ART-101-04: Art Appreciation I Ch. 5 Test

Principles of Asymmetrical Balance

-A large form is visually heavier than a smaller form. -A dark valued form is visually heavier than a lighter valued form of the same size. -A textured form is visually heavier than a smooth form of the same size. -A complex form is visually heavier than a simple form of the same size. -Two or more small forms can balance a larger one. -A smaller dark form can balance a larger light one.

Edouard Manet. A Bar at the Folies-Bergere. 1881-82. Oil on canvas, 3'1 ¾" x 4'3 ¼". The Samuel Courtauld Trust, Courtauld Institute of Art Gallery, London. Stop. Edouard Manet, une Marchande de Consolation aux Folies-Bergere. Wood engraving from Le Journal Amusant, May 27, 1882.

A play on symmetry using weights and counterweights to balance the composition and keep the viewer actively participating in looking. (read page 125)

Balance

Balance in art refers to the ways in which the elements (line, shape, color, etc.) are arranged in a composition to create visual equilibrium. This is an example of symmetrical balance. The skull is placed on the vertical axis which gives the composition a formal quality. The branches rhyme with the deer skull's antlers. The balance is softened with subtle variations in shape and value. Georgia O'Keeffe. Deer Skull with Pedernal, 1936. Oil on canvas, 36 x 30''. Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Mass.

Henri Matisse. The Red Studio. 1911. Oil on canvas, 5'11 ¼" x 7'2 ¼".The Museum of Modern Art, New York.

Color, repetition, and visual rhymes unify the variety of objects in the room.

Maya Lin. Storm King Wavefield. 2007—08. Earth and grass, 240,000 square feet (11-acre site) at Storm King Art Center, Mountainville, New York.

Copyright Maya Lin Studio, courtesy Pace Gallery

Proportion and Scale

Describe the size, location, or amount of one element in relation to another. They have a great deal to do with the overall harmony of an individual piece and our perception of the art. As a fundamental element in artistic work, proportion and scale are quite complex. This shows a shift in scale, a sort of telescoping of sections of the figure. Smaller parts rising out of the larger, while maintaining the appearance of reasonable proportion. Rene Magritte. Delusions of Grandeur II. 1948. Oil on canvas, 39 1/8 x 32 1/8''. Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden at the Smithsonian Institution, Washington D.C.

Emphasis and Subordination

Emphasis is defined as an area or object within the artwork that draws attention and becomes a focal point. Subordination is defined as minimizing or toning down other compositional elements in order to bring attention to the focal point. Paul Cezzane. Still Life with Compotier, Pitcher and Fruit. 1892-94. Oil on canvas, 28 1/4 x 36 1/4''. The Barnes Foundation, Philadelphia, PA.

Joseph Mallord William Turner. The Burning of the Houses of Parliament. c. 1835. Oil on canvas, 36 ¼ x 48 ½". Philadelphia Museum of Art

Eyes are drawn to the fire at the focal point as emphasis and "drawn'' around the art piece even to the subordinated elements.

Henry Ossawa Tanner. The Banjo Lesson. 1893.Oil on canvas, 49 x 35 ½". Hampton University Museum, Hampton, Virginia

Greater attention is given to the figures slightly off center by the brightness of the background.

Symmetrical Balance (Formal Balance)

Mirror image of shapes/forms on either side of an imaginary axial dividing line; elements correspond to one another in size, shape, and placement. Mae West's Lips Sofa by Salvador Dali, 1936.

Claes Oldenburg. Clothespin.1976. Steel sculpture, 45' x 12'3" x 4'6".Philadelphia, PA

Proportions are consistent with the size of the sculpture, but the scale is extremely large in comparison to the norm.

Radial Balance (Radial Symmetry)

Radial Balance in art occurs when there are equal parts that radiate out from the center. Think of it like pieces of pie. Newar artists at Densatil Monastery, Central Tibet. Thirteenth-Deity Jnanadakini Mandala. 1417-47. Distemper on copper cloth, 33 1/4 x 28 7/8''. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

Piet Mondrian. Broadway Boogie-Woogie. 1942—43. Oil on canvas, 50 x 50".The Museum of Modern Art, New York

Rectangular forms, horizontal and vertical lines, and primary colors are what make up this work. Mondrian felt these elements were the basic universal language of human culture. This piece expresses and captures the rhythm of life in NYC at the time, as well as a form of music known as Jazz with its syncopated sounds.

Repetition Art

Repetition refers to one object or shape repeated; pattern is a combination of elements or shapes repeated in a recurring and regular arrangement; rhythm--is a combination of elements repeated, but with variations. Repetition, pattern, and rhythm in a Buddhist mandala.

Rhythm

Rhythm is a principle of art that can be difficult to describe in words. We can easily recognize rhythm in music because it is the underlying beat that we hear. In art, we can try and translate that into something that we see in order to understand an artwork's visual beat. Tawaraya Sotatsu. Painted Fans Mounted on a Screen. Early 17th century. Six-panel folded screen, color, gold, and silver over gold on paper; 5'7'' x 12'5''. Freer Gallery of Art at the Smithsonian Institution, Washington D.C.

Edward Hopper. Early Sunday Morning. 1930. Oil on canvas, 2'11" x 5'.Whitney Museum of American Art, New York

Rhythm is based in repetition, reoccurring patterns we see and experience all around us. In this painting we see different rhythms moving horizontally across the canvas. Variations of space between positive and negative shapes and surfaces alternate to create slower to faster rhythms from street level to rooftop.

The Two Fridas Frida Kahlo. 1939 C.E. Oil on canvas

She typically painted self-portraits using vibrant colors in a style that was influenced by cultures of Mexico as well as influences from European Surrealism. Her self-portraits were often an expression of her life and her pain.

Scale

Size in relation to some "normal'' or constant size. Scale is a principle of design that is often compared to proportion. Claes Oldenburg and Coosje van Bruggen. Plantoir, 2001. Stainless steel, aluminum, fiber-reinforced plastic, painted with polyurethane enamel; height 23'11''. Collection Fundacoa de Serralves, Porto.

Francisco de Goya. Executions of the Third of May, 1808. 1814—15. Oil on canvas, 8'9" x 13'4". Museo Del Prado, Madrid

The emphasis is the highlighted area of white, yellow, and red, which focuses our attention on the slaughter. The background and soldier figures are subordinated as the slaughter is emphasized by bright colors. de Goya never left Europe but moved to France in 1824 after Spanish oppression ensued.

Golden Section

The golden section, also called the golden ratio, is one of those concepts that once you know about it you start to see it everywhere. Related to the mathematical principle called the Fibonacci sequence, the golden section was used by artists and the ancient Greeks in both architecture and other works of art. to create geometrical compositions.

Joseph Cornell. The Hotel Eden. 1945. Assemblage with music box, 15 1/8 x 15 1/8 x 4 ¾". National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa.

The objects were selected and arranged to create a conceptual unity that was meaningful to the artist, based on dreams, nostalgia, and fantasies. Visual unity is achieved with the box and smaller boxlike divisions inside. We are asked to accept the objects as a coherent whole and puzzle out their connections.

Composition

The organization of lines, shapes, colors, and other art elements in a work. More often applied to two-dimensional art; a broader term is design. Piet Mondrain. Composition with Red, Blue, and Yellow. Oil on canvas, 1930 in Zurich, Switzerland.

Design

The organization of visual elements in a work of art. In two-dimensional art, often referred to as composition. Le Tour de Eiffel, Champs de Mars in Paris France. Stephen Sauvestre and Gustave Eiffel, 1887-1889.

Asymmetrical Balance (Informal Balance)

Two sides that do not correspond to one another in size, shape, and placement. This is an example of asymmetrical balance and the use of visual weight. Gustav Klimt. Death and Life. Before 1911, finished 1915. Oil on canvas, 5'10'' x 6'6''. Museum Leopold, Vienna Austria.

Annette Messager. Mes Voeux. Framed photographs and handwritten texts, suspended with twine; 59 x 15 ¾".Courtesy Marian Goodman Gallery, Paris.

Unified conceptually by what the photos have in common. Limiting color and repeating shapes give visual unity.

Unity and Variety

Unity in an artwork creates a sense of harmony and wholeness, by using similar elements within the composition and placing them in a way that brings them all together. Variety adds interest by using contrasting elements within the composition. Henri Matisse. Memory of Oceania, 1953. Gouache on paper, cut and pasted, and charcoal on white paper; 9'4'' x 9'4 7/8.'' The Museum of Modern Art, New York.

Visual Unity vs. Conceptual Unity

Visual Unity relates to the placement or arrangement of visual elements that unify the artwork. Conceptual Unity relates to the cohesive expression of ideas. May look disorganized, but communicates idea.

Visual Weight

Visual Weight refers to the apparent "heaviness" or "lightness" of the forms arranged in a composition. This is gauged by how much a shape draws our attention. When visual weight is equally distributed to either side of the implied center of gravity a composition is felt to be visually balanced. Isamu Noguchi. Red Cube, 1968. Steel painted red; height 24'. Photo courtesy of The Noguchi Museum, New York. The cube is balanced because its weight is distributed evenly around a central axis.

Leonardo da Vinci. Study of Human Proportions According to Vitruvius.c. 1485—90. Pen and Ink, 13 ½ x 9 ¾".Gallerie dell'Accademia, Venice

Vitruvius whose treatise on architecture related the perfected male form to the perfect geometry of the square and the circle.

Relieved/Approximate Symmetry

slight differences between axial areas of a work of art

Hierarchial Scale

the use of size to denote the relative importance of subjects in an artwork