Reading Visual Art PDF

READING VISUAL ART Mouseion of Alexandria - Egypt (2,400 yrs ago) Art - communicates ideas by visual means - Form of language POWER AND VALUE OF ART...

READING VISUAL ART Mouseion of Alexandria - Egypt (2,400 yrs ago) Art - communicates ideas by visual means - Form of language POWER AND VALUE OF ART Why a work is valued: The Visual World - old - World of images -rare - Ancient Egypt, 16th Century Italy or -unique 21st Century America Why we value art: - Art reflects visual culture in which - has the power to tell us something about it was created, not just the creative ourselves achievement of its maker - Aesthetically pleasing - involved great skill - can acquire great religious cultural or Old Man’s Cloth by political significance El Anatsui -medium: discarded Adele Bloch-Bauer II liquor-bottle tops By Gustav Klimt -why?: European - Most expensive traders bartered item for sale at Christie’s alcohol for African auction house in New York goods. City (Nov. 8, 2006) Also, reminds us of Slave Trade which - Sold for $87.9M highlights modern consumerism discards - History: had been waste. looted by the Nazis, who had occupied Austria, and the work WHERE IS ART? later became the subject of a lawsuit - Coffin, books, any number of by the heirs of the Bloch-Bauer contemporary media, art museum family. (1938) Museum - “mouseion” - temple dedicated Space Transfiguration to arts and sciences (Greek). -Sold for P112,128,000 - hold permanent collections of (Leon Gallery) artworks that are regularly displayed -Top Most Expensive - some can show only a portion of Paintings Auctioned in the works in their large collections. PH as of March 2018 - organize exhibitions of works -Abstract Expressionism - offer educational programs and -Inspired by NASA’s first attempt to reach other cultural and social events the moon. Museum of Arts and Sciences - PH, University of Santo Tomas (1611) Menstrual Period in Political History Regla by Rhine Bernandino Artist: Danny Silada - Medium: Glass, water & her - vaginal form over a own menstrual blood rocky surface, painted with -Composed of 12 Sculptures, red, yellow, and blue (the one for each menstrual cycle of colors of the Philippine the year. flag) - She described her every piece as “a makeshift laboratory wherein collections PH Politics’ menstrual cycle: of menstrual blood are not associated - Corruption with disgust, but regarded as objects of - Economic instability inspection and conversation.” - Violation of Human Rights - Involuntary Disappearances of Duterte by Elito Civilians “Amang Pintor” - Century-old war in Mindanao Circa - Insurgency Medium: his own - Poverty blood - Inadequacy of Political Leaders to address Socio-Economic - Political Problems in the Society Painting of Virgin of Guadalupe Art - Powerful means of expression Medium: Tempera (colors because it enables u s to give physical mixed with water and egg) shape or form to thoughts and sensations. Linen Form - object that can be defined in three The Virgin is seen in the words of the Bible dimensions (height, width, depth). “Clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet.” Revelation 12:1 Self by Marc Quinn (British) - Has the dark skin of an indigenous - His art focuses on woman (Virgin’s role as protector of the body but also her “Indian” kingdom in Mexico) deliberately uses his - Symbol of the Mexican Nation actual body. - Housed in the National Basilica of - He’s been making a St. Mary of Guadalupe at the base of life-size portrait of his head every 5 Tepeyac hill years using between 8 and 10 pints of his blood. CENSORSHIP OF ART Blood - substance we recognize as History: People have found many reasons viscerally related to the life force and that to attack, destroy, or prevent the display of we all depend on for survival. artworks. Art may be Censored because: - Located at - it challenges the politically or Lagusnilad economically powerful; - Vandalism - some consider it pornographic; instead of art. - it offends religious beliefs; or - it represents values that somebody considers offensive or improper. STUDYING ART ❖ Our interpretations of works of art may differ from other people’s according to our perceptions, beliefs, and ideas. ❖ Art is a form of language; one that can communicate more powerfully Muslim Betrothal by than written language. Carlos “Botong” Francisco ❖ Art communicates so directly with - Muslim wedding; bride receiving our senses (sight, touch, smell, blessings from Imam (religious and sound) that it helps us to leader) understand our own experiences. - Offensive because of the half-naked ❖ By learning to see, we experience women dancing along with the pig new sensations and ideas that which are strictly haram or forbidden expand our horizons beyond our for Muslims daily lives. Studying Art: Content and Context Gothika Filipina 2 By Igan D’ Bayan Content - He was given the - Art is a form of communication using option to submit another visual language painting, cover the Visual Language “offending area,” or face - We communicate consequences. through our sense of sight / other people’s eyes. - All communication has a purpose, a Sal ubong message - in other words, content. - Welcome gift for Pope Francis when he Types of Content (important for visited the Philippines understanding a work) (Jan 2015) Featured celebrities and 1. The subject matter politiciansinstead of everyday 2. Its underlying meanings Filipinos. Graffiti by Panday Sining  3. The work’s arrangement of the visual elements of which it is composed Infinity (1967) Subject Matter - Jose de Rivera - As it rotates one - The object or art itself full cycle every six - May be visually apparent (e.g. a minutes, the ribbon-like form painting of Mt. Arayat is clearly continually changes. about a mountain) - Made of polished steel - The title - reflects aspects of the world around - Scholars and Critics later may tell us it such as sunlight and the buildings the subject (e.g. Virgin Mary and - The title does not give us a clue as The Baby Jesus are traditionally to the subject matter of the sculpture titled Madonna and Child.) but does not explain it outright. - It will be clearer if we understand the concepts of representation, Abstraction non-objectivity, and abstraction. - The degree to which an image is Representation(al) altered from an easily recognizable subject. - Art that depicts figures and objects - “To abstract” so that we recognize what is - to extract something or to represented. emphasize it. - Abstraction in art refers to the ways The statue of the Roman artists can emphasize, distort, Emperor Marcus Aurelius simplify, or arrange the formal (visual) elements of an artwork. - shows him seated on a horse, gesturing in a very Reverie lifelike way - Allan Houser, 1981 - Two faces: one larger and one smaller. Non-objective / Non-objectivity - A representational work with a considerable Art that does not depict a degree of abstraction. recognizable subject. - Swoop of the form downward: - Subjective Back - We each determine our own - Larger face: Mother interpretations of what the - Smaller face: Baby being held artwork means or - The mother’s entire body (back, communicates. arms, and knees) are abstracted to be one smooth form. - The body of the baby is just a bump. Context - The formal elements might include color, shape, and surface texture - Information about the society in (roughness and smoothness) which it was created. - Form has another meaning in art: - How was the society organized? - It describes an artwork that - Who ruled it? How? can be defined in three - Information about the economics dimensions: Height, Width, and religion of the people who and Depth. created it. - To understand Formal Analysis, we - Details about the person who are concerned with form in the ordered it made. sense of understanding the use of - Status of the artist who carved it. the formal elements in an artwork. - Artists can utilize the elements and Carved Ivory principles in many ways to Mask-shaped Pendant communicate visually: a. ideas, - Face of a woman. b. emotions, - Perfect and c. beliefs, pleasing oval shape d. social or political Headdress decorated with convictions, odd-looking human heads. e. sensations. - Artists discuss the formal qualities of - Made in Benin, West Africa, in the an artwork in terms of the elements mid-16th century. and principles of art. - Materials: Ivory, Iron, and Bronze. - Made items in Benin, so presumably Elements of Art the pendant was made for someone ❖ Color wealthy. ❖ Form - Now in a museum but that was not ❖ Line how it was used in Benin. ❖ Mass - Decoration worn by a King. ❖ Shape - Object intended to show the wealth ❖ Space and power of a ruler. ❖ Texture - Tells something about the history of ❖ Time and Motion Africa and the religion of Benin. ❖ Value Formal (Visual) Analysis ❖ Volume - Formal derived from the noun Principles of Art “Form” and relates to the way the ❖ Balance formal elements are used in the ❖ Contrast work of art. ❖ Emphasis ❖ Focal Point ❖ Pattern  ❖ Proportion ❖ Rhythm ❖ Scale ❖ Variety ❖ Unity Example of Three-Dimensional Sculpture LESSON 2: CONTENT AND ANALYSIS - Artworks communicate visual ideas, just as speaking and writing Bust of Queen communicate verbal ideas. Nefertiti - For the transfer of thought to take place through art, we must interpret (Thutmosis’ workshop from Amarna, Egypt, the visual language of the artist. C. 1350 BCE) - This involves analyzing the way he or she has created the artwork, as - Medium: Painted limestone, well as thinking about its subject Gypsum, Crystal, and Wax matter and meaning—or content. - 19 ¾’’ in height - In front is the symmetrically FORMAL ANALYSIS balanced face of the Egyptian queen Work of Art - product of the dynamic - Missing pupil in one eye, holds her interrelationships between various art head high elements and principles. - Its volume and lifelike quality are further enhanced by the queen’s Formal Analysis - process of analyzing painted skin. the elements and principles used by the - Sculpture is smooth, but texture is artist. implied by the use of color in the rich headdress and in the necklace that - Making a formal analysis— a visual drapes her graceful neck. study—of a work of art is one way - Her marked cheekbones, full red to understand more clearly the lips, well-defined eyes, and strongly language used by an artist and to defined eyebrows portray her as an grasp how he or she applies ideal beauty elements and principles in a - The edges of the tall, flat-topped particular artwork. crown create two sides of a triangle. - To analyze a work of art fully, - Two points - upper corners of her formally, one describes in specific crown detail how each element and - Third point - slightly below her neck principle is utilized within an artwork. - Triangle of the Crown - has central vertical line, originally a complete cobra (helps to enhance ther elongation of her neck)  - Implied line - a line not actually (By Heironymous Bosch, Museo Nacional drawn but suggested by elements in Prado, Madrid, Spain) the work - Sideways “V” - dramatic height - Medium: Oil on wooden panel and angle of her crown meets the - Central panel: 7’ 15/8” x 6’ 4 ¾” nape of her neck. - Wings: 7’ 15/8” x 3’8 ¼” - Functions like a directional - Hieronymous Bosch (c. arrow that creates an implied 1450-1516) - Netherlandish line from the right to - Most famous for his painted Nefertiti’s, highlighting the triptych Garden of Earthly formal symmetry of her Delights beauty. - Triptych - an artwork - Her long, thin neck lends the queen comprising three painted or grace and femininity. carved panels, normally joined together and sharing STYLISTIC ANALYSIS a common theme - Expresses religious condemnation STYLE - a characteristic way in which an of immorality, particularly regarding artist or group of artists uses visual sexual behavior. language to give a work an identifiable - His style has something in common form of visual expression. with medieval biblical sermons and folkloric sources, which - Allows us to recognize an artwork suggests that sinful actions are was made by a particular artist. reflected in distortions of human - Group of artist may share a style: anatomy. similar techniques, worked at the same time, studied in the same “other artists depicted people as they place. appear outwardly, but only Bosch had the - Can be used as way to categorize or audacity to paint them as they are on the identify who made the artwork or inside.” - Jose de Siguenza, 1605 (Spanish where it came from or when it was monk) created. - Left Panel: God’s presentation of Analyzing STYLE allows us to make Adam and Eve before the fall connections between artworks. - Center Panel: false paradise of Earth, seduced by ephemeral pleasures of frolicking and eroticism. - Right Panel: consequences of their behavior, with endless forms of tortured damnation for the sinners. The Garden of Earthly Delights - Bosch - was an artist of the late medieval period.  wisdom, and to their wealth (only the prosperous could afford such things ICONOGRAPHIC ANALYSIS at this time) 2. Cylindrical sundial - (April 11, ICONOGRAPHY - “Image Writing”/ 1533) when the painting was “writing with images”-- the visual images completed. and symbols used in artwork and to the 3. Upper shelf - symbolically nearer to interpretation of the work’s meaning. Heaven - Features devices to ICONOGRAPHIC ANALYSIS - identifies understand the heavens and objects and figures in artwork as signs or measure time including symbols that can reflect celestial globe, sundial, religious/historical contexts, and the and compasses (indicate meaning of which was often more directly both how educated these understood at a particular time by a specific men are and that they are culture, but may now be less apparent to us. well-travelled, as their occupation would demand. 4. Lower Shelf - earthly matters, secular and religious objects (musical instruments, hymn book, math bok, terrestrial globe) 5. Center of the Globe - hub of Catholic faith 6. 29, age of Dinteville - engraved on his dagger 7. 25, age of de Selve - inscribed The Ambassadors (Jean de Dintevile, and along the top page of the book he is Georges de Selve, 1533) leaning on - Artist: Hans Holbein the Younger 8. Hymn Book - verses by Martin - Medium: Oil on Oak Luther, the German pioneer of - Size: 6’9 ½” x 6’10 ⅓” Protestantism, inscribed on its - National Gallery, London, England pages, may be included to - Was painted while the artist was at encourage the restoration of the court of King Henry VIII of religious concord. England 9. Upper left corner - a crucifix - Extraordinarily rich in symbolic (concealed by the green curtain) significance 10. Lute with broken string - reference to the religious discord that was occurring at the time—harmony (hence the musical 1. The ambassadors are surrounded instrument) was a key idea in the by books and scientific instruments, sixteenth century objects that testify to the men’s 11. Large Distorted Skull - painted intellectual prowess, learning, and using anamorphosis, a type of  optical illusion, signifies human mortality. This skull looks realistic only when the viewer stands in one specific spot, in front and to the right of the canvas - An artwork may convey a particular message to those who *Anamorphosis: the distorted view it in the context in which it was representation of an object so that it made, but the same artwork may appears correctly proportioned only when convey a different meaning to viewed from one particular position. someone living in another time and place. - In 1533, when the work was made, - In order to understand the context England was on the brink of of a work of art fully, you will usually breaking with the Catholic Church have to undertake some research, and becoming a Protestant country, as well as look very closely at the and art historians who have been artwork itself. able to study the painting close up - Analysis involves gathering have revealed how its information (sometimes from iconography reflects this religious multiple sources). predicament. - Distorted Skull - Most ANALYSIS OF RELIGIOUS CONTEXT symbolic—signifies human mortality, and the inclusion of which indicates - The powerful feelings behind that the painting as a whole is known religious belief have often been a as memento mori—symbolic motivator for creating art. reminder of the inevitability of death. - RELIGIOUS ANALYSIS - artwork relates to religious context in which it *Memento mori - “remember that you must was made; often includes die” (Latin phrase) identification of narratives, key symbolism, and important figures. - The strange, haunting form of the skull, facing away from their worldly The Rituals of the possessions and toward the Sumerians (4000-1000 BCE) half-hidden crucifix, affirms that the men believe their salvation, and - A dozen small eternal life, depend on God. praying figures were found under a Sumerian temple in CONTEXTUAL ANALYSIS modern-day Iraq; the two largest ones are shown here. - looks at the making and viewing of - The location in which the figures the work in its context: it studies the were found gives us a sense of the atmosphere and ideas, often from a religious context in which they particular time or culture, which the were created and used. artwork itself includes and reflects. - Their wide-eyed upward glances and clasped hands, together with  inscriptions on some of them, tell us and sticking their heads out of that they are in eternal prayer. apartment windows. - All the figures have similar conical - People are shown awake and lively forms and face stoically forward with large smiles and bright eyes. with hands intertwining slightly - People just returned from an above the waist. evening church. - each is unique as well: the sizes, - Depicting joyful activity and hairstyles, and gender vary, and, bonding of the people collectively while not being precise portraits, under the full moon. every one loosely represents the - Use of flat, bright hues human who brought it to the temple. - Reference to the colors - Each of these figures holds a goblet commonly found in for a votive—an offering made in traditional African art and accordance with a vow—to the gods, in modern artworks Hayden and would remain in the temple to had encountered during his offer continual prayer when the artist’s training in Paris in the actual people represented in the late 1920s. statues could not be there. ANALYSIS OF BIOGRAPHICAL ANALYSIS OF HISTORICAL CONTEXT CONTEXT HISTORICAL/SOCIAL ANALYSIS BIOGRAPHICAL ANALYSIS - Consider historical events, either - Considers whether the artist’s past or present, and the way they personal experiences and appear in an artwork. opinions may have affected the making or meaning of the artwork. Midsummer Night In - Usually takes gender, race, and Harlem (1936) societal position into account. - Palmer Hayden. - In the 1920s and 1930s African-American history, cultural traditions, and ways of life were widely explored. - The Harlem Renaissance movement - Flourished in the northern US 80 Backs (1976-80) cities, as many people had moved from the rural south to - Magdalena Abakanowicz (1930) find better opportunities and - She often created works involving escape persecution. multiple, repeated figures. - Highlights the strong sense of - Uses her personal life community by showing people in experiences, Polish heritage, and the neighborhood gathering stoops  imagery derived from Poland during - The treatment of women as WWII as her source material. subjects; and - She was nine years old when her - The role of women at the village was invaded by the German time the artwork was made. troops, and she witnessed the violent consequences of those events. - At the end of the war, Poland spent the next 45 years as a soviet-union-dominated communist state. Grande Odalisque (1814) - She chose to become a weaver. - She made abstract sculptures that - Jean-Auguste Dominique Ingres explored issues of dignity, courage, (1780-1867) and a will to survive under a - Made for a male French audience. totalitarian government. - Female Nudes were often depicted - In 80 backs, the fragile, perishable as objects of desire and beauty. fiber materials reflect her keen - The woman is dressed as an awareness of human vulnerability odalisque especially during the war. - A woman in a harem. - Burlap Sacks: some of the few - Women in France were demanding materials available. equal rights, causing men to pine for - The fabrics were shaped into docile females. recognizable but abstracted - Subject’s demure gaze human forms without heads or - She accepts her status as an faces. object of beauty. - “A human being turned into a crowd - Critics complained that the figure’s loses his human qualities. A crowd is body parts were disproportionate: only a thousand times duplicated - Her back was too long copy, a repetition a multiplication. - Her hips were too wide Amongst such a great number, one - Ingres believed that the back was a person is extremely close and at the very sensual part of a woman’s same time terribly distant.” body. FEMINIST ANALYSIS GENDER STUDIES ANALYSIS - A subset of Biographical analysis - Expands the considerations when it studies the life experiences raised by feminist analysis. of women artists in relation to their - Explore the ways in which work. the work reflects - Has been expanded to include experience based on a Gender Studies which considers: person’s gender. - The perspective toward - Reflect intentions of an artist, gender of viewers; perspective of the viewer, the  interpretation of the critic, or - It encourages us to take his all three. intentions into account, and to think about how gender affects our Robert Mapplethorpe, Self experience. Portrait (#385) PSYCHOLOGICAL ANALYSIS - Robert Mapplethorpe (1946-1989) - Investigates an artwork through - Used his own consideration of the state of the lifestyle as inspiration for his mind. photographs. - Sometimes make use of important - The issue of gender affects his psychological studies, such as those imagery because he used subjects of Sigmund Freud or Carl Jung. that were highly sexualized. - Related to his own interests as a The Scream, 1893 gay man. - A national controversy was - Norwegian sparked by the exhibition that artist Edvard Munch traveled across the US after the (1863-1944) artist died of AIDS-related illness in - Used the realm the late 1980s. of his own mind as - Some museum officials and inspiration. politicians considered the graphic - As a child, he nature of his photographs to be endured the death of his mother and problematic because the artist has sister. been awarded a grant from public - He suffered from physical illness funds. and depression. - Mapplethorpe’s non-conformist - These tragic experiences and view can be seen in this portrait psychological disturbances where his hair is curled, and he motivated his work. wears eyeshadow, blush, and - He felt psychologically driven to lipstick. make art. - Raises questions about the - The Scream presents a ghoul-like assumptions we make based on figure on a bridge, with a vibrant the way people look. red sky. - It reveals the degree to which - Interpretation of an actual event. gender is a construction and - While walking on an overlook road suggests that not all people fit the with two friends, Munch saw the sky conventional distinctions between turn red, and he froze with anxiety. sexes. - Others believe he was attacked by - He photographed what he wanted to agoraphobia or fear of open see, the things that he considered spaces. visually interesting but did not find - Like many Expressionist artworks, elsewhere in the art world. Munch did not depict what he saw but what he felt. Expressionism/Expressionist Explaining or translating a work of art, using factual research, personal response, or a - An artistic style at its height in 1920s combination of the two. Europe, devoted to representing subjective emotions and ❖ The interpretation should include experiences instead of objective or your own opinion developed by external reality. considering your research findings. ❖ The strongest interpretation of an RESEARCH AND INTERPRETATION artwork combine: Viewer’s formal analysis The most effective research will include Factual evidence from both Primary and Secondary sources. primary and secondary sources Primary Sources: Support from the work of ❖ Artworks themselves specialists. ❖ Artists' statements ❖ Interviews with the artists ❖ Manuscripts, correspondence and “ I CAN DO ALL THINGS THROUGH reviews written at the time that CHRIST WHO STRENGTHENS ME” exhibitions of the artists’ works were held. Philippians 4:13 ❖ Artists’ own account of their life and work: Autobiographies Memoirs GODSPEED ON THE QUIZ! ACE IT Oral Histories recorded later BRUHH! >~< ❖ Title of the artwork SECONDARY SOURCES (Include interpretations and analyses of primary sources by someone else) ❖ Reference Books Dictionaries of arts Encyclopedia ❖ Books by scholars ❖ Scholarly Journal Articles ❖ Book Reviews ❖ Museum Websites Once you have done your research, you need to pull it all together to present a coherent interpretation. INTERPRETATION