Prebles' Artforms, 12th Edition - Chapter 1

What Is Art?

Music

Theater

Literature

Visual arts

Including drawing, painting, sculpture, film, architecture, and design

Communicates meaning beyond verbal exchange

Work of art

The visual expression of an idea

or experience, formed with skill,

through the use of a medium.

Medium

A particular material along with its accompanying technique.

Chosen by artist to enforce the function of the work.

Traditional or modern materials

Mixed media

Describes art created with a combination of materials

What Is Creativity?

The ability to bring forth something new that has value, Relevance, or new way of thinking

Not a novelty

Potential to influence future thought or action

Five traits that define creativity

• Associating

• Questioning

• Observing

• Networking

• Experimenting

Fiber, steel, and lightning. Height 100' with a top diameter of 100'.

Civic Space Park, Phoenix, AZ. Courtesy Janet Echelman, Inc. Photograph: Will Novak. [Fig. 1-1]

Janet Echelman.

Her Secret Is Patience. 2009.

Fiber, steel, and lightning. Height 100' with a top diameter of 100'.

•Large, distinctive public artwork in Phoenix, Arizona

•Inspired by saguaro cactus

•Artistic creation as a two-way street

Photomontage

a picture made of a combination of photographs

Trained artists

•In the past, via apprenticeships

•Today, in art schools and/or colleges and universities

•Not always necessary

Untrained artists

-Children

-"Naïve" or outsider artists

-Folk artists

Folk artists / Naïve or outsider artists

Nuestro Pueblo, distant view.

1921-1954.Mixed media.

Height 100'.Watts, California. Photograph: Duane Preble. [Fig. 1-6a]

Folk artists / Naïve or outsider artists

Sabatino "Simon" Rodia.

Nuestro Pueblo, distant view.

1921-1954.Mixed media.

•Use of cast-off materials

•Towers built without power tools, rivets, welds, or bolts

Folk artists / Naïve or outsider artists

Nuestro Pueblo, detail of enclosing wall with construction tool impressions. 1921-1954.

Mixed media. Height 100'.

Watts, California. Photograph: Duane Preble. [Fig. 1-6b]

Folk artists / Naïve or outsider artists

Sabatino "Simon" Rodia.

Nuestro Pueblo, detail of enclosing wall with construction tool impressions. 1921-1954.

Mixed media. Height 100'.

•Use of cast-off materials

•Towers built without power tools, rivets, welds, or bolts

Representational Art

Depicts the appearance of things

Figurative art

when human form is the primary subject

Subjects

Objects depicted in representational art

"Real"-looking paintings in the French trompe l'oeil style, lit.

"fool the eye"

Representational art

Oil on canvas. 7" × 8-1/2".

Honolulu Museum of Art, Gift of John Wyatt Gregg Allerton, 1964. (32111). [Fig. 1-10]

Representational art

William Harnett.

A Smoke Backstage. 1877.

Oil on canvas. 7" × 8-1/2".

•"Real"-looking paintings in the French trompe l'oeil style, lit. "fool the eye"

Representational art

Oil on canvas. 25-3/8" × 37".

Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA). Purchased Mr. and Mrs. William Preston Harrison Collection (78.7). Digital Image Museum Associates/Art Resource NY/Scala, Florence © 2013 C. Herscovici, London/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York.[Fig. 1-11]

Representational art

René Magritte.

This is not a pipe.

La Trahison des Images (Ceci N'est Pas une Pipe). 1929.

Oil on canvas. 25-3/8" × 37".

•Viewer may wonder "if it's not a pipe, what is it?"

•Answer: it is a painting.

Representational art

Sewn US currency. 24" × 33".

Courtesy of the artist. [Fig. 1-12]

Representational art

Ray Beldner.

This Is Definitely Not a Pipe. 2000.

Sewn US currency. 24" × 33".

•Complicated relationship between art and reality

Abstract art

Works that have no reference at all to natural objects

Works that depict natural objects in simplified, distorted, or exaggerated ways

May be obvious to viewer or may need a verbal clue

Common in many cultures

Abstract art

Theo van Doesburg (born C. E. M. Küpper).

Composition (The Cow) from Abstraction of a Cow. c. 1917.

Pencil on paper. 4-5/8" × 6-1/4".

Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) Purchase 227.1948.1. © 2013 Digital image, TheMuseum of Modern Art, New York/Scala, Florence. [Fig. 1-14a]

Abstract art

Theo van Doesburg (born C. E. M. Küpper).

Composition (The Cow) from Abstraction of a Cow. c. 1917.

Pencil on paper. 4-5/8" × 6-1/4".

Abstract art

Theo van Doesburg (born C. E. M. Küpper).

Composition (The Cow) from Abstraction of a Cow. c. 1917.

Pencil on paper. 4-5/8" × 6-1/4".

Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) Purchase 227.1948.6. © 2013 Digital image, TheMuseum of Modern Art, New York/Scala, Florence. [Fig. 1-14b]

Abstract art

Theo van Doesburg (born C. E. M. Küpper).

Composition (The Cow) from Abstraction of a Cow. c. 1917.

Pencil on paper. 4-5/8" × 6-1/4".

Abstract art

Theo van Doesburg (born C. E. M. Küpper).

Composition (The Cow) from Abstraction of a Cow. c. 1917.

Tempera, oil, and charcoal on paper. 15-5/8" × 22-3/4".

Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) Purchase 226.1948. © 2013 Digital image, TheMuseum of Modern Art, New York/Scala, Florence. [Fig. 1-14c]

Abstract art

Theo van Doesburg (born C. E. M. Küpper).

Composition (The Cow) from Abstraction of a Cow. c. 1917.

Tempera, oil, and charcoal on paper. 15-5/8" × 22-3/4".

Abstract art

Theo van Doesburg (born C. E. M. Küpper).

Composition VIII (The Cow) from Abstraction of a Cow. c. 1918.

Oil on canvas. 14-1/4" × 25".

Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) Purchase 225.1948. © 2013 Digital image, TheMuseum of Modern Art, New York/Scala, Florence. [Fig. 1-14d]

Abstract art

Theo van Doesburg (born C. E. M. Küpper).

Composition VIII (The Cow) from Abstraction of a Cow. c. 1918.

Oil on canvas. 14-1/4" × 25".

Abstract art

Theo van Doesburg (born C. E. M. Küpper).

Abstraction of a Cow. c. 1918.

Oil on canvas. 14-1/4" × 25".

Abstract art

Theo van Doesburg (born C. E. M. Küpper).

Abstraction of a Cow. c. 1918.

•van Doesburg's exploration of how far he could simplify a cow while still capturing its essence

Nonrepresentational art

Nonobjective or nonfigurative art

Presents visual forms with no specific references to anything outside themselves

•As in pure sound forms of music

Looking

Implies taking in what is before us in a mechanical or goal-oriented way.

Seeing

More open, receptive, and focused

"Looking" with memories, imaginations, and feelings attached

Appreciation of a form beyond function

Form

Total effect of the combined visual qualities within a work

Includes materials, color, shape, line, and design

Content

The message or meaning of a work of art

What the artist expresses to viewer

Contrasting Rodin's The Kiss and Brancusi's The Kiss

•Rodin's work representational of Western ideals

•Highly-charged moment of lovers embracing

•Brancusi's manipulation of a solid block of stone to represent lasting love

•Symbolic concept of two becoming one

Marble. 5' 11-1/4".

Musée Rodin, Paris. RMN-Grand Palais/Agence Bulloz. [Fig. 1-18]

Auguste Rodin.

The Kiss. 1886.

Marble. 5' 11-1/4".

Limestone. 23" × 13" × 10".

Photo The Philadelphia Museum of Art/Art Resource/Scala, Florence. © 2013 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York/ADAGP, Paris. [Fig. 1-19]

Constantin Brancusi.

The Kiss. 1916.

Limestone. 23" × 13" × 10".

Seeing and responding to form

•The artist is the sender of the work's message.

•The viewer must receive and experience the work.

•Learning to respond to form

•Subject matter can interfere with perception of form.

•Look at pictures upside down.

•Unfamiliar becomes fresh

Iconography

•Subjects, symbols, and motifs used in an image to convey its meaning

ex] Mother and child as Mary and baby Jesus

•Not all works contain iconography.

Iconography

The Virgin of the Carmel Saving Souls in Purgatory. Late 17th century.

Oil on canvas. 41" × 29".

Brooklyn Museum of Art, New York/The Bridgeman Art Library. [Fig. 1-21]

Iconography

Circle of Diego Quispe Tito.

The Virgin of the Carmel Saving Souls in Purgatory. Late 17th century.

Oil on canvas. 41" × 29".

•The Virgin of Carmel Saving Souls in Purgatory

•Christian iconography

•Winged figures as angels

•God holding the orb of the world

•Holy Spirit as a dove

•Mary wearing crown

•Cross signifying Christ

•Scapular garment

Iconography

Wood with traces of lacquer, pigment, and gilding. Height 52-1/2".

Japan. The Avery Brundage Collection, B60S10+ © Asian Art Museum, San Francisco. Used by permission. [Fig. 1-22]

Iconography

Amida Buddha. 12th century.

Wood with traces of lacquer, pigment, and gilding. Height 52-1/2".

•Amida Buddha

•Long earlobes - representing life as wealthy prince who wore heavy earrings

•Simple garment

•Hands folded in meditation

•Lotus flower - Symbolizes that enlightenment can come in the midst of life

Audrey Flack Wheel of Fortune Vanitas

Vanitas - life is short and death is soon

represented through many different symbols of the painting

death-skeleton, mirror, fruit

time- calendar, clock, candle

wealth - jewelry

juan de valdes leal, vanitas

similar to audrey flack, contains icongraphy with

wealth-coins

knowledge - books

skull-death

etc

martin ramirez unitiled

An artwork that embodies themes of immigrant experience and psychological complexity, characterized by its intricate lines and vibrant colors, reflecting Ramirez's emotional state and personal history.

james hampton throne of the third heaven of the nations

janitor who rented garage, used many different types of media/material to create it

made for religious purposes, a throne for jesus and his followers

180-183 pieces

symmetrical