Final answer:
Art imitates life by capturing reality and evoking emotions, offering a reflection on the human condition and allowing for the connection to human emotions. Imitation in art is a fundamental human instinct, facilitating learning and the pleasure that comes with recognition. Movements like Impressionism showcase the evolution of art in representing life and the human experience.
Step-by-step explanation:
The question of why art is an imitation of life and why it brings pleasure is multifaceted and can be explored from various angles. At its core, art imitates life by capturing the essence of reality and evoking emotions. Aristotle emphasized the deep-rooted human instinct for imitation and the universal pleasure derived from recognizing likenesses, which ties into learning and discovery. Art stimulates human emotion, offering a connection and a reflection on the human condition. This is evidential not only in the way representational art, like Realism, vividly captures everyday life and ordinary people, but also through the emotional landscapes expressed in works like Van Gogh's Wheat Field with Crows. Moreover, the evolution of art, including movements like Impressionism, showcases a shift towards capturing an impression of reality rather than a mere mimicry, influenced partly by the advent of photography. The beauty of art lies in its ability to reflect life, challenge norms, and engage the viewer on an emotional and intellectual level.