Fall
2009
Principles
of Art – Prof. Dabbs
Slide
Preview/Review List for Exam 3 (on Fri. Nov. 20)
UNIT 3:
INTERPRETING ART: Formal
(Visual) Analysis
*Remember for this section
you do NOT have to know artist names/titles of works which are in brackets]
Works of art for the visual analysis comparison on the exam (good to
think about as you’re reviewing!)
[I’m not providing titles as they could
sway how you interpret the work of art!]
Composition and Design
(2-dimensional art)
- composition: the
overall arrangement of forms on the picture plane (2-dimensional picture
surface)
- symmetry; central
axis [EX: Giotto, Madonna and
Child Enthroned, Seated
Buddha;
also
Purse cover
from Sutton Hoo, 7th C.]
- asymmetry [EX: Degas,
Glass
of Absinthe]
- asymmetrical balance [EX: Titian, Rape of Europa]
- pyramidal: Leonardo, Mona Lisa; Raphael, Madonna
of the Meadows
-
overall patterning: (regular vs. irregular)
-
[EX: Warhol,
100 Campbell Soup Cans and Pollock,
Convergence
]
- cropping: abruptly
cutting something off at the edge of a composition
[EXs: Degas, Glass
of Absinthe,
Hokusai, Great Wave Off Kanagawa]
- focal point [see below,
under “Illusion of Depth”]
[have not done yet] hierarchical scale: the
most important elements in a composition are significant larger in size than
other elements
[EX: Giotto, Madonna
and Child Enthroned]
II. The Illusion of Depth
[if you missed
seeing the video “Masters of Illusion” shown in class, you can check it out of
the library video collection: NC 750
.M37]
-
picture plane:
the two-dimensional picture surface
- foreground: the
area in the picture space seemingly closest to the viewer (lower 1/3)
-
middleground: the
middle area in the picture space (middle 1/3)
-
background: the
furthest distance in the picture space (upper 1/3)
[note: not all works will have all three areas; some may jump from foreground to background, for example)
[EX: Leonardo, Virgin
of the Rocks]
-
overlapping [EX: Chauvet Cave]
- diminution in scale: objects become comparatively smaller
to suggest their distance from the viewer
[EX: Brueghel, The Wedding Dance]
-
multiple (or intuitive) perspective: objects
are placed at an angle to the picture plane, but their linear elements don’t
converge
at a single point; an illusion of depth is suggested, but the space doesn’t seem coherent
[EX: ancient Roman
wall painting]
-
1 pt. linear perspective: horizon line; orthogonals; vanishing pt.
[EX:
Leonardo, Last
Supper]
-
focal point [in the Last Supper example above, it would be
the figure of Jesus, for the various reasons noted in class]
-
afocal
[EX: Warhol, 100
Campbell Soup Cans]
- atmospheric perspective [EX:Leonardo,
Virgin
of the Rocks; Guo Xi, Early Spring]
- bird’s-eye perspective:
[EX: Altdorfer, Battle
of Issus ]
- worm’s eye perspective:
[EX: Caravaggio, Entombment
of Christ,]
foreshortening: [EX:
A. Gentileschi, Judith Beheading Holofernes]
- planar [EX: Caravaggio, Judith Beheading Holofernes]
III. Light:
-
chiaroscuro [EX: Prud’hon, Study
for La Source]
EX:
Vermeer, Girl with a Pearl
Earring]
-
generalized, overall lighting [Ex: Manet,
Luncheon on the Grass]
-
tenebrism [Ex:
A. Gentileschi, Judith and Her
Maidservant]
- cast shadow and directional lighting – [EX: A. Gentileschi, Judith
and Her Maidservant]
IV. Color:
-
primary and secondary colors [know which are which;
see color wheel above]
-
saturation/ intensity (saturated vs. desaturated colors)
[EXs: Fragonard, The Swing]
Vigée-Lebrun,
Marie
Antoinette and Her Children
- palette
- monochromatic [ex:
Picasso, Guernica]
- color triad [Mondrian, Composition
with Blue, Red, Yellow]
- complementary colors [EX: Monet, Houses of Parliament; Van Gogh, Night
Cafe]
- “cool” vs “warm” colors [EX: Cezanne, Mont Saint-Victoire]
- Fauvism: a
style of European art from approx. 1900-1920, in which artists used bold color
in a non-naturalistic fashion,
for expressive purposes (the term “Fauve” comes from the French for “wild beast”, referring to the often harsh, seemingly wild color schemes)
[EX: Marc, Large
Blue Horses]
V.
Line:
- actual vs. implied lines [Haring, Untitled,
Titian,
Madonna of the Pesaro
Family]
- outline: a
line which establishes the boundaries of a figure/object; does not suggest three-dimensionality, in
fact tends to flatten forms (we don’t typically see outlines in natural world
around us).
[ex: Haring, Untitled]
- contour: a type of outline that varies in
width (i.e., thickens & thins) to suggest three-dimensionality of
figure/object.
[ex: Michelangelo, Libyan
Sibyl]
- rectilinear: [Exs: Mondrian, Composition
with Blue, Red, Yellow;
Whistler,
Arrangement
in Black and Grey]
- curvilinear: [EX:
Marc, Large
Blue Horses]
[added] Art Nouveau (a style in art, architecture,
decorative arts, late 19th/early 20th C.):
[EXs: Horta, Staircase
of Maison Tassel; Tiffany,
Lotus
Lamp; posters of Alphonse Mucha
*Image used for in-class
writing visual analysis (Wed. Nov. 4): David, Oath
of the Horatii
*For each
medium below, know qualities associated with each, and any advantages/disadvantages
for their usage, as discussed in class
VI. 2D Media: DRAWING
[added] life-study [EX: Carracci, Nude
Study ]
-
preliminary study [Ex.: Michelangelo, Study
for the Libyan Sibyl]
- cartoon [as in
Leonardo’s Virgin, Child, and St.
Anne]
-
caricature [EX: Bernini, Scipione
Borghese – see lower image at linked page;
-
also saw Leonardo da Vinci, Grotesque
Heads ]
-
pencil/graphite [Ex.: Vigée-Lebrun,
Self-portrait ]
-
charcoal [Ex.:
Kollwitz, Self-portrait
drawing ]
-
chalk [Ex.: Michelangelo,
Study for
the Libyan Sibyl]
AND if interested: Keith
Haring, Subway Drawings
-
pastel [Exs.: Carriera, Self-portrait
as Winter; Cassatt, Mother
and Child]
-
pen and ink [Durer, Self-portrait]
- calligraphy
Video
of a calligrapher in action
St.
John’s Bible website (if interested); and this page on their tools &
materials is especially useful
(according
to WCCO, scheduled to be completed in 2010)
VI. 2D Media: PAINTING
-
pigment (mineral)
- watercolor [EXs:
Durer, Landscape;
Homer, Shore
& Surf, Nassau ]
- fresco [Exs: Ancient Roman, Garden,
Villa of Livia]
Giotto, Lamentation
from the Arena Chapel ]
Video we saw on
fresco technique
- tempera [EXs:
Botticelli, Birth of Venus]; term for underlying preparatory layer: gesso
Compared to:
- oil [EX: Titian, Venus
of Urbino;
also saw van Eyck, The Arnolfini Portrait]
- glaze:
a very thin, transparent layer of paint, used with oil technique
- impasto [Ex: Rembrandt, Self-portrait (1659)
and Van Gogh, Olive Trees,
at the MIA]
[dropped: pointillism ]
-
gestural [Ex: de Kooning, Woman
I]
-
acrylic: Louis, Saraband; Flack, Marilyn
-
airbrush
-
support
added: Chuck Close, Frank;
and Self-portrait,
1997 [may be asked to identify
artist/title with this one]
*in case you missed it on Friday Nov. 13, we saw the video “Chuck Close:
eye to eye”; there
will be a question regarding this,
and/or our discussion afterwards, on the next
exam. The video is in Briggs Library so you can check it out (NOT on reserve,
though).
VIII. 3-D Media: SCULPTURE
Some points to consider for visual analysis, beyond the terms
further down:
-
composition: how
are the forms arranged? Is there
balance, harmony? Asymmetry/symmetry?
-
Line: same as for 2-D works, what types of lines
are dominate? How do they create “flow”
through the work of art?
-
Focal
point:
same as for 2-D works
-
-
Color: same as for 2-D
works; however, if paint is applied
to the piece, we say it is polychromed; for
metal, the finish is called a patina
-
Texture: how does it help express something about the
subject?
-
Space/depth: how does the piece interact with space around
it (or does it?) Does it enclose
space? Does it reach out into your
space?
-
View
point (for 3-D sculpture): is there
a position from which this sculpture looks “best”? How does the figure/object “change” as you
move around it?
Terms:
-
Paragone = comparison (in
our case, sculpture vs. painting) [exs: Michelangelo,
David ;
Titian, Venus
of Urbino ]
- freestanding (or sculpture in-the-round): [ex. Giambologna, Abduction
of the Sabine Woman]
-
relief sculpture: [ex. Ghiberti, Jacob
& Esau, from the Gates of
Paradise, Renaissance gilded bronze;
Saint-Gaudens, Shaw Memorial]
-
pediment (architectural term, but a
common location for relief sculpture;
ex: Supreme
Court relief)
- additive vs.
subtractive methods [know main
differences; advantages, disadvantages]
[exs: Subtractive:
Michelangelo, Awakening
Slave; Catlett, Mother
and Child
Additive: Chinese
terracotta warriors;
Degas, Ballet Dancer;
Riace Warrior (ancient Greece) ]
[added]: terracotta (see above)
- casting/lost-wax process (just know very basics!)
- [did composition,
no new terms here, use ones from 2-D above]
- viewpoint (i.e., is there a main viewpoint?) [Ex.: Bernini, Apollo
& Daphne]
-
closed vs. open forms
[Exs: Rodin, The Kiss
vs. Brancusi, The Kiss
]
- scale [Michelangelo, David vs. Donatello,
David;] *added, know: Oldenburg, Spoonbridge
and Cherry
-
polychrome [EX: Roldan, St. Ginés; Rahotep
and Nofret (ancient Egyptian)]
[added] patina [Ex:
Donatello, David;
Statue of
Liberty]
Architecture
– will be dropped for now, sorry!
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final update made as of 11/18/09
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