Art Prefinals PDF

MODULE 8 Learning Objectives 1. Describe each principle of design and the effects they produce in different art forms. 2. Analyze paintings in terms of the application of principles of design. 3. Discuss the impact of principles of design on the appreciation of visual art. Section 8.2 Principles...

MODULE 8 Learning Objectives 1. Describe each principle of design and the effects they produce in different art forms. 2. Analyze paintings in terms of the application of principles of design. 3. Discuss the impact of principles of design on the appreciation of visual art. Section 8.2 Principles of Design Unity and Variety Imagine a group of gold fish joined in by a black fish. How does the new set up look like? The common response is that the group has an odd-man-out. Without mentioning, it is the black fish that does not belong to the group of gold fish, since the former is outnumbered. The same can be said if all students in this class are wearing their uniform except for a few. Essential to a visual composition is unity. Let us talk about unity as a leadership concept. An effort of one may not necessarily result in unity but if followers do concerted efforts, there is a veneer of unity. In the political arena, one particular unity which had happened in the past and was able to overthrow the Marcos regime was the historical EDSA People Power. The unity therein radiated in the people’s initiative to turn their voices into one big force. In art, unity exudes the same concept. The elements that go into the artwork must exhibit unity so that the mind will be able to read it the way it is attuned to. The unity in the artwork shows that the artist is paying attention to visual theme and not just putting in random details. Variety, in contrast to unity, is also an interesting element. As a common perception in art, too much unity is boring. To sidetrack to life, doing the same thing over and over again can be boring. Notice how people strive to look for a new engagement. An outdoors man and a mountaineer may find mountains uninteresting after 10 years of climbing, hiking, and trekking. He might consider shifting to water-sports for a change. In the same manner, a fashion geek may change fashion statements every so often to look chic and trendy all of the time. In art, variety is a special tool to complement unity. Introduce blue in a dominant green picture plane and you will get an area of contrast and an area that incites new visual experience. For every variety you introduce, a new visual experience is made. Before we go to the discussion proper let us do the following: Get some stuff from your bag and arrange them on your arm desk. Use the area of your arm desk as your picture plane. Try to achieve unity in your arrangement and introduce a little variety After you finish this activity, we will process how you achieve unity and variety. Balance When you stand on one foot, you will find that your body is trying to adjust its posture – arms are flapping or thrusting and extending to the sides. This is your idea of balance. The weights on both sides of your body are being compensated by the act of flapping, thrusting, and extending of the arms to the sides. Now, what if you have been asked to hang a picture frame on a wall, and in the process, you seem to be inclined to fix the frame at the center of the spacious wall. What comes to your mind for doing so? It has a lot to do with the concept of balance. Your mind is attuned to balance even when you were an infant. When you find the center of an area it is the same as finding the right balance. When you find the center of something you feel that the weights on both sides of that center are held in check. This is the same as when you find no specific weights but empty spots on both sides of center. A balanced lifestyle has a lot in common with our topic, since the idea of a balanced lifestyle can still be accommodated by the concept of ‘weight’. How much weight or importance do you put on recreation, study, and work? You would know that you are living a balanced lifestyle if none of the is compromised, or when your work does not interfere with your day of fun and recreation and vice versa. However, in art, not all cases of balanced compositions are a result of an equal distribution of weights to either side of an implied center. You will learn more on types of balance and its application in this slideshow: https://www.slideshare.net/janehbasto/balance-in-art Links to an external site. Emphasis and Subordination To draw and gain attention are central to an individual’s health and good relationships. This is better understood as to notice and be noticed. To notice and be noticed are complicated matters to discuss here using psychology, owing to many social conventions and stigma. Although, attention seeking is quite another story, which is irrelevant to the main point here. Normal level of getting and drawing attention seems a little less than a nifty job. A person may gain attention by being loud, doing outrageous things, or being different. One specific example of the latter is dressing up contrary to the expected social norm like having mismatched clothing. Gaining attention is gratifying for some, while giving attention to someone might be grueling. One thing remains the same, people need attention to validate their existence. Or else, they will be deprived of its pleasant and warming effects. In art, attention is translated into visual selection where one image is emphasized over the others. The importance of emphasis in art is similar to the natural need of man for attention. Art will remain ambiguous and tend to favor subjectlessness if emphasis is not established. The minds of viewers must constantly be led to an area within the composition because they easily wander off the composition. In that case the viewers miss the subject or important part of the artwork. In principle at least one or a few parts of the artwork should be emphatic as the eyes constantly seek for a stimulus that will hold the viewers attention. Imagine, on the other hand, a stage with actors spotlighted as they deliver their lines. While this happens, the background is dark or inconspicuous. This is the exact opposite of emphasis. In life, it is evident that priorities are set at primary such as health and family as opposed to caprices. It is in this way that art students must understand the dynamics between emphasis and subordination in art. Subordination is like a secondary or tertiary concern. It strengthens the things that you set as primary by virtue of contrast. There is more to learn about emphasis and subordination in art. At least now you know the complementary relationship between the two. Learn more about its use and application from this article: http://teresabernardart.com/principles-of-good-design-emphasis/ Links to an external site. Scale and Proportion The society implements a standard for a beautiful and desirable body. Since the kick-off of modernism, people are following the slim and a considerable size of the bosom and the buttocks for women. Men are maintained to be lean, with broad shoulders, tall and brusque. The society ordains these as the ideal proportion and scale. People seem to follow without asking why the preference is such. But historically, the Greeks have played it over and over again that this is their expression of the sublimity of beauty. As the common perception in the olden Greek society, people that did not fit the standard of beauty were inferior or not celebrated. Athletes, on the other hand, were disciplined and destined for vicPrevioustory. They spend almost half of their lifetime training in the gymnasia, in time for competition and tournament. Most of these athletes became the inspiration for sculpting bronze and marble sculptures of human beings that look divine – some are surviving nowadays but very few are in one piece. Scale and proportion can be understood in the context of size hierarchy. Observe how society puts a lot of premium on height. Some applicants to a sales job, for instance, might not make it because of insufficient height. It will then become clear to these applicants that the world is proportioned to ideal height and weight. As a little commentary, this causes social divisionism. But still companies know quite well not to hire short, under over size men and women. At the top of the food chain will always be the scale and proportion with the ultimate flavor. It is notable as well that the credibility of a person improves as height goes up and the extra weight trimmed. Ramification aside, art tries to move along these expectations, and from time to time sideline into commenting against such norms. But art became popular for portraying scale and proportions that are attuned to the concept of beauty and the perception thereof. In decoration, observe that there are subtle strategies to decoration that involved mainly adjusting scale and proportion to fit in new and old ideas. Learn more about the principles of scale and proportion in this article: http://teresabernardart.com/principles-of-good-design-proportion/ Links to an external site. Rhythm and Repetition Life is full of rhythm. First the biological rhythm keeps you alive. Then the rhythm of your daily routine and lifestyle, and even emotional statuses take their course. You sleep at night to temporarily suspend your activities and then resume to your usual rhythm when you wake up. This defines your entire life. Repeating things everyday is part of what you are trained into. It is like a ritual done with utmost conviction and investment of energy and thinking. Repetition can also be awefully boring when they are senseless and unproductive. This tells you that the most efficient system of repetition is that which achieves something. In art, repetition achieves the much-needed structure by keeping the familiar visible. The eyes travel around a visual composition and chances are they find it easy to bring together what they perceived in the process. But with too little repetition, sometimes the viewing is brief, and the eyes discover too little, which is not necessarily bad. Now, to draw the importance of repetition and rhythm think of stopping everything that is moving and suspending all visual cycles. What kind of world are you going to face without these aspects? The most probable thing to happen is that there will be fewer patterns in the universe. To learn more about the use and application of Rhythm and Repetition in art read this article: http://designinthevisualarts.blogspot.com/p/repetition-and-rhythm.html Links to an external site. Contrast A modern teenager still believes in opposites attract. It is the law of physics which was applied to love. You know that what this thought means in the realm of love is ‘complements get along”, while we know the opposite yields little success in love. Regardless of whether this golden relevant or not, contrast is important to reinforce man’s understanding of things. Normally, man does not see old age if there was no youthfulness. They will not understand death if there was no life. The succinct explanation to what ‘love’ is in the bible was written partly in terms of contrast – Love is not jealous. In art, contrast does a visual explication of what an element is. For instance, the color blue is understood in all its qualities – tone, tint, shade – if it is contrasted with yellow. It is because yellow is everything that blue is not. Simply stated, the human mind sees the bigger picture if there is contrast. To learn more about the use and application of contrast in art read this article: https://www.widewalls.ch/magazine/contrast-in-art-and-the-value-of-the-opposites Links to an external site. Directional Force When attending big events where the crowd is as big as an entire auditorium it is hard to focus on something. However, if somebody fools around and stands at the middle of a throng of crowd and stretches his arms up, pointing to the sky, almost everyone in that crowd will search in the direction of his arm or finger. This has been done in a social experiment where the result is pretty much predictable. The brain’s priority is to respond first according to what the gesture means, so most people in that crowd looked up to the direction of the arm. Some reluctant individuals fail to succumb to the arm because of previous experience of being fooled, or because the person initiated the pointing was untrustworthy. Both conformity and flight-or-flee were very much involved. There are a lot in the human DNA and culture that compels us to behave in a certain way. Imagine if the pointing of the arm and finger did not match a person’s experience or what he is hardwired for. The most probable scenario is he would not have any reaction to directional forces. The arm in the cited scenario was recognized as a compelling force that shifted people’s attention or move their eyes from point to point or area to area. To learn more about the use and application of the principle of Directional Force, read this article: https://www.sophia.org/tutorials/design-in-art-directional-force# Links to an external site.  MODULE 9 Section 9.1 Introduction to Module 9 Reading the Image 1. Pictorial Cue 2. Semiotic Plane 3. Iconic Plane 4. Contextual Plane Summary A visual work as an iconic or pictorial sign has a specific and highly complex significance which emerges from the original use of the elements and resources of art. Needless to say, the sense, sense or structure of a work's meanings is not specified, nor is a work 's understanding a reduction process that reduces meaning to a description, statement, or a single insight. Throughout art, meaning is a network of conceptual, emotional, and sensory meanings expressed by the work and reacted to by the viewer, taking in the scope of its cultural context, creative practice and training, and human experience in a dialogic relationship with the work of art. Understanding the picture may be difficult if the audience lacks insight into its fundamental meaning which can be perceived through image-making. Image interpretation should be approached across different layers of context, called planes. Another way to put it is, we need to retrieve the meaning of what we see from behind multiple doors. When a pedestrian navigates through urban spaces., he is confronted with many signs. A traffic sign is sending out a crucial message by tapping the on his understanding of universal symbols. Some signs advertise products. Some signs have deeper meaning, and invites the observer to draw subtle connections. Section 9.2 Pictorial Cue The artwork itself is an iconic or pictorial sign within the context of art. Cultural sign is one of the useful tools in communicating artworks to viewers. Generally speaking , people keep selling cultural signs when they need to convince others or make others understand their perspective. One way to understand how the three planes of visual analysis work is to learn: semiotic, iconic, and contextual. But first, we must realize how signs work. At our early development, we were introduced to a lot of visual information, and some of them are associated with strange meanings. First there was denotation, and then our knowledge of denotation became the bridge to branch out meaning that involved cultural and emotional response to the word or the image. So, our world is complex - a tree is not just tree but a "family tree". How would we locate the "heart of the city", or the "eye of the typhoon". We must also bring the matter to art, as a large cache of visual metaphors. Metaphor and Semiotics A dictionary definition of the word metaphor is the "application of a name or descriptive term or phrase to an object or action where it is not literally applicable." Thus, the metaphor is itself a semiotic sign that gives meaning from what is referenced. In addition, the metaphor adds to other communication by linking a meaning to an unfamiliar object rather than just familiar ones. Section 9.3 Semiotic Approach Semiotic-based approach demonstrates how the material aspects of work generate meaning within the whole. This approach studies signs that can be understood as any physical quality that may draw meaning from it. The Concept of Signs The concept of signs has been around for a long time, having been studied, among other things, by many classical philosophers such as Plato, Aristotle, Augustine, William of Ockham, and Francis Bacon. The term semiotics derives from the Greek root seme, as in semeiotikos (an 'interpreter of signs'). The basic semiotic plane in art encompasses the elements and what the observer perceives in the composition, together with their potential to convey meaning. Basic semiotic plane may be classified into the following categories: 1. Visual Elements. These elements have the potential to convey meaning and function in a manner that is related to or in interactions between these elements. Sometimes, contrast becomes more apparent than complementary relations. That is a part of the meaning of a work. examples: line, color, shape, mass, texture, space 2. Choice of Medium or Technique. Today artists are free to choose their medium. Technique is dictated on the type of medium or vice versa. There are media which allow the artist to be flexible and spontaneous, and there are media which compel them to exercise control. For example, fast-drying media imposes restriction. Others even follow a mathematical order. On the other hand, the artist may use longer-drying media such as oil on canvas to make adjustment and explore the medium and technique freely. 3. Format of the Work. Contrary to the traditional understanding that canvas shape has little to do with the image, the work format (dimension/orientation) is sometimes unified with the image form in the composition. For example, the Renaissance artist Raphael's Madonna of the Chair is a round-frame format. It shows continuous curves flowing around the frame and into the rounded body forms of the Virgin Mary, Jesus and John the Baptist. 4. Other Physical Properties or Marks of the Work. This refers to any marks, imprints, smudge or textural effects that add to the significance of the work. Section 9.4 Reading Line and Color Line Semiotics In addition to triggering our mechanical associations with a line perception, it can be drawn as vertical , horizontal, diagonal, curve or zigzag. It also includes associations with body orientations, for example resting position, attentive position, running position, or bending position and other physical actions that demonstrate grace. If lines are drawn or appear in nature they represent different mental states, including: Horizontal lines suggest a sense of motionless rest and calmness. Vertical lines are called tall and show magnitude The horizontal and vertical lines, used together in a square or rectangular shape, express balance and reflect stability. Diagonal lines travel in one direction and show fluidity and motion. Shallow curves relax while deep curves are aggressive. A series of diagonal lines with abrupt changes of direction offer confusion and throws off a sense of nervousness. Color Semiotics There has never been a single language of color, but a clearer and more cohesive approach to 'reading' and understanding colors is through different contexts in society. There is a reason why in a lot of sports gym red is a dominant color; this color has been cited to increase muscle strength and energy. It is partly innate and partly learnt how we react emotionally to colors. Emotions of Color Color perception will always have a visceral and emotional impact on the observer. When emotions are evoked, all aspects of psychology of color, semantics and physics are at work. At the bottom-line, our color experience affects our physiological condition. Color symbolism is abundant in literature, informed by color psychology and subjective interpretations of culture. The inclusion of color symbolism in whatever form of literature enhances reader experience. Even in films, colors have been used as instrument to deepen the characterization and narrative of stories. Color symbolism was used in The Wizard of Oz (1939) film. The film's grey tone to before the adventure began symbolized the dull life in the Gale farmhouse. Then, the transformation into technicolor or when the scene explodes into lush of gorgeous colors, the audience knew that a more exciting journey would happen. Here is a clip of that transformation : (watch in canvas) Here are commonly used symbolism of color not only in literature but in daily conversation. Socio-economic Colors can sanction socio-economic condition. In western society, purple became associated with wealth and royalty because it was more expensive to produce that hue than silver in Ancient Rome. Hence, the association was historically handed over to today. Cultural There may also be cultural origins in the meaning and symbolism given to colours. It is a common knowledge that China associates red with luck, whereas in Europe it symbolizes passion, or anger in North America. When you add other aspects of visual appearance to color such as silk or glossy appearance, such will yield a different interpretation compared to metallic or crystalline. In any given situation the actual meaning depends on the context in which the color is being used. Section 9.5 Reading Shape and Texture Shape and texture work together like visual analogues. At the macro scale, the shape of objects guide our perception. On the other hand, texture guides us the micro details or the "shape" of surfaces that in reality are ignored as trivial. The meaning behind shape and texture are often powerful, especially when the two elements are combined. Shape gives configuration and texture gives detail - visual weight, realism and context. Ben Jones used a sculptural shape of head and arm unit, with detailed ethnic patterns that when seen from afar, the form is totally filtered out. Meanings of Shapes Circles. Circles are continuous and never ending. They represent the eternal whole and there is an archetypal form in every culture that represents the sun, earth, moon, universe, and other celestial objects between them. Circles are used to suggest familiar objects, like wheels, balls, fruit of many kinds. They suggested completeness and roundness. Circles protect, persist, and constrain. They restrict what's inside, and keep things out. They offer both security and connectivity. Circles suggest fellowship, integrity and perfection.Circles protect, they persist, they constrain. They restrict what's inside, and keep things out. They offer both security and connectivity. Circles suggest fellowship, integrity and perfection. Squares. Most design projects are attracted to squares and rectangles because of their regularity and conformity. observing a square object reminds us of structures that are stable and easy to conceive because we trust spaces that have corners. Some would associated square with four directions. The square is also associated with community and integrity, and a foundational element. That is why a square easily connects with the idea of home. Find Out More Access this blog to learn more about shape semiotics. https://visme.co/blog/geometric-meanings/ Links to an external site. Texture Textures show a dramatic influence on the way we see things. A tattered texture implies a "marginalized" status, while silk signals opulence. While in seascape paintings a choppy sea symbolizes violence, a smoother, ripple-less sea, on the other hand, can represent a space for tranquility and meditation. We are hardwired to respond to every texture, and every culture has assigned a symbolism to it. Some paintings incidentally acquire a texture across time, changing the original message of its subject - or the way they are perceived. One example of this is Kazimir Malevich's work titled Black Square (1915). Its present texture is different from what was intended by the artist, and it is interesting to figure out what newer perceptions are attributed to the work today. Kazimir Malevich - Black Square, 1915. Oil on linen. 79.5 x 79.5 cm. Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow Section 9.6 Iconic Plane The iconic plane creates meaning from the symbolic. It is a second-level signifier and is considered unique beyond conventional signs. Iconic plane starts with perceiving a subject beyond the canvas. Joey Velasco used the Last Supper image in his painting Hapag ng Pagasa. Christ is breaking bread with grimy street children of Manila, posing both a socio-demographic reality and a unique expression of faith. Ideologies and moral values reveal important commentary, effectively relates with the viewer. Figuration. This is an expression of iconic meaning that uses the body's proportion as an icon of idea. The Classical figuration figuration reflects ideal proportions believed to be achieved by Greek measurement. Positioning. An object is seen in frontal, profile or three-fourth views in a painting. For every position, there is a corresponding meaning. Centered images are marked with strength and dominance while decentered images are -- with weakness and inferiority. A subject may appear formal or informal because of symmetrical and asymmetrical qualities resulting from certain positions of the subject. Gaze. This expression of an iconic meaning uses the direction of looking by a subject in a painting or photography. Examining the gaze in a portrait painting can lead to various meaning. Some gazes are domineering. Some are mysterious, and some tend to show a disturbed status. Wikimedia Foundation. (2020, June 7). Le Désespéré. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Le_D%C3%A9sesp%C3%A9r%C3%A9 Links to an external site.. The above painting is a self-portrait of Gustave Courbet. Courbet looks at you straight, and tears his eyes. Popular at the time, the Romantic approach to portraiture was about communicating the individual's emotional and psychological states. And while Courbet never considered himself a Romantic painter, he coped extremely well with the mission. Looking at this self-portrait you are not only feeling his suffering (as the title suggests) but you also get the impression of what kind of personality Gustave Courbet himself.  Close-up view of Young Sick Bacchus’s gaze The Young Sick Bacchus of Caravaggio is an alluring representation of sickness and sin. No matter what the cause of Caravaggio's illness was, the character portrayed is convincingly unwell. His lips are tinted blue as if lacking in vigor and nourishment beyond the pallor of his face. Given his attention turned outward, his body may be compressed by pain inwardly. Also his eyes seem to show faintness and pain. Cropping. This is a technique of rendering a picture, especially used in photography. But in painting, it refers to the way we isolate body parts. Feet, hand,s lips, nose and eyes are the usual parts that gain focus in painting. They express the soul of the subject. A focused scar on the face may suggest fierce and dangerous life, suffering or ailment that is lived through by the subject. Serial Images. This refers to images that use repeated subject in collage or in a series. It shows the subject's movement or progression through time and space. A good example of this is Andy Warhol's "Marily Monroe". Andy Warhol, Marilyn Monroe (Marilyn) 1967 FS II.22-31 1 Many of the prints of Marily Monroe underline her platinum blonde hair by incorporating yellow versions. The actress is depicted in silver and black in one of the prints, a sharp change from her colorful counterparts. This reminds us of the experience of seeing the actress in black and white on cinema screen. The dark colors are also a somber reminder of the death of the actress. Ultimately, the colors bring to life the legendary image and celebrity glamour of Marilyn Monroe. Warhol evokes her iconic icon status by creating repeated imagery. Section 9.7 Contextual Plane Contextual plane is the area where we look outside of the work of art to determine its meaning. It includes not only exploring the context in which the research was produced but also the context in which the research was and continues to be absorbed later. A thorough knowledge of a society 's history and economy, political and cultural conditions, past and present, is called upon in the conceptual plane. It carries with it a knowledge of literature and national and world art, mythologies, philosophies, and various cultures and world views. The work of art may contain direct or indirect references and allusions to historical figures and events, as well as to religious, literary and philosophical ideas and values which form part of the work 's meaning. An example of a work that used socio-political context is the People Power Monument. This monument depicts independence and democracy over a tyrant who at that time led the country into darkness. The creator expresses his feelings and thoughts about what happened at the time, a very sad and hopeless time for the nation, but through the power of faith, unity and bravery, Filipinos defeated the tyrant. Wikimedia Foundation. (2020, May 23). People Power Monument. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/People_Power_Monument.  MODULE 10 Section 10.2 Art History HISTORY OF WESTERN ART This chapter focuses on the history of western art—the way that it changed over time. The narratives of the European tradition are necessary for understanding the development of ideas, especially in academic art in which modern art answered most daringly. The perspective from the Western art world explains how artists and audiences think about art in the past and elaborates on the systemic change that art experienced through sociocultural changes. Prehistoric Art The oldest art forms are preserved in cave paintings of Lascaux Cave which was just discovered seventy-nine years ago. The discovery of this cave led to the understanding of how humans lived in the Paleolithic Age and their predisposition to create art. The paintings (as they are commonly preferred to be called) show human figures, animals, and abstract forms that have not been deciphered fully until today. The Paleolithic culture practiced two types of art forms: engravings and drawings. The latter is used as the proper category in publications to refer to the rudimentary illustrations of the cave walls and ceilings. Furthermore, such category predominated the Lascaux possibly because it was the extolled form, and the medium was easy to handle. Other factors may include their spiritual exercise that found better expression in drawing. The cave paintings would have visualized the type of diet the prehistoric people had through images of deer, oxen, horses, and bison. Experts have figured that the images of animals represent a specific period in their ancient calendar corresponding to the mating season of these animals. Anyone can be transfixed at how these figures are systematic with the use of straight, parallel, branching, nested convergent, quadrangular, claviform, and v-shaped lines as well as dots. (Encyclopedia of Stone Age Art) Reproductions at the Museo del Mamut, Barcelona (Photograph by Thomas Quine. In Wikimedia Commons, 2011)  The artistic sense of the prehistoric people was comparable to the renaissance in its own standard. As for the relationship between man and nature, the apposition that the cave artists had toward nature was sealed in these abstract symbols, veritably showing codependency and veneration. Egyptian Art When Egyptian culture is discussed, the subject of a pharaoh’s wealth is always pitched in: How rich was a pharaoh? The pharaoh was a god linked with other gods who resembled the head of different animals as seen in popular film representations. The fact that the pharaoh was a god betokens certain rightful and ordained wealth. That was how Ancient Egypt understood their master. He owned all resources in Egypt and had to be esteemed with an oblation of gold to show the power in the form of material resource. After the pharaoh’s death, it was proper to bury him under the magnificent pyramids, secured by an architectural labyrinth. It was important to prepare the pharaoh for death, for it behooved him as a god. So he will be interred with his fortunes like gold, precious stones, and art. A slave may be buried with him to continue to serve him in the afterlife. Pyramids of the Giza Necropolis Links to an external site. , 500 B.C. (Photograph by KennyOMG. In Wikimedia Commons, 2009) Among art historians, Egyptian art is considered direct and disciplined as reflected in their sense of order in life. Symbols like the pyramid show social hierarchy with the pharaoh being on the tip of the “triangle.” Hieroglyphics, a mix of large beetles and vultures, were also plenteous around the pyramids. Their sense of order is also reflected in the geometric regularity of their paintings, sculpture, and pottery. Greek Art The pinnacle of Greek civilization was reached in the creation of cities and a unique culture that believed that the human being was “the measure of all things.” Intrinsic to this belief was the Greeks’ constitution of gods with human characteristics such as frailty, jealousy, anger, and other personalities and emotions which broke away from the qualities customary to the previous belief of an infallible and perfect god. The chosen sculptural representation was the athletic body, for the Greeks believed that a sound body and mind dictated their way of life. They honed their sense of logic and extended it to their buildings and temple designs. Thus, the spatial logic was exemplified in the relationship of the parts to the whole, and the whole to the particular. In other words, the temples exuded organic unity. The Temple of Zeus, Cyrene, 600 B.C. (Photgraph by DecArch. In Wikimedia Commons, 1999) Most important of all was the love of knowledge following the discovery and the utilization of sciences. Such love of knowledge enabled citizens to participate in the improvement of their city-states. Roman Art The Romans were excellent in architecture and engineering, though they are regarded by historians as inferior artists. They were more practical than the Greeks, therefore, they practiced a different philosophy far from the idealized vision. Despite that, the Romans, at the behest of the emperor, had followed the Hellenistic world because of its more naturalistic tendency compared to the Classical Period. The Roman army was ordered to seize Greek intellectuals to serve as teachers to their young. The images of the authorities in Rome were the subjects of sculptures such as the busts of Julius and Augustus Caesar. Some sculptures were made to celebrate and memorialize the exploits of Roman generals done in relief or carved around a column. The Roman Colosseum, 70–80 A.D. (Photograph by Alessandro Ferri. In Wikimedia Commons, 2008) Ultimately, the Roman invention that put Roman architecture in every architectural discourse is the arch, a massive semicircular support that allows large openings in Roman buildings. One building that demonstrated the structural potential the Roman arch was the Roman Colosseum. The arch became a symbol of Roman conquest; for every city that Rome conquered, they built “triumph” arches.  On the venture of expression, the artists were able to express their true feelings about the subject of their art with subtlety, light, and symbology. Medieval By this time, the balance of power shifted, resulting in the Medieval Period, also known as the “Dark Ages.” The essence of the term medieval drew from the era being infixed between two “progressive” ages: the Age of Classicism and the Renaissance. It was during this time that the Christians shifted interest from the worldly luxuries to spiritual and eternal life. Thus, art during this period was done in the service of the church. Romanesque Romanesque was the period of the junction between Eastern architectural components and Roman-like style. The major influence of Romanesque art was the renunciation of worldly desires practiced in monasticism. Large groups of pilgrims flocked to churches to worship and see the relics of saints. With the growing number of pilgrims, the church had to widen and accommodate more chapels and arcaded walks resulting in largely built structure spread over large areas. Besides architectural development, the relief sculptures were refocused, depicting the biblical history and Christian values. The common feature of the sculptural works is the other-worldly quality, and some are identified with Germanic designs that geared towards abstraction and geometry. Gothic Art This period of art is considered a pinnacle where the greatest accomplishment of the Medieval Period came about. The economic activity of this time was pleasant. People were traveling, going to universities amid the growth of cities and trade. Just like Romanesque, Gothic art or style was more associated with churches. But this time, the elevation of the churches was significantly high, signifying spiritual upliftment and an active reification that the kingdom of God is in heaven, so it seeks to gain attention by literally reaching for the sky. The architects of the Gothic era upraised the squatting Romanesque churches, allowing for a new atmosphere created by the increasing elevation of the ceiling. Light dramatically flowed in and soused with exhilarating feeling. Cathedral Links to an external site. in Cologne Links to an external site. , Germany Links to an external site. , 1840 (Photograph by Thomas Wolf. In Wikimedia Commons, 2013) Structurally, the load was transmitted along a huge flying buttress towards a pier or thick pillar. As an effect of structural change, the decorative elements such as frescoes featuring biblical narratives and sculptures needed to cover a larger area, including the stained-glass windows. Overall, the painted and sculpted forms bore the quality of increasing realism. Renaissance The Greek Classicism found its way towards the Renaissance Period which began in Italy. By this time, medieval values were replaced with a premium on knowledge. At first, the Renaissance developed as a literary movement. Then it was captured by the visual arts. The churches during the Renaissance Period were adorned by church iconography, but this time, it replaced the Byzantine murals. With a remainder of influence from Greek pagan imagery, the Renaissance had blended it with Christian motif such as in the work of Sandro Botticelli. Sandro Botticelli: The Birth of Venus, 1485, tempera, 67.9 in × 109.6 in. Tuscany, Galleria degli Uffizi. One of the felt changes in this era is the rise to power of wealthy families like the Medici. They held positions in the government and had become prosperous through wool trade until they were able to establish the Medici Bank. Apart from their political influence, the Medici was instrumental in the development of art by commissioning large collections of artworks. Michelangelo had been commissioned by Pope Julius II to paint the Sistine frescoes, albeit rather reluctant. In high Renaissance style, clear outlines with great dynamism—obsessing on the human body rather than nature as observed in da Vinci’s theme—are used. Hence, the nudity was the expression of Michelangelo’s luscious compliment of the human body which had found aptness in the expressivity of the naked form. The meeting of Adam and God’s hand in one of the details of the frescoes is reminiscent of Greek mythology intermingling with Christian elements. Michelangelo, The Creation of Adam, 1512, fresco, 9 ft 2 in × 18 ft 8 in. Vatican, Sistine Chapel Baroque It was hard to maintain an art style after the Renaissance Period, for they were always shifting after gaining full traction. New artists had always have a way to discover, rediscover, or reinterpret the mode of representation. During the Baroque Period, the Catholic Church was an embattled institution, fighting against the rise of Protestantism. To reassert power, the Church commissioned painters like Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio whose style had helped translating the doctrine of faith vividly. He did not share the body aesthetics of the Renaissance Era, contesting its beautiful female representation such as Venus or the Virgin. He devolved painting to naturalism and painted in his mannerist style. He was considered a realist, but his was an inexorably honest representation, depicting even the grime in fingernails. Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio: The Crucifixion of Saint Peter, 1601, oil on canvas, 91 in × 69 in. Rome, Santa Maria del Popolo The Art of Baroque aimed to exaggerate and impress by emotional trigger just like the visual impact of Giovanni Bernini’s sculpture of David which was an intense drama of time that captures the biblical character gaining inertia to lunge a stone towards Goliath. As a sculptor, Bernini had followed a precise illustration of the veins and muscles, making the sculpture seem to ooze with vitality. Gian Lorenzo Bernini, David, 1623, marble, 170 cm. Rome, Galleria Borghese Neoclassical After the art of Baroque, the ecstasy and passion had worn upon the audience, prompting the return of the poise and order that the Greek Classicism was known for. The Classic Period ensued as an interlude after over fifty years of explosive imagery. The style change was due partly to the physiopsychological factors such as perception and cognition the human observer is bound with. The observer desires order and balance and naturally seeks for these from objects they observe. At the same time, an observer also desires to be unfettered by the lack of margin for imagination as well as the dispensing of freedom to deviate. The word Classic is oftentimes loosely used. The more precise term is Neoclassic. The prefix neo means fresh and recent. In art history, the latter marked the blossoming of the movement of Neoclassicism. The “Greek Spirit” that existed in Classical antiquity has always been venerable to audiences, so it was not inconceivable to be reconsidered in Neoclassicism. The specific qualities exuded by the Greek artists were measurement and discipline, simplicity, and clearness, formal beauty, calmness, and complete control. Furthermore, Classicists implemented regular patterns in representing nature as opposed to the Romantics who were guided by their convulsive emotions, shaping their ragged nature and keeping an individual subjectivity. Rococo Rococo succeeded the Baroque style—the result of a shift in power and other sociopolitical events in the lives of the monarch. The death of King Louis XIV had left an eight-year-old heir to the throne with the responsibility of being king, but until such time that he was old enough to rule, the Duke of Orleans, a noble, ruled in his stead. The focus of art of this era was the noble houses, which was a scheme of power display. Here we would see interiors predominated by playful patterns and intricacy and lightheartedness of paintings. The interior decoration streamed across private residences in a lovely golden and undulating motif against a pale background. A frivolous painting during this time was a reaction to the preceding period’s rigidity and staid imagery. Sometimes, the visual themes were whimsical, which also showed on furniture pieces and sculptural works. A Rococo artist would combine the extravagance of Baroque with such elements that puff coltish interaction such as between lovers. J.H. Fragonard, The Swing, 1767, oil on canvas, 81 cm × 64.2 cm. United Kingdom, Wallace Collection Links to an external site. Romanticism Subjective individualism was the kind of mantra that defined the Romanticism Movement in 1800 which lasted for about fifty years, beginning in England. Romantics were full of love and passionate approbation of the restorative power of nature. A real romantic poet would bear witness to the incomparable beauty of nature in its untamed condition through romantic lines each desires to be part of nature. They retreated both from the bustling industry and the scientific rationalism of the era. A romantic painter, J.M.W. Turner had interpreted his subject with visual lyricism, evident in his use of mist, fog, snowstorm, atmosphere, and the dramatic movement he made to affect the viewers as if struck by a cosmic force. Romantic artists were oftentimes melancholic and melodramatic, placing figures in solitary landscape or depicting the horrors of war under the pretext and sentimentalism of love of country. J.M.W. Turner, Rain, Steam and Speed, 1884, oil on canvas, 36 in × 48.0 in London, National Gallery. Check Up Test 1. What did Caravaggio reject? 2. Compare Baroque and Classicism. 3. What were the sociopolitical contexts of the art periods—Medieval, Renaissance, Baroque, and Rococo? 4. How did the Romantics rebel against the social, economic, and political conditions of their times? Realism This period and style emanated from the rejection of the powerful support for history painting. At the same time, realism grew out of the milieu of industrialization, gleaning the rousing social injustices that were shoved under Classicism and Romanticism. Truth and accuracy of portrayal were the priorities of the time, and the exposure of the unpleasant details of life and unidealized subjects were of greater prominence instead of a representation of idealistic ones. For instance, the depiction of the working and common classes with the seriousness of their emotions were bigger and more imposed as part of realism’s equalization of the social statuses. The familiarity of the scenes in realism paintings had a high impact on viewers because of a biting picture based on the direct, compelling observations of the artist. Art salons had a break from classical myths common in Classicism, and the rubric of social criticism became the basis for expression. Gustave Courbet, for example, used agrarian people from native regions to stir the public. It was Courbet’s “The Stonebreakers” that fights against the conventions of an authoritarian world and, at the same time, portrays the state of peasant worker during industrial revolution at the hands of capitalists was anti-authoritarian. Gustave Courbet, The Stonebreakers, 1849, oil on canvas, 65 in × 94 in. Web Gallery of Art The impressionism period started at the time of Napoleon III, the president of France from 1848 to 1852 who gave a chance for artists whose works were rejected by the Academy of Fine Arts to exhibit and let the public judge the artistic worth of their works. It was a huge blow for Edouard Manet, a modern painter who was pivotal in the transition from realism to impressionism, to receive a missive which rejected his work titled “The Luncheon on the Grass” because of its realistic representation of nude women picnicking with decently clothed men. It was more of an obvious case of stifling propriety and one that the public was not prepared for to lunge into. Claude Monet, the leader of the Impressionist movement, introduced plein-air painting or painting outdoors which advanced light and color effects into a tool of capturing a fleeting moment scene where light and its ephemeral display are exploited for more reliable color context, avoiding naturalism which used an immutable color scheme that was conceived inside the studio. Impressionism developed a scene where a viewer seems to cut a glimpse rather than a vivid picture of the subject. This was done through short a combination of technique—short and unrefined brushstroke and the use of vibrant or bright colors among others. In addition, impressionism had quenched the historical theme, buying more into contemporary scenes. Post-Impressionism Post-impressionism was an exaggerated form of impressionism, capitalizing on emotional experience and symbolism. Instead of the plush of metropolitan scene, post-impressionism captured rural images. Paul Cezanne constructed a space which was unexplored, veering away from the receding orthogonal style that artists had mastered since the Early Renaissance. Cezanne jumbled the perspective in his work “Basket of Apples”, by adding an inclined basket. The experience of viewing is richer and closer to reality where people view an object by moving around it, thereby changing the perspective of viewing as they move. Paul Cezanne, Basket of Apples, 1983, oil on canvas, 65 cm x 80 cm. Chicago, Art Institute of Chicago As a gateway to further modern ideas in painting, post-impressionism saw a period of more experimentation with colors as seen through the works of Paul Gauguin, Vincent van Gogh, and Georges Seurat. The latter had figured a way to mix colors optically by placing individual hues adjacent to each other. As an effect, each hue retained their vibrancy, as they are not in any way toned down by physical mixture. Ironic and at the same time neoteric, Seurat used the classical elements of the Greek frieze monuments to create a modern scene such as in “Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte” in which he depicted animals, people, trees, and boats like they are in a processional. The Greek influence was strongly present, but his work did not pursue didacticism—it was the joy of being able to experiment and not to be rigorously influenced by the incognizant standard set by impressionism. Georges Seurat, A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte, 1886, oil on canvas, 2.08 m x 3.08 m. Chicago, Art Institute of Chicago. Abstract Expressionism After World War II in America, painting found a new light in New York, making it second to Paris as the center of the Western art world. Wassily Kandinsky is one of the most prominent artists of abstract expressionism. Kandinsky took form and color as idea associations. He theorized that inner observation and subjective experiences are important in creating sensory-rich paintings. A surrealist predecessor, Jackson Pollock explored the tradition of abstract expressionism and executed a unique painting approach by dripping paint onto canvas laid flat on the floor. The results are strong, emotional content either with or without imagery. Pollock redefined easel painting, freeing the act of painting from the limitations of conventional approach. He would place a raw canvas on the floor and drip and throw a jungle of paint with occasional drawing, staining and brushing. However, he did not plan his strokes and liberally shifted between one stroke and the other. Generally, abstract expressionism has been seen as under the influence of Romanticism, but it is highly notable for its sense of immediacy. “Abstract art as it is conceived at present is a game bequeathed to painting and sculpture by art history. One who accepts its premises must consent to limit his imagination to a depressing casuistry regarding the formal requirements of modernism.” Section 10. 3 Principles of Modernism Although many different styles are encompassed by the term, there are certain underlying principles that define modernist art: A rejection of history and conservative values (such as realistic depiction of subjects); innovation and experimentation with form (the shapes, colours and lines that make up the work) with a tendency to abstraction; and an emphasis on materials, techniques and processes. Modernism has also been driven by various social and political agendas. These were often utopian, and modernism was in general associated with ideal visions of human life and society and a belief in progress. Characteristics of Modernism: 1. The expression of the artist's right to freedom of choice in subject and style. 2. Departure from literal representation - no longer needed with the advent of photography. 3. "Art for Art's sake" 4. Reject tradition and society Section 10.4 Art Movement in Modernism Dadaism (1916-1924) Bauhaus (1919-1933) Art Deco (1920-1935) Surrealism (1920-1935) Dadaism Dada was an art movement founded in Switzerland during the First World War, in response to the brutality and absurdity of the war. The painting, poetry, and performance that dada artists create is always of a surreal and nonsensical kind.Dada artists felt the war challenged every aspect of a society that can begin and then prolong it – including its art. Their aim was to destroy traditional art values and create a new art that would replace the old ones. Arp, Marcel Duchamp, Francis Picabia and Kurt Schwitters are among the leading artists identified with it. Duchamp 's criticism of Western art's foundations had a deep after-effect. Further Characteristics of Dada Art Nonsensical dawings Pastel and faded colors Used collages and layers - to confuse the "unworthy beholder." "The beginnings of surrealism" - many Dada artists went on to become members of the Surrealist movement. Subjects sometimes mundane, called art as irony. (e.g.- bicycle wheel, flyer) Bauhaus The Bauhaus was a radical school of art , architecture and design founded in 1919 at Weimar in Germany by Walter Gropius. The Bauhaus teaching approach combined the conventional partnership between pupil and teacher with the concept of collaborating together as a group of artists. Its aim was to bring art back into daily life, so architecture, performing arts , design, and applied arts were given as much weight as fine art. The Bauhaus style is commonly characterized as a combination of the Arts and Crafts movement with modernism, as is evident in its emphasis on function and, according to the Tate, its "aspiration to bring art back into contact with everyday life." Thus, typical Bauhaus designs — whether evident in painting, architecture, or interior design — are characterized by little ornamentation and a focus on balanced and abstruse forms. Further Characteristics of Bauhaus A lack of recognizable objects-wanted to find the true meaning of art thorugh disassembling it. Clean lines, geometric shapes layered. In architecture: clean, functional. Like Dadaism, was a step toward surrealism for artists such as Wassily Kandinsky. Art Deco Art deco is a 1920s and 1930s architectural style of furniture, decorative arts, and architecture distinguished by its geometric character. Named after the 1925 International Exhibition of Modern Decorative and Industrial Arts held in Paris, art deco can be seen as a successor to art nouveau and a reaction against it. This was also a popular style of cinema and hotel architecture used in furniture, pottery, textiles, jewellery, glass etc. While Art Deco objects were never mass-produced, the style 's signature features expressed reverence for the machine's modernity and the intrinsic design virtues of machine-made objects ( e.g. relative simplicity, planarity, symmetry, and unvarying product repetition). Further Characteristics of Art Deco Geometric shapes Had bolder curves and less 'fussy' designs than Art Nouveau Bold colors, and new ways of shading pictures Idealistic images of the 'flaming youth' of the 'roaring twenties' Carried a theme through pieces, especially interiors and architecture Surrealism A literary , philosophical and artistic movement of the 20th century which explored the workings of the mind and championed the insane, the poetic and the revolutionary. Surrealism was aimed at revolutionizing human experience, denying a logical view of reality in favour of one that asserted the importance of the unconscious and desires. The poets and writers of the revolution find wonder and mysterious beauty in the unknown and the unusual, the disregarded and the unorthodox. The major contributions of Surrealism have been in the field of drawing. Surrealist art was inspired not only by Dadaism but also by the surreal and grotesque images of earlier painters like Hieronymus Bosch and Francisco Goya, as well as similar contemporaries like Odilon Redon, Giorgio de Chirico and Marc Chagall, among others. Further Characteristics of Surrealism Dream-like scenes and symbolic images. Unexpected, illogical juxtapositions. Bizarre assemblages of ordinary objects. Automatism and a spirit of spontaneity. Games and techniques to create random effects. Personal iconography. Visual puns. Distorted figures and biomorphic shapes. Section 11.1 Overview of Module 1 The true representational force of art is discussed in this module through the artists' reaction to environmental disaster. Art is an important tool for coping with difficult problems and fostering mutual empathy. This phenomenon has been used as rubrics in photographs and events to make climate change more clear and graspable to humans. While Environmentalism is viewed as a modern movement, it is not a new term. Modern interest in the world became typical of the early 19th century Romantic movement. The poet William Wordsworth had travelled widely through the Lake District and wrote that this is a "kind of national land in which every man has the opportunity and the ability to view and the heart to love." Access this site for more examples of environmental art: https://www.artsy.net/article/artsy-editorial-10-artists-making-urgent-work-environment Links to an external site. MODULE 11 Section 11.2 Environmental Crisis The environmental crisis that people now face is multifaceted and composed of: (1) accelerating global warming; (2) air and water pollution; (3) the depletion of natural resources such as fish, wood, and oil; (4) the loss of natural ecosystems and biodiversity; and (5) the loss of the ecosystem services they provide, coupled with (6) a decline in human wellbeing, especially in urban areas. The roots of the environmental crisis lie in the Industrial Revolution (circa 1750) and the Scientific Revolution that preceded it. The more engines the English made, the more coal they could mine. The more coal they mined, the more iron they could produce and the more engines they could fuel. Thus, the Industrial Revolution, a revolution based less on invention and technology than on the seemingly endless amounts of fossil fuel energy trapped in England’s vast underground coal deposits, was born.  By the 1800s, much of urban England was completely transformed. Hundreds of factories appeared in its cities, each filled with iron machines, each moving with the power of hundreds of humans or even as many horses, all using the energy provided by coal. Thus, the English now had the means to beat India as the world center for textile production and do it miraculously with a fraction of India's workforce. Yet these gains were not without their associated costs, and while the gains went mostly to the few wealthy, the costs were felt mainly by the poor masses, for every new factory belched out toxic fumes fouling the air, coal soot stained London’s buildings black, and acid rain defaced its limestone carvings. Worse still, its workers (often women and children) labored long hours under dangerous conditions and lived in overcrowded and unsanitary tenements. Untreated waste also spewed directly into London’s now stinking streams, canals, and rivers. In turn, the masses drank polluted water and suffered from epidemics of cholera and other infectious diseases. Section 11.3 Charles Dickens Charles Dickens These new and horrendous urban conditions endured by an exploited and powerless poor are poignantly recorded in the literature of Charles Dickens (1812– 1870), such as that depicting the orphan workhouse and street children in Oliver Twist (1837–39), and those suffering in debtors' prison in A Christmas Carol (1843). Frederick Barnard, Charles Dickens at the Blacking Factory, 1904, London: The Leisure Hour. An English caricaturist and painter, Frederick Barnard (1846–1896) illustrated both Dickens’s novels and a history of Dickens himself. He created over four hundred illustrations and was known as "the Charles Dickens among black and white artists." A good example is Barnard’s sparse but emotional etching of a scene from Dickens’s own childhood (see Figure 1), which depicts the author’s own experience at the age of ten in a shoe-blacking factory after his entire family was sent to the Marshalsea debtor’s prison to pay off his father’s mounting debts. This scene depicts young Charles weary from a ten-hour workday pasting labels on cans. Later, Dickens related these childhood experiences to his bibliographer John Forster. “The blacking-warehouse was the last house on the left-hand side of the way, at old Hungerford Stairs. It was a crazy, tumble-down old house, abutting of course on the river, and literally overrun with rats. Its wainscoted rooms, and its rotten floors and staircase, and the old grey rats swarming down in the cellars, and the sound of their squeaking and scuffling coming up the stairs at all times, and the dirt and decay of the place, rise up visibly before me, as if I were there again. The counting-house was on the first floor, looking over the coal-barges and the river. There was a recess in it, in which I was to sit and work.” (Forster, 2006:23-24) These experiences faithfully recreated by Barnard produced a lasting impression on Dickens, fostered his sympathy toward the urban poor under the bleak conditions brought about by the Industrial Revolution, and made him push for reform. Not only did the scientific and industrial revolutions (along with the fossil fuel energy they unleashed) transform people’s physical environment (often for the worse, especially for those urban poor least able to cope with the changes), and its consequences had a huge impact on people’s mental state as well. These dual revolutions reinforced the philosophical majority tradition of prior Greek, Roman, Jewish, and Christian thinkers that humans had been put in a position of dominance over the rest of a subordinate nature referred as anthropocentrism (Ponting, 1991). However, the true impact of these physical changes (that is now called development) on more ordinary humans brings these assumptions of dominance over nature (and the new technology the justified) into question. Section 11.4 J.M.W. Turner J.M.W. Turner One artist who first noticed these more abstract changes, explored their significance, and documented his finding (this time through his paintings) was J.M.W. Turner (1775–1851). Turner is often referred to now as a genius in the use of light and color and a forerunner of impressionism and modern art (Sooke, 2014). But the gift of Turner was less in his technique than his ability to clearly express the impact of the Industrial Revolution and the newly emerging urban industrial environment on the human psyche. Turner was never married, had few personal friends, and was hard hit by the death of his father (who also acted as his studio assistant) in 1829, and thereafter suffered bouts of depression. Perhaps, like Dickens, these personal sufferings helped Turner to see what others could not. Turner noticed that, increasingly, most humans in these new industrial societies were no longer central to their own existence, but now many were caught in the throws of larger processes that they themselves, through their labor, had set in motion. So, in his art, Turner withdrew or moved back the artist’s vantage point, thereby reducing the size of the depicted humans themselves and, at the same time, widening the scope of his paintings to now include more of the surrounding environment. Thus, the broader scale of the landscape within which humans now interacted became more significant. Turner was extremely prolific, producing more than 550 oil painting and two thousand watercolors. His painting covered many subjects, but he continually came back to the sea. One of his earlier works is The Wreck of a Transport Ship (1810). This painting turns the dominant intellectual view that nature as subordinate to humans on its head. Seen here are ordinary sailors completely at the mercy of wind and wave, and their technology (the ship) has lost its masts and is in danger of sinking. Humans are depicted as small and helpless in the face of a raging ocean beyond their control. Section 11.5 William Blake William Blake A final artist who still explored deeper into the ills of these dual revolutions was William Blake (1757–1827). Blake was an English printmaker and poet whose rich and diverse body of work is still much admired. But the political significance of his “mental fight” against the psychology of science and the culture of industrialism has been less appreciated—least of all in his own lifetime" (Roszak, 1972), and is extremely relevant in our own. Most of Blake’s works show biblical characters and themes as well as those drawn from myth and contemporary life. Examination of two from his series of twelve large prints done in 1795 help reveal some of his profound conclusions. Blake’s Ancient of Days (shown in Figure 5) refers to God in the prophetic visions of Daniel, Chapter 7. Blake was very comfortable painting prophetic scenes, because he himself experienced multiple visions—his earliest at the age of four and others at seventeen when he was sketching in Westminster Abbey, “a fool sees not the same tree that a wise man sees” and “all men might see them but for worldliness or unbelief, which blinds the spiritual eye” (Ackroyd, 1995).  In this work, God is seen clothed in the light of the sun and His hair white with wisdom, as He lays out the foundations of the Earth in the black void of space. Thus, God brings light to darkness in Blake's work, perhaps referencing Proverbs 8:27: “I was there when he set the heavens in place, when he marked out the horizon on the face of the deep.” God's power is authentic, shown by the large compass springing out of His very being, radiating from His hand. God's concern encompasses everything, which is called as the "Big Picture."