ARTS AND CULTURE

The Counter Reformation, the Roman Catholic Church's response to the Protestant Reformation, and the rise of nationalism in many European countries helped bring about a major painting style - baroque, Baroque and a related style, rococo, dominated European painting during the 1600's and 1700's. The Reformation forced the Roman Catholic Church to organize against Protestantism. Church officials wanted to use art in order to spread Catholic ideas and teachings. The church told artists that they should create religious paintings that would be realistic and easy to understand and - most importantly - would inspire religious emotional reactions in viewers. These qualities formed the basis of the baroque painting style.

Neo-classicism was a movement in painting which reflected political changes in Europe. The French Revolution, which began in 1789, stressed the virtues of Roman civilization. These virtues included discipline and high moral principles. Neo-classical artists helped educate the French people in the goals of the new government. They painted inspirational scenes from Roman history to create a feeling of patriotism. They are Jacques Louis David and Jean Auguste Dominique of France.

Romanticism was a reaction against the neo-classical emphasis on balanced, orderly pictures. Romantic paintings expressed the imagination and emotions of the artists. The painters replaced the clean, bright colors and harmonious compositors of neo-classicism with scenes of violent activity dramatized by vigorous brushstrokes, rich colors, and deep shadows.

Realism. As neo-classicism and romanticism declined , a new movement - realism - developed in France. Guctave Courbet became the first great master of realistic painting. Courbet painted landscapes, but his vision of nature was not so idealized as that of other painters. He recorded the world around him so sharply that many of his works were considered social protests.

Impressionism was developed by a group of French painters who did their major work between about 1870 and 1910. The impressionists included Claude Manet, Pierre Auguste Renoir, and Edgar Degas. The impressionists tried to create painting that capture ever - changing reality at a particular moment - much as a camera does.

Postimpressionism described a group of artists who attempted in various ways to extend the visual language of painting beyond impressionism. The most influential postimpressionists were Paul Cezanne, Paul Gauguin, and Vincent van Gogh. All were French except van Gogh, who was Dutch. Many art movements appeared during the 1900's. Each lasted only a few years but added to the richness and variety of modern art. They are fauvism, cubism, futurism, expressionism, dadaism, surrealism, etc. As time passed, painters of the 1900's increasingly emphasized purely visual impact rather than recognizable subject matter or storytelling.

ARTS AND CULTURE

UNIT 1

Lead-in

First take a few minutes to answer these questions for yourself. Then discuss your answers in pairs or groups. Find out about other people’s ideas and opinions.

1. What is art? How can you define it? Do you consider all creative work to be art?

2. What is its function?

Can art be ‘good for you’?

3. Are you an artist in any way?

4. What do you think of the art shown on this page?

/Adapted from Initiative/

Reading

WHAT IS ART

1. Read the passage and answer the questions below.

Trying to define art is almost impossible because each individual has an opinion on what is or is not art. For some, art is only certain types of music or painting or sculpture, while for others art includes any creative act. The best way, then, to define art may be to consider what it does rather than what it is.

For most people, the function of art is to be pleasing to the eye or ear. In fact, art has served as decoration since prehistoric times. Yet, does some­thing have to be beautiful to be art? Can a disturbing or distasteful piece be considered art? Does the definition of art as beauty exclude works like Picas­so's Guernica, which portrays the destruction of an entire town?

According to some critics, art goes beyond beauty. It involves making the world understandable by bringing order to the chaos of human experience. But can this definition be appropriate when one considers the chaos in works such as Michelangelo's Last Judgement or Erik Satie's Through the Looking Glass?

Perhaps we can define art only by giving a more general explanation of its function. Art historian John Canaday expresses this idea by saying that art is meant "to clarify, intensify, or otherwise enlarge our experience of life."

Guernica, Pablo Picasso

/From Mosaic 2 Grammar, Patricia K. Werner, John P. Nelson/

2. Answer the questions.

1. Why is it difficult to define art?

2. What is the purpose of art for the majority of people?

3. What other functions does art have?

3. Discuss the questions with a partner.

1) Do you agree with the idea that the main function of art is to be pleasing?

2) To what extent do you think modern art performs this function?

3) Comment on John Canaday's idea of art. Do you agree with it?

!!! Look up Function File on page 40 in case you need to revise expressions of agreement and disagreement.

4. Study the following graph to find out more about art forms. There are two mistakes in the way the words are organized into groups. Can you find them?

THE ARTS

Novels Theatre Dance Cinema Drama

Short

Stories LITERATURE PERFORMING Ballet

ARTS

Biographies Classical Opera Concerts:

poetry/rock/

country/western/jazz

FINE ARTS

Painting Sculpture

v We often include architecture and ceramics within the arts.

The arts (plural) covers everything in the network. Art (singular, uncountable) usually means fine art, but can also refer to technique and creativity.

E.g. Have you read the arts page in The Times today? [that part of the paper that deals with all the things in the network]

She's a great art lover. [loves painting and sculpture]

Shakespeare was skilled in the art of poetry. [creative ability]

v Dance usually refers to modern artistic dance forms; ballet usually has a more traditional feel, unless we say modern ballet.

v Remember: a novel is a long story, e.g. 200-300 pages; a short prose fiction, e.g. 10 pages, is a short story.

5. Which branch of the arts do you think these people are talking about? Underline the words which helped you to guess.

Example: 'It was a strong cast but the play itself is weak.' Theatre

1 'It's called Peace. It stands in the mainsquare.' sculpture

2 'Animation doesn't have to be just Disney, you know.' cinema

3 'It was just pure movement, with very exciting rhythms.' dance

4 'It doesn't have to rhyme to be good.' poetry

5 'Oils to me don't have the delicacy of water-colours.' painting

6 'Her design for the new shopping centre won an award.' architecture

7 'I read them and imagine what they'd be like on stage.' plays

8 ‘The first chapter was boring but it got better later.' literature

9 'I was falling asleep by the second act.' theatre

Presentation 1 -ED and –ING adjectives

1. Work in pairs. Look at the photos of the reading material and discuss these questions.

Which do you read for pleasure?

Which do you read for work?

What else do you read?

2. Use the questions to interview your classmates on their reading habits. Find the person in the class whose reading habits are most similar to yours.

• How many books do you read a year?

• Do you enjoy reading? Or do you just read for work or study?

• Where or when do you usually do your reading?

• Do you usually take a book with you on holiday? Why or why not?

• If you do, what kind of book do you usually take?

• What are you reading at the moment? Would you recommend it? Why or why not?

• How do you usually choose books to read?

3. Read the following passage about Choosing a Book to Read and circle the correct form of the adjectives in bold.

We asked several people the question, ‘How do you choose a book to read?’ Here are their replies:

1 I judge the book by its cover. If the cover looks interesting/interested, I buy the book. Sometimes I’m lucky and the book is good, and sometimes I’m disappointing/disappointed.

2 ‘I always read book reviews in newspapers and magazines and when I read about a book that sounds interesting/interested, I write it down in my diary.’

3 ‘I don’t take any risks. I always read books by authors I know. I get really exciting/excited when one of my favourite authors brings out a new book and I buy it immediately. This way I’m never disappointing/disappointed.”

4 ‘I read the first page and if it’s boring/bored, I don’t buy the book. If I want to turn over the page and carry on reading, I buy the book.’

5 ‘It’s easy. I never read fiction but I’m fascinating/fascinated by biographies of famous people. I find strong women in history particularly inspiring/inspired.’

6 ‘I tend to choose books written by women. They have a better feeling for characters and relationships between them, and that’s what I find interesting/interested in a book. Having said that, I’ve just finished a book by a man and it was brilliant!’

4. Look at your choice of words and answer these questions:

a) Which adjective ending do you use to say how people feel?

b) Which adjective ending do you use to describe the people or things that cause the feeling?

5. A Listen to a critic commenting on a book and tick the adjectives she uses to describe the characters and the plot.

characters convincing Ü

predictable Ü

well-developed Ü

realistic Ü

weak Ü

original Ü

plot gripping Ü

boring Ü

involving Ü

dramatic Ü

dull Ü

moving Ü

entertaining Ü

informative Ü

confusing Ü

exciting Ü

/From Enterprise, Student’s Book/

B Now you will hear five people talking about their reactions to books they have read. For questions 1 – 5, choose from the list A – F. Use the letters only once. There is one extra letter you do not need to use.

A bored Speaker 1 ______

B excited Speaker 2 ______

C moved Speaker 3 ______

D scared Speaker 4 ______

E confused Speaker 5 ______

F furious

6. Say what you should feel about a book and what characteristics it should have for you to choose to borrow it/buy it/read it up to the end/say it’s one of your favourite.

Practice

1. Tell your partner how you’re feeling today/at the moment. Explain why. Choose words from the lists if appropriate.

tired

happy

exhausted

excited

worried

cheerful

relaxed

concerned

nervous

disappointed

embarrassed

bored

confused

calm

surprised

2. Say what makes you feel like that.

Date: 2015-01-02; view: 2105