The big question:

What is Art?

"What is Art For?" with Alain Botton

David, by Michelangelo, 1501-1504 CE

No Limit, by Pichiavo, 2015 CE

The Fetus in the Womb, by Leonardo, c. 1510 CE

Timbuktu Manuscript (Qur'an), c. 1200 CE

United States Capitol Building, by William Thornton, 1793-1800 CE

Walt Disney Concert Hall, by Frank Gehry, 2003 CE

Stonehenge, c. 2000 BCE

Campbell's Tomato Soup

Campbell's Soup Cans, by Andy Warhol, 1962 CE

Blazer Skateboarding Shoe, by Nike, early 21st cent. CE

D-100, by Larry Robinson and the Martin Custom Shop, 2002 CE

Rubber Duck, by Florentijn Hofman, 2007-Present CE

Nobody Likes Me, by iHeart, 2014 CE

Censorship: Art vs Pornography

Mona Lisa

by Leonardo da Vinci

1503 CE*

The Basics

• Subject, Context, & Content

• Form

• Iconography

• Basic visual elements

• Style

Topics to Cover:

Subject, Context, & Content

Subject:

The actual visual/physical elements that make up an artwork.

Context:

The conditions of the artwork's creation.

Content:

The intangible aspects of an artwork; the meaning behind the piece.

Portrait Bust Of Cardinal Richelieu,
by Kehinde Wiley, 2009

Portrait Bust of Cardinal Richelieu,
by Gian Lorenzo Bernini,
1640-41 CE

Napoleon Crossing the Alps,
by Jacques-Louis David,
1801 CE

Subject:

The actual visual/physical elements that make up an artwork.

Context:

The conditions of the artwork's creation.

Content:

The intangible aspects of an artwork; the meaning behind the piece.

Bull-Leaping Fresco, 1450 BCE

Form

Sculptural

Pictoral

Readymade / Performance

Asinas, Jennifer Townley, 2015

Iconography & Symbolism

Byzantine Mosaic of Empress Theodora, San Vitale, Italy

Byzantine Mosaic of Emperor Justinian, San Vitale, Italy

Composition VIII (The Cow), Theo Van Doesburg, 1917 CE

The visual artist can leave the repetition of stories, fairy-tales, etc, to poets and writers.

The only way in which visual art can be developed and deployed is by revaluing and purifying the formative means. Painterly means are: colours, forms, lines and planes

-Theo van Doesburg, Principles of Neo-Plastic Art, 1919

Visual Elements & Principles of Design

• Line
• Shape
• Value
• Color
• Texture
• Space
• Time/Motion

• Unity
• Variety
• Emphasis
• Focal Point
• Balance
• Rhythm
• Scale
• Proportion

Visual Elements

Principles of Design

• Line
• Shape
• Value
• Color
• Texture
• Space
• Time/Motion

• Unity
• Variety
• Emphasis
• Focal Point
• Balance
• Rhythm
• Scale
• Proportion

Visual Elements

Principles of Design

• Line
• Shape
• Value
• Color
• Texture
• Space
• Time/Motion

• Unity
• Variety
• Emphasis
• Focal Point
• Balance
• Rhythm
• Scale
• Proportion

Visual Elements

Principles of Design

Style

Representative

Non-Representative

Realism

Abstraction

Expressionism

Styles & How They Relate

Naturalism

Realism

Naturalism

Abstraction

Non-Representational

Expressionism

Line & Shape

• Lines

  • Types, Function, Effect

• Shapes

  • As they relate to Lines

  • Mass, Form, Volume, etc.

Topics to Cover:

Lines

Untitled, Banksy, 2007 CE

Whaam!, Roy Lichtenstein, 1963 CE

Hackney Rabbit, Roa, 2010 CE

Shapes

Cloud Gate, Anish Kapoor, 2004 CE

Cube XIX, David Smith, 1964CE

Open Form

Closed Form

Open Form

Closed Form

Large Bathers, Paul Cézanne , 1898 CE

Raft of the Medusa, Théodore Géricault, 1819 CE

Color

• Color Theory

• Light & Pigment

• Psychology of Color

Topics to Cover:

Light & Pigment

Electromagnetic Spectrum

Electromagnetic Spectrum & the Eye

Pigment / Subtractive  Color

Light / Additive Color

Primary Colors

Subtractive Color

Subtractive Primary Colors

Additive Color

The Mystery of Purple

Color Theory

Exploring Vision Using Color Theory

Psychology of Color

Texture & Pattern

• Actual Texture

• Visual Texture

• Subversive Texture

• The Effects of Patterns

Topics to Cover:

Types of Texture

L'Homme au doigt (Pointing Man)
by Giacometti, 1947 CE

Woman Figurine
24,000 - 22,000 BCE

Wheat Fields with Crows
by Vincent van Gogh, 1890 CE

The Sower
by Vincent van Gogh, 1888 CE

Morisse
by Lynda Benglis

1985-1987 CE

Eridanus
by Lynda Benglis

1984 CE

A work from the Illusion Museum Prague

Object (Le Déjeuner en fourrure)
[a.k.a "Breakfast in Fur"]

by Méret Oppenheim, 1936 CE

Doormat II

by Mona Hatoum, 2000-2001 CE

Patterns

Islamic Geometric Patterns

Movement

• Implied Motion

• Illusionistic Motion

• Stroboscopic Motion

• Actual Movement

Topics to Cover:

Implied Motion

Apollo and Daphne, Bernini, 1622-1625 CE

Dynamism of a Dog on a Leash, Giacomo Balla, 1912 CE

Unique Forms of Continuity in Space, Umberto Boccioni, 1913 CE

Illusionistic Motion

For the Guggenheim, Jenny Holzer, 2008 CE

Example of Illusory Motion via an LED Sign

Close-up of the "Wagon Wheel Effect"

Optical Illusion through Color and Composition

Stroboscopic
Motion

Example of a Zoetrope and its mechanics

Flipbook illustrating stroboscopic motion

Colibri, Juan Fontanive, 2011 CE

One of the First Public Commercial Films

The Invention of Movies

Actual Motion

The Artist is Present, Marina Abramović, 2010 CE

Marina Abramovic on the Body as Medium

Shindahiku
by Anthony Howe
2017 CE

About Face III
by Anthony Howe
2017 CE

Mums the Word
by Anthony Howe, 2020 CE

Kinetic sculptures by Anthony Howe

Composition

• Steelyard
• Balanced Scales
• Circular
• S-shaped
• Triangle
• Cross
• Radiating Lines
• Rectangular
• Suspended Steelyard
• Three Spot
• Grouped Mass
• Diagonal
• Tunnel
• Silhouette
• Pattern

Edgar Payne's
15 Compositional Types

Steelyard

Balanced Scales

Circular

S-shaped

Triangle

Cross

Diagonal

Tunnel

Pattern

Dynamic Symmetry

The Embarkation for Cythera by Jean-Antoine Watteau

Ghent, Evening by Albert Baertsoen

Scale & Proportion

Basics of Proportion

Content Analysis

Form & Style

Content Analysis

Context & Iconography

Content Analysis

Feminism & Gender Studies