An Artistic Approach to Fine Arts Interpretation in Higher Education

Abstract

Art criticism was introduced into art education to help students understand works of art. However, art interpretation methods differ according to the educational goals specified for various types of art students. The fine arts interpretation procedures established in education are usually purely theoretical and exclusively verbal, and are thus appropriate mostly for art theory students, whose educational goal is art theory competence. On the other hand, these methods are inadequate for fine arts students, whose educational goal is artistic competence. Namely, artistic competence cannot be achieved solely by means of theory and discussion, but must include practical, “hands-on” artistic experience. Proceeding from this recognition, this paper proposes a fine arts interpretation method that integrates an art theory approach with an artistic one and can thus help fine arts students attain their educational goal (i.e., artistic competence).