Week 2 – Visual Analysis
Vernon Hyde Minor Chapter 10 (written in notebook) Hudson and Noonan-Morrissey Chapter 1 [pg. 6-11 & 17-28] and Chapter 2 o Chapter 1: Types of Writing About Art Essay: may be written in any of the four modes of discourse – narration, description, exposition, or argument Critical essays: often used with regard to an essay that offers and opinion. Such essays are written in either the expository or argumentative mode of discourse – the purpose is to critique, to criticize is to denounce or find fault; to critique is to exercise careful judgment, including scholarly interpretation Comparative essay: is one that compares or contrasts more than one artwork or artist. May be written in the descriptive, expository, or argumentative mode of discourse; a descriptive comparison would discuss the artworks’ similarities and/or difference without offering an opinion or interpretation; an expository comparison would use the artworks’ similarities and/or differences to support an inference; an argumentative comparison would use the artworks’ similarities and/or differences to support an opinion for which there is considerable opposition The formal analysis: to analyze means to take a thing apart to discover how the pieces work together to create a whole, to discuss the ways in which the artwork’s subject matter, formal elements, principles of design, and medium work together to create an overall impression The exhibition review: the purpose of the review is to evaluate a collection of art at a museum or gallery, an activity engaged in by an art critic Research paper: makes conscious use of sources, it documents sources and includes an alphabetical list of sources in the form of a bibliography or works cited page. It may be written in a descriptive, expository, or argumentative mode of discourse; a descriptive would present that information objectively; an expository would use information gleaned from sources to support an inference; an argumentative would use information gleaned from sources to support an argument o Other Types of Writing About Art The artist statement: it describes who you are as an artist and what your art is about Museum and gallery labels: these labels inform the viewers about the artwork, providing specifics such as the title, artist’s name, artist’s dates, and the date the work was done. Often helpful to include information about subject matter, specific techniques, the composition, or other idiosyncratic points to increase the viewers’ understanding of the work Catalogue entries: principles of design and the elements of style; the work’s history including its various owners; information about the subject matter;
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special circumstances under which the work was done; whether the work is part of a series; influences on the artist and this particular work; whether there were other versions of the work; whether photographs were used; bits of correspondence by the artist, other artists, or literary figures regarding the work Chapter 2: The Language of Art Subject matter: refers to the identifiable objects or ideas represented in the work The meaning or content is not always completely evident from looking at the work; additional research is sometimes required Noticing the title of the work can also enlighten us about the subject matter Iconography means “image or symbol within”, this symbolism can be overt (readily understood by most people) or hidden Representational art portrays things perceived or represented in the visible world in recognizable form (thus, a painting of a dog would look like a dog that we have seen or would expect to see in the natural world) Abstract art deals with extracting or “abstracting” the essence of a thing or image. The artist makes forms recognizable as something from the natural world, although somewhat simplified or distorted Nonrepresentational art goes one step further than pure abstract art, makes no reference at all to the natural world of images – all identifiable subject matter has been eliminated Genre refers to realistic paintings or representations of everyday life Formal Elements The formal elements, also referred to as the visual elements, constitute the basic ingredients at the artist’s disposal Line: is a mark made by a moving point, can create patterns, move our eyes through the composition, or describe or express emotions Colour: must consider hue (which is the name of the colour, such as red or green), also note primary, secondary, and complimentary colours and its intensity and saturation Value: has to do with the varying degrees of light and dark. When there is a strong contrast of light and dark, the artist is employing a device called chiaroscuro Texture: refers to the tactile aspect (actual texture) or to the illusion of the tactile aspect (implied texture) Shape: refers to an area that stands out from the space next to or around it because of line, colour, value, or texture. Actual shapes and implied shapes Space: concerned with either a two-dimensional or three-dimensional aspect of a work. Two dimensional medium space is concerned with the appearance of
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depth or flatness. Pictoral devices that are used to create three-dimensional sense of space are linear perspective, atmospheric or aerial perspective (creates the illusion of distance by decreasing the saturation of colour and details and blurring contour lines), foreshortening, overlapping Time and motion: motion is another element of third dimension and time ushers in fourth dimension Sound and smell: installations and performance art bring in such new elements Principles of Design Design is the organization or the composition of the formal elements of art Balance: has to do with distribution of masses in the work of art; bilateral symmetrical balance (axially drawn line in the middle of the work implying a mirrored effect on both sides) Unity and variety: unity is a condition or sense of oneness, of different elements and images belonging together and ultimately making up a coherent whole – created by a repetition of shapes, colours, textures, linear directions etc
DIE KULTUR DER RENAISSANCE IN ITALIEN (1860) The Civilization of the Renaissance in Italy.
In 1848 Burckhardt taught at the Pädagogium in Basel and in 1855 at the Polytechnic Institute in Zurich o From 1858 to 1893 he held the chair of history and art history at the University of Basel Burckhardt emphasized the individual person as the starting point of a historical study Burckhardt's distrust of historical progress was not in tune with the generally optimistic culturalhistorical writing of the time o Burckhardt accepted the concept of a universal spirit expressed in culture. He believed that the process of growth and decay follow laws which are basically beyond human understanding Jacob Burckhardt’s approach to art and history, a cultural-historical approach, is known to posterity as the father of cultural history o discussed the complex life of the people, including religion, art and literature
Heinrich Wölfflin
was a famous Swiss art historian, whose classifying principles ("painterly" vs. "linear," etc.) were influential in the development of formal analysis in the History of art during the later 20th century Wölfflin studied art history and philosophy under Jakob Burckhardt at the University of Basel His dissertation attempted to show that architecture could be understood from a purely psychological point of view o Example: people who are skinny often prefer skinnier architect and vice-versa o It is considered one of the founding texts of the emerging discipline of art psychology
Published the result of two years' travel and study in Italy, as his Renaissance und Barock (1888), the book that introduced "Baroque" as a stylistic category and a serious area of study Because the awareness of each age differs from preceding and succeeding ages, artists are beholden to their periods and cannot freely choose how to paint o By introducing method into art history, Wölfflin hopes to make it a discipline that comprises more than appreciation of beauty and sensitivity to style Style, according to Wölfflin, depends on various factors, such as: o Persons, schools, country, race, period, and the elusive spirit of the age, the Zeitgeist o Developed principles: Linear vs. painterly: Elements on the canvas are primarily described by lines. Figures are distinct from one another; the painting is more or less a colored drawing. The painterly painting relies on color to express form. Paint is usually loosely handled, form is not defined with discrete lines and the edges of forms are not readily apparent [Example: Linear - Triumph of Galatea by Raphael; Painterly - The Return of the Prodigal Son by Rembrandt] Plane vs. recession: Objects in a planar painting are usually laid out parallel to the picture plane, we tend to see the flat sides of things. Depth is signified by a succession of parallel planes into space. In the non-planar painting objects turn corners to the viewer. There is more a sense of motion up to and away from your eye within the painting [Example: Plane – Annunciation by Veronese; Recession – A View on a High Road by Meindert Hobbema] Closed vs. open form: Does the space in the painting seem closed off by something at the edge of the canvas? Are the limits of the scene defined by objects within it? Or does the painted space appear to stretch on infinitely beyond the limits of the canvas? [Example: Closed -Santa Maria delle Carceri by Giuliano da Sangallo; Open - Santa Maria della Pace by Pietro da Cortona] Multiplicity vs. unity: The multiple painting feels like a collection of individual elements grouped together in the picture space. You feel you could pluck one object right out of the painting. In the unified painting one senses the objects not as individual elements, but as coherent parts of a general scene. [Example: Multiplicity - The Last Supper by Da Vinci (four groups of three figures); Unity Syndics of the cloth maker guild by Rembrandt] Absolute vs. relative clarity: Do you feel the objects are described as objects or as paint? In the painting with absolute clarity objects tend to be placed in strong, clear light so their edges are crisp and the viewer has an immediate understanding of the form of the object. Objects are, as it were, re-created in paint. Relative clarity, on the other hand, has to do with the optical sensation of objects. Objects are suggested in paint, not re-created. They generally tend to be darker and more loosely focused. Painted objects are not easily visually separable from the general painted field [Example: Absolute - Eleonora of
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Toledo and her son Giovanni de’ Medici by Agnolo Bronzino; Relative clarity - self portrait by Rembrandt] Composition in art, the organization of forms and colors within the work of art In traditional sculpture this means the arrangement of masses and planes. Examples: Assisi, San Francesco, Upper Church. The Legend of St. Francis, c. 1290s Francis is paid homage by a citizen of Assisi; JacquesLouis David, The Oath of the Horatii Linear perspective examples: Rome, Sistine Chapel, Pietro Perugino, the Giving of the Keys Breaking compositional elements can create tension or unease Golden mean: rhythm, illumination for lighting, geometry; example: Salvador Dali, the Sacrament of the Last Supper (1955). He explicitly used the golden ratio in his painting. The dimensions of the canvas are a golden rectangle. A huge dodecahedron, with edges in golden ratio to one another, is suspended above and behind Jesus and dominates the composition Leonardo da Vinci, Vitruvian Man Albrecht Dürer, self portrait