Opinions on Art

1) What is the purpose of art? Mark (✓) the opinions that you agree with. Then discuss your opinions in small groups or with the class.

Art should …

_____ create beauty

_____ show important events

_____ tell a story

_____ inspire people to change

_____ help people relax

_____ show reality

_____ show nature

_____ be easy to understand

_____ show universal themes

_____ inspire strong emotions

2) Read the quotations by famous artists. Which opinion(s) from Exercise 1 does each quotation support? Write it in the chart. Then compare your chart with a partner’s.

Artist	Statement	Opinion it Supports
Henri Matisse	“Art should be something like a good armchair in which to rest.”	help people relax
Claude Monet	“I can only draw what I see.”	_________
Norman Rockwell	“My … purpose is to [explain] the typical American. I guess I am a storyteller.”	________
Marc Chagall	“Only love interests me, and I am only in contact with things I love.”	_________
Pablo Picasso	“What I want is that my picture should [inspire] nothing but emotion.”	_________
Vincent van Gogh	“In painting I want to say something comforting in the way that music is comforting.”	__________

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Giving and Supporting an Opinion

In academic settings, you may need to state your opinions in discussions, debates, presentations, or papers. When you state your opinions, you must give reasons (facts and examples) to support them. Here are some helpful expressions.

To give an opinion To support an opinion

I think/believe/feel that … … because …

In my opinion … … for several reasons: …

It seems to me that …

Example

I think that Edvard Munch’s painting The Scream of Nature is frightening, because the people behind the man screaming look like faint ghosts and the shadow on the river could be a portrayal of death. The sky is orange and yellow so it looks like the sunset. The man screaming is gray with his hands held up to his face to show that he is is scared. It is a good painting because it is easy to remember. It makes me feel nervous. It is scary but playful.

When you give an opinion, use strong support to persuade your audience to agree with you.

• Make sure your ideas are detailed, logical, and clear (easy to understand).

• Use reasons, examples, common sense, expert evidence, or statistics.

• Choose words that show your level of certainty (is /must be/ may be/ might be, could be).

DEGREES of CERTAINTY:

IS = 100%

MUST BE = 75-99%

LIKELY IS = 50-99%

MAY BE = 25-75%

MIGHT BE = 

Write your opinion about the following eight paintings:
Describe what you see in the painting.
Give your opinion about whether the painting is good or bad. Why?
Why do you think the painter made it look this way.? (Use degrees of certainty)
How does the painting make you feel? Explain why.
 

1) "Impression" Claude Monet	2) "Starry Night" Vincent Van Gogh	3) "Girl With Pearl Earring" Johannes Vermeer	4) "Mona Lisa" Leonardo Da Vinci
5) "American Gothic" Grant Wood	6) "The Wanderer" Caspar Friedrich	7) "Night Perspective" Leonard Afremov	8) "Sunrise by the Ocean" Vladimir Kush

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