Art Criticism

Art Criticism Art criticism involves a specific

way of looking at a work of art. You can make judgment about

art without being a professional artist, all you need to do is learn to look (see) and think about what you are seeing.

Art Criticism

Learning how to criticize artwork properly will allow you to better understand works of art and why they have become important.

Art Criticism

The process of art criticism involves 4 actions. They are: describe, analyze, interpret and evaluate/decide.

Describe

Describe (the work)—What do you see? what things are in the painting? Think of things like clothing, environment, etc.

Describe

Analyze Analyze the artwork’s organization? What detail is in the work? How did the artist achieve the result? How are the elements of line, shape, form, texture, space and value used? How are the principles of unity pattern, rhythm, variety, balance, emphasis and proportion used?

Analyze

Interpret Interpret: (is there a content?

Emotional, formal, historical, political…?) How do you think the artist feels, thinks

about the work? Why was the piece made? What is the artist trying to say to you? What is going on in the picture or

artwork?

Interpret

Evaluate/Decide

Evaluate/ Decide: What do you think about the art work?

Do you like it? Why/why not? How does the intent of the artist

match up with the result of his labor? What is special about it?

Evaluate/Decide

How do you evaluate if the artist was successful in his intent? How do you know what his/her intent was?????

You can make an educated guess, you can read artist reflections, you need to know what historical period the artist lived in, what were the events shaping his/her life, work, society?

Evaluate/decide

In order to evaluate and interpret works of art we need to know as much as possible about the artist, time, historical events, art movements of the time, the artist’s personal life etc.

Evaluate/Decide

Things to consider

Realism - The artist rendered the images in a realistic manner. It is easy to recognize the subject because of the realistic quality of the art.

Other art styles – the artist paints/draws/ sculpts in a certain style. The style is recognizable

Things to Consider

The artist has his/ her unique style

Formalism/Composition - The artist was skilled in using the elements and principles of design in the artwork. (This also refers to the placement, contrast, and interaction of all parts of the work.)

Things to Consider Emotionalism/Feelings- The artist did a

good job of evoking an emotion or feeling from me.

Neatness- the artist produced a finished-looking piece.

- Historical- The artist portrayed events in a believable, emotional/ unemotional way

Group Work Each table will have 3 three works of art

Your group will be responsible for describing, analyzing, interpreting, and evaluating each of the three works.

You must write in full sentences

Be sure to answer “why” when appropriate.