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A comprehensive study guide for Visual Arts students in Grade 10 and 11

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MICHELANGELO

The Pieta 1497 – 1500

Visual Arts covers a broad field of creative practice that involves

the hand, the eye, the intellect and the imagination in

conceptualizing and creating two-dimensional and three-

dimensional artworks, objects and environments which reflect

the aesthetic, conceptual and expressive concerns of individuals

or groups.

• The subject Visual Arts is about self-expression and offers one a way to engage meaningfully with, and respond to, the world. It provides opportunities to stimulate and develop your intellect, engaging your creative imagination through visual and tactile experiences and the innovative use of materials and technology in realizing your ideas.

• It also encourages you to develop an individual visual language and literacy, which is informed

and shaped by the study of visual culture, past and present.

Introduction to Visual Literacy

• ‘Literacy’ usually means the ability to read and write, but it can also refer to the ability to ‘read’ signs other than words, such as images.

• The proliferation of images in our culture – in newspapers and magazines, in advertising, on television, and on the Web – makes visual literacy (the ability to read images) a vital skill.

Visual images take on many forms.

Art is life intensely experienced.

For those with eyes to see, an

encounter with a work of art can

be deeply moving. Zelanski, P.

and Fisher, M. The art of seeing,

p. 12

“Art does not reproduce the visible; rather, it makes visible”. -Paul Klee

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• The first level of visual literacy is simple knowledge: basic identification of the subject or elements in a photograph, work of art, etc.

• While accurate observation is important, understanding what we see and comprehending

visual relationships are at least as important.

• These higher-level visual literacy skills require critical thinking and they are essential in understanding any content area where information is conveyed through visual formats such as charts and maps.

Formal

Elements of Art • To get insight into any artwork one must first know the ‘language’ of art. This language or ABC

consists of the elements of art.

● Line

● Shape + Form

● Tonal Value

● Texture

● Colour

● Space

LINE • Line is an element of art which refers to the continuous mark made on some surface by a

moving point.

• It can be two-dimensional, like a pencil mark on paper or it may be three- dimensional, (e.g. wire) or implied (the edge of a shape or form).

Paul Klee said “A line is a dot that went for a walk.”

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Paul Klee, Promanade, Pen and ink. 1929 Saul Steinberg

Line is all around us.

Man-made lines Lines in Nature

• Line is basic to writing, drawing and most painting.

• Pictographs or picture writing were the earliest form of writing.

An OUTLINE is a line that joins itself to create shapes. The lines are

the same thickness throughout.

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CONTOUR define edges, but they also define the edges of

shapes within a form.

Lines can be:

thick thin long curved jagged sensitive

EMOTIONS IN LINE:

CALM, TRANQUIL, SOOTHING

See pg 6 of textbook

See pg 7 of textbook

AGGRESSIVE

ORDERED

ENERGETIC, LIVELY

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Ben Shahn, Dr J. Oppenheimer, 1954.

• Lines can express different qualities and emotions.

• Lines also have a psychological effect.

• In the paintings on page 8, the major forms create a suggestion of lines.

Jan Vermeer, View of Delft.

1660 – 61 .Oil on Canvas.

John Constable. The Cornfield,

1826. Oil on Canvas.

Gerard Sekoto, Song of the Pick,

1946 – 7. Oil on Canvas.

Horizontal lines create a

feeling of peace and calm.

Vertical lines create a feeling of

strength and power.

Diagonal lines create a feeling of

movement and restlessness.

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SHAPE AND FORM

Organic forms from nature Inorganic forms are machine-made with

rigid/geometric outlines

• Shape is a two-dimensional area (flat) with a recognizable boundary.

• Form is a three-dimensional shape. A form has height, width and depth. It also refers to the illusion of volume in a two-dimensional work.

• The infinite variety of forms and shapes can be divided into organic and inorganic (geometric) ones.

M.C. Escher, Sky and Water 1938. 2D and 3D

Woodcut Print.

• A positive shape is the main shape or object while the negative shape refers to the space or background that surrounds the positive space.

• It is important to keep the negative spaces interesting while working.

See how cleverly Escher plays with positive and negative shapes.

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DESCRIBE THE FORM AND/SHAPE:

- Geometric shapes – triangles, - Geometric shapes - rectangles etc. rectangles, triangles, circles. - Angular - Flat, 2d shapes.

- Flat, 2d. - Abstract – no recognisable - Abstracted form but still scenes or objects. recognizable scenes or objects for example figures and musical instruments.

TONAL VALUE

• Tonal Value refers to the degree of light and dark in a given

artwork.

• Forms do not have outlines in real life, but are defined by light.

• Without light we do not see forms.

• When working with tonal values, one must carefully observe how light falls on a form.

• Tonal values create volume and three-dimensional shapes. (The representation of three- dimensional objects on a two- dimensional surface.)

• Above is a ten-step value scale showing different graduations from very light to very dark.

• A scale like this is a useful aid when working with tonal values.

• In the bottom row the same tone of grey is placed in each of the blocks.

• See how dark it appears on the white and how light on the black!

• See how the flat circle becomes a round ball with the aid of tonal values.

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Rembrandt, Aristotle

Contemplating a bust of homer,

1653. Oil on Canvas.

TEXTURE

Jan Vermeer. The Milk

Maid, 1658. Oil on Canvas

• CHIAROSCURA is the depicting in two-dimensional art of the effects of light and shadow as a means of rendering the solidity of bodies, especially when they are strongly contrasted.

• The Baroque painters, such as Caravaggio and Rembrandt were masters of using chiaroscuro.

• Texture refers to the surface quality or feel of an object. How it would feel if we touched it?

• Textures can be coarse, smooth, slimy, bristly, furry, matted, scratchy, wrinkled…

• SIMULATED TEXTURE - Is found in two-dimensional artworks. It can be seen but not felt.

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Meret Oppenheim. Breakfast in Fur. 1936. Fur-lined teacup, saucer and spoon.

African Power figure,

no date, wood and metal.

DEFINITION OF FROTTAGE: = A technique of taking rubbings from rough surfaces.

This technique is often used to create pattern or the illusion

of texture in a drawing, e.g. to create the grain of wood.

COLOUR

THE COLOUR WHEEL CAN BE DIVIDED INTO:

• 3 PRIMARY COLOURS: RED, YELLOW, BLUE Primary colours cannot be made by mixing together other colours.

• 3 SECONDARY COLOURS: ORANGE, PURPLE, GREEN Each of these colours is made by mixing two primary colours together. RED AND YELLOW = ORANGE, BLUE AND YELLOW = GREEN

Oppenheim disorientates the viewer by

covering a smooth cup and saucer with fur.

HUE is the name of a colour, for example, red or blue.

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• 6 INTERMEDIATE COLOURS RED-ORANGE; YELLOW-ORANGE; YELLOW-GREEN BLUE-GREEN; BLUE-PURPLE; RED-PURPLE These colours are between the primary and secondary colours on the wheel.

• Brown is a tertiary colour created by mixing two complementary colours.

• Black is the presence of all colours and White is the absence of all colours. (With light it is exactly the opposite!)

• TINTS are colours mixed with white.

• SHADES are colours mixed with black.

• INTENSITY of colour relates to the brightness or dullness of a colour.

COMPLEMENTARY

There are 3 pairs of complementary colours.

• Red and Green

• Yellow and Purple

• Blue and Orange Henri Matisse. The Open Window, Collioure, 1905. Oil on Canvas.

“Colour is my day-long

obsession, joy and torment.”

Claude Monet

Colours can be grouped in different ways.

The most common are:

These are always

a pair of colours,

one being a

primary and one a

secondary colour

directly opposite

each other on the

colour wheel.

When placed side

by side, they

contrast strongly

and often appear

to vibrate.

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MONOCHROMATIC

A monochromatic painting uses variations of one hue only. A pure hue is used alone with black and/or white or mixed with black and/or white.

ANALOGOUS

This colour scheme consists of hues adjacent to one

another on the colour wheel, each containing the same

hue, for example, yellow-green, green and blue-green,

which all contain the hue green.

POLYCHROMATIC

Random use of hues and their variations.

• Colour has a psychological effect. Some colours can be described as warm, for example, red, orange and yellow. These colours seem to come towards the viewer in space. They create a feeling of excitement.

• Cool colours are blue, green and lemon-green. They seem to recede towards the back of a painting. They have a calming effect on the viewer.

• Colours have symbolic meanings. These meanings can differ in different cultures. A colour can have two opposite meanings for example, red is a symbol of danger and love, and green a symbol of new life or decay.

Vincent van Gogh. Starry Night, 1889. Oil on Canvas

“Why do two colours, put one next to the other, sing? Can one really

explain this?” Pablo Picasso.

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SPACE • In architecture space plays an important role and the architect

must create pleasing, functional and interesting spaces in which people can live, work and play.

• Sculpture is three-dimensional. It occupies space, has volume and can be viewed from any direction. The sculpture creates an unique relationship between form and space, or positive and negative.

Alberto Giacometti. Man Pointing. 1947. Bronze.

Inside the Tate Modern in London.

• In two-dimensional artworks, artists create a feeling of three-dimensional space and depth through the use of PERSPECTIVE.

• LINEAR PERSPECTIVE is based on the observation that PARALLEL LINES appear to meet on the horizon at one or more VANISHING POINTS. Objects become smaller as they are positioned further away.

Georges Seurat, Sunday afternoon on the Island of La Grand Jatte. 1884 – 86. Oil on Canvas.

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• Aerial perspective

(atmospheric perspective) is when the atmosphere softens shapes and colours in the distance. When you are near a tree, you can see individual branches and leaves. At a distance they appear to blend together.

Tintoretto. The Finding of the Body of St. Mark. 1562. Oil on Canvas

• Foreshortening

The shortening of the depth dimension. In this painting the figure of Christ is dramatically foreshortened.

Mantegna. The Dead Christ. 1480 – 1490. Tempera on Canvas

COMPOSITION AND THE

PRINCIPLES OF COMPOSITION/DESIGN

ORGANIZING THE ELEMENTS

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COMPOSITION Composition is the combination of the art elements to form

pleasing whole.

• The arrangement of colours, forms, etc. must form a

visually pleasing or stimulating unity.

• The artist is the person who has put these things together,

which is called composing.

• The final result of composing a drawing, painting or sculpture

is called a composition.

• Composition is very important in the creation of artworks and

can often make or break the success of an artwork.

• When we look at the Raphael painting, we can admire his

use of forms, shapes, colour and space, but it is the way

he organized them (the composition) that makes it a pleasing

whole.

• The composition was based on underlaying geometric

shapes that created a sense of stability and order.

Raphael, The Engagement of the Virgin,

1504. Oil and Tempera on Panel.

• A composition is generally divided into three planes.

• The foreground of a composition is the visual plane that appears

closest to the viewer, while the background is the plane in a

composition perceived furthest from the viewer.

• The middle ground is part between the foreground and the

background.

• What do you see as the focal point in this work?

• Indicate the foreground, middle ground and background in this painting.

Glossary • Focal Point is the area of interest to which the viewer’s

eye is drawn when viewing the artwork. It could be that the lines in the composition leads to it or that it is the brightest part of the picture, etc.

Goya, Third of May, 1808

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THE PRINCIPLES OF

COMPOSITION/DESIGN

The principles of composition/design refer to the way in which one organizes

the elements of art in an artwork to achieve a specific result and effect

Botticelli, The Birth of Venus, 1485. Tempera on

Canvas.

BALANCE • Balance refers to the arrangement of the elements to create stability in an artwork. In

other words, it ‘looks’ and ‘feels’ right.

• ASYMMETRICAL BALANCE is created when both sides are similar in visual weight but not mirrored. It usually creates more interesting compositions.

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• SYMMETRICAL balance is created when both sides are similar in visual weight and almost mirrored. It often looks stiffer and more formal.

• RADIAL BALANCE is not very common in artists’ compositions, but it is like a daisy or sunflower with everything arranged around a centre. Rose windows of cathedrals use this design system.

RHYTHM/MOVEMENT

• Rhythm refers to ways of combing art elements to produce the sense of flow or movement in an artwork. It may be achieved through repetition, alternation or progression of an element.

• Discuss how shapes are repeated and progressive in this work to create a sense of rhythm. (Compare it to music where notes are repeated and progressed).

J.H. Pierneef, Study in Blue. 1929. Oil.

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EMPHASIS • Emphasis refers to developing points of interest to pull the

viewer’s eye to important parts in the work.

• This also refers to focal points in the composition.

• Emphasis can be created by using colour, tone, etc.

Goya, Third of May, 1808

UNITY/HARMONY • These refer to the wholeness which results from the successful combination of

the elements of an artwork.

• Everything fits well together and creates a pleasing unity.

CONTRAST • Contrast refers to visual differences in an artwork. Contrast is a very important

factor in an artwork and creates interesting compositions and artworks. It refers to the differences between for example, lines, shapes, tonal values, colours, etc.

• Contrast can also be seen in how bright colours are combined with dull colours and angular shapes with round shapes etc.

Pablo Picasso, Guernica, 1937, oil on canvas

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PROPORTION • Proportion is the size relationship of parts to a whole and to one each other. • Sometimes proportions are ignored, enlarged or changed to create a certain effect,

such as an emotional impact.

Michelangelo Buonarotti, Pieta. 1501. Marble.

Roettgen. Pieta. Early 14th

century.

Painted wood.

• The two sculptures both have the same theme: Mother Maria holding the dead body of

Christ on her lap.

• At first glance, Michelangelo’s sculpture seems in proportion, but when you look closer

you will see that in relationship with Christ, Mary’s body is enormous.

• We do not notice the unique proportions of Mary’s figure because Christ’s figure has

normal proportions and because Mary’s head is in scale with the head of Christ.

• In comparison, the earlier medieval sculpture is in proportion – a grown man on the

lap of a woman, yet they seem unnatural!

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PATTERN • Pattern is the repetition of motifs.

Henri Matisse. Harmony in Red. 1908.

Oil on Canvas.

Gustav Klimt. Judith 1. 1901.

Oil on Canvas

Media and techniques

• The artist needs a means to express his or her ideas.

• The artist usually has an idea before a medium is selected.

• The artist learns through trial and error what a specific medium can do.

The word MEDIUM (plural is media) refers to the material used for making an artwork. (It can

also refer to the liquid ingredient of a paint e.g. water, linseed oil, etc.

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TWO-DIMENSIONAL MEDIA

Drawing • Drawing is perhaps the most direct and basic of all the arts.

• The marks the artist lays down reflect the movement and skillfulness of the arm and hand.

• Most artists make use of drawing as preparatory work before doing the final work in another medium.

Michelangelo. The Creation of Man (Detail), Michelangelo. Study for Adam. Red Chalk Drawing.

1511 – 12. Sistine Chapel Ceiling. Fresco

• These include rough sketches, observational drawings, compositional sketches, noting down of ideas, etc.

• These drawings are often appreciated and hung as works of art.

• There are, however, many artists who choose drawing media to make their final statements.

• This is especially true in the last few decades and drawing has become the chosen medium for many artists.

Michelangelo made many preparatory drawings before tackling the Sistine Chapel ceiling.

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• In analyzing an artwork, one should consider the relationship between the subject matter and the medium to see if the artist’s intention was successfully conveyed.

• A distinction can be made between two-dimensional and three- dimensional media.

DRAWING MATERIAL INCLUDES THE FOLLOWING:

• Charcoal

• Pencil – (The H pencils being the hard and B the soft pencils)

• A variety of pens

• Pen and/or brush and ink

• Crayons, conte

• Chalk pastels – need to be sprayed with fixative to preserve it

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Crayon/Colour Pencils

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• Drawings can be made with everything that makes a mark and on anything that can be marked on.

• Many contemporary artists have stretched the boundaries of drawing with their choice of media.

Edgar Degas. Before the Mirror. 1889. Pastel on Paper.

• Edgar Degas was a master in using chalk pastels. He used them as lines of colour to build up his shapes. Many people see this as painting, rather than drawing.

• This fragile medium needs to be protected with fixative.

Diane Victor. Three portraits from a series of 36 portraits

made from photographs taken by Victor of St Raphael

HIV/Aids Centre Day Clinic in Grahamstown. 2004.

Smoke Drawings.

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Painting • The painting media all consist of PIGMENT (coloured

powders), a liquid called the VEHICLE OR MEDIUM in

which the pigments are mixed on a palette and a surface

(a wall, board, canvas, paper, etc.) called a SUPPORT to

which the mixture is applied. • An artist works in a studio.

Van Gogh. Self portrait as an artist.

1888. oil on canvas➔

Objects found in a painter’s studio:

Tempera

• Tempera is an old painting technique known to the Egyptians, Greeks and Romans.

• It developed into the main medium for small-scale paintings until the development of oil

painting during the Renaissance.

• Tempera used colour pigments extracted from minerals, egg yolk used as an adhesive, and

water to liquefy the paint.

• The surface to be painted upon was often prepared with a thin coating of plaster or gesso.

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• The medium has a linear nature – it is usually neat within the shapes and has a matt finish.

• Tempera dries too quickly for brush- strokes to be blended, but shapes can be modeled by a series of fine brush-strokes.

• Gold-leaf decoration was an important part of tempera panels and was used as backgrounds, haloes and drapery detail up until the middle of the

15th

century.

Cimabue. Madonna Enthroned with Angels

and Prophets (Detail). C. 1280 – 90. Tempera on Wood.

Fresco • Fresco technique was developed by the ancient Mediterranean

civilizations and refined by the Italian Renaissance painters.

• A fresco is a painting made using pigments mixed with water

and painted onto a wall when the plaster is still wet.

• The pigment is absorbed by the wet plaster; after

several hours, the plaster dries and reacts with the

air: it is this chemical reaction which fixes the

pigment particles in the plaster.

• A fresco painted on dry plaster, called fresco secco,

is less durable than a true fresco, or buon fresco.

• The range of colours was limited and frescoes are

usually painted in light and muted colours.

• It has a chalky appearance.

• Great emphasis was placed on the drawing which

was then coloured in.

Piero Della Francesca. Annunciation (Detail).➔ C 1455. Fresco.

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Oil Painting • Oil paint is a slow-drying paint that consists of

particles of pigment suspended in a drying oil,

commonly linseed oil.

• The viscosity of the paint may be modified by the

addition of a solvent such as turpentine or white

spirits, and varnish may be added to increase the

glossiness of the dried film.

• Oil paints have been adopted as an artistic medium

since the early 15th century.

Caravaggio. Madonna with Serpent (Detail). 1606. Oil on Canvas.

• Oil paints are popular because of their versatility.

• It can be used from glazing (thin layers of paint) to impasto

(thick, direct painting).

• Characteristic of oil paints is the rich luminosity.

• It also can create very dark tones.

• It blends easily into the surrounding paints and allows the

colours to blend very subtly.

• Oil paints have more brilliant and jewel-like colours which

make the paintings very attractive and render a glossy surface

to them.

Watercolour

• Watercolour is a transparent water-soluble painting medium.

• A watercolour is the medium or the resulting artwork in which the paints are made of pigments suspended in a water-soluble vehicle.

• The traditional and most common support for watercolour paintings is paper.

• Its main quality is the luminous delicacy because light reflects back from the paper through the colour, making the whole vivid and translucent. Egon Schiele. The Artist’s Wife. 1918. Watercolour on Paper.➔

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Acrylic • This is a waterbased synthetic paint developed during

the 20th

century.

• The first professional artist’s ranges appeared in the

1960s.

• For the first time artists had a medium with a body

comparable to oil paint yet able to be applied to virtually

any surface with minimal preparation, and still capable

of producing the delicate effects of all waterbased

media.

• It is also referred to as polymer colours or synthetic

polymer. Chuck Close. Phil. 1969. Synthetic Polymer on Canvas

More Recent Media

Collage • In the early 20

th century, Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque

made collage into an art form.

• A collage (from the French coller meaning to stick or glue), is a

composite image made by sticking newspaper cuttings,

photographs and other materials on to a flat surface.

• It is often combined with drawing and painting media.

Georges Braque. Glass, Carafe and Newspaper. 1914. Collage and chalk and Charcoal.➔

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Photo montage This is a form of collage where parts of different photos are stuck together to form an image.

Hannah Hoch. Dada Dance.

1922. Montage.

Mixed Media This is when an artist uses different media, materials and techniques in

one work.

Photography • Photography is the process and art of recording pictures by

means of capturing light on a light-sensitive medium, such as film or an electronic sensor.

• Digital photography works with light-sensitive digital pixels.

• Digital art makes use of new digital media such as computers and the Internet.

Dorothea Lange. White Angel Breadline. ➔ 1932. Photograph.

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Printmaking What is a Print?

• A print can be reproduced several times. Although the different printing

techniques differ, most involve the use of ink, paper and a plate and a surface

such as a piece of wood or copper on which to make the design. To produce

the print, a piece of paper is pressed or rolled against the inked plate.

• Traditionally, printmaking was regarded as

a means of reproducing paintings and

drawings or illustrating books. It is now a

fine art form in its own right. Artists produce

limited editions that are individually signed

and numbered.

Hokusai. Travellers Crossing the Oi River. ➔ Coloured Woodcut.

Relief Prints • A relief print is so called because the image on the plate

is in relief; that is, it projects or sticks up from the

surface of the plate. • The artist draws on the plate surface, then cuts away

the areas that are to remain white (negative areas),

leaving the parts that are to print (positive areas) raised

from the background. • Black ink is rolled across the plate and clings to the parts

that are in relief. It can then be printed. • Relief prints include woodcuts, wood engravings and

linocuts.

Emil Nolde. The Prophet. ➔

Woodcut. 1912.

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• WOODCUTS were the earliest form of relief print first developed in China. Woodcuts usually have a bold, forceful line. The grain of the wood can play a part.

• LINOCUTS allow a freer, more spontaneous line and the work is unhampered by grain, with a softer appearance.

• Woodcuts and linocuts can also be printed in colour. A different block can be used for each colour, as in Japanese prints, or reduction printing can be applied. Reduction printing is a name used to describe the process of using one block to print several layers of colour on one print.

John Muafangejo.Battle of Rorkes Drift.

1981. Linocut.

Intaglio Prints

Intaglio (the Italian for “to cut in”) is the opposite

of relief printing. In this form the image is below

the surface. The artist cuts the lines that are to be

printed in the plate. Usually a sheet of metal such

as copper is used.

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Types of Intaglio Printing: • ENGRAVING is a direct method of cutting into the plate

with a burin. It is a slow and demanding technique. The wider and deeper the cut, the darker the printed lines as the ink fills the engraved line. ENGRAVING is a direct method of cutting into the plate with a burin. It is a slow and demanding technique. The wider and deeper the cut, the darker the printed lines as the ink fills the engraved line.

Albrecht Dürer. Knight, Death and the Devil.

1513-1514. Engraving.

• ETCHING requires a metal plate coated with two, hard acid-resist grounds – wax on the working surface and varnish on the back. Designs are drawn by scratching the wax ground with a blunt steel needle set in a wooden holder. An acid bath is used to bite out the design drawn on an acid-resistant wax ground, the acid biting only where the metal plate has been exposed. The depth of lines varies with the time and solution strength of the acid bath. Etching allows for a more spontaneous handling than engraving. It is often combined with a toning method known as aquatint.

Francisco Goya. The Sleep of Reason produces Monsters.➔ 1797 – 8 Etching and Aquatint.

Planographic • LITHOGRAPHY: The artist draws on a block of limestone

with a greasy crayon. The surface is dampened with water

and the greasy drawn lines resist the water. Ink is then

rolled onto the stone – sticking to the greasy drawing and

repelled by the wet background. The final print reflects

the marks of the drawing.

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• SCREENPRINTING: (Serigraph) This is a modern printing method and is a stencil method. It uses a stencil made of paper or lacquered film stuck over a fine-mesh fabric stretched over a frame. The printing ink is forced through the screen with a rubber squeegee. Cut stencils produce sharply defined images on the screen with a waxy or waterproof medium. Warhol used a stencil made from a half-tone film positive.

• MONOPRINTS are a single impression taken from a design painted on a flat surface.

• COLLAGRAPHY is a printmaking technique in which textured material is adhered to the printing matix. This texture is transferred to the paper during the printing process.

Andy Warhol. Turquoise Marilyn. ➔ 1962. Screenprint.

• Contemporary printmaking may include digital printing,

photographic media, or a combination of digital, photographic,

and traditional processes.

• Many printing techniques require a printing press.

• Some printing techniques can be done without a press. Artists

such as John Muafangejo often used the back of a spoon to

print their linocuts.

A Printing Press.

Three-Dimensional Media

Sculpture

FREE-STANDING➔

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LOW RELIEF

HIGH RELIEF➔

CARVING ➔

MODELLING

CASTING➔

Liquid bronze at 1200 °C is poured into the dried and empty casting mould

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CONSTRUCTION

SUBJECT MATTER AND

THEMES IN ARTWORKS

• The subject of the work is what the painting, drawing or sculpture is about. The objects contained in the image and the underlying story or idea referenced by those figures and objects is the subject of the work.

• Looking at subject matter forms a handy way of comparing works from different times and places.

• Different types of subject matter include: - Portraits - Figure studies - Still-life - Landscapes - Animal Studies - Religious works - Mythology - Fantasy - Politics/ History - Abstraction

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STYLE

Style refers to the ‘how’ question about artworks.

• ‘How has the artist depicted the subject?’

• ‘How has the artist put his/her personal mark on the artwork?’

THE FOLLOWING REPRESENTS SOME OF THE MOST USED STYLES IN ART:

NATURALISM:

• Art that seeks to represent accurately and faithfully the actual appearance of things. (The term naturalistic and realistic are often used synonymously; but Realism refers to a specific movement in the 19th century.) This is also known as representational art.

Still Life with Musical Instruments, by Pieter Claesz. 1623➔

FIGURATIVE:

• Figures and objects are recognizable, but not necessarily lifelike. All naturalistic artworks are figurative, but not all figurative works are naturalistic.

Pablo Picasso, CRYING WOMAN, 1937. Oil on Canvas

ABSTRACT:

• Abstract art that does not depict recognizable scenes or objects. Shapes, lines, colours, etc., exist without any reference to reality, but with aesthetic value. The artwork is ‘read’ in terms of lines, shape and colours. This is also known as non-representational or non-objective art.

Vassily Kandinsky, Composition V, 1911. Oil on Canvas➔

EXPRESSIONISM:

• Expressionism is an art style where the emphasis is placed on the expression of the emotions and feelings of the artist. Characteristic of this art include distortion and exaggeration.

Edvard Munch, The Scream, 1899. Oil on Canvas

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STYLISED:

• Styisation refers to distortion of representational images in accordance with certain artistic conventions or to emphasise certain design qualities. It also refers to when an artist’s use of standard characteristics to portray an object. Only the general shape is shown, but detail is ignored. The object is stripped to basic recognizable characteristics.

Cecil Skotnes - Head, oil on incised panel➔

DECORATIVE:

• Artworks where pattern or decoration are emphasized are regarded as decorative.

Henri Matisse, Interior with Eggplants, 1911. Oil on Canvas

Function, contextual influences and meaning/interpretation

Functions of an Artwork: • Architecture is the most functional of the visual arts.

Ever since prehistoric times, people have built shelters against heat, cold, rain or attack. Architecture organizes space for human uses, like religious or civic activities.

• Consider the following 6 functions of artworks:

- Aesthetic qualities:

Aesthetic qualities are qualities seen by the viewer when looking at the

artwork. Aesthetic qualities are when art elements and principles come together to

create a certain feel to the image, such as warm colours which create a sense of beauty

and harmony.

- Prestige:

Strictly speaking, a prestigious artwork is the artwork that generates prestige for someone.

Art valuers have decided that owning a Van Gogh artwork is prestigious. You own a Van

Gogh artwork, and therefor as long as others accord prestige to Van Gogh, you share in

the prestige of that ownership. Therefore, the more well known the artist, the more

prestigious their artworks will be.

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- Uniqueness:

Every artist has their own unique and individual style. The uniqueness about an artwork is

not in itself but in what it represents for the artist/owner and for what the artist wants to

convey and transmit to the viewers.

- Investment:

A well-known artist whose artworks’ prices has steadily risen, could be use as an

investment, because it might sell for much more in the future.

- Ownership:

Ownership relates to prestige, the pleasure of owning something

unique and desirable.

- Collecting instinct:

Many people have this instinct. For a person collecting South

African art or Gerard Sekoto specifically, it would be a pleasure

to extend their collection.

Gerard Sekoto, Self Portrait➔

Contextual Factors: • The context is very important to understand any artwork. This has to do with the social and

historical background. It is important to find out as much historical background to artists

and artworks as possible, so that our understanding of the work is enriched.

Meaning and Interpretation: • The discussion and consideration of the formal art

elements, principles of design, use of media and

technique, style and contextual factors will help the

viewer to come to a closer understanding of any

artwork. However, the viewer is not the artist and may

never know the full intention of the artist, but one forms

a personal opinion provided that the opinion is

substantiated by the artwork, research, interviews

and/or discussion.

Drawing by Cooper Foory➔

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Visual Analysis The purpose of a visual analysis is to recognize and understand the visual

choices the artist made in creating the artwork. By observing and writing about

separate parts of the art object, you will come to a better understanding of

the art object as a whole.

Visual Analysis of Specific

Artworks:

THE THIRD OF MAY

The Third of May 1808 (1814) By Francisco de Goya.

One of the greatest modern paintings of the nineteenth century.

DESCRIPTION:

The Executions of the third of May, 1808 is a painting created by the Spanish artist Francisco Goya. The painting 8 feet 9" by 13 feet 4". The painting depicts an execution of masses of Spanish countrymen by French soldiers. There are 8 plus soldiers, with their faces turned away from the viewer, firing at a group of Spanish countrymen at very close range. There is a central figure Spanish man in his early 30's with his arms outstretched. He is wearing a white shirt and yellow ochre pants. He is on his knees. If you look very closely you can see piercing in the palms of his hands. The central figure is surrounded by about 7 men. They are in various states of emotions. Some of the men cover their eyes, others are in prayer, while at least one covers his ears. There is a monk in prayer alongside this group that frames the central character. In the foreground in front of this group of men being executed is a pile of dead bodies. There are at least

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3 men dead in a pool of blood that covers them and flows into the center of the composition, in front of the central figure. There is a lantern that illuminates the execution. The action takes place outside the city. There is a church or cathedral in the distance. The men being executed are placed in front of a large boulder. The execution takes place outside the city.

IMPORTANT: (As you can see in the description, there is no commentary about what the painting might mean, or your reaction to it. It is a record, a description of the event. You want to write in such a way that someone who has never seen the painting can get a mind's eye view of what the painting is about.)

FORMAL ANALYSIS:

(Explore the elements of composition namely, line, texture, space, colour, and shape.)

The mood of the painting is very bleak and sombre. The colours which the artist has chosen are earth tones, and there is a strong overall contrast of dark and light. This dramatic lighting technique or chiaroscuro can be seen in the central figure or focal point-the young Spanish man with his arm's outstretched. The implied lines of the gun lead the viewers eye to the focal point. His outstretched arms form a "V" line. This line is reiterated in the collar and pants of the man. There is also an angular or "V" line formed by the lantern that illuminates the scene. There is a line in the sand that differentiates the "good, or noble" Spanish countrymen from the harsher, harder forms of the French soldiers in the shadows. The shapes of the French soldiers are highly contoured. They turn way from the viewer. We do not know what they look like. The viewer can not relate to them. In contrast we see the faces of the Spanish countrymen, we see their fear, pain, defiance, and belief. Texturally the Spanish countrymen are softer. The artist has created looser brushstrokes and a duller surface. This in contrast to the shiner surface of the soldier. Specially, the viewer is outside looking in. The light and dark contrast of the line in the sand separates the two groups spatially. There is also a feeling of entrapment created by the line of the mountain that holds the Spanish countrymen into the space.

INTERPRETATION: (What is the overall meaning of the work of art? This is subjective, everyone may have a

different response. There are no wrong answers to what the painting says to you-the

viewer.)

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As I look at this painting, without even knowing the history behind

it, I feel empathy with the Spanish countrymen. The central figure

appears to be a Christ-like figure. Spain and France are for the

most part Catholic, and there would be no greater hero than

Christ. He appears on the scene-bigger than life. If he stood up,

He would tower over the scene. A soft light reflects behind him,

creating a feeling of spirituality. It is though He is asking the

soldiers, "Why are you doing this to Me?" He stands with the

Spanish people and symbolizes their courage, faith, and lack of

understanding of war atrocities and aggression. The element of

time is very interesting in this painting. Goya presents the

present-the figure presently being shot, the past-the dead men in the pool of blood-and the future-

the long line of men who will be shot. The painting is timeless. It pays tribute to people who are

willing to stand up for their beliefs, in spite of, aggressors who would try to destroy them. It also

shows the price that the price of war for the victims as well as the aggressors. Goya shows us that

the aggressors have become robotic like and inhuman in their treatment of the people they would

try to conquer.

Guernica

Picasso, Pablo: Guernica, oil on canvas by Pablo Picasso, 1937; in the Museo Nacional

Centro de Arte Reina Sofía (Queen Sofía Museum), Madrid. 3.49 × 7.77 m.

DESCRIPTION:

(Write in such a way that someone who has never seen the painting can get a mind's eye

view of what the painting is about)

The complex composition, with Picasso’s characteristic Cubist figures and disturbing

representation of space, is not easy to read. A forceful horse occupies the painting’s centre,

stumbling over its fallen rider sprawled below and lit by the spiked rays of a lightbulb above. A

bellowing bull on the left seems to include a crying mother with her child laying limp in her arms.

A ghostly figure appears from an opening to the right, holding a gaslight, while a woman closer to

the foreground hangs her arms in despair. Farther back, flames and possibly ruins consume a

howling figure. The dramatic subject is subdued, painted in the grisaille technique, a method using

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a neutral monochrome palette. The mural contains some hidden images. One of them is a skull,

which is covered over the horse's body. Another is a bull formed from the horse's bent leg. Three

daggers replace tongues in the mouths of the horse, the bull and the screaming woman.

FORMAL ANALYSIS: (Explore the elements of composition namely, line, texture, space, colour, and shape.)

Guernica is blue, black and white, 3.5 metres tall and 7.8 metres wide, a mural-size canvas painted in oil. Historians believe that the resulting black and white photos inspired the artist to revise his earlier coloured versions of the artwork to a starker, more impactful palette. The removal of colour intensifies the drama, producing a reporting quality as in a photographic record. This contrast between black and white hues unifies and intensifies the drama of the piece, depicting the metaphorical darkness that surrounds each figure. The shape of the bodies and other figures are distorted and abstracted in an effort to achieve a sense of reality without explicitly representing it. Importance as well as emphasis of certain images are illustrated through Picasso’s use of proportion. For example, the images of the horse and the bull are large and in the forefront of the painting. The painting is approximately symmetrical wherein figures on either side of the piece occupy roughly equivalent space. The spacing of images throughout the piece is unclear and somewhat chaotic; as a result, it is difficult to discriminate between images due to their overlap and intersection. Although these figures seem to be chaotically jumbled together, there is in fact an overwhelming visual order. Two vertical lines separate the piece into three visual groupings, while figures at the centre are organised into a large triangle of light which can be drawn from the seemingly eye-like light bulb at the top of the painting. It can be inferred that the artist intended to metaphorically illuminate images or ideas presented in the painting by literally depicting a light bulb shining on certain figures through contrast. The size, location, and illumination of the image by the lightbulb, indicate the importance of the horse image which serves as the focal point of the piece. The style of the Guernica is similar to Picasso’s earlier works. Although Picasso was never officially part of the Surrealist movement, its influence can certainly be seen in this painting. Terrifying figures and dismembered bodies fill the painting. Guernica combines Cubist structures with a monochrome palette which renders the painting more realistic. It is however the Surrealist images that create the shocking representation of suffering and war.

INTERPRETATION:

(What is the overall meaning of the work of art? This is subjective, everyone may have a

different response. There are no wrong answers to what the painting says to you-the

viewer.)

Interpretations of Guernica vary widely and contradict one another. This extends, for example, to

the mural's two dominant elements: the bull and the horse. Art historian Patricia Failing said, "The

bull and the horse are important characters in Spanish culture. Picasso himself certainly used these

characters to play many different roles over time. This has made the task of interpreting the specific

meaning of the bull and the horse very tough.

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Some critics warn against trusting the political message in Guernica. For instance, the rampaging

bull, a major motif of destruction here, has previous figured, whether as a bull or Minotaur, as

Picasso' ego. However, in this instance the bull probably represents the onslaught of Fascism (a

style of painting with vivid expressionistic and non-naturalistic use of colour.) Picasso said it meant

brutality and darkness. He also stated that the horse represented the people of Guernica.

Picasso said very little about the painting’s meaning, leaving interpretation to viewers, critics, and

art historians. An emotional response to war’s senseless violence is clear in the painting, with its

mismatched subjects. Whether it was successful as

a political statement became a debate among

scholars.

The Light Bulb: Picasso didn’t illustrate the

bombing in a realistic manner, and there aren’t any

bombs depicted in the piece. Instead, Picasso uses

a light bulb surrounded by a glowing halo of

luminous spikes. This symbolises the flames that

tore apart the sky during the bombing.

The Horse: just under the light bulb the viewer’s

attention is drawn to a horse. The animal has been disembowelled by an arrow and is howling in

pain. This is emblematic of the suffering inflicted on the Spanish people by the dictators and

German bombers. Picasso additionally includes a subliminal skull, formed by the nose and teeth

of the horse.

The Bull: the human-eyed bull evokes the fight between man and beast. Without a doubt, we can

see the incarnation of Spanish Nationalist and Oppressive regimes in this animal.

The Dove: it is hardly visible, and looks as though it has been rubbed out. This erasure is symbolic

of the peace that disappeared in Guernica during the war.

The Woman: with her head and eyes rolled back, the woman holds her dead baby whilst helplessly

reaching out towards the sky. This depiction is reminiscent of portraits of Dora Maar, which

Picasso nicknamed “the woman who cries”. Another woman is also shown to the right of the

painting: her arms are also raised and her mouth frozen mid-scream. She is surrounded by flames,

which are symbolised by the tips of triangles which allude to the explosions caused by the bombs.

The Man with the Sword: He is the only man and the only figure lying down in the painting. He

has been dismembered yet still holds his broken sword, which is emblematic of his heroic yet futile

attempt to fight against the terror. A ghostly flower grows by the fighter’s hand, signifying hope

despite the bloodshed- much like the shrouded light provided by the woman’s kerosene lamp.

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The Butcher Boys

Jane Alexander, The Butcher Boys. 1985

Mixed media including plaster, bone and a wooden bench.

DESCRIPTION:

(Write in such a way that someone who has never seen the painting can get a mind's eye

view of what the painting is about)

The Butcher Boys is a sculpture produced in 1986 by South African artist Jane Alexander. The

three figures depict human monsters with black eyes, powdery skin due to plaster and were

sitting on a bench with no mouth. Jane Alexander covered their ears and mouth with thick rough

skin which appears that they were missing their organs of sensing. The sculpture exhibits three

life-size humanoid beasts with powdery skin, black eyes, broken horns, and no mouths sitting on

a bench. The figures are considered to have no senses, as you can see ears, heads and mouths

are missing, or rather covered with thick roughened skin. The Butcher Boys were painted on oil

having plaster bodies seated on bench with animal horn and bone details.

FORMAL ANALYSIS: (Explore the elements of composition namely, line, texture, space, colour, and shape.)

A close examination of the sculpture reveals the figures’ lifelike poses and great attention to

realism that has filled the figures with physical menace. She prefers her works to speak for

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themselves through the use of realism. They are life sized and present a blend of human and

animal that immediately draws the eye and provokes an instinctive response, much in the same

way that bystanders feel compelled to stare at the scene of an accident.

A viewer’s possible initial response of revulsion and fascination, may lead to the sense that these

objects pose a very real threat thanks to their powerful, well-defined musculature and positioning

that give semblance to the potential of sudden movement made frightening by the unholy addition

of horns. Their eyes, too, set them apart – dark and liquid, like that of an animal, possibly

unthinking, fearful and wild. Their sickly, clay-like complexion suggests a skin tone that is neither

black nor white, but is neutral and possibly diseased, even.

Darker blemishes on their necks and by their damaged spines

are suggestive of weeping wounds that have not healed. The

figures represent an anomaly – constructs that should not be,

like Frankenstein’s monster, composite beings made up of the

discarded parts of others. Through a process of

dehumanisation, these once well-proportioned human

individuals have become perverted statues; their physical

bodies have been twisted into a parody of mankind by their

taking on of bestial qualities.

Jane Alexander’s figures are mostly rendered in a powdery

grey– leaving it with an ambiguous edge that remains open for

interpretation. The human figures in Alexander's works are

rendered with extreme realism, which makes the distortions that

much more gruesome. Alexander’s distinctive hybrid creatures

appears to be a paused performance.

The three figures are characteristically colourless (a signifier employed perhaps as a means to

negate racial stereotypes.) The way in which Jane Alexander positioned her works, the room

wherein they are situated, the texture of their "flesh" and the symbols they represent all have a role

to play in the impression they create.

INTERPRETATION:

(What is the overall meaning of the work of art? This is subjective, everyone may have a

different response. There are no wrong answers to what the painting says to you-the

viewer.)

Context is important when viewing The Butcher Boys, especially considering the circumstances in

which it was initially released. As Peffer writes, “During 1985 a state of emergency was declared

in South Africa in response to renewed outbreaks of violent resistance, and was renewed yearly

until 1990. The police were again given wide-ranging powers for the forceful suppression of popular

protest, including the detention and interrogation of suspects without trial. Over thirty thousand

people were detained between 1986 and 1987. During this period, Jane Alexander produced a

sculptural group, The Butcher Boys (1985-86).” (Peffer 2009, p. 75) This climate of fear meant that

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South Africans could not be outspoken about or stand against conditions within the country. The

Boys are mute – Alexander has created them without functioning mouths; it was not possible for

South Africans to speak out against the oppressive government at the time, without fear of reprisal.

With their ears removed, The Butcher Boys are incapable of hearing, suggesting that they’d be

unable to hear pleas for mercy. The fact that their throats have been tampered with indicates that

their vocal cords may be affected, on top of them not having functioning mouths. Exposed,

damaged spines may also suggest a “spinelessness” or cowardice – further indication of either an

inability or incapacity to resist, to act. Much can be read into the choice of their poses as well. The

figure on the left seems relaxed, indifferent almost, as if he is waiting, resigned to his state of being.

The figure in the middle, and the one on the far right, both give the appearance of paying attention

to events the one on the far left hasn’t noticed (or won’t) yet. The Boy in the centre is alert, watchful,

yet it is the one on the far right that suggests that he is about to move. Whether this reaction will

result in a fight-or-flight response, is not made explicit, and it can be suggested that this conclusion

can be left to the discretion of the viewer. The figures’ realism adds to the suggestion that each

Boy is poised on the cusp of movement.

Friedrich Nietzsche's aphorism 146, from Beyond Good and Evil, resonates strongly a possible

conception of Jane Alexander's The Butcher Boys: “He who fights with monsters should look

to it that he himself does not become a monster. And when you gaze long into the abyss the

abyss also gazes into you.” (Nietzsche 1990, p. 102) The process of creating a monster goes two

ways; through becoming the perpetrator of a broken, repressive system, of people who are shaped

into tools for a greater evil, whose worldview is narrowed to the point where the “truth” that they

are fed is limited (as illustrated by the Boys’ limited senses) the Boys themselves are victims,

damaged and lashing out in much the same way as the Greek Minotaur or Frankenstein’s monster

– unable to feel empathy and enslaved to their bestial natures that are enforced on them by

authority figures.

Primarily, the Boys evoke

horror. As Bick states,

“Alexander’s work activates

the space of viewership with

the psychic and visceral

experience of horror that

continues to haunt us as we

turn away, but more

importantly, her work is itself

haunted by experiences of

untold, traumatic, and often

irretrievable histories, which

on the one hand seem

outside the ethics and even

capacity of representation

… and on the other, without

reflective and critical

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attention, are in danger of becoming lost to the past.” (Bick 2010, p. 32) We confront the Boys in a

public space, in a gallery, where they lurk as a visible reminder of our inconvenient, unspoken past.

Now, many years after their creation, they “confront the public secret of apartheid head on, not only

by ‘giving evidence’ which could not be admitted in public or by the (white) public to itself. (Peffer

2009, p. 77) The Butcher Boys offers viewers a solid reminder, one that is presented, and based

on the perception of the manner in which they are seated, of an unhurried watchfulness; their

physicality suggests that they’re not just going to go away; they’re here, waiting, immovable,

implacable. They evoke a primal reaction, of fear, very human yet reduced to instinctual responses.

They have come into being through the action of a repressive system, to induce terror at a primal

level, not only to be scorned but to be viewed with pity, for having been damaged so that they are

no longer equipped to function within society nor adapt to changing circumstances.