Content

This presentation aims to introduce to you what we will be learning in class all quarter. We will be discussing artworks, why they are made, what they mean and what makes them good (or valuable or pretty or important).

In order to discuss an artwork intelligently, we need specific vocabulary. Today’s presentation will introduce the basics, throughout the quarter we will spend more time on the specifics.

Follow along

The first worksheet (content) is a companion to this presentation. I recommend filling it out during or after you watch this presentation.

The content worksheet will be a quick reference you can use all quarter—ask questions right away if you can’t finish the worksheet.

Content

The meaning of a work of art

-what it is about

What is this artwork about?

(not just what does it show, but why was it created? How does it make you feel? What does it mean?)

Content =

Subject + Form + Medium

+ Composition + Formal Elements

+ Context + Style+ Intent

All these things can affect the meaning of this

artwork:

A man standing on rocks

Stormy water, mist

Only a few colors

(Is it cold?)

Oil painting

19th century

(Romanticism)

Dark rocks & light sky

You are seeing it in art class

Rectangle (How big is it?)

The man is in the center

How he is dressed

Subject

What is shown in a work of art

-what it is of

A man standing on a rock looking out over water

A man standing on a rock looking out over water

The same subject doesn’t necessarily mean the same

content.

Subject can be abstract or imaginary, it can be a landscape or scene, there can be more than one subject in an artwork.

What is the subject?

A subject can even be just color or lines

Subject

Iconography: study of subjects

Knowledge of iconography would help you recognize the man in these paintings.

Some subjects have special meaning. If you are familiar with iconography of Christian

saints, you might recognize St. Francis by his brown robes, halo, and animals.

Formal Elements

Things that make up the artwork

-line -color / light

-texture -space / shape -motion

Formal Elements

Things that make up the artwork

-line -color / light

-texture -space / shape -motion

Formal Elements

Can be arranged to create a subject or composition

Formal Elements

We will study these more during week 2, 3 and 4.

Composition

How the Formal Elements (stuff) in an artwork are arranged

Composition

-Balance -Repetition

-Scale -Emphasis -Unity

Composition

(Emphasis)

Composition can organize an artwork and make it more attractive or more interesting

Composition

(Scale)

We will study more about composition during week 4 and 5.

Media (medium)

The materials that were used to make the artwork

Clay

Cement

Pencil

Paper

Paint, etc

We will begin studying different media in the middle of the quarter.

Form

**What the artwork looks like**

The form of most paintings is a flat rectangle, but it doesn’t have

to be.

The form of a sculpture can be even more varied.

Form can be very simple and describe the shape or the general type of artwork: a lady, a rectangle, a swirl of leaves, a landscape or a portrait.

Form = Landscape

Style = surrealism

Style =

fauvism

Style

Characteristics of a work or group of works

Style

An individual artist or a group of artist can have a unique style.

We will study art movements and styles in art history towards the

end of the quarter.

Form = Landscape

Style = surrealism

Style =

fauvism

Style = Japanese Ink Painting

Style = Surrealism

Style: Impressionism

Salvador Dali’s “The Persistence of Memory”

Claude Monet

Context

Where (and when) the artwork is displayed

(also: title, price, lighting, etc)

a glass piece in a garden has very different content than a glass piece in a gallery

Dale Chihuly

Dale ChihulyUnion Station Tacoma, WA

Slides in a national art

museum

Carsten Höller at Tate Modern

We often see artwork in the context of a gallery or museum. This quarter we will visit artworks in the Larson Gallery (as well as other locations on campus).

Intent

What the artist wants the artwork to be

Title = Pompeii

Title = Pompeii

Now, what is the content of this piece?

Content:

Subject

Form

Medium

Composition

Formal Elements

Context

Style

Intent

“Wanderer above the Sea of Fog” by Caspar David Friedrich

Content

Would it be changed by:

-crayon instead of oil paint?

-the man in the corner instead

of the center?

-seeing it 30’ tall in a park?

-knowing it was painted by

Leonardo Da Vinci?