Lesson 2 - Subject of Art

• Every work of art has a subject.
• Every work of art: a song, novel, painting, and pictures have a subject, the very core of its conception.
• A subject or topic is any person, animal, thing, or issue that is described or presented in a work
• A subject of art usually generates the question – What is it? because people expect to see or hear subjects that they can recognize or are familiar with them.
• Subject is different from theme or content
• The theme is the recurring idea or element in a work of art, it refers to the ideas, thoughts, and feelings of the artist.
• In visual design, artworks with subjects that are recognizable are called realistic, representational, or objective art.
• In visual design, those artworks with subjects that are not recognizable are nonrepresentational or nonobjective art.
• Different Ways or Styles of Depicting a Subject:

  1. Realism

  2. Distortion

  3. Abstraction

  4. Non-Objectivism
• Realism in which the subject is done the way it actually looks.
• Distortion wherein the artist uses his/her imagination and alters the subject according to his/her desire.
• Abstraction wherein the artist breaks apart a subject and rearranges it in a different manner
• Non-objectivism wherein there is totally no subject at all- just an interplay of pure elements like line, shape, or color.
• The Filipino contemporary artists are now conscious of their indigenous roots, they are embedded in the country's culture. Other subject matters also considered are Philippine folklore, mythology, and philosophical thoughts.

  
  

  Some subjects in the visual arts that continue to be favored are still life, landscapes, genre scenes, portraits, and landmarks. All these are the subjects that have helped develop the Filipinos sense of national identity.
• • REALISM

  Native Still Life paintings by Filipino painters Mukesh Muher and Vicente Collado Jr.

  
• • Distortion

  by Elmer Borlongan

  
• • Distortion

  by Benedictor Cabrera also known as BenCab.

  
• • Abstraction

  by the National Artist Vicente Manansala

  
• • Non-objectivism

  by Roberto Chabet and Fernando Zóbel

  
• Abstraction - Pablo Picasso innovated this style in the early 1900s.