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- 1. Content This presentation aims to introduce to you what we will be learning in class all quarter. We will be discussing artworks, why they are made, what they mean and what makes them good (or valuable or pretty or important).
- 2. In order to discuss an artwork intelligently, we need specific vocabulary. Today’s presentation will introduce the basics, throughout the quarter we will spend more time on the specifics.
- 3. Follow along The first worksheet (content) is a companion to this presentation. I recommend filling it out during or after you watch this presentation. The content worksheet will be a quick reference you can use all quarter—ask questions right away if you can’t finish the worksheet.
- 4. Content The meaning of a work of art -what it is about
- 5. What is this artwork about? (not just what does it show, but why was it created? How does it make you feel? What does it mean?)
- 6. Content = Subject + Form + Medium + Composition + Formal Elements + Context + Style + Intent
- 8. All these things can affect the meaning of this artwork: A man standing on rocks Stormy water, mist Only a few colors (Is it cold?) Oil painting 19th century (Romanticism) Dark rocks & light sky You are seeing it in art class Rectangle (How big is it?) The man is in the center How he is dressed
- 9. Subject What is shown in a work of art -what it is of
- 11. A man standing on a rock looking out over water
- 12. A man standing on a rock looking out over water
- 13. The same subject doesn’t necessarily mean the same content.
- 14. Subject can be abstract or imaginary, it can be a landscape or scene, there can be more than one subject in an artwork.
- 15. What is the subject?
- 16. A subject can even be just color or lines
- 17. Subject Iconography: study of subjects
- 18. Knowledge of iconography would help you recognize the man in these paintings.
- 19. Some subjects have special meaning. If you are familiar with iconography of Christian saints, you might recognize St. Francis by his brown robes, halo, and animals.
- 20. Formal Elements Things that make up the artwork -line -color / light -texture -space / shape -motion
- 21. Formal Elements Things that make up the artwork -line -color / light -texture -space / shape -motion
- 22. Formal Elements Can be arranged to create a subject or composition
- 23. Formal Elements We will study these more during week 2, 3 and 4.
- 24. Composition How the Formal Elements (stuff) in an artwork are arranged
- 25. Composition -Balance -Repetition -Scale -Emphasis -Unity
- 26. Composition (Emphasis) Composition can organize an artwork and make it more attractive or more interesting
- 27. Composition (Scale) We will study more about composition during week 4 and 5.
- 28. Media (medium) The materials that were used to make the artwork
- 29. Clay Cement Pencil Paper Paint, etc
- 30. We will begin studying different media in the middle of the quarter.
- 31. Form **What the artwork looks like**
- 32. The form of most paintings is a flat rectangle, but it doesn’t have to be.
- 33. The form of a sculpture can be even more varied.
- 34. Form can be very simple and describe the shape or the general type of artwork: a lady, a rectangle, a swirl of leaves, a landscape or a portrait.
- 35. Style = surrealism Style = fauvism Form = Landscape
- 36. Style Characteristics of a work or group of works
- 37. Style An individual artist or a group of artist can have a unique style. We will study art movements and styles in art history towards the end of the quarter.
- 38. Style = Surrealism Style = surrealism Style = fauvism Salvador Dali’s “The Persistence of Memory” Form = Landscape Style: Impressionism Claude Monet Style = Japanese Ink Painting
- 39. Context Where (and when) the artwork is displayed (also: title, price, lighting, etc)
- 40. a glass piece in a garden has very different content than a glass piece in a gallery Dale Chihuly
- 42. Slides in a national art museum Carsten Höller at Tate Modern
- 43. We often see artwork in the context of a gallery or museum. This quarter we will visit artworks in the Larson Gallery (as well as other locations on campus).
- 44. Intent What the artist wants the artwork to be
- 45. Title = Pompeii
- 46. Title = Pompeii
- 47. Now, what is the content of this piece?
- 48. Content: Subject Form Medium Composition Formal Elements Context Style Intent “Wanderer above the Sea of Fog” by Caspar David Friedrich
- 49. Content Would it be changed by: -crayon instead of oil paint? -the man in the corner instead of the center? -seeing it 30’ tall in a park? -knowing it was painted by Leonardo Da Vinci?