It was paralled to the
changes in painting and most of the times bearing the same name to identify the
different forms like cubism, futurism, constructivism, Dada and surrealism.
The Babes in the Wood
(ca. 1850, carved 1851)

-Thomas Crawford

Example of Abstract art:

Bird in Space (1923)

-CONSTANTIN BRÂNCUȘI
Three Types of Representation of a Sculpture

Sculptures possess three types of meaning:

1. Dominant hegemonic meaning – the meaning that the maker wants to convey.
2. Oppositional meaning – meaning derived from the viewer’s perspective
opposite the makers meaning.
3. Negotiated meaning – it comes from both the maker and the viewer.

Sculptural Techniques

There are two major sculptural techniques: additive and subtractive.

Working on marble and wood would require “subtractive process” where in unwanted
and unnecessary portion of the material are chipped off using a chisel and hammer for the
desired image to come out.

“Additive process” is considered when working on clay or terracotta figure. It does not
require a chisel or hammer, instead the hands of the artist would work on a soft mold which
are shaped into the desired image by simply adding and shaping the material.

Other process includes:

 Carving – is a procedure that dates back from pre-historic times wherein the
craftsman or artist cuts away undesired portion of the material until the desired
image comes out.
 Molding – it is a process of building of form where a soft material could be easily
shaped, bent or twisted to enable rapid execution of the design. Some materials are
baked to achieve durability, like clay or terracotta figures.
 Casting – is a process that seeks to produce an exact replica of a sculpture and is
accomplished in two stages. First and impression or negative mold is formed in a clay
model to replicate the original. Second a positive cast or a reproduction is made out of
the mold. The process could be repeated to desired number to create as many replicas
an artist wishes to make.
 Assemblage – this process originated from the collage of Picasso and Baroque artists
where three dimensional paintings are made out of assembling pieces of different
materials. It gives other sculptor an inspiration in their work and pieces of materials
are put together or assembled by glue, soldering or screw to create interesting works
as a shoebox filled with surrealism or junk and metal scrap art of Marikina City.

Materials in Sculpture

The two preferred materials in sculpture are marble and bronze. Some artist
fashioned with other materials like:
1. Stone 4. Clay
2. Wood 5. Terracotta
3. Plastic

Few artists however argue that almost all materials could be shaped and molded thus
there are no materials that could be employed by a sculpture.
Types of Sculpture

There are three different types of sculpture to emphasis:

1. Pictorial – the emphasis of the sculptor is the details of the design than the method or
material that is used.

The "Barberini Suppliant" in the Louvre

Museum which is a copy or original of last
third of 5c BC.

2. Sculpturesque – primarily the artists is more concerned with the strength and solidity
of the materials that is used than the details of the work.

Example of a Corinthian
column

3. Build-up – is the combination of pictorial and sculturesque type, wherein the artist is
concerned with the details and the material that is used. A fine example of the third
type is Michelangelo’s Pieta.

The Pietà (English "the Pity" 1498-1499)

-Michelangelo
2.4 Activity:

I. Matching Type: Match Category A to Category B.

A B

1. People Power Monument in EDSA a. Bronze

2. Black Nazarene of Quiapo b. Wood
3. Sphynx in Egypt c. Stone
4. David of Michelangelo d. Marble
5. Venus de Milo e. Plastic

A B
1. Emphasis on the details a. Relief
2. Emphasis on the material b. Carve
3. Emphasis both materials and details c. Pictorial
4. Sculpere d. Sculpturesque
5. Sculptures on the wall e. Build-up