How to Analyze 

Paintings
(Sample)

Paul Cézanne, Boy in a Red Waistcoat (1888-

90)

Name of Painter:  (e.g. Paul Cezanne )

Title of the Work: (e.g. Rouen Cathedral in Full Sunlight)

Date it was painted: (e.g. 1874)

It’s more than just dating the piece — once you have the date down, you can take a look at what was
going on during that time period that would make the artist want to depict his subject the way he has.

Size :  (e.g. 84 x 63 cm)

Medium :  (e.g. oil on canvas)

Stylistic Period: (e.g. Impressionism)

Note – If your assignment or question asks you to identify the style or movement associated with the
artwork, compare the artwork’s formal elements to the stylistic characteristics of the style/or
movement. For example: “Robert Adam‟s library at Kenwood is quite classical, not just because of the
Corinthian columns and barrel vaults, but also because it is symmetrical, geometric, and carefully
balanced .”

2. Subject and Theme

 Describe the subject: (e.g. the artist Courbet meets his patron Monsieur )

  and/or  Describe the content: (e.g. the stone facade of a Gothic Cathedral)

 and/or  Explain any ideas that the painting is expressing (political, social,

personal) : (e.g.Courbet depicts himself as of equal status to his wealthy patron)

 Identify underlying themes: (e.g. self-sacrifice, loyalty to nation in David’s Brutus receiving the

Bodies of his Sons)

 Explain any  background  known about the work (using research to find out):  (e.g. the format
derives from a popular print called The Wandering Jew)

 “What’s the mood like?” In other words: what overall feeling do you get from the piece? Do the
colour choices the artist used make you feel a certain way? Does the composition give you a
mood?

3. Composition  (means the organization of objects and/or  figures within the painting)  (select only the
most relevant of these),  how does the artist piece together the different parts of the canvas? How does
the artist make your eye move around the canvas? Is there one place where your eye always ends up?
What does this movement and organization make you think about the figures or objects depicted?

 Focal Point:

 Geometrical shapes:

 Symmetry? /Asymmetry?

 Methods used to lead the eye around the work:

 Effects  created by compositional devices: (e.g. stability, order, randomness, effect of drawing
attention to particular parts of the work)

4. Space/Depth  (how is the illusion of depth created?)