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Discovering Art Part 3 - Context How Form, Theme and Context come together to make meaning

Discovering Art - Context

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Part 3 in a three part series on how Form, Theme and Context come together to create meaning in art. Based on the work of Dr. Renee Sandell. Visit the ISB Art History channel (http://vimeo.com/channels/isbarthistorychannel) and my website (http://mountains.brianreverman.com/) for additional resources.

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Page 1: Discovering Art - Context

Discovering ArtPart 3 - Context

How Form, Theme and Context come together to make meaning

Page 2: Discovering Art - Context
Page 3: Discovering Art - Context

Context

• Circumstances surrounding the making of art contribute to its meaning. We need to find out…

• When and where was it made?

• Why did the artist create this art work? For whom, or what reason was it made?

• How is it significant for the times and culture in which it was made?

Page 4: Discovering Art - Context

Jacques Louis David, Death of Socrates, 1787

When and where was it made?

For whom, or what reason was it made?

How is it significant for the times and culture in which it was made?

Page 5: Discovering Art - Context

Jacques Louis David, Death of Socrates, 1787

When and where was it made?

For whom, or what reason was it made?

How is it significant for the times and culture in which it was made?

Paris, France 1787 – right before the French Revolution

Page 6: Discovering Art - Context

Jacques Louis David, Death of Socrates, 1787

When and where was it made?

For whom, or what reason was it made?

How is it significant for the times and culture in which it was made?

Commissioned by the Trudaine de Montigny brothers who were active in the revolutionary movement in France. It was made in support of the revolutionary ideas brewing in France at the time.

Page 7: Discovering Art - Context

Jacques Louis David, Death of Socrates, 1787

When and where was it made?

For whom, or what reason was it made?

How is it significant for the times and culture in which it was made?

This was a strong statement, by a prominent artist, on the state of French politics. It was controversial as it challenged the reign of the Royals.

Page 8: Discovering Art - Context

Piet Mondrian, Composition in White, Red, Yellow and Blue, 1918

When and where was it made?

For whom, or what reason was it made?

How is it significant for the times and culture in which it was made?

Page 9: Discovering Art - Context

Piet Mondrian, Composition in White, Red, Yellow and Blue, 1918

When and where was it made?

For whom, or what reason was it made?

How is it significant for the times and culture in which it was made?

The Netherlands, 1918 – immediately following WWI and only 10 years after the development of Cubist painting

Page 10: Discovering Art - Context

Pablo Picasso, Le Guitariste, 1910

This is an example of an early Cubist painting. Picasso sought to portray something as it was and not how it looked. Therefore he broke up the guitar player and tried to show all sides of him simultaneously.

Page 11: Discovering Art - Context

Piet Mondrian, Composition in White, Red, Yellow and Blue, 1918

When and where was it made?

For whom, or what reason was it made?

How is it significant for the times and culture in which it was made?

To show that beauty could exist as an abstract idea in plastic form

Page 12: Discovering Art - Context

Piet Mondrian, Composition in White, Red, Yellow and Blue, 1918

When and where was it made?

For whom, or what reason was it made?

How is it significant for the times and culture in which it was made?

Using geometric forms to express a purely abstract ideal was quite radical for the times.

Page 13: Discovering Art - Context

Chris Burden, Transfixed, 1974

When and where was it made?

For whom, or what reason was it made?

How is it significant for the times and culture in which it was made?

Page 14: Discovering Art - Context

Chris Burden, Transfixed, 1974

When and where was it made?

For whom, or what reason was it made?

How is it significant for the times and culture in which it was made?

Venice, California 1974 – during the Watergate scandal and the Vietnam War

Page 15: Discovering Art - Context

Chris Burden, Transfixed, 1974

When and where was it made?

For whom, or what reason was it made?

How is it significant for the times and culture in which it was made?

To make a statement about the state of art and American culture

Page 16: Discovering Art - Context

Chris Burden, Transfixed, 1974

When and where was it made?

For whom, or what reason was it made?

How is it significant for the times and culture in which it was made?

Burden’s extreme body art expanded the vocabulary of art forms and was very influential in moving art out of the museum and into the world at large

Page 17: Discovering Art - Context

Follow the link below to hear a short discussion about this painting. Then return here and comment on how each criteria on the left of the slide helps us understand the CONTEXT in which this painting was made.

Roy Lichtenstein, Girl With Ball, 1961

When and where was it made?

For whom, or what reason was it made?

How is it significant for the times and culture in which it was made?

Page 18: Discovering Art - Context

Comment on how it helps you, and why it is necessary, to have a sense of the interaction between Form, Theme and Context to understand a work of art.