At the beginning of the text, Lois Fichner-Rathus suggests that the ability to appreciate is the consummate reward of understanding.
Is it possible to appreciate art without full understanding?
Is knowledge of the artist’s intentions and/or techniques a necessity of appreciation?
Content is defined as, all that is contained in a work of art: the visual elements, subject matter and underlying meanings or themes. The text continues with the idea that, “some works of art can seem to be devoid of content other than the pencil marks or, perhaps, the swaths of paint we find on a sheet of paper or on a canvas”.
How do you respond, as a viewer, to artwork that purposefully avoids the defining ideas of representational art?
