Klimt Death and Life, 1908

Artemisia Gentileschi Self Portrait as Allegory of Painting, 1630

An link to a sampler of visual images sorted by school of thought

1. Attention

a. Size: elephants and diamonds both attract attention Picasso Guernica, 1937

format - the outer dimensions of a 2D work

Letter-size 8.5 x 11 (all inches)
Legal-size 8.5 x 14
A2-size 16.5 x 23.4
A3-size 11.7 x 16.5
A4-size 8.3 x 11.7
A5-size 5.83 x 8.3
B-size (tabloid) 11 x 17
Super B-size 13 x 19
B5 6.9 x 9.8
C-size 17 x 22
Panoramic 8.3 x 23.4

tondo - round format

b. Composition -- arrangement of elements based on concept Klimt The Kiss, 1901

pictorial composition - having depth, as well as length and width in a 2D format

flat composition - figure nor ground indicate 3-dimensionality

c. Visual scanning tendencies -- western folk scan from top-left to bottom-right, how you would keep their eye in the picture?

leading edge - the element of a picture that is closest to a viewer Berthe Morisot, Harbor of L'Orient 1869

2. Viewing Angle

a. Odd ones invite viewers into an intimate situation (tension) Degas Singer With Glove, 1878

b. Straight on views are conventional/ comfortable (no tension) Alex Katz Cocktail Party, 1965

c. Too many points of view are confusing unless skillfully arranged

3. Viewing Distance

a. Close -- intimate Yehuda Pen, The Watchmaker, 1914

b. Away -- inspires awe (can keep you away from the piece or pull you in closer, though) Monet Water Lilies, 1903

4. Conveying an Idea: accepted order of perception for viewer

a. Representational: veiwer perceives object, then concept Artemisia Gentileschi Judith Beheading Holofernese, 1750 (read the story of Judith in the Book of Judith (Chapter 10: 1- 13: 20 in the Apocrypha)

naturalistic - faithful recording of all the complicated shapes that comprise a subject

stylized - degree of abstraction slight, to the extent that details are omitted

abstraction - simplification of natural shapes to their essential, basic character

b. Non-objective: viewer gets emotional, then thoughtful Motherwell Elegy to the Spanish, 1951

non-objective - deals with pure elements of design rather than attempting to depict something from the world of our experiences (often referred to as Abstract art)

5. Marriage of Medium and Concept:

medium - a means of effecting or conveying something; Material or technical means of artistic expression

concept - something conceived in the mind; An abstract or generic idea generalized from particular instances

a. in some art that the signifier (the thing representing) relates to the signified (the idea represented) Marina Abramovic Shoes For Departure, 1990

b. graphic designers and oil painters know that you can discuss most anything on a substrate (canvas, masonite, 80lb white, etc.) Frida Kahlo Column, 1932

B. Viewer Response

trite - a formerly effective idea; an overused solution

sublime - invoking or inspiring the awe and terror of creation

didactic - a piece of art that instructs

metaphor - a figure of speech in which a word or phrase literally denoting one kind of object or idea is used in place of another to suggest a likeness or analogy between them

allegory - expression by means of symbolic fictional figures, and actions of truths, or generalizations about human existance

symbolism - expressing the invisible or intangible by means of visible or sensuous representations as a. artistic invention of method revealing or suggesting immaterial, ideal or otherwise b. use of conventional or traditional signs in the representation of devine beings and spirits

1. Empirical knowledge - myth, personal experience...Frieda Kahlo Henry Ford Hospital, 1932

2. Critical investigation - art history, literature, cultural theory...
www.mediahistory.umn.edu/time/century.html