A.P. ART HISTORY. Introduction to the Basics

Transcription

1 A.P. ART HISTORY Introduction to the Basics

2 Always Identify Artist Title Italicize or underline titles of paintings or sculptures when writing Dates or Bracket Dates Medium Be as specific as possible, identify materials [oil on canvas, fresco, bronze, etc.] Location For architecture you must list the city the work is located This may also apply for some paintings and sculptures in situ or in its original location Stylistic Period Occasionally a geographic location will work, but generally a more specific era or ism can be identified such as Surrealism or Pop Art

3 Always Discuss Function Why was the object made? What purpose did it serve? Who was the patron, who commissioned the work and made sure it was paid for? Who was the intended audience? Where was it originally placed? Great Pyramids [Menkaura, Khafre, Khufu] and Great Spinx Giza, Egypt c B.C.E. Cut Limestone Old Kingdom, Fourth Dynasty

4 General Functions of Art Personal To express the artist s personal thoughts or feelings Social To share a sense of identity or to celebrate a communal event Spiritual To express or reinforce shared spiritual beliefs Physical The design and creation of functional objects [architecture, jewelry, pottery, etc.] Educational Informational or visual instruction. Also works as a record of history and is educational to us now.

5 Always Discuss Subject Matter What is the work about? Does it tell a story? Are there any symbols or clues [iconography] Hans Holbein Anne of Cleves C Oil and tempera on parchment mounted on canvas

6 Always Discuss Style and Formal Characteristics [analysis] Using art historical terminology, discuss the visual appearance of the work and its significance. The composition, the treatment of figures, the use of color, light/shade, scale, space, etc. The handling of the medium, brushstrokes, a technique of carving or modeling, etc. What does the work look like and why? Why did the artist make certain choices? Vincent van Gogh The Starry Night 1889 Oil on canvas

7 Elements of Art are basic visual symbols in the language of art Principles of Design are rules that govern how artists organize the elements of art

8 Always Discuss Context What does the work say about the period in which it was created? About the artist who created it? Does the work have specific historical significance? Jan van Eyck The Arnolfini Portrait c Oil on wood

9 Analyzing Formal Characteristics There are some terms specific to the visual analysis of formal characteristics, or formal analysis. The following deal with composition and media. Bust of Augustus wearing the corona civica Early first century C.E. Marble

10 Virgin [Theotokos] and Child Between Saints Theodore and George 6 th or Early 7 th century C.E. Encaustic on wood Early Byzantine Europe Form refers to an objects shape and structure, both 2D and 3D. Composition refers to how an artist composes or organizes forms in an artwork. This includes two-dimensional forms on a flat surface or arranging forms in space.

11 Line can simply be the path of a moving point in space. This can change in texture or width. When line defines the outer edges of an object s shape, we refer to it as contour line. Albrecht Durer The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse c Woodcut

12 Helen Frankenthaler The Bay 1963 Acrylic on canvas Color is derived from light. Paint pigments produce color by reflecting part of the visible spectrum and absorbing the rest. Hue is the name of a spectral color [i.e. blue] Value deals with the lightness or darkness of a color while intensity and saturation refer to the purity of a color, its brightness or dullness. Color in art was traditionally used to create naturalistic or believable forms. Throughout time though, artists have played with our perception of color. Either how it affects our emotions or how fields of color interact with one another.

13 Vincent van Gogh The Starry Night [detail] 1889 Oil on canvas Texture refers to the quality of a surface. This can be true texture [the actual tactile quality of a surface] and represented texture [when 2D artists depict an object having a texture].

14 Space, with respect to art history, refers to either the three-dimensional space occupied by a statue, or the illusion of space within a two-dimensional artwork. Mass is the bulk of a sculpture or architectural work. It does not have to be solid, only enclosing an interior space. Volume is the space that mass organizes, divides, or encloses. Iktinos and Kallikrates Parthenon B.C.E. Marble Athens, Greece

15 Ogata Korin Waves at Matushima c Six-panel folding screen, ink, color, and gold leaf on paper Perspective is used to organize forms in order to create the illusion of space on a two-dimensional plane. Perspective techniques have changed throughout history and between cultures.

16 Foreshortening is an exaggerated perspective technique used to depict forms at an angle on the picture plane. Peter Paul Rubens Lion Hunt Oil on canvas

17 The Weighing of the Heart from The Book of the Dead of Ani c Painted papyrus New Kingdom, 19 th Dynasty Proportion concerns the size relationships of one figure to another, or within parts of a whole [such as in facial proportion]. Systems of proportion shift dramatically between cultures, or have been manipulated for expressive effect. Hierarchy of scale is often used to signify importance.

18 Artists shape materials such as clay, marble, wood, or pigment with a variety of tools such as chisels, brushes, pens, etc. The material chosen is referred to as medium and the process used to manipulate it is the technique.

19 Seated Boxer 100 B.C.E. Bronze Hellenistic Period Sculpture techniques can be additive or subtractive. In casting, a fluid substance is formed in a mold. In carving, a final form is a subtraction of the original mass of material

20 Winged Victory of Samothrace 190 B.C.E. Marble Hellenistic Period Freestanding sculptures or sculptures in the round exist independently of any architectural frame.

21 Relief sculptures include subjects that project from a background while remaining connected to it. The farther from the background the higher the relief. Great Altar of Zeus and Athena at Pergamon 175 B.C.E. Marble Hellenistic Period Asia Minor [present day Turkey]

22 Architectural drawings help us understand the organization of space within a work of architecture. These could be floor plans, or elevation drawings.

23 Art historical analysis Francisco Goya The Third of May, 1808 in Madrid 1808, Oil on canvas tube.com/watch? v=_qm- DfhrNv8

24 Methodologies Methodologies are different ways of looking at and analyzing artworks. To study a work of art in context, we must also consider the lens through which we are seeing it.

25 Based on Methodologies of Art by Laurie Schneider Adams [1996] Formalism based on examining the formal elements of art and principles of design. Focus on technique and style. Context based on how the work reflects the cultural values and social forces that produced it. Includes religion, philosophy, science, and other social factors such as historical events, politics, class, and economics. Iconography the study of subject matter and content with a focus on interpreting meanings of symbols Biographical consideration for how a viewer s knowledge about the artist s life expands an understanding of their work.

26 Based on Methodologies of Art by Laurie Schneider Adams [1996] Psychoanalytic based on writings of leading thinkers studying the unconscious mind. Considers the motivations of the artist and work as they may result from pathological drives. Feminist Criticism considers issues of gender in understanding the depiction of women by male artists, female artists, the subjects chose, and how they represent those subjects. Aesthetics a branch of philosophy concerned with a viewer s response to a work and how artists cause response. Questions what art is in relation to what appeals to us and our ideas of beauty. Semiotics studies signs and subtexts, and applies linguistics studies to visual images. If an artwork is read as an interpretation of signs, the viewer must then decode possible hidden meanings.

27 John Henry Sylvester Portrait of Te Pehi Kupe 1826 watercolor Te Pehi Kupe Self-Portrait 1826

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29 Further Resources