Sources Of Art (1967)

[Music] Hallelujah. [Music] Art is one of man's oldest means of expression. The artist looks at the world around him and translates what he sees and what he feels into visual form. [Music] If his world was hungry, his art expressed his need for food. Sketches found on an ancient cave wall tell the story of a successful hunt. [Music] Where man found beauty in his world, he put beauty into his art. He arranged, composed, and sometimes his art was more beautiful than reality. [Music] Art can also express fear and mystery, superstition or evil. Nature is the starting point for many artists. [Music] waterlies inspired the French impressionist Monae. Picasso simplified flowers in a way to suit [Music] himself. Mountains and lightning probably suggested the pattern for this [Music] weaving. The young artist world is less sophisticated than the world of the mature artist. But they both choose from their environment things important to them. A boy paints his [Music] family, his neighborhood, the [Music] supermarket. A field trip to the [Music] farm, perhaps to the [Music] zoo or maybe to the [Music] harbor. No two artists ever see the same world in the same way. Still there are basic elements of which all art is composed. These basic elements are line, color, shape and texture. A line may be or curved, thick or thin, short or long. A line has direction. It can go up and down or from side to side. A line encloses space and can show motion. The Dutch artist Van Go composed paintings with exciting lines. The sharp bend of the elbows of these dancers create opposing diagonals calling attention to the center figure. The 16th century artist Durer used only thick and thin lines to tell a story in this engraving. Lines lend an abstract feeling to a still life. [Music] Color is a powerful element of art. It can create many moods. [Music] Mystery, excitement, [Music] quietness, serenity. Color can be cool. or it can be [Music] warm. Cool and warm colors may be found in a single painting. Shape is important to the artist. This modern sculpture brings to mind dinosaurs, cave entrances, and human forms. This beautiful shape in concrete looks like a great bird swooping down. repeated, it forms an interesting shape of its own. Repetition of shape forms the interior of the [Music] building. A rhythm of shapes forms a modern building. A bridge is also composed of shapes. The artist uses shapes of various sizes in painting. His sensitive organization of form and color results in a pleasing picture. Paper cut into shapes creates a lively abstraction. Fish shapes interested a Chinese artist of long ago. He caught the quick movement of fish in this ancient scroll [Music] painting. Texture adds interest to shape. The surface of a plant has [Music] texture. Dried mud has both texture and pattern. And so does the bark of a [Music] tree. Small dots of color create texture in a painting by Surat. Thick brush strokes give this painting an interesting [Music] surface. The artist communicates his feelings through the use of line, color, shape, and texture. All of these elements may be present in a single statement. The artist tells us where he [Music] lives, how he feels about things, how he feels about people. [Music]