Question

How does knowing the context of an art piece affect our understanding?

Answer 1

Artistic value in a person when they're painting or performing art is an expressive technique for us to understand their contextual upbringings. Like music or other forms of art, composers and artists value their context as being the fundamental and concrete moral when they're doing art. Certain attributes connote to specific timespans and as we grow older to appreciate composers' artistic flair, the more we begin to understand about their past.

An exemplified example is a cinematic example, Metropolis (1927), this film is regarded as the forefront of modernist views, a pioneer that was underrated during its time. The dark ambiance, yet subtle hints at the destruction of the new sparked a new generation of Modernist and Post-Modernist views. Fritz Lang's use of silence in this film was a crucial cinematic technique during the 1920's, and with this being one of the last standing silent films, we know straight away that it is from that generation or that context.

Context also allows us to understand certain morale during the creation of art and we begin to contemplate with a change in perspectives, particularly when watching a film. Understanding context allows us, as responders, to truly be captivated by Da Vinci's The Last Supper or Van Gogh's Starry, Starry Night as we begin to dive into the minds of these people and their upbringings.