The Educational Aspects of Art Criticism

Abstract

The aim of this study is to identify the educational function of art criticism. The importance of the problem is in unrealized educational potential of art criticism in the field of publication activity, in the need for clear principles of creating the educational effect in the texts of art critics. Historiography of art is represented by the works of such European scholars as Hans Sedlmayr, Germain Bazin. In Russian historiography this issue was explored by scholars V. S. Turchin, V. P. Shestakov and V. G. Arslanov. The methodology of the work has been substantiated by the developments of the Ural-Siberian scholars N.P. Koptseva, and V. I. Zhukovsky, D. V. Pivovarov, who have developed a professional model of art criticism, comprising three components (expertise, research and maieutics). Analysis of the characteristics of publications of art critics, comparison with the concept of education and the conception of the profession of art expert has allowed us to detect the relationship between certain features of construction of text of criticism and literary works; we have made some assumptions about what features strengthen the educational effect. Further studies in this area require verification of these assumptions in practice. Finally, we came to the conclusion that the educational focus of the literary text of art criticism leads to the subjects acquiring knowledge about each other and to self-development of both the artwork as a model of relation in the world and the identity of the person, involved in the artistic communication.