Art and Design
Fantasy and Imagination
6534
Spring 2000
HIGHER STILL
Art and Design
Fantasy and Imagination
Support Materials
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CONTENTS
General information
Student Guide
Information about Learning Outcomes, Tasks and Assessment Information.
Getting Started
How to start a Study of the Visual Arts.
Completing a Written Presentation
How to choose the subject of your report, and create an in depth study.
Fantasy and Imagination Sources
These materials explore and consider some aspects of the sources of inspiration used
in the creation of the visual arts:
 dreams
 horror
 machines
 landscape
 religion.
Fantasy and Imagination Approaches
These materials discuss specific artists, movements and examples of work where
appropriate to the following approaches:
 distortion and transformation
 changes in setting, scale and perspective
 juxtaposition
 use of the visual elements and composition
 realism and abstraction.
Glossary of Artists: Fantasy and imagination
Internet Resources
Glossary for Art and Design Studies: Visual Arts: Fantasy and imagination
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FANTASY AND IMAGINATION
General Information
The materials in this pack are intended to act as a resource for both students and
teachers/tutors to assist with Art and Design Studies: Visual Arts and the study of
contemporary contexts for Art and Design courses.
The nature and purpose of these support materials
This resource is intended for use both by students and teacher/tutors. The theme of
fantasy and imagination will be explored within this pack and associated learning
materials. The fantasy and imagination resource is intended to provide support for
investigation by the student. This pack will also promote and support opportunities
for further individual investigation by suggesting useful research techniques and
approaches. The following resource is therefore intended to complement and
facilitate researching activities rather than act as a sole source material.
Within this resource no visuals are included, but reference will be made to specific
examples that are readily accessible in popular publications commonly used in Art
and Design departments.
The materials in this pack are set out in two sections:
1. Student Guide
2. fantasy and imagination Support Materials.
The Student Guide will provide practical advice and guidance on how to select and
research a chosen theme and prepare a programme of study through effective
planning. In terms of researching the theme of fantasy and imagination or a specific
area within it, structured assignments are included. These assignments focus on
exploring appropriate writing and investigation techniques that will allow the student
to pinpoint aims, key issues, resources and activities required for an effective Visual
Art Study.
In Art and Design Studies at Intermediate 2 and Higher levels, the assignments will
assist the student to fulfil the learning outcomes and performance criteria for a Visual
Art Study.
The support materials are intended to approach the theme of fantasy and imagination
from a variety of different points of view. This diversity and depth of approach is
designed to help create a resource which will cater to the specific requirements of the
individual and promote a range of sustainable self-motivated areas of study. The use
of alternative or extended visual and text-based resources will again promote
individual investigation and response.
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STUDENT GUIDE
Learning outcomes, tasks and assessment requirements
What do I have to do to pass this unit?
To complete the Visual Art Study you must show knowledge and understanding of an
area of the visual arts. In order to do so you should complete the following tasks,
consulting first with your teacher/tutor:
1. select a personal area of investigation and give good reasons for your choice of
project in the visual arts. In this case your area is fantasy and imagination
2. find out as much as possible about your chosen area from as many different
resources as possible. This package will be useful for you
3. present your findings and personal judgements as clearly and effectively as you
can in a summary.
What should I produce?
1. Research evidence
a) you should produce a written record of your reason for choosing fantasy and
imagination
b) you should produce up to 2 x A2 sheets or equivalent work.
This information should contain notes of useful information you have found during
your research. Within these two sheets or workbook you can also include suitable
illustrations, sketches, cuttings or photographs. These notes should also include a
summary of relevant information that will support your findings. Remember your
research is concerned with finding out about the area you have chosen – not about
producing lots of practical work.
2. Presentation of information and judgements
A written summary based upon your research. Within this presentation you must
clearly put forward your ideas, opinions and conclusions in a way which shows you
have understood and responded to your chosen theme.
At Intermediate 2 this summary must be 300-400 words long or equivalent.
At Higher this summary must be 400-500 words long or equivalent.
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How will my work be assessed in each unit?
As you work on each individual part of your course you may wish to make a selfassessment of your work near the end of the investigation stage of your project in an
informal manner. This could take the form of a discussion with a partner, or your
teacher/tutor.
Near the end of the unit you will go through the final review which involves the same
process of self-assessment, review, action and – if necessary - reassessment. When
you successfully reach the standard described in the unit outcomes and performance
criteria, you have gained the unit. Your teacher has details about the standards you
have to achieve. Your work will then be organised and stored until it is required for
your course review at the end of your course.
What will I be assessed on in my Art and Design Studies unit?
Within your Visual Art Study you are required to demonstrate an understanding and
knowledge of a particular area of the visual arts. There are certain parts that you must
include within your presentation in order to pass the specific learning outcomes of the
unit. The following requirements, or performance criteria must be met within your
presentation:
a) Select and explain the relevance of the theme of fantasy and imagination.
This means that you explain why the theme of fantasy and imagination is
interesting to you. This may be simply that you enjoy looking at certain artists
work, or that work that you do is similar to themes of fantasy, or that you enjoy
working from your imagination etc
b) Show personal research which is sustained, purposeful and sustained,
showing a clear understanding of art practice.
Remember this is about finding out about the theme, not producing lots of
practical work. You can keep notes, scribbles, reminders, references, cross
references to books or parts of them, little sketches or doodles – anything that will
help you find out – and remember!
c) Present relevant factual information and personal judgements clearly,
coherently and substantiated by reasoned argument.
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What more do I need to know?
If you are undertaking a Visual Art Study as part of a whole course within Higher
Still, then you will have to complete a Visual Art Study and a Design Study. These
Studies will be divided into two major areas associated with your practical work, and
will explore:
a) visual arts
b) design activity.
Within both of the Art and Design studies that you undertake you must ensure that it
reflects the practical work that you are undertaking in either your Expressive or
Design activities. You are required to link both of your Art and Design studies
units to your practical work. This will help to promote your understanding,
knowledge and personal responses within both your Expressive and Design work.
Within at least one or other of your Art and Design studies you must study a
contemporary context. This context may take the form of an artist, designer, issue or
practice. If you want to, you can study or refer to contemporary practice in both
studies.
What happens about assessing the whole course?
When you come to make up your Course Review, you will have to look back over all
your work. You have to:
 write a statement about your course and about what you will do in a Practical
Assignment
 choose work to send away to be assessed
 choose work from
 Expressive Activity
 Design Activity
You will also have to do a Practical Assignment and send away what you produce.
Your teacher will tell you about this.
You do not send away any work from Art and Design Studies. Instead, you will sit a
written examination.
You will be given an overall grade based on your
 Course Review
 Practical Assignment
 written Art and Design Studies examination.
Now is the time to ask your teacher/tutor any other questions that you may
have about the course structure and requirements.
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GETTING STARTED
How to start an Art Study about the Visual Arts
When you wish to start then you must try to create a plan which will help you to
structure your investigation. The best idea for a good Visual Art Study is to select an
area for personal investigation which you enjoy and you feel that you will be able to
gather information on and talk about.
Once you have selected your area of study within the theme of Imagination and
Fantasy, you must work out the best way of creating your investigation.
Researching should be familiar to you. It’s a study skill which you have practised in
Art and Design and other subjects, it involves:
Planning
Asking yourself - What do I already know? - What else am I looking for? What books, videos or even Web sites are available? - Where else should I
look for resources?
Researching
Gathering different information and putting it all together in your file, folio etc.
Gathering facts and information from your sources, taking notes, cuttings,
photocopies. Generally you must be interested to find out more about your
chosen area.
Summarising and Presenting
Selecting the most important information from everything that you have
researched. You must then present your personal views and opinions in a
way that can be clearly understood.
Within your investigation you may wish to explore a range of different types of
information. Your Art and Design Studies unit does not have to be about just one
specific artist. It may explore: Styles, Themes, Approaches, Sources or Techniques
that are relevant to the practical work that you are undertaking within your Expressive
Activity.
Discuss possible options with your teacher/tutor then select areas for investigation
from the checklist below. Remember that you will have to give reasons for your
choices.
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Expression of ideas and feelings:
 Theme or subject matter
 Mood created
 Representational or Abstract style
 Content
Handling of media:
 Materials and techniques used
 Construction methods
 Application techniques
Use of visual elements
 Visual impact created by use of the visual elements
 Composition
Scale
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Colour
Tone and Line
Pattern and Texture
What do I do after I have selected areas for investigation?
Once you have selected an area that you are interested in and wish to investigate then
you must attempt to gather as much information as possible. You must gather this
information in a structured manner. The following questions will help you to direct
your thoughts and clarify your investigation into your selected area of the visual arts.
Expression of ideas and feelings
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What area of fantasy and imagination has the artist selected?
Is the mood within the piece of artwork fantastical or dark and sinister?
Is there an obvious influence within this piece of artwork? If so, what is it?
Why do you think the artist has selected the theme of fantasy to convey their
ideas?
What theme or subject matter has the artist investigated?
What ideas and feelings are evident in the artist’s work?
What mood has the artist created?
Are there examples of symbolism within the work?
Is the subject matter a theme that artists have often explored?
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Handling of media
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What materials and techniques has the artist chosen to use?
Does the artist’s use of technique suit the theme of fantasy and imagination?
How have these materials been applied/used?
Has the artist gone through different stages to complete this artwork?
How have the techniques used influenced the appearance of the final piece?
Has the artist been influenced by other artists’ techniques?
Use of the visual elements
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How has the artist used the visual elements e.g. line, tone, colour, shape, pattern,
texture to create mood, visual impact, etc?
How has the artist arranged different elements into the final composition?
Has the artist used any easily recognisable symbols within their work?
How has the artist’s use of the visual elements affected the overall look of the
artwork?
Has the artist used any of the visual elements to convey ideas and feelings?
Does the artist utilise the same techniques in other examples of their work?
Remember that it is always good to note and illustrate your thinking as you go along.
This is the resource you will eventually use to write your report, so keep records that
help you remember what you see, read, think and feel about different pieces of
artwork that you study.
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COMPLETING A WRITTEN SUMMARY
In-depth study and choosing the subject of your summary
Use the information provided within the reference material relating to Fantasy and
Imagination to start your research into the work of any twentieth century or
contemporary artist of your choice. The resource material will give you information
and ideas and help you to extend your studies into any area that interests you. The
resource will help you to clarify and extend your investigation.
Once you have selected one or more areas within the theme of Fantasy and
Imagination, you must study that area in depth. This will support your personal
responses with relevant factual information.
What kind of written summary should I do?
Here are some suggestions for your written summary, which you will have to do when
you have completed your investigation. There are also suggestions as to how you
could structure your summary.
You should choose at least one aspect of your chosen area of study, and compare
and contrast that area with another area relating to another artist. It is usually
better to examine more than one aspect of your chosen theme. Once you have
examined that area in depth you should include your own personal response and
come to conclusions as to what you have investigated. You need to give evidence
and good reasons for your opinions.
As well as your particular area of study, it is important that you explore the broader
background of the visual arts. You should attempt to relate your presentation to the
broader context of twentieth century visual arts. Show how the artist or artist’s work
you have examined, may have been influenced by the ideas, styles, techniques and
approaches of others.
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How should I present my findings?
There are many different ways of presenting your findings, but there are simple ways
of making sure that your ideas are clearly conveyed.
All summaries must have a beginning, a middle and an end. Your thoughts should be
well organised and easy for the reader to follow. If you don’t plan out your summary,
you will find that your ideas may not come across clearly.
Try to structure your summary in the following way:
Introduction
Briefly explain the purpose and content of the summary in one or two paragraphs.
Explain also your reasons for selecting this particular area of study.
Main body
Describe the subjects in question and then support your main ideas with examples,
quotations and experience.
Conclusion
Pull the presentation together by giving a slightly different angle on the material to the
one most commonly presented. Make a strong point or suggest further action or study
to be undertaken. Avoid introducing new material into the conclusion. The
conclusion is for drawing together the points that you have already discussed.
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FANTASY AND IMAGINATION
Fantasy and Imagination Support Materials
Introduction
When you investigate a theme such as fantasy and imagination you can select just
about any artist as your source. For is imagination not the most important feature of
great works of art? Fantasy Art can be about wild invention of creatures and
imaginary worlds that could not exist in reality. Artists whose work deals with
fantasy can have very different subject matter. The subject can be about legend,
myth, dreams, the future, illusions of space and time, distortion, hallucination or the
supernatural.
Sometimes the artist uses the imagination to make us look at something afresh.
Sometimes the artist will create a very imaginary work which is intensely realistic.
The aim of the artist is to create something which is completely taken from his or her
imagination – but to make that look very real. At other times nearly abstract or simple
child-like shapes can do.
Sources
Many artists, both historic and contemporary, are inspired by a broad range of
resources. Within the theme of fantasy and imagination the following sources are
commonly used by artists:
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dreams
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horror
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machines
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landscape
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religion.
The following section will explore and consider some aspects of the various sources
of inspiration used in the creation of the visual arts.
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FANTASY AND IMAGINATION
Sources
There are artists and works of art described in this section. It is important to find at
least some of them in textbooks or on the world-wide web if you plan to study fantasy
and imagination. Your teacher/tutor will advise on individual sources. Websites are
listed in the final section of the materials.
Dreams
At some point we all experience the vividness of a dream. From the familiar faces of
the previous day, to the most fantastic flights of fancy, two dreams are never the
same.
The sensation of dreaming is often thought of as lacking clarity, ethereal or out of
focus. This perhaps comes not from the dream itself but from the quickness that the
dream slips from memory, making description difficult. Often, the memory of the
dream is not as vivid or clear as the dream when we first experienced it.
Throughout history the role of the dream has had an important significance. The
content of the dream has often been considered to be both a message and
premonition.
Using contemporary psychological theory, dreams are now commonly thought to
represent a process undertaken by the brain during sleep to sort, discard and make
sense of information and emotions. In a way the brain is processing information
relating to experiences from the conscious world in an unconscious manner. The
dream can often lead to a greater questioning of one’s own consciousness, and an
insight into the unconscious mind.
In ancient times dreams took on religious significance, often being interpreted as
messages from gods. The meaning of dreams also alters in meaning and significance
dependent on the cultural and spiritual environment of the individual. It is only
natural that the individual’s visual language and iconography appears in their dreams.
Cultural diversity inevitably leads to a unique language of dreams. In Australian
aboriginal culture, collective ancestral history and journeys are thought to be
communicated through their ‘Dream time’. Within these dreams complex related
shapes, patterns and colours convey specific stories in a particularly visual manner.
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Within dreams there is often a degree of personal symbolism, and images that have a
significance to the individual.
This type of symbolism can often be seen and recognised within the work of artists.
Within the process of creating a piece of art, there requires to be both a mental and
physical input that are enriched by the contributions of the artist’s own personal
symbolism and style.
The language of symbols can often be difficult to decipher and understand, because
of its personal and unique nature. Within the language of symbols there are, however,
conventions, styles, themes and particular ways in which artists will make use of
them. Often artists will look to historical or cultural sources such as Christian or
Greco-Roman mythology as inspiration, to give their work greater meaning and
significance.
Symbolism became an artistic and literary movement in the late nineteenth century.
Artists such as Odilon Redon and Gustave Moreau were associated with this.
Originating in France, the Symbolist movement turned away from realism within
paintings in favour of concepts based in mythology, in a way which conveyed their
own ideas and feelings.
This can be seen within Odilon Redon’s painting of 1898/1900, called ‘The Cyclops’.
This painting explores Redon’s fascination with mythology as well as his willingness
to explore his imagination, thoughts, feelings and ideas.
The cultural significance attributed to dreams is not limited to one or two particular
cultural groups. It is encountered the world over. The concept of dream itself has
been seen to play an integral part in the mythology of creation itself. In Indian culture
the god Brahma was said to be responsible for creating the world from a dream. This
experience again is not culturally uncommon. Native Americans say that their gods
communicate songs and poems to them through the medium of their dreams. In
contemporary society perhaps we dream less of angels and cherubs, and more of
aliens and UFOs because we are influenced more and more by the mass media, as
well as the sights and sounds of our everyday lives.
It is therefore not surprising that the dream itself plays such an integral part in the
expression of fantasy and imagination and our great fascination with the dream.
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Horror
As an extension from the world of the dream, horror explores the darker side of the
imagination. The meaning of horror is personal to the individual yet has been
profoundly explored by artists such as Heironymus Bosch, Henri Fuseli and Francis
Bacon. Images of horror have the ability to tap into our greatest and darkest fears in
the way that reality cannot always reproduce. As in dreams, it comes as no surprise
that frequently images of horror are derived from personal experience and contain a
highly complex symbolism.
Artists have frequently explored the darker sides of the imagination. Historically
painters such as Bosch, explored what they themselves felt represented hell. His work
includes images of terrifying clarity, revelling in the details of tormented souls and
demons. More contemporary painters such as Francis Bacon explore not the clarity
of horror but the terrifying sensation of horror. In the painting ‘Study after
Velasquez’s portrait of Pope Innocent X’, Bacon creates a terrifying image of horrific
pain and torture, through his intense and dramatic approach to paint application.
There are no limits to the imagination, and therefore no limits to the depths of horrific
visions capable in the visual arts. As a device for communicating ideas and feelings
the genre of horror and its use in art can challenge and provoke the ideas and beliefs
of the viewer.
Machines
Machines and their profound effect on the world in which we live have greatly
influenced our views on fantasy and imagination.
In the past religious iconography played a very important role in defining visual
representations of fantasy. Contemporary visions tend to look towards mechanisation
and science for inspiration.
The scientific discoveries of this century have greatly influenced our collective and
cultural visual language. The splitting of the atom and the atomic bombing of
Hiroshima and Nagasaki towards the final days of World War Two in the nineteenforties violently introduced a new scientific and technological era. This new aspect
of sub-atomic particles in turn helped to lead to the silicon revolution that gave us
computer technology. These massive technological jumps that have marked human
achievements culminated in 1969 when man landed on the Moon and changed our
view of our world completely. Mechanisation and technology have moved our
society towards a new perception of the possibilities of mankind. The frontier of
space has yet again created new opportunities for reinventing the visual language of
fantasy and imagination.
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The technological achievements of our society sometimes also seem to have more
sinister implications. Technology, mechanisation and the role of genetic engineers
creates a vision of science racing ahead of the limitations of the individual. These
visions of a dark and chaotic future have been explored within films such as Blade
Runner, Judge Dredd, Mad Max and Jurassic Park.
The uncertainty of the future in a heavily industrialised world, where the individual
is ever more dependent on mechanised systems, offers limitless possibilities for views
about what the future may hold.
Landscape
The theme of landscape has an important significance in the development of western
art. Since the beginning of time, mankind has had a powerful relationship with the
environment which supported our development. This relationship between mankind
and nature went relatively unchanged for thousands of years.
The balance between humanity and nature changed greatly in the late eighteenth and
early nineteenth centuries with the advent of a period known as The Industrial
Revolution. The Industrial Revolution is the term used to describe how the creation
of factories utilising steam-powered machinery allowed mass production of goods to
become possible. This deeply affected the way products were made – and caused
huge social and economic upheaval. As a result, western society changed so that the
individual had much less contact with the natural world, and more contact with the
cramped and, for many, often dangerous working environments of the early factories
and crowded cities.
As society became more distant from nature, artists attempted to recapture the
romantic view of nature in paintings. In the past, painters had often used landscape as
a dramatic setting for biblical and mythological stories. With the industrial revolution
artists became more prepared to impose their own creative ideas onto the scenes that
they painted – in some cases, inventing them more or less completely.
Within this increasingly industrialised society, the artist looked back on the preindustrial landscape with greater fondness. This fondness for the countryside meant
that artists began to represent what they saw around them in what became to be
known as British Romantic Painting. These Romantic painters defied the classical
conventions of painting, to impose their own ideas about nature onto the canvas. Two
of the most famous British landscape painters of the Romantic movement were Joseph
M.Turner and John Constable.
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The environment around us creates many opportunities for us to explore our own
ideas and imagination. These opportunities can range from the idealised views of the
Romantic painters Turner and Constable, to the vast symbolic landscapes of the
surrealist painter Salvador Dali. The Spanish painter Salvador Dali created
landscapes inhabited by the strange and terrifying creatures of his imagination.
However the artist chooses to define their ideas of landscape, we can be sure that no
two landscapes will be represented the same way.
Religion
Religion has been important in stimulating the imagination of artists in their
interpretation and illustration of ancient stories. When we explore the diverse range
of world cultures and religions, it can be seen that the visual arts have played an
important role in defining and enriching spiritual teachings.
In the past, paintings and sculpture played an important role in communicating ideas
to an audience that may not have been able to read or write. Complex stories could be
told in allegorical paintings. These paintings helped to reinforce religious principles.
In western society, religion played a very important role in the development of a
common European language in the visual arts.
Images of Christ, his life and the events that shaped the development of the Christian
religion were depicted within the church. In a period known as the Renaissance that
began in Italy in the fourteenth century, the arts gained greater importance in society.
The church became a place visually rich in stained glass, paintings and sculpture.
Frescoes became popular, where artists would paint directly onto the wet plaster walls
and roofs of churches.
Since Christian churches paid for much of the work created, the work followed the
many guidelines of that particular faith. As a result, artists started to follow particular
conventions or styles of imagery. Paintings therefore depicted heaven as an ethereal
place beyond the sky, whilst angels were shown as human in form with white, birdlike
wings. In all cultures and societies, the visual arts have played an important role in
the creation of a unique language of styles and themes that have defined the diverse
cultural heritage throughout the world.
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APPROACHES
Many artists, both historic and contemporary utilise a broad range of techniques,
styles and approaches within their work. Within the theme of fantasy and
imagination, the following approaches have been commonly used by artists:
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distortion and transformation
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changes in setting, scale and proportion
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juxtaposition
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use of the visual elements and composition
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realism and abstraction.
This section will discuss specific artists, movements and examples of work where
appropriate to the various approaches.
Distortion and Transformation
Guiseppe Arcimboldo (Born 1527 - Died 1593 ) was an artist whose work displayed
an extraordinary skill in creating portraiture with individual parts constructed from
natural objects such as vegetables, fruits, sea-life and roots from trees. Arcimboldo
was an Italian painter working for the royal court of Rudolph the Second during the
sixteenth century in Milan. Arcimboldo was primarily, influenced by the seasons and
the elements.
Arcimboldo’s work was painted in a realistic style, using hand-mixed oil paints on
wooden boards or canvas. The paintings that Arcimboldo created allowed for dual
interpretation. The work of Arcimboldo gained new recognition in the aftermath of
World War One with the advent of the Surrealist movement.
An example of the work created by Arcimbldo, that shows his unique and imaginative
style, is ‘Summer’ and was painted in 1573 using oil paints on canvas. This painting
shows how Arcimboldo used everyday fruit and vegetables to construct skilful and
humorous portraits.
Salvador Dali created paintings that were an exercise in the creation of double
images. As in our dreams and fantasies, places, people and objects can change. Dali
was a Spanish painter of the surrealist movement who represented this fluid
transformation of images in his work. The work of Dali was influenced by the
paintings of Heironymus Bosch from five hundred years before.
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Dali described the technique of distortion and transformation, that he utilised in his
work of the 1930s, as ‘Cannibalism’. Dali used this term to shock the viewers of his
paintings and reinforce the concept or idea behind the technique that he used. Dali’s
work shows the ‘Cannibalism’ as images melt, disintegrate, rip and distort into new
forms. Another term that Dali used to describe his work was ‘man-made
photography’ which reflected the precision and technical skills he used within his
paintings.
The work of Italian painter Giorgio De Chirico influenced Dali in his exploration of
the dreamlike landscapes of the subconscious mind.
The surrealist movement was first promoted in Paris in 1924 by a young student of
psychiatry Andre Breton. Breton felt that the process of setting the subconscious
mind free from the conscious restrictions of day to day thought would help art, and
life itself. The work of the eminent psychologists Freud and Jung, who explored the
subconscious mind, was promoted in ‘La Revolution Surrealiste’, a surrealist
newspaper.
The surrealist movement was not the first time that artists had tried to break free from
the legacy of the representational or realistic aspects of classical artistic conventions.
The Dadaists (Dada = Rocking Horse) had previously engaged in disassociating
themselves from western heritage in order to create a new form of art.
Surrealists such as Vasily Kandinsky, Miro, Paul Devaux, Salvador Dali and Rene
Magritte changed the shape of modern art by exploring new ways of thinking about
art. They tried to reflect the changing world in which they lived. The images of
Surrealist artists also reflected their own thoughts and feelings in a broader context,
such as the political environment that led to World War Two. Artists reflected the
anxiety and loss that this period of confrontation created.
The surrealists and their work influenced a new generation of artists. Francis Bacon
was a painter who, like the surrealists, had a profound effect on western art during the
twentieth century. Bacon was born in Dublin in 1909 and lived to the age of eightytwo. He was greatly influenced by the violence and brutality of the paintings of the
surrealist artists, such as Max Ernst and Salvador Dali.
During the nineteen-forties and fifties Bacon continued to explore the distortion of the
human form into grotesque and dynamic images. Francis Bacon once said of his own
paintings:
I would like my pictures to look as if a human being had passed between them like a
snail, leaving a trail of the human presence and a memory trace of past events as a
snail leaves slime.
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In a series of paintings in the nineteen-fifties, Bacon looked at the work of the Spanish
painter Diego de Silva y Velasquez. Velasquez had painted a portrait of Pope
Innocent X during 1650, in all his splendour, depicting the great wealth and power of
the church. Bacon chose to manipulate and transform this image within one of his
own paintings ‘Study after Velasquez portrait of Pope Innocent X’.
The painting shows the figure of the Pope seated on what appears to be a throne, with
his fists clenched and his mouth open in some terrible silent scream. Bacon has
applied the paint to the canvas with great vigour, using large vertical strokes of the
paintbrush to emphasise the sense of distortion and anguish.
Peter Howson is a contemporary Scottish figurative painter who also examines the
darker side of the imagination within his work. The themes for Howson’s work come
from a variety of aspects of Scottish street culture, portraiture and his own
experiences. Howson spent a short time in Bosnia as a war artist during the multifactional civil war.
Howson is well known for his powerful figurative paintings. Howson’s use of
distortion, or ‘Invention’ as he calls it, is best illustrated in his ‘Boxer’ series of
paintings and drawings. Howson’s work explores ideas of masculinity and power,
through his paintings of muscle-bound figures in stylised dramatic poses. Within
Howson’s work there often appears to be a sense of imminent violence or aggression,
exaggerated by shaved heads and brutally distorted faces.
Changes in Setting, Scale and Perspective
Heironymus Bosch was a painter who was born in 1405 and died in 1516. Within
his paintings Bosch created fantastical worlds rich in symbolism and forms that
represented his personal visions of hell. Bosch explored ancient religious stories such
as the temptation of St. Anthony.
The religious story of the temptation of St. Anthony attracted fantasy artists, and later
the painters of the surrealist movement. The story gave artists the opportunity to let
their imaginations run wild. The subject also allowed them to consider visions,
hallucinations, terrifying nightmares and monstrous creatures as subjects for the
fantasy artist.
St. Anthony was a hermit saint who lived in the fourth century. His self-enforced life
in the wilderness was said to have brought on tests of his faith in God. These tests
came in the form of hallucinations of monsters and demons.
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Bosch uses scale to create dramatic overwhelming detail and intensity within his
work.
It was not just Bosch that had been drawn to the subject of St. Anthony. The ancient
story had interested some of the greatest artists of the past. The Belgian artist Pieter
Breugel, and the German artist Matthias Grunewald had also seen the possibilities
in the story of St. Anthony in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries.
The picture by Grunewald was painted at the Antonite monastery in Isenheim in
Germany around 1512, and forms a folding altar piece. The events shown in the altar
piece are about the life of St. Anthony, and how his faith was subject to great
temptation. The temptation of St. Anthony is a subject in which the fantastic
representation of the terrors that beset the saint are in stark contrast to the way in
which the saint remains unaffected throughout his ordeal.
Much later in 1945, Max Ernst, the German Surrealist artist painted his own version
of the temptation of St. Anthony . He was attracted to the theme of the temptation.
As a surrealist painter it gave him the opportunity to shape fantastic forms, and
transform all sorts of creatures. In the painting that Ernst created, vegetable and
animal forms are reborn into living and sinister creatures who tempt and torture the
righteous St. Anthony.
Juxtaposition
Juxtaposition is a term which describes the placing of different or unusual objects
together, in a way which creates a contrast or an unusual relationship. This use of
juxtaposition within paintings can be seen in the work of a number of different
painters such as Giorgio De Chirico and Alison Watt. Giorgio De Chirico was born
of Italian parents in 1888. As a young artist, De Chirico was inspired by visionary
artists of the past. Giorgio De Chirico invented worlds within his paintings. His
paintings created a sense of mystery, melancholy and sadness through their
juxtaposition of objects and settings. The worlds that he created within his works of
fantasy seem to the viewer to be empty and deserted. Nothing within his paintings is
as it seems. Normal life appears to be suspended in the paintings of De Chirico.
Between 1911 and 1917 Giorgio De Chirico developed a style of painting which
became known as Metaphysical painting. This term came to describe the unexpected
changes in scale, strange architecture and quite bizarre juxtapositions of unrelated
objects.
This approach of using juxtaposition can be seen in De Chiricos painting of 1913 ‘The
Uncertainty of the Poet’. Within this painting De Chirico uses a seemingly unrelated
pile of bananas and a plaster cast of a woman’s torso, to create an uneasy visual
relationship. These objects are set within an empty architectural setting, with boldly
drawn dynamic shadows adding to the overall sense of menace.
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De Chirico repeatedly used familiar everyday objects such as clocks and steaming
locomotives. Isolated silhouettes of figures at street corners, the wooden figure,
faceless mannequins, shadowy archways and empty streets all featured within his
paintings.
There are strong connections between these themes and his own life. His father was a
railway engineer. Thus the town station, the station clock and locomotives were
repeated symbols in his work. As well as these symbols, De Chirico included the
grand architecture of ancient Italian and Greek cities, again as familiar images from
his early days in Greece and Italy.
In his painting ‘Enigma of a Day’ painted in 1913, De Chirico uses perspective and
changes in scale to build up this unique composition.
Rene Magritte was another painter who created amazingly imaginative worlds within
his paintings. In the 1920s and 30s he became associated with the Surrealist
movement of painters. Working mainly in oil paints on canvas Magritte created
inventive and often unexpected juxtapositions of objects and text within his paintings.
Magritte intended his paintings to create and provoke thought and discussion.
Magritte’s Surrealist approach towards juxtaposition can be seen within his 1928-9
painting ‘The Treachery of Images’, in which he uses language as well as visual
representation to create contradictory information for the viewer.
The approach of exploring ideas of Juxtaposition can also be seen in a contemporary
Scottish context, within the work of Alison Watt.
Alison Watt was born in 1965 and educated at the Glasgow School of Art from 1983
to 1987, and was greatly influenced by the work of Ingre, James Cowie and Degas.
Within her own work of the late nineteen-eighties and mid-nineteen-nineties, Alison
Watt was fascinated with the human form in carefully posed compositions. Watt
developed her ideas of juxtaposition in the props and poses she used in her figure
compositions. Within her paintings Watt creates a sense of mood and atmosphere by
her use of subtle hues and colours. These techniques and approaches create a sense of
ambiguity and hidden meaning within her work.
Watt accomplishes this sense of juxtaposition by creating unexpected relationships in
her paintings, often through her use of over-dramatic gestures as well as the use of
props such as tea cups and scissors. This idea of dramatic contrast gives Watt’s work
a great sense of symbolism, wit and ambiguity.
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In her work of the late nineteen-eighties and early nineteen-nineties, Watt also looked
at themes and paintings from the past. She looked at the classical poses of Ingres ‘La
Source’, and reinterpreted it into a contemporary context.
As within the paintings of Magritte, Watt uses juxtaposition to create dramatic and
imaginative scenarios but uses a more subtle approach that places more emphasis on
the viewer’s personal response.
Calum Colvin is another young contemporary Scottish artist who uses juxtaposition
within his work. Calum studied in Dundee in the 1980s.
Like the earlier surrealist artists, Calum’s work is all about juxtaposition and
combining objects and images which clash. Since the time of the surrealists the
worlds of the mass-media and technology have grown immensely and Calum uses
images drawn from popular culture to good effect in his work.
Calum calls the technique that he uses ‘constructed photography’. In his technique he
assembles sets of 3-dimensional objects and painted scenes. When Calum has
completed these 3-dimensional sets, he photographs it and thus creates a large-scale 2dimensional image.
In his 1998 series of photographs titled ‘The Seven Deadly Sins and the Four last
Things’, Colvin draws inspiration from the work of the sixteenth-century artist
Hieronymus Bosch. In Bosch’s vision of the seven deadly sins a bird on skates
becomes a symbol for sloth as it finds skating easier than flying. In its beak it carries
a paper with the word ‘idle’ written on it. Bosch therefore uses very unlikely
combinations and metamorphosis to make his symbol for this sin.
Calum has chosen to represent the sin of anger in his work. Like Bosch he includes
very unlikely objects. Within his work you will find a kilted Action Man, a
Campbell’s soup tin, a can of lager, the MacDonald’s logo and the head of the
infamous James Loch, who was a hated figure in the Highland Clearances in the last
century.
Calum says of his own work:
When I first exhibited my work in the 1980s there was a lot of snobbery against
photography. A lot of people still have a problem with it being seen as Art and I can’t
understand that, it touches so many people.
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Use of the Visual Elements and Composition
Edward Burra was born in London in 1903, and died in 1976 having travelled the
world. Whilst Burra travelled he recorded the sights, sounds and excitement of the
places and people that he encountered. Burra was inspired and stimulated by his
travels to New York, Spain, Mexico and the south of France. Whilst Burra travelled to
these places he absorbed aspects of Latin and black American culture, and was
influenced greatly by the excitement and passion of the Mediterranean people.
As an artist Burra worked primarily in watercolours, but also experimented in
Surrealist collage. These collages allowed Burra to show his great skill in creating
complex compositions. Burra was a highly competent draughtsman, and his use of
watercolour allowed him carefully to control and monitor the appearance of his work.
The meticulous approach and control that Burra showed within his work was
complemented by his bold and vibrant use of colour. Often Burra would explore the
darker side of society with moody scenes set in seedy bar or in the ghetto of Harlem,
using large simplified figures in complex and bustling compositions. Bold shapes,
bright colours and complex distorted and disjointed compositions all played an
important role in Burra’s paintings.
Through Burra’s intense use of colour and complex stylised compositions, he was
able to create a powerful sense of atmosphere and claustrophobia within his paintings.
This can be clearly seen within his painting ‘The Two Sisters’ 1929, in which Burra
exaggerates a profound sense of intensity through his use of strong colour and
artificial lighting.
Marc Chagall was also another great master of creating powerful compositions
through his use of the visual elements. Chagall was a painter who created a unique
and exciting visual language within his work. He was born in 1887 into a poor Jewish
family in Russia prior to the Communist revolution.
Chagall moved to Paris in 1910, and as a result was greatly influenced by both his
environment and his artistic friends. Within his paintings Chagall began to explore a
range of compositional ideas, revelling in an avant-garde approach to both colour and
representation, using his childhood village of Pestkovatik and its inhabitants as a
stimulus for his work.
Chagall was influenced by a number of sources, from the use of geometry as used by
the Cubists painters to the vibrant colours used by a group of painters known as the
Fauves.
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Within his painting ‘The Red Jew’ of 1925, Chagall revisits his Jewish upbringing in
a small Russian village and explores concepts of history, identity and religious
iconography. He uses scale to exaggerate the size, and therefore the importance of the
central figure but also incorporates a strong sense of geometry within the background
of the painting, which dominates the composition and helps to focus the viewer’s
attention onto the central figure.
From the late 1920s, Chagall started to adopt a softer and more painterly approach to
his work. This transformation of style is linked to his relationship with Bella
Rosenfeld. Chagall’s relationship and subsequent marriage to Bella Rosenfeld is
frequently seen within his paintings which show expressions of joy and fulfilment.
Realism and Abstraction
Pablo Picasso is considered by many to be one of the most important and innovative
artists of the twentieth century. Powerfully imaginative and amazingly diverse, the
work of Picasso has a unique ability to convey the many aspects and emotions of the
human spirit.
Although remembered primarily for his abstracted figurative and still-life work,
Picasso explored a broad range of styles, forms and materials in his expansive artistic
career. Picasso’s early work was influenced by the paintings of Toulouse Lautree and
Edgar Degas but from the nineteen-twenties his work became more abstract.
Although much of his work was felt to be abstract, Picasso himself felt strongly about
this assumption, stating:
There is no abstract art. One must always begin with something. Then all traces of
reality can be removed. There isn’t any danger then, because the idea of the object
has left an indelible mark. It is what moved the artist originally, inspired his ideas,
set his emotions vibrating. In the end his ideas and emotions become imprisoned in
his painting. No matter what happens, they can no longer escape from the picture.
Picasso had the ability to take inspiration from what he saw within his environment
and from his life. Picasso would then objectively recompose these images, creating a
strange, profound metamorphosis of images and ideas.
Within his work Picasso maintained the ability to utilise different styles and
approaches that allowed him to express his ideas and feelings.
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Picasso used his creativity to tap into concepts of mythology and social upheaval,
which gave his work a poignancy and relevance which can still be recognised today.
This ability to respond in a very personal way to events that he encountered is evident
in paintings such as ‘Weeping Woman’ and ‘Guernica’. These two paintings are part
of a thematic group of paintings that he produced after leaving of the bombing of a
small Basque Spanish village by Nazi bombers in the spring of 1937. Within these
paintings Picasso is able to express his anger, bitterness and sorrow at the mindless act
of war. Within his painting ‘Weeping Woman’ Picasso expresses his emotions
through his stark abstracted composition and strident colour scheme.
As an artist Picasso was able to convey the magic of his imagination in a powerful
and unique visual language.
Cindy Sherman was born in 1954 in Glen Ridge, New Jersey and is a contemporary
American artist working primarily within the field of colour photography. Although
photography captures realism in its broadest sense, Sherman’s work manipulates this
to her advantage. In essence Sherman creates the type of reality that she wishes to
portray. Cindy Sherman creates staged photographs in constructed environments, in
which she plays the leading role. Often disguised, made-up or in costume, Sherman
takes on the role of actress through which she can convey often complex narrative
situations and events. This approach allows Sherman to create evocative images
which can convey themes as diverse as young love, to violence against women.
Sherman adopts roles and meticulously creates visual situations. Her work has the
ability to convey broad themes within an evocative atmosphere.
Eduardo Paolozzi is a well known contemporary Scottish artist, who has exhibited
internationally with his dynamically distorted sculptures. Many of his sculptures of
the nineteen-sixties show Paolozzi’s exploration of mutilated natural and man-made
forms, often with his sculptures adorned, decorated and imprinted with elements of
industrial machinery and toys.
From the nineteen-sixties Eduardo Paolozzi’s work started to demonstrate a sense of
function in the engineering forms that he started to utilise. Paolozzi’s work showed a
definite influence from the work of the Surrealist artists in both themes and
approaches.
Paolozzi used a huge range of found and discarded objects to richly texture, decorate
and give symbolism to his work. The rich symbolism of Paolozzi’s work is further
exaggerated by his choice of titles, often using characters and stories from mythology.
In the mid-nineteen-sixties, Paolozzi’s work began to show the influence of not only
the Surrealists, but also the Russian Constructivists.
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Constructivism was an abstract art movement which believed that sculpture should
use industrial techniques and materials, and be constructed in line with technological
processes.
Paolozzi still creates sculptures, and is well known for the large-scale public pieces
that are situated round his home town of Edinburgh.
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GLOSSARY OF ARTISTS: IMAGINATION AND FANTASY
The following Artists may be of relevance within your investigation into fantasy and
imagination. Where known, a date of birth is also supplied. Artisis still alive and
practising will fall into the category of contemporary practitioners:
ARCHIMBOLDO, Guiseppe.
BACON, Francis
BELLMER, Hans
BLAKE, Peter
BLAKE, William
BOSCH, Heironymus
BOTERO, Fernando
BRAQUE, George
BRAUNER, Victor
BREUGEL, Pieter
BURNE-JONES, Edward
BURRA, Edward
CAMPBELL, Steven
CHAGALL, Marc
DE CHIRICO, Giorgio
COLVIN, Calum
CONSTABLE, John
CURRIE, Ken
DALI, Salvador
DELVAUX, Paul
ERNST, Max
GRUNEWALD, Matthias
HAMILTON, Richard
HOWSON, Peter
KANDINSKY, VASILY
KILMT, Gustave
LEGER, Fernand
LICHTENSTEIN, Roy
MAGRITTE, Rene
MANRAY
MIRO, Joan
MODIGLIANI, Amadeo
MOREAU, Gustave
PAOLOZZI, Edwardo
PICASSO, Pablo
REDON, Odilon
SHERMAN, Cindy
TANGUY, Yves
TURNER, Joseph
WISZNIEWSKI, Adrian
born 1527
born 1909
born 1902
born 1932
born 1757
born 1450,
born 1932
born 1882,
born 1903
born 1525
born 1883,
born 1905,
born 1953
born 1887
born 1888
born 1961
born 1776
born 1962
born 1904
born 1887
born 1881,
born 1474
born 1922
born 1958
born 1866
born 1862
born 1881
born 1923
born 1898
born 1890
born 1893
born 1884
born 1826
born 1924
born 1881
born 1840
born 1954
born 1900
born 1775
born 1958
Art & Design: Fantasy and Imagination
died 1593
died 1992
died 1975
died 1827
died 1516
died 1963
died 1966
died 1569
died 1898
died 1976
died 1985
died 1978
died 1837
died 1989
died 1994
died 1976
died 1528
died 1944
died 1918
died 1955
died 1967
died 1976
died 1983
died 1920
died 1898
died 1973
died 1916
died 1955
died 1850
33
Art & Design: Fantasy and Imagination
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INTERNET RESOURCES
The following Internet sites will offer a variety of sources and information. This may
be both visual and text based. Many of the artists discussed within the fantasy and
imagination resource can be found within the following sites.
Due to the frequency with which sites are added to and deleted from the Internet, it is
important to carry out your own search for specific artists, artwork and movements.
In order effectively to search for your chosen subject you should use more than one of
the available search engines, such as Yahoo!, Hotbot, Lycos, Miningco. etc.
Search Engines
Yahoo!
Hotbot
Lycos
MiningCo
Dogpile
Alta Vista
GoTo
Topic/Theme
Arcimboldo Giuseppe
Arcimboldo Giuseppe
Bacon Francis
Bacon Francis
Bosch Hieronymus
Bosch Heironymus
Breton Andre
Breton Andre
Chagall Marc
Chagall Marc
de Chirico Giorgio
de Chirico Giorgio
Constable John
Dali Salvador
Dali Salvador
Ernst Max
Howson Peter
Magritte Rene
Magritte Rene
Miro Joan
Miro Joan
Miro Joan
Internet Address
yahoo.com
hotbot.com
lycos.com
miningco.com
dogpile.com
altavista.com
GoTo.com
Internet Address
http://keptar.demasz.hu/arthp/bio/a/arcimbol/biograph.htm
http://www.vol.cz/RUDOLFII/umelcien.html
http://artchive.com/artchive/ftptoc/bacon_ext.html
http://desires2.desires.com/2.4/Art/Bacon/bacon.html
http://www.di.uoa.gr/~grad0146/English/bosch.html
http://artchive.com/artchive/ftptoc/bosch_ext.html
http://www.personal.umich.edu/~rmutt/dictionary/breton.html
http://www.kalin.lm.com/breton.html
http://metalab.unc.edu/cjackson/chagall/
http://www.md.huji.ac.il/chagall.html
http://www.artchive.com/artchive/ftptoc/de_chirico_ext.html
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/6163/
http://metalab.unc.edu/cjackson/constabl/
http://www.geocities.com/SoHo/1236/
http://wildsau.idv.uni-linz.ac.at/~chris/Dali/
http://www.mcs.csuhayward.edu/~malek/Ernst.html
http://www.cymroza.com/Glasgow/peterh.htm
http://www.magritte.com/
http://www.earthbase.org/home/art/rene_magritte/
http://www.bcn.fjmiro.es/
http://pharmdec.wustl.edu/juju/surr/images/miro/miro.html
http://www.artchive.com/artchive/ftptoc/miro_ext.html
Art & Design: Fantasy and Imagination
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Topic/Theme
Picasso Pablo
Picasso Pablo
Picasso Pablo
Turner J.M.W
Turner J.M.W
Internet Address
http://www.clubinternet.com/SoHo/1236/
http://www.people.cornell.edu/pages/jjm20/picasso.html
http://www.showgate.com/tots/picasso/piclink.html
http://metalab.unc.edu/cjackson/turner/
http://www.artchive.com/artchive/ftptoc/turner_ext
Galleries/Museums/General
Contemporary, British
Guggenheim Museums
Contemporary, Scottish
Mark Hardens Archive
Museums of Scotland
http://www.lmu.ac.uk/arts/gal98.htm
http://www.guggenheim.org/
http://www.goma.glasgow.gov.uk/
http://www.artchive.com/core.html
http://www.nms.ac.uk/
Art & Design: Fantasy and Imagination
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GLOSSARY FOR ART AND DESIGN STUDIES: FANTASY and
imagination
Word bank for Art and Design Studies: Fantasy and Imagination
Word
Abstract
Aesthetic
Allegorical
Anxiety
Assumption
Atmosphere
Claustrophobia
Collective
Competent
Complex
Composition
Conclusion
Construction
Contemporary
Conventions
Cultural
Diverse
Emphasis
Ethereal
Evocative
Expressive
Figurative
Fulfilment
Heritage
Interpreted
Juxtaposition
Medium
Metamorphosis
Mythology
Narrative
Perception
Poignancy
Profound
Psychological
Representation
Meaning
without any images that can be made out, or are easily
recognisable
attractive to look at
story where characters and events represent or symbolise an
underlying meaning
sense of worry
accepting without proof or evidence, something to be truthful
a feeling or mood given by surroundings
a fear of enclosed spaces
a group taken, or represented as a whole
able to do a particular thing
made up of many parts, complicated
something composed, constructed, assembled or created
an opinion formed by reasoning
something constructed or built
modern, of this age, or within your lifetime
accepted ways of doing things
a country’s customs and traditions
varied; of several different kinds
special importance given to something
light and delicate
produce or inspire a thought or feeling
full of expression or feelings
a representation of a figure, animal or object
to carry out or satisfy a task
the things that someone has inherited from the past
explain or translate what something means
put things side by side
the materials that an artist uses e.g.paint, charcoal, inks,
watercolours
a change of form or character
the study of myths, old stories containing ideas about ancient times
a spoken or written account of something
to notice something
very distressing; affecting the feelings
something that is very intense
the study of the mind and how it works
to show a person or object within a piece of work
Art & Design: Fantasy and Imagination
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Word
Scale
Significance
Strident
Symbol
Symbolism
Technique
Theme
Tone
Vibrant
Visual Elements
Meaning
quantity for measuring size and proportion
full of meaning or important
loud and harsh
a mark or sign with a special meaning
the use of symbols to represent things
the method of doing something skilfully
subject about which a person thinks or creates
depth or brilliance of colour, tint or shade
vibrating, lively
line, tone, colour, pattern, shape, texture relating to a piece of
artwork
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