HART UNIT 1
VISUAL ANALYSIS &
INTERPRETATION
Henri Matisse The Joy of Life 1906 (Oil on canvas) (1.75 cm x 2.39 cm) (Barnes
Foundation, Merion, Pennsylvania) (19.3)
Describe the composition and use of colour in this painting, and comment on how each
contributes to an interpretation of the subject matter.
Jan van Eyck Madonna of Chancellor Rolin c.1433-34 (Oil on panel) (66 cm x 61.9 cm)
(Louvre, Paris) (10.13)
Identify the ways in which the artist has created space, depth and threedimensionality in this painting and discuss their effectiveness in representing the
subject.
Stanley Spencer, The Glen,
Port Glasgow, 1952 (oil on
canvas)
(76.2cm350.9cm) (Art Gallery
and Museum, Kelvingrove,
Glasgow).
Describe the figures and their
setting in this painting and
analyse how the artist has
created a sense of
movement.
François-Hubert Drouais,
Madame de Pompadour at
her Tambour Frame
(embroidery frame), 1763 –
64 (oil on canvas) (217 cm x
156.8 cm)
(National Gallery, London).
1 Analyse the figure and
the setting in this portrait
and discuss the
representation of
the sitter’s gender.
SO WHAT DO YOU NEED TO KNOW?
• How to describe, identify, analyse, and
examine the formal features, subjects, and
themes of PAINTINGS.
• How to discuss, interpret, explain, consider,
account for, and comment on PAINTINGS, in a
clear and coherent way.
• A broad knowledge of historical, social, and
cultural contexts of PAINTING.
• Appropriate art, and art historical terminology.
COMPOSITION
• When you first look at a work of art, the first
question to ask is, what is it about?
• Once you have established the content, you can
consider the way in which the artist has arranged
the elements of the piece the COMPOSITION...
• While composition would consider the
organisation, positioning, arrangement and
relationship of features and elements in the
work, there is diversity from work to work.
This sort of composition can be referred to as a
closed composition...WHY?
This is where elements are confined within a painting’s frame.
or an open composition, where elements are cropped by the
picture frame and the composition appears to continue beyond
it.
• Other forms of composition might include
horizontal, vertical, diagonal emphasis;
alignments of elements with curves and
circles; pyramidal arrangements; organisation
of colours, light, shadow and linear
perspective.
COMPOSITION- relationships
Notice how the artist leads us into the picture using that
diagonal banner coming from the left and then the
circular arrangement takes you to each face in turn.
COMPOSITION- Space and Form
• To suggest isolation an artist may contrast the solid,
positive forms of people or objects with the empty
spaces between them- this is generally referred to as
NEGATIVE SPACE
These gaps between the people
and objects strengthen the
composition
and can make the characters
seem more 3D.
COMPOSITION-Cropping
•Sometimes what is left out of a
painting says more about the
subject than what is left in...
•CROPPING- deliberately
cutting off – can suggest that
things are not always what they
seem...
•Bonnard painted his wife in
the bath many times; often
cropping her figure creating a
disturbing, voyeuristic image.
COMPOSING A NARRATIVE
• When a panting tells a story, the artist uses
composition to give the work a natural flow that
helps the viewer(spectator) follow the action.
• In this case the composition can help us understand
what is going on.
• In a well-made composition the spectators eye is led
to each of the main components of the story using
different visual means- shapes/ linking devices/
contrasts in scale and the use of colour.
BALANCE
•All of the components of a
painting have to balance
each other so that the
image is integrated as a
whole.
•Some artists want to
convey harmony and
serenity, others opt for
contrast and dynamism to
create a jagged discord.
Here della Francesca has
established Christ as the
central figure- basing his
composition on one of the
most stable shapes, the
triangle. Here he has
created a sense of stability
and calm.
“The Resurrection” by Piero della Francesca 1463
“Evening on
Karl Johan”
By Edvard
Munch
1892
•A walk along one of Oslo’s main streets has become a nightmare vision in this painting.
•The pedestrians fan out and appear to come right out of the painting towards you.
•Curves of the faces contrast with the strong diagonals of the composition.
•The shadowy, solitary figure heading in the opposite direction increases our sense of
nightmare and alienation.
“The Triumph of
Venus”
by Francois Boucher
1740
•A painting should
have rhythm like a
piece of music.
•Shapes can be
repeated or set in
opposition to each
other.
•The spaces
between the
shapes are just as
important as the
shapes themselves.
•Visual Flow-in this scene Boucher used a billowing swirl of fabric to create a figure of eight
design that links the sky and figures and keeps you looking from one to the other,
•The cloth also echoes the shapes of the clouds at the top right of the picture.
•Fluttering Cupids lead your eye towards Venus, as do the waves of figures undulating from
right to left.
The PLOT...
“The Continence of
Scipio”
By Nicolas Poussin
1640
•Most stories are
taken from history,
religion, myth were
known to their
contemporary
audiences but may
be unfamiliar now.
•To help viewers
artists provide visual
•This painting depicts a popular 17th century theme, in which Scipio, a clues, such as
Roman General returns a captive woman to her finance’.
dramatic gestures,
•Poussin divided the figures into groups.
or objects such as
•Scipio can be identified by his throne and crown and his gracious
weapons, crowns to
manner towards the woman in blue is answered by her finance’s
identify the key
grateful acceptance.
characters.
•The soldiers on the right remind us that this is war.
COLOUR
• As with composition, an understanding of how
colour has been used by a variety of artists
should be considered.
• Colour is often the most exciting components
of a painting – artists use colour together with
composition, perspective and light and shade
to strengthen the impact of the subject
matter.
de Hooch
“The Linen
Cupboard”
Here colour is
representational,
It appears how it
realistically
would be.
“Execution of Lady Jane
Grey”
By Paul Delaroche 1833
Here colour is used
symbolically, where
colour may be used as
an established
convention, as in white
as a symbol of purity eg
Lady Jane Grey’s dress
“Fighting Forms” by Franz Marc
1916
“The Scream”
By Edvard Munch
PICTORIAL SPACE
• overlapping
• changes in scale
• linear perspective
• foreshortening
• use of light and shade, including tonal
modelling and cast shadow
• compositional arrangement, that may ‘lead
the viewer into’ the picture.
All these ELEMENTS
occur in Caravaggio’s
“Conversion of St Paul”
• aerial perspective
• more detail and ‘focus’
in foreground
• foreshortening
• use of light and shade,
including tonal modelling
and cast shadow
• compositional
arrangement, that may
‘lead the viewer into’ the
picture.
These elements also occur in Delacroix’s “The 28th July: Liberty Leading the
People “...
“The Poplar Avenue” by David Cox 1820
This is an example of LINEAR PERSECTIVE...as you look down the road, the sides
appear to converge in the distance....they meet at a vanishing point.
The small figure on horseback draws your eye into the painting, taking you along
the road.
OVERLAPPING- A simple way to create depth is to overlap the figures or elements of the
composition.
Overlapping the horses and riders, with figures getting smaller into the distance.
“The Dead Christ”
By Mantegna 15th
•In this Renaissance
picture, Christ’s
body looks very
short and his feet
appear larger than
his head.
•Perspective had
just been
discovered.
FORESHORTENING-making an object look shorter than it really is to create the illusion of
recession- it is an extreme example of linear perspective.
The term is often applied to the human body when shown poses that compress length.
FRONT LIGHTING- light shines straight from the front, spotlighting the action in
the foreground. Here the lighting is shining down from above onto the pitiful
figure of Lady Jane.
CHIAROSCURO- Italian for light/dark.
The strong light in this painting creates dramatic tonal contrasts and focuses the eye
on the important point of the story- St Thomas’s contact with Christ’s wounds.
FORMAL
FEATURES
Single light
source and
chiaroscuro
effect.
• dark and
relatively illdefined
upper half of the
painting.
Almost a pyramidal
composition
“The Gross Clinic” by Eakins 1875
INTERPRETATION
Light illuminates
the doctor and the
operation, key
parts of the work,
while spectators
are in shadow,
minimising their
importance.
• Chiaroscuro
creates a dramatic
effect, emphasised
by the gesture of
the figure bottom
left.
• Light also picks
out calmer aspects:
the recorder at
middle left,
spectators, the
doctor’s calm
demeanour.
The doctor’s
importance is
emphasised by his
position at the
apex of the
compositional
pyramid