Introduction to Art
Art CriticismAn organized approach for
studying a work of art.
Description
• Make a list of all the things you see in the work
including:
– The size of the work, the medium used and the
process used.
– The subject, object, and details.
– The elements of art used in the work.
– Look at the credit line.
– BE OBJECTIVE-be general, do not use personal
feelings or meanings-just list what you see (A person,
not a mother. People, not men.)
Analysis
• Collect facts about the elements and
principles of art:
– How are the principles used to organize the
elements (line, color, value, shape, form,
space, and texture).
– How has the artist used the elements and
principles to create the content (the theme or
meaning).
Interpretation
• What message does this artwork
communicate to me?
– Explain or tell the meaning or the mood of the
work.
– Use your intelligence, imagination and
courage to determine the message.
– You must back up your opinion with facts and
clues you collected during Description and
Analysis.
Judgment
• Determine the degree of artistic merit.
– FIRST LEVEL IS PERSONAL-do you like the
work? Don’t forget you have to support your
opinion using art terms.
– SECOND LEVEL-you use aesthetics to help
you decide whether the work is successful.
– A work can be very successful aesthetically,
but you might not want to live with it!
Aesthetic Theories and the Quality
of Art
• Literal qualities
• Formal qualities
• Expressive qualities
Imitationalism-Literal Qualities
•
•
•
•
Andrew Wyeth
Realistic
Christina’s World.
1948
Imitates reality
Focuses on realistic representation
Imitates life
Richard Estes-Holland Hotel,1984
Duane Hanson
Sculptor 1925-1996
Queenie II, 1988
Formalism-formal qualities
• Composition
• Emphasis on the formal qualities-the
arrangement of the elements of art using
the principles of design.
Frank Stella
Flin Flon XIII
Victor Vasarely
Wassily Kandinsky
Emotionalism-Expressive qualities
• Content of the work of art
• Emotional response from the viewer
• Work must arouse a response of feelings,
moods, or emotions
Francisco de Goya, The Third of
May, 1808
Edward Munch, The Scream
Vincent Van Gogh, Self Portrait
The Four Steps of Art Criticism
• Description- What do I see?
• Analysis- How is the work organized?
• Interpretation-What message does this
artwork communicate to you?
• Judgment-Is this a successful work of art?
Formalism?
Imitationalism?
Emotionalism?
Frida's life began and ended in Mexico
City, in her home known as the Blue
House. She gave her birth dates as July 7,
1910, but her birth certificate shows July 6,
1907. Frida was born an imaginative
storyteller and this was one of many ways
she rearranged the truth. Although she was
spunky and courageous, Frida Kahlo lived
a life of pain and suffering, mostly in the
artistic shadow of her famous husband,
Diego Rivera.
Frida Kahlo, Self Portrait with
Monkey, 1938. Oil on Masonite.
Emotionalism?
Imitationalism?
Formalism?
Fish Vase, Oil on canvas, Janet Fish
Fish received her BA from Smith College,
Northampton, Massachusetts and her MFA from
Yale University School of Art & Architecture, New
Haven, Connecticut. She is well known for her
brilliantly hued, light filled still lifes and
landscapes with figures, and an exciting body of
prints in a variety of media. Her work is in the
collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art,
New York; the Whitney Museum of American Art,
New York; the Dallas Museum of Art, Texas; The
Art Institute of Chicago, Illinois; Powers Institute,
Sydney, Australia; and others.
Imitationalism?
Formalism?
Emotionalism?
Elizabeth Murray, “Bowtie”, 2000, Oil on canvas, 85 x 77
1/2 inches
Elizabeth Murray was born in
Chicago in 1940. A high school
teacher recognized her talent and
created a scholarship for her at the
Art Institute of Chicago. She
developed a style that combines
painting with sculpture. Murray is
now considered a master of the
shaped canvas.