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LEC 1: ART CATEGORIES AND VISUAL • directional line

ELEMENTS • linear forms that lead your eyes through the
Art is: composition
• the human imagination in action = the artist's • physically present
expression of ideas and feelings • implied line
• a reflection of the world through his/her eyes at • lines of sight
a specific period in time • not physically present
• blueprint of mankind's history • similar forms our eyes link together
• an experience that occurs between the art work 2.) shapes
and the viewer • soft (emotion) vs. hard (logic) edges
3 Categories • geometric, organic (manmade), abstract.
1.) representational • static - rectilinear, stable, geometric
• based on real world forms • dynamic - feels like they are moving
• easily recognized 3.) form
• people, objects animals, and places • physical volume of a shape and the space that
• e.g. Columbus Avenue at 90th Street (1974) by Richard Estes it occupies
2.) abstract • 3D, illusion of 3D
• still based on real world forms, but distorted 4.) space
• stick figure • refers to the area within, around, above, or
• e.g. Impression Soleil Levant (1872) by Claude Monet below an object or objects
3.) non-representational • negative space - background
• not based on any real world forms but still uses • positive space - figure, form present ,
lines, colors, shapes subject/focus
• expresses an idea/emotion • negative and positive space rely on each other
• no figure made to define each other
• e.g. Orange, Red, Yellow (1961) by Mark Rothko 5.) value
Visual Elements • quality of light/dark
1.) line • contrast of value
• vertical - power • the points where the light touches are brought
• horizontal - stability forward, while the shadowed areas are pushed
• diagonal - movement, action back
• curved - organic, movement • contrast of color
• zigzag - action, chaotic • brighter/lighter seem closer or seem to float
• geometric line vs. organic above
• rectilinear vs. curvilinear • darker, more subdued colors
• contour line/outline • overlap
• describes three-dimensional boundary of a form • implies space in 2D images
• spatial boundary • location & placement
• the lower the object, the closer it is

o contrast of scale
• the larger the figure, the closer (important) they
are
• the smaller the figure, the farther they are
o point of view
• vantage point
o foreshortening
• showing a long figure from a shortened POV
• giving a sense of depth
o atmospheric perspective
• closer (more defined)
• farther (hazy/desaturated just like how our
eyesight works)
o linear perspective
• things that are parallel seem to converge when
they're far away from us
• converge at the vanishing point
6.) color
• hue - color family name e.g.yellow. blue, red
• value - lightness /darkness
• saturation - brightness, from purity of color to
desaturated gray
• tint: color + white
• shade: color + black
• primary - 3 colors that you can mix to form other
color
• secondary - direct product of primary colors
• tertiary - primary + secondary e.g. blue, violet
• complementary - opposite sides of the color
wheel; contrasting; highlight difference/s
• analogous - 2 to 4 colors next to each other eg.
yellow to orange; harmonius; feelings of peace
• monochromatic - variations of 1 hue
• warm - yellow, reds (exciting); emotion
• cool - blues, greens (calming); logic
o symmetrical balance
• left and right side have equal visual weight
• not necessarily mirror images
o assymetrical balance
• distinct visual weight on one side
o actual texture
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• can physically feel a difference when touching
the artwork
o visual texture
o implied sense of texture the artist creates through
the use of artistic elements (line, shading, and color)
LEC 2: APPROACHES TO ART
Appreciation is rooted in understanding.
• To understand a work of art, you must first ask
questions
Possible Approaches
• Formal
• Iconography/Symbols
• Social/Historical
• Biographical/Psychological
1.) Formal
• How was it made? (process)
• What was it made of? (materia)
• Visual elements employed? Line? Shape?
Color? How are they used, and what effects do
they have? (composition)
• What is my aesthetic response?
• e.g. Radioactive Cats by Sandy Skogland
2.) Iconography
• meaning is derived from interpretation of
symbols embedded in the work
• What is the underlying narrative?
• ...symbols present?
• Do the objects represent concepts?
• Does the arrangement have meaning?
• e.g. Catholic paintings & symbols: lamb,
crucifix, snake as devil, dove as Holy spirit
3.) Social/Historical
• social, historical, economic factors that
influence the making,buying,selling,interpreting,
historicizing of a work of art
• When/where did the artist live? (time, place,
culture)
• Values? Religion? Political convictions?
• Education? Artistic training?

• Personality?
• Relationchip w/family, friends, patrons?
• working habits'
• e.g. Bedrom at Arles by Vincent Van Gogh
LEC 3: ART GENRES
Genre: Category
• History Painting
• Portrait
• "Genre" - scenes from everyday *type of
painting
• Landscape
• Still life
Andre Felibien: Hierarchy of Genres
"Thus, the artist who does perfect landscapes is
superior to another who paints only fruit, flowers or
shells. The artist who paints living animals
deserves more respect that those who represent
only still, lifeless subjects. And as the human figure
is God's most perfect work on Earth, it is certainly
the case that the artist who imitates God by
painting human figures is more outstanding by far
than all the others." - Felibien (Quoted in Edwards,
Art and Its Histories: A Reader)
• embodies the Renaissance values on what
constitutes as the best types of art
• basis for exhibitions
1.) History Painting
• typically large-scale
• depicting a heroic/noble subjects taken from:
classical history, literature, mythology
(Greek/Roman), Bible stories, real historical
events
• human figures usually partially or entirely nude
to show artist's skill
• aim: elevate morals
2.) Portraiture
• pictures of people
• self-portraits, group, and individual (face, head
and shoulders, or full-length)
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• sculptural, portrait busts, equestrian
monuments, portraits of standing figures
• dates back to ancient civilization
• emerged as an important discipline:
Renaissance
• depict external physical features and character
of a person, usually as propaganda
3.) Genre
• As well as meaning 'type,' the word 'genre' also
refers to scenes depicting the everyday life of
people. Thus, in accordance with the 'hierarchy
of genres' outlined by Felibien in the
seventeenth century, the genre-genre suffered
a low ranking, following the history and
portraiture genres previously examined.
• focus: ordinary people, not famous.
4.) Landscape
• Traditionally, it relates to our natural, rather than
man-made environment.
• can also include scenes of human activity;
• are not always faithful representations;
• Depending on the period of their creation, it can
represent an idealised 'myth' of the land, or an
expression of national pride, or perhaps
subjective emotional and even abstracted
representations.
5.) Still Life
• devoid of human figures and more
demonstrative of artistic skill than imagination
and intellect
• considered relatively unimportant in the
hierarchy of genres
• paintings depicting a selection of everyday
objects such as fruit, flowers, utensils and
collectors' items, which may have been painted
both for the intrinsic value of their form and in
order to infuse the objects with symbolism
(often religious)
• traditionally small in scale

LEC 4: WAYS OF SEEING
Seeing
• Seeing comes before words. The child looks and
recognizes before it can speak.
• We never look at just one thing; we are always
looking at the relation between things and
ourselves.
• Establishes our place in the surrounding world;
we explain that world with words
• Knowing ≠ Seeing
Image
• All images are man made
• Sight created or reproduced
• An appearance, or a set of appearances, which
has been detached from the place and time in
which it first made its appearance and preserved
• Every image embodies a way of seeing (the
creator's)
• Shapes our perception of the world
• Made to conjure up the appearances of
something that is now absent
• Showed how something or somebody had once
looked and thus by implication how the subject
had once been seen by other people
• As a record: how X had seen Y
• A direct testimony about the world
Mystification
• The idea that visual representations can often
serve to obscure the underlying social, cultural,
and political realities, preventing viewers from
engaging w/ the true meaning of the images they
see.
• Focused on the elevating/glorifying the subject
and distancing them from viewer's everyday
reality
• Ex. Portraits of Nobility, Advertisements,
Fashion Photography, Celebrity Culture, Social
Media Persona
• The art world creates a hierarchy of value for art,
which is based on factors such as the artist's
reputation, the rarity of the work, and the price it
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fetches at auction. Reducing art to a commodity
and robs it of its true meaning and value.
Ways of Seeing
• According to John Berger, the art of seeing
involves more than just looking at an image. It
requires us to understand the context in which it
was created, the artist's intentions, and the
cultural and historical significance of the subject
matter. By doing so, we can gain a deeper
understanding of the world around us and our
place within it.
• Images are not neutral, but rather they have a
language of their own. This language is
constructed through the use of various visual
elements such as compositipn, lighting, and
color. According to Berger, this language is used
to convey specific messages and ideas that are
often tied to power and ideology.
• Our interpretations are influenced by our own
experiences, beliefs, and cultural backgrounds.
Reproduction
• When the camera reproduces a painting, it
destroys the uniqueness of its image. As a result
its meaning changes. Or, more exactly, its
meaning multiplies and fragments into many
meanings
• Isolating a detail of an image from the whole
• A film which reproduces images of a painting
leads the spectator, through the painting, to the
film-maker's own conclusions
• The words around them
• According to what one sees immediately beside
it or what comes immediately after it
• Music
• Personal experience
“Men Act and Women Appear”
• Men look at women. Women watch themselves
being looked at.
• The surveyor of woman in herself is male: the
surveyed female.
• She turns herself into an object - and most
particularly an object of vision: a sight.
Nude
• The first nudes in the tradition depicted Adam
and Eve
• Nakedness - in the eye of the beholder

• Woman is blamed, becomes subservient to Man
• Man = Agent of God = Powerful/Active
• Woman = Companion of Man = • The idealized appearances he found in the
Passive/Dependent
• Medieval nude - retelling of Genesis
• Renaissance nude - focus: the moment of
shame
• Secular - she is not naked as she is. She is
naked as the spectator sees her
o The mirror was often used as a symbol of the
vanity of woman.
o The moralizing, however, was mostly
hypocritical
• In the art-form of the European nude the painters
and spectator-owners were usually men and the
persons treated as objects, usually women.
Nude vs. Naked
According to John Berger:
• To be naked is to be oneself. Nakedness reveals
itself.
• To be nude is to be seen naked by others and
yet not recognized for oneself. A naked body has
to be seen as an object in order to become a
nude. (The sight of it as an object stimulates the
use of it as an object.) Nudity is placed in display
Oil Paintings
• Oil paintings often depict things. Things which in
reality are buyable. To have a thing painted and
put on a canvas is not unlike buying it and putting
it in your house. If you buy a painting you buy
also the look of the thing it represents.
Oil Paintings and Possession
• Oil paintings, before they are anything else, are
objects which can be bought and owned. Unique
objects. A patron cannot be surrounded by music
or poems in the same way as he is surrounded
by his pictures.
• They show him sights: sights of what he may
possess.
• rich Italian merchants looked upon painters as
agents, who allowed them to confirm their
possession of all that was beautiful and desirable
in the world
• a way of seeing the world, which was determined
by new
• attitudes to property and exchange
Oil Painting Subjects
• Objects, animals, landscapes, and merchants
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*proof of wealth
Purpose
painting were an aid, a support, to his own view
of himself. In those appearances he found the
guise of his own (or his wife's or his daughters')
nobility.
Publicity
• It is a lafiguage in itself which is always being
used to make the same general proposal
• It proposes to each of us that we transform
ourselves, or our lives, by buying something
more. This more, it proposes, will make us in
some way richer - even though we will be poorer
by having spent our money
• Persuades us of such a transformation by
showing us people who have apparently been
transformed and are, as a result, enviable. The
state of being envied is what constitutes
glamour.
• Process of manufacturing glamour
• Is about social relations, not objects
Oil Painting vs. Publicity
• Spectator-owner vs. Spectator-buyer
• Merchants vs. Consumers
• Publicity is the culture of the consumer society.
Oil painting, before it was anything else, was a
celebration of private property. As an art-form it
derived from the principle that you are what you
have.
Purpose of Publicity
• To make the spectator marginally dissatisfied
with his present way of life. Not with the way of
life of society, but with his own within it. it
suggests that if he buys what it is offering, his life
will become better. It offers him an improved
alternative to what he is.
• Plays on ANXIETY: the fear that having nothing
you will be nothing