Class 2VISUAL ATTENTION

Class 5.2Formal Analysis:

Putting It All Together

agenda 9.22.16

• going over homework assignment

form vs. content

What is being expressed is the content. In visual art, we call this the subject matter.

How it is being expressed in visual language, is the form.

checklist

1. Experiencing the effects.

2. What is the genre, if applicable?

3. What is the medium? (what are the actual materials from which the work is constructed)

4. What is the actual size of the work?

5. Description.

6. Locate 3 qualities you think are central to understanding the work's visual form. Analyze each in turn.

TO BEGIN a formal analysisIDENTIFY the materials and medium.

What is the work physically made of: oil on canvas, charcoal on paper? Be sure you know.

MATERIALS

• EXAMPLE: art made of paper will have a different resonance than art made of steel

• Materials can have a strong expressive content.

• Even similar materials can be handled quite differently, resulting in different nuances of meaning.

David SmithCubi XVIII1965

Polished steel will have a very different feeling fromCor-Ten steel, which weathersnaturally (see next slide).

Richard Serra, Mozarabe, 1971, Cor-Ten steel

What is the MEDIUM of the work?

1. What is the medium of the work? Is it 2-dimensional?

drawing—charcoal on paper

painting—pigment on a prepared surface

print—lithograph, silkscreen, etching

photograph

Rackstraw Downes, Under the Off-Ramp from the George Washington Bridge, 2009. Graphite on paper, 17 x 36 3/4 in.

PAUL NOBLEVolume 6, 2007Pencil on paper39 3/8 x 27 5/8 inches

Rembrandt van Rijn, A Bend in the Amstel at Kostverloren, undated drawing

Carlo CrivelliMadonna with ChildTempera on panelc. 1470

Vincent van Gogh, Irises, 1889, oil on canvas

Robert RymanUntitled 1964

Robert AdamsColorado Springs, Colorado1968Gelatin-silver print14 x 14 inches

BILL BRANDT Hands on the beach, 1959 Gelatin silver print, 9 x 7¾ in.

Brief Nod to Subject Matter

DESCRIBE the subject.

What subject is depicted? (Major features only, at this point it does not need to be too detailed.)

Include the genre if applicable and if you know it.

history painting

portraiture

landscape

still life

are some examples of artistic genres.

COMPOSITION

composition: how the various elements of the work are arranged in relationship to each other

things to look for:

spatial relationships: • foreground• middle ground• background

where is the viewer positioned?

how are the objects or elements ordered? what is emphasized? what is subordinate?

Edgar DégasDancers at the Old Opera House c. 1877pastel over monotype on paper 8 9/16 x 6 3/4 inches

John Frederick Peto, Still Life with Cake, Lemon, Strawberries and Glass, 1890.

El Lissitzky, Beat the Whites with the Red Wedge, 1919

IN MATTERS OF STYLE…

…nuance is key. You are training your eyes to detect subtle differences, rather than blatant ones.

The more fine-grained the differences you can observe, the better you will have understood the artist’s style.

“God is in the details.”