The Role and Importance of Context in Art

Abstract

Often, artworks are considered in line with their physical properties alone; neglecting other vital elements, which holistically makes the art piece what it is. It is for this reason that this paper sets out to re-examine and re-emphasise the need for the consideration of the context in artistic evaluation. The paper's argument is however based on the submissions of Grigoriev (2005), who highlighted the shortcomings of the empiricist's approach to art consideration in his paper titled Living Art, Defining Value: Artworks and Mere Real Things. Therefore, it is in line with Danto's idea on the contextual consideration of art, that this paper offers its opinions. The paper concludes on the note that, to put art in context is to view the art from several possible angles, all in a bid to achieve a clearer understanding of the factors that make the work what it is.