How do we look at and talk about Art?. Looking at Art – Feldman’s Model Description Analysis Interpretation Evaluation

How do we look at and talk about Art?

Looking at Art – Feldman’s Model

• Description

• Analysis

• Interpretation

• Evaluation

Describe

Analyze

Interpret

Evaluate


• Description (What do you see?)

- This means that you need to make a careful list of all things seen in the artwork.


•Analysis (What relationships exist with what is seen? What art elements/principles are used?)

– Observing how the elements of art (line, shape, form, colour, texture, shape, space)and principles of design (balance, contrast, repetition, unity, rhythm, etc) are used to organize the artwork


•Interpretation (What do you think is happening? What is the meaning of the artwork?)

– Determining and explaining the meaning/mood/idea of an artwork; noting how the context (time and place) affect an artist’s style and subject matter


•Evaluation (Do you think the artist has achieved his intention?)

– Judge/determine the significance, worth or value of the artwork.

Art Through the Ages

Neo-Classicism

Neoclassicism was a widespread and influential movement in painting and the other visual arts that began in the 1760s, reached its height in the1780s and '90s, and lasted until the 1840s and '50s.

In painting it generally took the form of an emphasis on austere linear design in the depiction of classical themes and subject matter, using archaeologically correct settings and costumes.

http://lilt.ilstu.edu/jhreid/neoclassicism.htm

Jacques Louis DavidOath of the Horatii1784 -- 1785Oil on canvas

What’s going on?

Why do you say that?

Neo-Classicism

- Emphasis on symmetry and balance in the use of composition.

Jacques Louis David

(1748 -- 1825)

French artist

"Art must have grandeur and moral

purpose.”

"The artist must be a philosopher and have no other guide except the torch of reason."

Neo-Classicism

Neo-Classicism


This painting occupies an extremely important place in the body of David's work and in the history of French painting. It was commissioned by the Administrator of Royal Residences in 1784 and exhibited at the 1785 Salon under the title The Oath of the Horatii, between their Father's Hands. The story was taken from Titus-Livy. We are in the period of the wars between Rome and Alba, in 669 B.C. It has been decided that the dispute between the two cities must be settled by an unusual form of combat to be fought by two groups of three champions each. The two groups are the three Horatii brothers and the three Curiatii brothers. The drama lay in the fact that one of the sisters of the Curiatii, Sabina, is married to one of the Horatii, while one of the sisters of the Horatii, Camilla, is betrothed to one of the Curiatii. Despite the ties between the two families, the Horatii's father exhorts his sons to fight the Curiatii and they obey, despite the lamentations of the women.

http://www.bc.edu/bc_org/avp/cas/his/CoreArt/art/neocl_dav_oath.html

Neo-Classicism


The viewer's eye spontaneously grasps two superimposed orders-that of the figures and that of the decor. The first is striking because it is organized into three different groups, each with a different purpose.

To the appeal of the elder Horatius in the center, the reply on the left is the spontaneous vigor of the oath, upheld loudly and with a show of strength, while on the right it is a tearful anguish, movement turned in upon itself, compressed into emotion. The distance between the figures accentuates this contrast. To the heroic determination of the men the canvas opposes the devastated grief of the women and the troubled innocence of the children.

The decor is reduced to a more abstract order, that of architectural space--massive columns, equally massive arches, opening out onto a majestic shadow. The three archways loosely correspond to the three groups.


Neo-Classicism


The contemplative atmosphere is softened by shades of green, brown, pink, and red, all very discreet. Instead of opening his painting out onto a landscape or an expanse of sky, David closes it off to the outside, bathes it in shadow. As a result, the light in this setting takes on a brick-toned reflection, which encircles his figures with a mysterious halo.

Through David's rigorous and efficient arrangement, the superior harmony of the colors, and the spiritual density of the figures, this sacrifice, transfigured by the oath, becomes the founding act of a new aesthetic and moral order.

He consciously intended it to be a proclamation of the new neoclassical style in which dramatic lighting, ideal forms, and gestural clarity are emphasized. Presenting a lofty moralistic (and by implication patriotic) theme, the work became the principal model for noble and heroic historical painting of the next two decades.


Neo-Classicism

- A reaction against the frivolity and superficiality of the Rococo style

Rococo

Jean-Honoré FragonardThe Swingc. 1767

Characterized by:

- Artifice- Asymmetry- Luminous colors- Frivolous / playful subject matter.

- Depicted the loves, flirtations, and debaucheries of the gods

- Stemmed from a desire to imbue the visual arts with greater seriousness and moral commitment

- Looked to the arts of ancient Greece and Rome and held them up as the model for contemporary artists then

- Artwork to reflect ideals of order, logic and accuracy

Neo-Classicism

Studio Activity

Self-Portraits

Van Gogh’s Self-Portraits

Self Portrait with Bandaged Ear1889Oil on canvas

Self Portrait as a Painter1888Oil on canvas

Self Portrait1889Oil on canvas

What is a portrait?

What is the purpose of a self-portrait?

Self-Portraits

• A self-portrait is a painting an artist has done using himself as the subject.http://painting.about.com/od/artglossarys/g/defselfportrait.htm

Why do artists paint Self-Portraits?

Why do artists paint Self-Portraits?

• Self-Identity• Narcissistic obsession?• Practise painting skills?• A study of change and development over time?

• Portraits of Rembrandt:

164016291628 1659 1665-9

Why do artists paint Self-Portraits?• Self-Identity

• Self-portrait as a projection of one’s self

“Who am I?”

• What are the distinctive things that make me "me"? • How do I want people to see me?• How can I express my many different sides? • How can I reinvent myself for various purposes or times in my life? • How am I changing from day to day or year to year? • Who do I want to become?

Collage Portraits by Ivan Chermayeff

How are these portraits similar / different from those of Van Gogh?

Collage

• A technique of an art production where the artwork is made from a collection of different forms, thus creating a new whole.

• A collage may sometimes include newspaper clippings, portions of other artwork or texts, photographs and other found objects, glued to a piece of paper or canvas.

• The origins of collage can be traced back to the works of Pablo Picasso & Georges Braque.

• The term collage derives from the French "coller" meaning "glue".

Pablo Picasso

Still Life with Chair Caning

1912

Oil on oil-cloth over canvas edged with rope

29 × 37 cm

Collage Portrait

• Using the documentation that you have collected, arrange and create a collage portrait of yourself that shares with us your identity, personality, your fears and dreams.

• As you explore the many possibilities in layout, document using photography the different arrangements that you have tried before deciding on the final composition.

Some Guiding Questions:

- What is the purpose of your self-portrait?

- Where are you in your self-portrait?

- How will you fit the parts of this mixed-media self-portrait together to form a complete expression of yourself?

- How will you organize your composition using the design principles of contrast, repetition, contrast, proportion, and pattern?

Creating a Collage Self-Portrait

Examples of Collage Self-Portrait



Documents

How do we look at and talk about Art?. Looking at Art – Feldman’s Model Description Analysis Interpretation Evaluation