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What Constitutes Art?
A Formalists' Approach
By: Mary Elise Chavez
Posted Spring 2006

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While some of the most influential conveyors of formalist theories lie within quite different hemispheres, their arguments are intriguing. Predominantly, Roger Fry (1866-1934) who stood as the most referenced formalist in England, believed that the connection between the artist or the culture in relation to the art piece as a nonexistent meaning. With formalism being defined as “the approach to art that stresses the significance of form over content as the source of a work’s subjective appeal,” Fry’s approach was centered on the emotional reactions that were created by the art pieces. Serving quite similar to historic Immanuel Kant (1724-1804), who believed in essential idealist beauty, differing from art and nature in turn.

Through the aesthetic response to beauty, such is proven that it remains as a significant tool of the human mind. Kant referred to aesthetic qualities as a reference guide, inclusion of context, origin, and utility. Similar to Kant’s philosophy on the importance of beauty, Fry states that visual arts have persisted because of the basic human expression involved. Extending into the beauty realm, individuals serve as highly visual; in turn the art world continues to spin.

The formalist analysis of an art piece would regard the aesthetic effects of a design (otherwise known as formal elements), which include broadly line, shape, space, color, light, and dark; more specifically branching into order and proportion, consistency of balance, and pattern and rhythm which stimulate responses in the audience. Illusions of depth, weight, mass, volume, and horizontal/vertical planes are all elements used in the architecture field of design and often used for development of a visually strong composition. While speaking about strong design elements to use within a composition, one cannot omit possibly the most obvious: Color. Whether used in muted neutrals or vibrant hues, colors have many different origins that act as a key element for an art piece.

Unlike the previous, Johann Winckelmann (1719-1768) believed that art was associated with history, through various styles it was communicated via the cultures that produced it. Winckelmann classified the history of art among three stages: the Symbolic, the Classical, and the Romantic/Post-Classical. George Hegel shared the same perspective as Winckelmann in believing that art was the intent expression of those who produce it, allowing the art piece to be viewed as a historical object or record of culture. With the varying stylistic trends, Winckelmann and Hegel viewed art as primarily historical pertaining to the majority of works.

Concurringly, Formalists do not tie together the purpose for the creation of art for historically informative reasoning. The focus lies towards the aesthetic effect of the piece upon its viewers, rather than references to cultural ideas, economics, politics, or education. It is meant to be personal, through aesthetic means, that which the individual observing the art receives from the piece visually, rather than a biography of the artist.

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