Chapter 4: ART APP

• Formal or critical analysis - is an examination of the elements and principles of design present in an artwork and the process of deriving meaning from how those elements and principles are used by visual artists to communicate a concept, idea, or emotion.
• COMMUNICATION TYPE OR CATEGORY

  -          representational

  -          non-representational
• representation- that is, a visual reference to the experiential world, we can further characterize the work of art using terms such as naturalistic, idealized, or abstract.
• Non-objective or non-representational - is an art that does not attempt to present an aspect of the recognizable world.
• • ART is work where it is communicated through shapes, colors, and textures
• Style can refer to the general appearance of a work or a group of works that were created in accordance with a specific set of principles about form or appearance.
• There are four aspects of a formal analysis:

  -          description

  -          analysis

  -          interpretation

  -          evaluation
• Description- What can we notice at first glance about a work of art?
• Analysis - Once the elements of the artwork have been identified, next come questions of how these elements are related.
• Interpretation- Interpretation comes as much from the individual viewer as it does from the artwork.
• Evaluation- All this work of description, analysis, and interpretation, is done with one goal in mind: to make an evaluation about a work of art.
• Snow Storm Steam Boat of Harbour’s Mouth by Joseph Mallord William Turner - is a chaotic, atmospheric oil on canvas painting.
• Lady at the Tea Table is a depiction of a woman in a later period of her life, and captures the sense of calm power a matriarch held within the home.
• TYPES OF ART

  Representation and Abstraction
• Rosa Bonheur who depicted a variety of animals in great detail with regard to their anatomy and physiognomy,
• Edward Hicks folk artist and we see cows that are much less rigorous in their resemblance, most likely the result of his not having had exacting training and practice in precise replication.
• Theo van Doesburg who used his own philosophical probing to frame a systematic path from naturalism in his renditions of the cow to an abstraction that is visually quite far removed from what most of us see in the phenomenal world
• The Yellow Cow by Franz Marc, clearly does not slavishly reproduce natural appearances but instead seeks to convey through abstraction a sense of light-hearted lyrical expression for the animal.
• idealization - Sometimes artists create an idealized version of a natural form rather than truly reflecting its actual appearance.
• canon -or set of principles and norms, for the representation of royals that was very specific about just how they must look, including norms for the proportions of the different parts of the body to one another, their stance, and other details
• Canon also set standards for their garments, headgear, the false beard, the arm and fist positions, and other details.
• Pharaoh Menkaure and his Queen Khamerernebty are shown as being well proportioned, physically fit, and in young adulthood.
• Ka-Aper, who was not of royal rank, was created with a different idea. As a commoner, he is shown with a very different physique rather pudgy and more relaxed, certainly not governed by the rules for the royal imagery.
• Zeus - the ruler of their gods. The Olympics featured nude male athletes in a great many physical activities and diverse exercises, games, and sports.
• Contrapposto – or weight shift of the knees and hips that occurs when standing with one leg at ease or walking.
• True naturalism gave way to a notion of the “perfect” or idealized form.
• The first artist to use the term non-objective art, however, seems to have been Aleksandr Rodchenko
• most active early theorist and writer was probably Vasily Kandinsky
• Alexander Rodchenko -sought to affirm the independence of artistic process and the “constructive” approach to creating artworks that were self-referential
• Artistic styles tend to fall into three broad categories:

  -          Period

  -          Regional

  -          Formal styles
• Period styles are groups of art in which the works derive their characteristic structure from the culture prevalent during a particular time period.

  Example: Gothic Art or Ming dynasty Art
• Regional styles are groups of art in which the works derive their structure from the culture prevalent in a particular place.

  Example: Dutch Art or Latin American Art.
• Formal styles are groups of art in which the works derive their structure from principles that are not characteristic of either one place or one time. Formal styles tend to be the “isms.”

  Example: Surrealism, Impressionism, or Modernism.
• CULTURAL STYLE - These cultural factors have often led to the general approaches to representation that art historians call “conventions of representation.”
• The Stele of Music depicting Gudea with attendants in one register and musicians below, shows the king ceremonially preparing to lay out a temple in the city of Girsu while accompanied by music and chanting.
• Abstraction is not a modern method of art, but has been used purposefully in many eras.
• classical - is The work of this era of artistic pinnacle
• Art in Greece -in what are called the Late Classical and Hellenistic periods, shows changes that move away from the High Classical norms in becoming variously more dynamic, more expressive, more emotional, more dramatic.
• veristic - or truthful renditions of their likenesses.

   
• Augustus - regardless of his age at the time of the creation of a portrait, was made to be the image of a powerful young man, heroic in stature, fit and fine.