Read the passage and answer the questions that follow.
People view art differently. Every individual
will have a different opinion on a given
piece and this is subjective, especially if you
have no prior knowledge of the message the
artist is intending to get across. Traditional
pieces of art, in particular paintings and
sculptures, can be appreciated for the
level of skill employed to create them.
However, whether or not an individual likes
a piece of art, will be based on something
entirely different that cannot be easily
defined. There maybe a combination of
colours that is pleasing to the viewer, or
an image may evoke a particular emotion
in them based on their past experiences.
Each viewer may look at a piece of art
and understand it entirely differently, and
this could be what makes certain pieces
so inherently beautiful.
When it comes to painted portraits, it is
interesting to think about what makes them
resemble the subject. It is thought that this
can lie in how the eyes have been captured
by the artist. And this does not need to
be detailed. If you look at the work of
Indian artist Jamini Roy, who painted a
painting called ‘Three Pujarins’, here he
depicts three priestesses with eyes that have
been painted as simple almond shapes.
However, the positioning of the eyes’
pupil gives them all a distinct expression.
What that expression is, is again open to
the interpretation of the person looking
at the painting.
Individuals who look at pieces of art for the
first time are also likely to be influenced
by its setting, their setting and what they
have seen and done immediately before
looking at them. For example, if a person
is in a gallery looking at lots of black and
white drawings, and then suddenly comes
across a wildly colourful piece, the latter
is likely to create a more emotive response
in the observer, than if this picture were
surrounded by other, bright, colour strewn
images. Again, if the observer was in
a bad mood, this could transpose their
opinion of a particular piece of art. On
a different day, just after getting good
grades at school and having won a cricket
match, their thoughts on the same image
could be entirely different.
So, when looking at visual art, whatever
form of art this maybe, contemporary,
ancient, abstract or photographic, it can
be useful to first consider its setting and
your own, before deciding if you like it
or not.
What does the piece’s setting do to what we
feel about it?
AIt can mean that we prefer black and
white drawings.
BIt can influence how an artist paints the
image.
CIt can influence how a person observes
art.
DIt can make people emotional and change
how they view other images.
Cant it be both C and D??
