Vincent van Gogh, Starry Night, 1889
HU300: Unit 2 Art
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Subjects in art
What does the picture show?
The subject of a picture can be described as its genre.
Some common genres of pictures:
Landscape
Still Life
Portrait
Genre scene (this one is a little confusing – a genre scene is basically a scene of everyday life.)
Georgia O’Keeffe, Black Mesa Landscape, New Mexico / Out Back of Mary’s II. 1930.
Oil on canvas, 24 ¼ x 36 ¼ in. Collection of the Georgia O’Keeffe Museum.
Georgia O’Keeffe, Black Mesa Landscape, New Mexico / Out Back of Mary’s II. 1930.
Oil on canvas, 24 ¼ x 36 ¼ in. Collection of the Georgia O’Keeffe Museum.
Abstract: art that takes from reality only what the artist wants or that renders a visual depiction of the concepts in the artist’s mind.
Georgia O’Keeffe, Black Mesa Landscape, New Mexico / Out Back of Mary’s II. 1930.
Oil on canvas, 24 ¼ x 36 ¼ in. Collection of the Georgia O’Keeffe Museum.
Chiaroscuro (key-ah-row-SCUR-oh): Italian term denoting a way of reproducing in a work of art the
interplay of light and shadow in the real world.
Cubism
 Developed by French
artists Georges Braque and
Spanish artists Pablo
Picasso in Paris, around
1908.
 They became aware of the
work of Paul Cézanne
through posthumous
exhibitions that were held
in Paris.
Pablo Picasso (Spanish, 1881-1973),
Portrait of Ambrose Vollard, 1909-10
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Oil on canvas, 36 ¼” x 25 5/8”.
Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts, Moscow.
Cubism
 What do you expect from
a portrait of a person?
Pablo Picasso (Spanish, 1881-1973),
Portrait of Ambrose Vollard, 1909-10
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Oil on canvas, 36 ¼” x 25 5/8”.
Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts, Moscow.
Cubism
Pierre-August Renoir (French,1841-1919)
Portrait of Ambrose Vollard, 1908
Pablo Picasso (Spanish, 1881-1973),
Portrait of Ambrose Vollard, 1909-10
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Oil on canvas, 36 ¼” x 25 5/8”.
Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts, Moscow.
Cubism
 What do you expect from
a portrait of a person?
Likeness: the reproduction by an
artist of a person or landscape with
the aim of being as close to reality
as possible; popularity began to
diminish with the invention of
photography in the 19th century.
Pablo Picasso (Spanish, 1881-1973),
Portrait of Ambrose Vollard, 1909-10
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Oil on canvas, 36 ¼” x 25 5/8”.
Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts, Moscow.
Still Life: a genre of painting
in which the artist reproduces
the likeness of a particular
arrangement of objects, such
as a bowl of flowers or fruit or
other kinds of food on a table.
Georges Braque (1882-1963)
Fruit Dish and Glass, 1912
Mixed media, 24” x 17 ½”
Wadsworth Athenaeum, Hartford, CT
Collage: a work of art in which a
variety of materials such as
newsprint, magazine pictures,
crepe paper, even glass and wood
are glued together, forming a new
whole, expressive of the artist.
Georges Braque (1882-1963)
Fruit Dish and Glass, 1912
Mixed media, 24” x 17 ½”
Wadsworth Athenaeum, Hartford, CT
Surrealism
 Developed in the 1920s
and 1930s in Europe and
America.
 Themes and images in
surrealist art draw from
the subconscious mind,
dream imagery, as well
as visual puns.
Translation: This is not a pipe.
René Magritte (Belgian, 1898-1967)
The Treachery of Images, 1928-29
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Oil on canvas, 1’ 11 5/8” x 3’ 1”
Los Angeles County Museum of Art
SURREALISM
Salvador Dalí (Spanish,1904-1989)
The Persistence of Memory, 1931
Oil on canvas, 9 ½” x 1’ 1”
Museum of Modern Art, New York
ABSTRACT ART
Abstract art: art that takes from reality only what the artist
wants or that renders a visual depiction of concepts in the
artist’s mind; a work of art that in no way resembles the real
world.
“I was returning from my sketching
deep in thought, when, on opening
the studio door, I was suddenly
confronted with a picture of
indescribable incandescent
loveliness. Bewildered, I stopped,
staring at it. The painting lacked
all subject, depicted no
recognizable object and was
entirely composed of bright
patches of colour. Finally, I
approached closer, and only then
recognized it for what it really
was – my own painting standing
on its side on the easel…
One thing became clear to me –
that objectiveness, the depiction
of objects, needed no place in my
paintings and was indeed harmful
to them.” ~ Vassily Kandinsky
Vassily Kandinsky (1866-1944)
Painting with Houses, 1909
Expressionism
 What is your
reaction to this
work of art by
Wassily
Kandinsky?
Wassily Kandinsky (Russian, 1866-1944), Improvisation 30 (Cannons), 1913
Oil on canvas, 43 11/16” x 43 13/16”. Art Institute of Chicago.
Vassily Kandinsky (1866-1944)
Composition VII, 1913
Oil on canvas, 6’ 6 ¼” x 9’ 11 1/8”
State Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow, Russia.
genre scene: a picture
representing everyday life.
John Sloan (American, 1871-1951)
Hairdresser’s Window, 1907
Oil on canvas, 32 x 26”
Wadsworth Athaneum, Hartford, CT
Kehinde Wiley (American, b. 1977)
Three Graces, 2005
Oil and enamel on canvas, 6’ x 8’.
Private collection.
Sandro Botticelli (Italian, c. 1455-1510 )
Primavera (Spring), c. 1482
Tempera on panel, 6’ 8” x 10’ 4”.
Uffizi Gallery, Florence, Italy.
Kehinde Wiley (American, b. 1977)
Three Graces, 2005
Oil and enamel on canvas, 6’ x 8’.
Private collection.
Art can often mean
different things to
different people.
Is this a strength or
a weakness?
Mark Rothko (American, 1903-1970),
No. 61 (Rust and Blue), 1953
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Oil on canvas, 45” x 36”
Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles
FORM and FUNCTION
Simply put, form is shape, design, or
organization.
Function refers to use or function.
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Frank Lloyd Wright (1867-1959)
Larkin Building, 1904
(formerly Buffalo, New York)
FORM and FUNCTION
Simply put, form is shape, design, or
organization.
Function refers to use or function.
Imagine you are an architect
designing an office building.
What are some things you
would think about concerning
the building’s function?
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Frank Lloyd Wright (1867-1959)
Larkin Building, 1904
(formerly Buffalo, New York)
FORM and FUNCTION
Simply put, form is shape, design, or
organization.
Function refers to use or function.
Imagine you are an architect
designing an office building.
And what about the building’s
form?
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Frank Lloyd Wright (1867-1959)
Larkin Building, 1904
(formerly Buffalo, New York)
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Frank Lloyd Wright (1867-1959)
Larkin Building, 1904
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Frank Lloyd Wright (1867-1959)
Larkin Building, 1904
What are some important concerns when it comes to
the form and function of a home?
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Frank Lloyd Wright (1867-1959)
Robie House, 1909
Chicago, Illinois
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Frank Lloyd Wright (1867-1959)
Robie House, 1909
Chicago, Illinois
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Frank Lloyd Wright (1867-1959)
Robie House, 1909
Chicago, Illinois
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Frank Lloyd Wright (1867-1959)
Guggenheim Museum, New York, 1943-46
Frank Lloyd Wright (1867-1959)
Guggenheim Museum, New York, 1943-46
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I. M. Pei (b. 1917, Chinese)
Pyramid du Louvre, 1989
Paris, France
What do you think about the form and
function of I. M. Pei’s entrance to the
Louvre Museum in Paris?
Thoughts on the materials of glass
and steel?
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I. M. Pei (b. 1917, Chinese)
Pyramid du Louvre, 1989
DECONSTRUCTIVIST ARCHITECTURE
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Frank Gehry (b. 1929, Canadian)
Guggenheim Museum (Bilbao, Spain), 1997
Architectural forms become
destabilized and asymmetrical
Frank Gehry (b. 1929,
Canadian)
Guggenheim Museum
(Bilbao, Spain), 1997
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Vincent van Gogh, Starry Night, 1889
Any questions?
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Vincent van Gogh, Starry Night, 1889
Thanks for your participation,
have a great week!
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