Perception of Fine Art: From Traditional Approaches of the 19th Century to the Present

“Art” is a specific type of human activity, which aims to reflect reality or idea in a concrete-sensual image, which involves aesthetic perception. The history of art is in fact the history of vision, which is not “innocent”, it is interested, selective and empathetic. Art was used as a demonstration of culture, and it was a tool for socially significant ideas and values.For a long time, the strategy of art studies was limited to descriptive formal and stylistic analysis of artworks. The analysis of the phenomena of artistic culture from the standpoint of structural-semiotic analysis involves highlighting the structure, main elements, and details of the work to understand the meaning. Here we should mention the so-called linguistic turn, the initiators of which replaced the classical idea of reflection, which gave rise to radically new strategies for perceiving works of art, and there was a transition from the analysis of formal to symbolic aspects of a work of art. Thus, iconography is based on the study of the plot, which is revealed through the analysis of certain signs or images.Later Aby Warburg de-Christianized the word “iconology” and used it to denote the general scientific study of images in history and society. Erwin Panofsky narrowed the concept of iconology to the study of allegorical and other images based on theology, philosophy, or literature. But the visual cannot be accurately conveyed in verbal language precisely because the experience we have from viewing works of fine art is special and conditioned by our sensations and feelings (perceptual experience). Therefore, the concept of subjective vision was formed, and it is the observer who takes the first position, and the view acquires autonomy. Artist is considered as a unique kind of producer who can turn anything – even a urinal – into art with a single gesture. This puts the artist in the privileged position of a monopolist: he has exclusive rights to production. We note the elevated perception of art, due to the whole system of culture, which promotes the special status of the work of art through the system of institutions and criticism. A work of art has the characteristics of uniqueness, durability and authenticity, and our perception is conditioned.