Art Appreciation/Pagpapahalaga sa Sining College of Education
CHAPTER II. Artists and Artisans
Learning Outcomes
1. Define the role of managers, curators, buyers, collectors, art dealers in the art world
2. Identify the medium in various forms of art, visual, auditory and combined arts
3. Identify national artist and their contributions
4. Differentiate between artist’s and artisan approach/technique toward a particular medium
MANAGERS, CURATORS, BUYERS AND ART DEALERS
1. Art Manager
The arts manager is responsible for the day-to-day running of an art department. This could
be for an advertising agency, an actual art gallery, or a website (among others). Wherever
you are, your fundamental duties don't change. You coordinate the overall direction of the
art in a particular space: who is making it, what it's going to look like, and how it's going to
be presented to whomever is looking at it.
2. Curators
In the art world, the title of "curator" identifies a person who selects and often
interprets different works of art, whether they be paintings, statues, tapestries, or
video art. In addition to selecting works, the curator is often responsible for writing
labels, catalog essays, and other content supporting art exhibitions.
Art Curator Duties and Responsibilities
As part of their regular duties and tasks, an art curator may perform some or all of the following:
Manage collections by recording and cataloging artwork and items in collections
Research objects to document identification and authentication
Develop, plan, and execute various exhibitions
Write acquisition and exhibition proposals
Plan the presentation and installation of artwork and objects
Create labels and interpretive materials for artwork
Train docents and other museum staff on the exhibition's presentation and information.
Play an active role in the art community by publishing research and information to journals,
catalogs, and books
Have updated information about the art market and in-depth knowledge of the
collections and exhibitions they manage
Develop and oversee educational programs and plans to cultivate donors for their
organization
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Art Appreciation/Pagpapahalaga sa Sining College of Education
3. Buyers
a. Home Collectors
Home collectors are the main target market for many artists as they buy art regularly and
really love the art they hang up in their homes. It is rather hard to convert home collectors
into buyers for the first time though. They usually have a specific taste in art and are likely
to have only one or two favorite artists whose art they buy.
A good tactic for you as an artist is to go to galleries or exhibitions where they sell similar
art to yours and network with the people that go there. There’s a good chance that the
people attending the event are lovers of that specific style of art and you may well end up
talking to a potential future customer.
It’s a good idea to treat collectors even better than you would normally treat your customers
as many collectors turn into repeat buyers, simply because they love that specific type of
art. Simple things, such as learning their name or sending them regular newsletters about
your art can make a collector come back to you and purchase another one of your artworks.
b. Interior designers
Interior designers can be a great source of income for artists. They get hired by businesses
and home owners to decorate their entire space, whether it is an office or a home. Other
than colorful couch cushions a popular choice to make a site look better is paintings.
When you come across an interior designer make sure to treat them with extra regard and
have a conversation with them about what type and colors of art they’re usually interested
in buying for their clients. Once you’ve satisfied the needs of an interior designer once,
they’re likely to come back to you for more of your art.
3. Art Dealers
Art dealers facilitate art sales by connecting represented artists with galleries, museums,
collectors or corporations and play a major role in the development of the artist’s career. We
already talked about how important relevant public and private collections are for emerging
artists.
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Art Appreciation/Pagpapahalaga sa Sining College of Education
Art dealers use their connections with wealthy collectors and important museums to help
propel artists’ careers. Being well-versed in the art market, dealers can predict and
sometimes even influence future market trends. That’s why they are always on the lookout
for exciting new artists who fit into these trends. Subsequently, they initiate sales to
collectors and museums whose taste and interests match the artist’s style.
Art dealers also use their ties to art institutions and art non-profits to exhibit their represented
artists’ works. Sometimes art dealers are appointed as curators for various gallery and
museum shows. That means that they get to choose pieces for that show, which enables
their represented artists easier access to these institutions.
PRODUCTION PROCESS
Production is at the heart of making art. Artists and theorists have long acknowledged its
importance as both an artistic action and an idea to be explored. And as the role of production
has shifted in our lives, so have the ways in which artists have responded to it. While some
contemporary artists foreground production as a tool , others use their work to explore ideas
around production we might otherwise overlook.
MEDIUM AND TECHNIQUE APPROACH
Medium
is the material that artists use to create their art. It's that simple. Whatever a piece of art is
made out of is its medium. The plural of medium is media. So, one piece of art can be
made of one medium or several media. If you've ever been to an art museum or gallery,
you've probably seen those little signs next to each piece that look something like this:
'Oil on Canvas'
'Tempera on Wood'
'Ink on Silk'
All of these items are media. They describe each item the artist used to make the art.
Therefore, oil and canvas are both media used to describe that particular work. Sometimes
this can be a very important part of how the piece of art is interpreted. Different materials
carry different significance. For example, if a certain wood is considered sacred, then using
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Art Appreciation/Pagpapahalaga sa Sining College of Education
it indicates that this piece of art is very special. Or if an artist uses an uncommon medium,
say garbage, it helps that artist make a statement.
Common Medium
This Chinese bowl uses ceramics and glaze as media
Oil painting is the process of painting with pigments that are held together with a type of oil that
dries when exposed to air, called drying oil. When the oil is mixed with a powdered pigment, it
creates a color of paint. Different pigments create different colors. Since prehistoric times, natural
pigments, such as minerals and shells, were used. After the industrial revolution, people were able
to create new colors using machines that could create synthetic pigments.
The first artists to use oil as a base for their paints were Indian and Chinese Buddhists, working in
Afghanistan as early as the fifth century. By the 15th century, painters in the Netherlands began
using oils for their paintings, and this soon took off as the most popular medium in Europe during
the Italian Renaissance. Since then, oil paints have been the most common media in Western art.
Oil paints are almost always used to paint canvas, a woven fabric.
Tempera is another common medium. Before oil painting became popular, most painting was
done with tempera paints. Rather than oil, the pigments are held together with a sticky material,
most commonly egg yolk. Egg yolk holds the pigments together, but it dries very fast and can
sometimes give the paint a slightly yellow color. Nevertheless, it was a very common way to make
paint before oils came around and is still used by many artists who enjoy working with fast-drying
paints to create certain effects. Tempera is often used to paint wood, another common medium
before the Italian Renaissance
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Art Appreciation/Pagpapahalaga sa Sining College of Education
In sculpture, marble is one of the most common media. Marble is a soft stone that is easy for
sculptors to carve, chip, and polish into smooth and beautiful works of art. Small impurities in the
white marble can give the sculpture unique color and shine. The Italian artist Michelangelo
Buonarroti (1475-1564) was one of the most famous sculptors of all time and famous for saying
that he could see an image in a block of marble and that it was his job to remove the excess.
NATIONAL ARTISTS
The Philippines is home to a long and rich history of excellence in visual arts.
This tradition started as early as the 19 th century with Damian Domingo, also
known as the Father of Filipino Painting, who was the first Filipino to paint a self-
portrait. He was followed by greats such as Juan Luna, who painted the world-
renowned Spoliarium, andFabián de la Rosa, uncle and mentor to Fernando
Amorsolo.
Mastery of the visual arts has been passed down through the decades, and the
Philippine government has sought to reward that through the Order of National
Artists. The Order of National Artists, also known as Orden ng mga Pambansang
Alagad ng Sining, is the highest national recognition given to Filipinos who have
made significant contributions to the growth and development of arts in the
Philippines. Jointly administered by the National Commission for Culture and the
Arts (NCCA) and the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP), it’s an honor
conferred by the President of the Republic based on recommendations by both
institutions. Here’s a list of the greatest names in Philippine visual arts who
have been given this honor.
Fernando Amorsolo (1972)
(May 30, 1892 – April 24, 1972)
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Art Appreciation/Pagpapahalaga sa Sining College of Education
who is also known as the Grand Old Man of Philippine Art. Born in Manila, he was educated
at the Art School of the Liceo de Manila, the University of the Philippines School of Fine Arts, and
spent time abroad in Spain and the United States. Lauded for his skill in depicting light and form,
Amorsolo is well known for his paintings of idyllic Philippine rural life. He rejected Western ideals
of beauty and sought to promote Filipino beauty instead, and his use of chiaroscuro became an
artistic trademark that set his work apart from the rest. Some of his most famous pieces
include Maiden in a Stream (1921), The Mestiza (1943), and Planting Rice (1946).
Carlos “Botong” Francisco (1973)
(November 4, 1912 – March 31, 1969)
A muralist who brought the art form back into the limelight, his work graces the City Hall of
Manila and the National Art Gallery of the Philippines. He was also one of the first Filipino
modernists, breaking away from the Romanticism of Amorsolo to make use of geometric forms
and linear painting. Among his most famous works include depictions of the Blood Compact, the
First Mass at Limasawa, and most notably The Progress of Medicine in the Philippines, which has
been restored three times. A famous replica of this mural resides at the lobby of the Philippine
General Hospital.
Guillermo Tolentino (1973)
(July 24, 1890 – July 12, 1976)
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Art Appreciation/Pagpapahalaga sa Sining College of Education
Guillermo Tolentino is a giant in the landscape of Philippine sculpture, and indeed no other
sculptor is so widely known, except for perhaps Napoleon Abueva. Tolentino studied at the Royal
Academy of Fine Arts in Rome before returning to the Philippines in 1925 to teach at the
University of the Philippines School of Fine Arts. His masterpiece, the Bonifacio Monument in
Caloocan, was completed in 1933 and symbolizes the Filipino cry for freedom. Other famous
works include the Oblation, now an iconic symbol of the University of the Philippines, as well as
the marble statue of Ramon Magsaysay at the GSIS Building. Tolentino also created numerous
busts and statues that can be found at iconic sites throughout the country.
Napoleon Abueva (1976)
(January 26, 1930 – February 16, 2018)
One of the youngest to ever be conferred the Order of National Artist, Napoleon Abueva
received the award at the young age of 46. The Father of Modern Philippine Sculpture, Abueva
was instrumental in shaping sculpture in the Philippines. He was recognized for being adept at a
variety of forms and materials. In fact, he was equally as comfortable with classical sculpture as he
was with more abstract forms, and his work is made from anything from local hardwood to coral to
brass. Abueva’s sculptures have been installed both in the Philippines and abroad, and
include Kiss of Judas (1955), Nine Muses (1994), and the death mask of slain politician Benigno
Aquino, Jr.
Victorio Edades (1976)
(December 23, 1895 – March 7, 1985)
Victorio Edades was a key figure in the history of Philippine art, counted as one of the
revolutionary Thirteen Moderns and later called the Father of Modern Philippine Painting. Edades
moved away from the idyllic landscapes of his contemporary Amorsolo and instead preferred to
paint a more sobering picture of Philippine society. His works employed dark and somber colors,
and were focused on depicting the dirt and sweat of laborers, factory workers, and the Philippine
proletariat. Edades became Dean of the Department of Architecture in the University of Santo
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Art Appreciation/Pagpapahalaga sa Sining College of Education
Tomas, later instituting an art degree program. He invited Carlos Francisco and Galo B. Ocampo
to become professors of the university, and the three were later known as the Triumvirate.
Included among his works are The Sketch, Portrait of the Professor, and Poinsettia Girl.
Vicente Manansala (1981)
(January 22, 1910 – August 22, 1981)
A master of the style of Cubism, Vicente Manansala is credited as one of the figures in the
Philippine art world who popularized neo-realism in the country. He was educated at the University
of the Philippines School of Fine Arts, later training in Paris, Banff, Montreal and at the Otis School
of Drawing in Los Angeles. Manansala u This style is exemplified in his works Kalabaw, Mother
and Child, Madonna of the Slums, and Still Life with Green Guitar. Most of Manansala’s artistic
estate currently resides in Holy Angel University’s The Vicente Manansala Collection.
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Art Appreciation/Pagpapahalaga sa Sining College of Education
Assessment:
Direction: Answer the following questions.
1. What is medium? What is technique?
2. Why do artists differ in their choice of subjects for their artworks?
3. What does the artist express in his paintings?
List down at least five (5) Filipino Artists and Foreign Artists on their works of art, including
the titles of their work and the medium used. Do this in table form presentations.
Filipino Artists Titles Medium
1.
2.
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4.
5.
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