Art is the expression or application of human creative skill and imagination, typically in a visual form such as painting or sculpture, producing works to be appreciated primarily for their beauty or emotional power. Art was originally used to refer to a skill or mastery and was not differentiated from crafts or sciences (“Art,” 2013, para. 1). Around the 17th century, a shift in modern art began to develop into fine arts, where aesthetic considerations are paramount, are distinguished from acquired skills in general, and the decorative or applied arts (“Art,” 2013). Sketch aesthetics, also known as esquisses, are preparatory sketches or paintings to quickly capture the idea of a painting (Myers, N., (2000-2013). The aesthetic of the sketch in the nineteenth-century France). This process was used frequently throughout the time of fine art. The Raft of Medusa by Gericault, and Mount Sainte-Victoria broke traditional fine arts when they combined it with applied arts, which is the application of design to objects of everyday use (“Applied Arts, 2013).
The Raft of the Medusa is an oil painting of 1818–1819 by the French Romantic painter and Lithographer Théodore Géricault (1791–1824) (“Raft of Medusa,” 2013). Géricault undertook extensive research and produced many preparatory sketches. He interviewed two of the survivors, and constructed a detailed scale model of the raft. His efforts took him to morgues and hospitals where he could view, first-hand, the colour and texture of the flesh of the dying and dead (“Raft of Medusa,” 2013, para. 2). This portrait depicts the essence of the gruesome fight that occurred at this naval appointment which was on widely controversial topic concerning the competence of the Ministry of Navy. Although The Raft of the Medusa retains elements of the traditions of history painting, in both its choice of subject matter and its dramatic presentation, it represents a break from the calm and order of the
Cited: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fine_art http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/aest/hd_aest.htm http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Raft_of_the_Medusa http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mont_Sainte-Victoire_(C%C3%A9zanne) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Art