Art Appreciation 1301
Pattern
An arrangement of predictably repeated elements
Velazquez, Las Meninas, 1656
Velázquez used Las Meninas to show his importance as a painter and his intimacy with the royal family Combining modes of analysis Formal analysis—Multiple focal points discovered: Princess Margarita King and Queen Velázquez painting Nieto in doorway Contextual analysis Identification of members of the court in scene Biographical analysis Artist's desire to be knighted Artist's relationship with King Philip IV Iconographical analysis Cross on Velázquez
Secondary colors
Violet, orange, green
Isometric perspective
Now common in conemporart computer graphics to allow uniform objects to remain the same size yet move around in a game field. Note "The Sims"
Texture: Louise Bourgeois, Maman, Guggenheim Museum, Bilbao, Spain
Open volume, legs has buoyancy and tension.
Emphasis
The principle of drawing attention to particular content in a work
Proporion
The relationships between the sizes of different parts of a work make up its proportions
Focal Point
The specific part of an area of emphasis to which the artist draws our eye
Foreshortening example
Trinity: Volume 1, Wonder-woman, Superman, and Batman
2D
Two Dimensional- length x width
Unity
Unity refers to the imposition of order and harmony on a design Provides an artwork with its cohesiveness and helps communicate its visual idea
Subject matter: Non- Objective
Unrecognizable
Clamp, Tsubasa RESERVair
Uses line to communicate direction and movement, direct our eyes and, intensify the feeling of movement.
Variety
Variety is a kind of visual diversity that brings many different ideas, media, and elements together in one composition
Complementary color
colors that look good but are opposite of each other. Ex: purple & yellow, red & green, orange & blue.
Simon Rodia, Watt Towers, 1921- 1954
- Construction worker, not a trained artist - Citizens liked the painting - Originally named Nuestro Pueblo
The Journey of the Sun God Re
- Egyptian culture - Reflects importance of rivers - Painted on the inside of coffin - Refers to Egyptian after life
Tea Bowl, 16th Cent., Japanese- Traditional
- Western cultures make a distinction between high art and craft
da Vinci, Mona Lisa, 1503-6
-Wife of a merchant - Smile makes it unique - Landscape is shown - He was known for painting beautiful hands
Subject matter: Abstraction
Abstracted art
The Great Pyramid of Khufu Giza- There are three pyramids, so precisely done that the greatest difference in length of the sides is ____. Originally encased in fine white limeston. The simplicity of their geometry must have appeared like gigantic crystals in the desert sands.
1 3/4"
Space- techniques to create the illusion of space or depth
1. Size change 2. Overlapping 3. Position 4. Atmospheric Perspective 5. Linear Perspective
Motif
A design repeated as a unit in a pattern
Mass
Colossal Head, Olmec, 1500, Basalt
Factors indicating value
Condition of the work? How prolific was the artist?
Definition and functions of line
Connects two points Defines the boundries between planes Directs the viewer's eye
Psychological Analysis
Considers the mental state of the artist when the artwork was being made and uses this to help interpret the work
Surrealist
Created work drawing on ideas and images from dreams and the unconscious mind.
Implied motion: Bernini, Apollo and Daphne, 1622
Daphne is running because she doesn't want to be raped so she is turned into a tree instead
Subject matter: Representational
Depicts object or people we can recognize
Implied Line
Egon Schiele, Portrait of the Artist's Wife
The Meeting of St. Mathew and St. Paul
Example of expressing a cycle of time Merges a series of episodes into one picture
Alexander Calder, Untitled, 1976
Example of kinetic and performance art
Chuck Close, Self-portrait, 1997
Example of motif
Meret Oppenheim, Object, 1936, fur-covered cup, saucer, and spoon
Example of subversive texture
The Taj Mahal, commissioned by Shah Jahan, Agra, India
Example of symmetry
Tell a story
Express a cycle of time
Ingres, Grande Odalisque, 1814
Feminist analysis: Objectified subject (nude woman in a harem) Male audience/viewer Pose is sensual and submissive
Artemisia Gentileschi, Judith Decapitating Holofernes
Most of the lightest values in the painting are reserved for the clothing adorning the dead body of St. Bonaventure These create a central focal point that stands out in contrast to the surrounding dark values The whiteness of his clothing symbolizes Bonaventure's spotless reputation Enough light value is distributed to the other figures to allow our eyes to be drawn away from the saint's body, making the composition more interesting
Symmetrical balance
If a work can be cut in half and each side looks exactly (or nearly exactly) the same, then it is symmetrically balanced
Chiaroscuro- from the Italian Renaissance
Italian for "light- dark"
Balance
Just as real objects have physical weight, parts of a work of art can have visual weight or impact If the amount of visual weight does not have a reasonable counterweight on the opposite side, the work may appear to be unsuccessful or unfinished If there are reasonable visual counterweights the work seems complete, and balance has been achieved
Actual motion
Kinetic and performance art Kinetic art plays out the passage of time through an art object, usually a sculpture, which moves
Marc Quinn, Self, 1991
Made art of 8-10 pints of his own blood and froze it
Rembrandt van Rijn, Self-portrait
Made more than 100 self-portraits; this piece was stolen many times, his paintings are small, piece is made of copper & oil, worth $35 million
Texture: Frank Gehry, Guggenheim Museum, 1997, Bilbao, Spain
Museum is made of titanium and is reflective; designed to look like a ship; looks reflective & 'airy' Guggenheim.
Klimt, Adele Bloch-Bauer II, 1912
Painted is the painter's girlfriend; he painted his wives and sisters, sold in 2006 for $87.9 million
Fine Art
Painting, drawing, sculptures, sometimes print
Edward Hopper, Nighthawks, 1942
Psychological analysis: Made during America's entry into World War II Emotion conveyed through figures and setting
Primary colors
Red, Yellow, Blue
Foreshortening
Results from the rules of perspective applied to represent unusual points
Feminist Analysis
Role of women as: Artists Subjects Viewers
Implied motion
Showing time and a story in a painting
Relief vs. In the round
Stela with supernatural scene, Mexico or Guatemala, 761 CE., Limestone (bas- relief)
Subversive Texture
Tactile conflicts with actual experience. Hidden.
Hierachical scale
The deliberate use of relative size in a work of art, in order to communicate differences in importance
Color: Four basic properties- Hue
The general classification of a color as seen in the vidible spectrum
Emphasis and subordination
The opposite of emphasis is subordination Subordination draws our attention away from certain areas of a work
Asymmetrical balance
When artists organize a composition they often use different visual "weights"on each side of it
Radial Symmetry
achieved when all elements in a work are equidistant from a central point and repeat in a symmetrical way from side to side and top to bottom