Art: Styles of Figuration

• Art components such as line, value, color, texture, form, shape, and composition communicate meaning beyond aesthetics
• Visual art functions on the mimetic plane(representational accuracy) as well as the thematic plane (social and historical context).
• Icons and images possess unique meanings tied to societal and historical contexts
• Analyzing representational art involves interpreting relationships between figures, their orientation, and spatial positioning.

Styles of Figuration

• Representational Art: Features recognizable subjects, a contrast to abstract art.
• Naturalism: Aims for lifelike depiction like Greek Hellenistic art, focuses on humans and daily life.
• Realism: A 19th-century based style which emphasizes truthful portrayals of modern life and social issues.
• Social Realism: A form of political and social commentary, seen in Mexican murals and Philippine art.
• Magic Realism and Photorealism: Involves precise details and heightened emotional feeling
• Expressionism: Conveys emotion through distortion and color. Example, Munch's The Scream.

Subject Matter

• Art can be categorized into portraits, genre scenes, landscapes, still life, historical, religious, and surrealist works.
• Portraits express individuality incorporating details like gaze and posture
• Landscapes: Range from realist depictions of specific locations to romantic, classical, or symbolic forms.
• Still Life: Uses symbolism and represents material culture, Dutch still lifes include moralistic elements of decay.

Symbolism and Allegory

• Symbolism: Uses objects and figures to convey broader concepts such as Jose Tence Ruiz's decaying beast which symbolizes societal decay.
• Allegory: Narratives containing elements that have direct symbolic parallels, Luna’s Spoliarium critiques colonial oppression.

Historical and Cultural Context

• Art reflects its time and societal issues from economics to political ideologies
• Artists use art to engage with contemporary debates, crises, and movements such as Picasso's which was his political statement

Interpreting Art

• Analyzing Meaning: Combine visual analysis with contextual understanding of medium, theme, and symbolism.
• Art as Catalyst: Art reflects and influences social change, promoting values like truth, freedom, and equality

Elements of Art

• Line
• Color:
  • Properties of color:
    • Hue
    • Value
    • Intensity/Saturation
• Shape
• Value
  • Chiaroscuro: Uses light and shadow to create a sense of volume and three dimensionality
  • Tenebrism: Uses dramatic lighting to create a spotlight effect. Uses deep darkness as kind of negative space while intense light in other areas
• Volume: Mass and weight
• Texture
  • Polyphonic
  • Contrapuntal
  • Homophonic
  • Monophonic
• Perspective
  • One point
  • Multi-point (space)

Principles of Organization

• Variety in Unity: Art has to be interesting and make sense, must not be chaotic or appear boring. Must contain Repetition - Contrast – Variation
• Proportion: Measure, ratio of part to whole
• Balance: Can be asymmetrical or symmetrical
• Rhythm: Movement or ordered movement
• Emphasis: Dominance and subordination; focus
• Harmony: Fitting-well

Core Elements of Visual Analysis

• Scale
• Composition
• Pictorial Space
• Form
• Line
• Color
• Light
• Tone
• Texture
• Pattern

Scale

• Scale considerations: Painting size influences the viewer's distance, figure size, and the effect of size on viewing distance.
• Large paintings encourage standing back, while small ones invite closer inspection.
• Composition: The composition is the complete arrangement of elements in a work of art.
• Art elements of composition:
  • Pyramidal Structure: The Madonna's drapery creates a pyramid shape, symbolizing stability.
  • Placement: The figure is in the foreground, towering over the horizon and framed by landscape,trees, and architecture.
  • Horizontal Bands: Background features horizontal bands of greenery, pebbles, farmland, and clouds, creating depth.

Figure Arrangement

• The gentle tilt of the Virgin Mary's head mirrors the angle of the Christ Child's head
• The space between the Virgin Mary's hands mirrors the volume of the heads
• Diagonal lines formed by the Virgin Mary's shoulder and forearm echo the child's body, unifying the composition.

Pictorial Space

• Pictorial space is the illusion of depth on a flat surface, achieved through:
  • Overlapping: The Madonna and Child are positioned to create a sense of one being in front of the other.
  • Atmospheric Perspective: Distant sky and mountains appear paler and bluer; replicates looking through the atmosphere.
  • Linear Perspective: Orthogonal lines of the plowed field recede to a vanishing point, obscured by the Virgin Mary.

Form

• Form is the representation of solids in space, including natural forms such as trees, grass, fields, mountains and clouds
• Form is also the representation of figurative forms such as the Madonna and child and built forms such as Architecture
• Shape can be Rounded (curvilinear) and rectilinear
• Solidity: Can be solid figures versus delicate details (e.g., leaves).
• Line: Used to define form.

Line

• Line is used to define form through:
  • Contour Lines: Separating forms (e.g., drapery from grass).
  • Standalone Lines: Branches of trees.
  • Edges of Forms: Corners of architectural elements.

Color

• Color Elements: Include dominant colors (blue, red and yellow) and primary colors
• Symbolism: e.g White in the shawl connects Mary with the heavens

Light

• Light and shadow are used to create depth and realism
• Light Source: Sunlight appears to come from the left slightly forward and high in the sky, shadows are consistent with the light source
• Chiaroscuro: The use of light and shadow to create a three-dimensional form

Tone

• Tone refers to the amount of light and darkness in a color.

Texture

• Texture refers to the surface quality of an object, can contrast smooth textures with rough textures
• Texture is a tool to create a sense of veracity, and is closely related to the materials that the artist uses.
• Pattern is the repetition of a form over and over again, often to create a decorative field.
• Pictorial Space: Is the illusionistic depth that the artist renders. It is in conflict with pattern.