The Magical Number Five in Art Appreciation

Abstract

To describe differences in art appreciation between children of different ages, between children and adults, and between adults with different educational backgrounds, five components of aesthetic judgment were defined. These were named: “Attraction,” “Representation and realism,” “Emotional expression,” “Style and form,” and “Interpretation.” In a review of six studies with participants ranging from primary and secondary school children to various adult groups, it was investigated in which amount the five components characterized each group. For that purpose, explanations for art preferences in these studies were analyzed. The results indicate that individuals or groups can be characterized with respect to their art appreciation as showing a particular “profile” of the five aesthetic components. Also, it seems justified to distinguish one stage-like transition in aesthetic development, in early adolescence. This is seen as a transition from a chiefly semantic (content-related) to a mainly aesthetic (style-, emotion-, and interpretation-related) orientation.

An Aesthetic Model for Popular Illustration

“…Some of these studies have referred to terms such as “pleasingness”, “happiness”, and “beauty” in the “hedonic tone scales” recommended by Berlyne (1974). Some have adopted other designed scales, including measuring the participant's “preferability” and “liking” degrees towards the object (e.g., Martindale et al, 1988; Van Meel-Jansen, 2006).…”

Role of Art Education in Peace Building Efforts among Out‐of‐School Youth affected by Armed Conflict in Zamboanga City, Philippines

“…Duh, Cagran, and Huzjak () saw the connection between aesthetic appreciation and technical knowledge, claiming that art perception ratings have relationships with creative expression and art knowledge. Art forms were not only seen as aesthetics but as ways for artists to interpret their social realities, thoughts and imaginings (Meel‐jansen, ). Art was also found to influences the youth's knowledge about their everyday lives and their attitudes and beliefs about their involvement in society (Omasta, ).…”

Applications Art Appreciation in Teaching and Learning in Primary School

“…Formal art criticism is an intrinsic value that includes elements of art and design principles (Noaparast & Noaparast, 2011). While aesthetic appreciation refers to the elements of experience namely tools and materials, expressions, designs and so on (Leder, Belke, Oeberst, & Augustin, 2004;Meel-Jansen, 2006;Parsons, 2004). According to (Subramaniam, 2017;Madrid, Ahmed, & Kumar, (2019) , art appreciation can ensure that students are engaged in expressing their own feelings and ideas and nurturing students to appreciate the artwork they have created.…”