You may notice that there is not an art piece for this post. I thought that it would be fun and interesting to share every so often about different ways we can approach art. I have tried to do this already by putting different questions in each post that help us to start thinking about the art piece. In art history there are specific methods in approaching art. While this may seem formal, it does not have to be in practice! It gives us different frames of seeing the art and how we can understand it. These different approaches allow us to go deeper into the piece in front us and give us language to start talking about art.
The first method that I would like to touch on is formal analysis. This is the first type of analysis that most art history classes start with because it is usually the easiest way into the art. We often want to jump to meaning of the painting or what it depicts, but formal analysis takes it back to the very beginning. This can feel foreign to us but makes us see the art piece as a whole instead of the individual pieces or meaning. We can become more aware of the quality of the art and what goes into art that is true, good and beautiful. Our formal analysis of the painting can give us insight on what the artist was trying to accomplish and how they created such a piece. We can also learn what about certain art we like and more easily identify, understand and explain what it is that we enjoy.
Formal analysis uses the visual qualities of the art's style, composition, material, shape, line, color, and more in order to describe and explore the art piece. To understand what these qualities are, I thought I would give the questions that I would ask to go with each.
Composition
-What is the perspective of the art piece?
-Is there movement or does it look still?
-Is it flat or three dimensional? How was this feeling created?
-Are there figures in the piece? How are they arranged? Where are they looking?
-Where does your eye go first when you see this piece? What do you notice first?
-Where is the light coming from in this piece?
Material
-What was used to make this piece?
-Does it look like there is texture to the piece? Is it rough, smooth, something else?
Line
-What is the weight of the lines in the piece?
-Are the lines heavy or light? Are the lines obvious or does everything meld together?
-Can you see the brushstrokes or are the unknown?
-Is there an underlying pattern or rhythm to the lines?
Size/Scale
-What is the size? Miniature, Oversize, Human scale?
-Are the figures to scale with their surroundings and each other?
-Is there unity of the figures or is it broken up and choppy?
Color
-What colors are used in this piece?
-Are the colors warm, cool, neutral?
-Are there several colors and many combinations or only a few colors?
-Is there use of light/shadow in this piece?
These may seem like trivial things to talk about and ask, but all of these questions could be asked about any art piece you interact with. Being attentive to what is in front of us and notice these details helps us to spend time with the piece of art. This can lead us to have a solid knowledge of the art piece that will draw us deeper into asking the who, what, where, when, why and how questions that we are so good at asking! To illustrate this, I am using 'Judith Beheading Holofernes' by Artemisia Gentileschi with my personal answers to these questions.
Judith Beheading Holofernes, Artemisia Gentileschi, 1620-21. Uffizi Gallery, Florence, Italy.
Composition
-Are there figures in the piece? How are they arranged? Where are they looking? There are three figures in this piece. There is a man laying on the bed as he is being beheaded. He is reaching upwards towards the two women and looks incredibly distressed. One woman is holding his hair and cutting his neck with the sword. The other woman is assisting her by holding the man down. Both women look quite determined and focused on their task. There is no hesitation or disgust, only focus on executing their task. By the title we know that the man is Holofernes and the woman with the sword is Judith. They are arranged in a triangular layout that makes it the focal point of the piece. The two women are looking at the man as they behead him. The man is looking off into the distance in pain and horror as he dies.
-What is the perspective of the art piece? The perspective of this piece is straight on, looking at the scene as if we are watching it happen.
-Is there movement or does it look still? There is a great deal of movement in this piece. You can see it by how all their body's are contorting, in the middle of motion. You can tell that there is motion by knowing exactly how their body's were right before and right after this action.
-Is it flat or three dimensional? How was this feeling created? It is a very three dimensional piece. It is created by the bed that Holofernes is laying on as it looks very real. The women are also set further back into the piece and there is darkness behind them. Holofernes legs also are going back and you do not see all of them which creates dimension.
-Where does your eye go first when you see this piece? What do you notice first? My eyes first go to Holofernes and more specifically the sword going through his neck. There is blood squirting out and it is very provocative. Then my eyes go up to Judith, with her sleeves rolled up and I see that she looks quite determined. Both women look quite strong and powerful in this piece, even though this man is larger than them both.
-Where is the light coming from in this piece? The light source is unknown in this piece. They seem to be lit up almost from the bottom left corner, by how the shadows fall.
Material
-What was used to make this piece? The Uffizi Gallery site says that it is an oil painting. This makes sense by how realistic it looks and the style of the time.
-Does it look like there is texture to the piece? Is it rough, smooth, something else? The fabrics in the painting look very realistic and like they have texture to them. It is a very lifelike painting so their skin looks smooth but fleshy. The background looks smooth as darkness and shadows are.
Line
-Are the lines heavy or light? Are the lines obvious or does everything meld together? The lines feel light and clean as they are not easily seen. Everything melds together naturally so while it is not mottled, there is a naturalness to the piece. There is clear definition between each figure but in a way that the lines are not out of place or feel unnatural.
-Can you see the brushstrokes or are the unknown? The brushstrokes are unknown in this piece. I think it is quite realistic and it is a beautiful painting.
-Is there an underlying pattern or rhythm to the lines? There is not an obvious pattern or rhythm to the lines because they are not easily seen. The brushstrokes aid in the naturalness and realistic feeling to this piece.
Size/Scale
-What is the size? Miniature, Oversize, Human scale? The size of the painting is nearly human scale as the canvas itself it nearly 7 feet tall and a bit over 5 feet wide.
-Are the figures to scale with their surroundings and each other? The figures are to scale with their surroundings and each other which aids in the human scale and size of the piece. You can feel how Holofernes is larger than the woman and they have to use all their strength to overpower him.
-Is there unity of the figures or is it broken up and choppy? There is a unity of figures, especially with the two women. The triangular arrangement of the figures back it feel balanced as the two women are overtop of Holofernes. Their limbs are overlapping and bring unity in a very chaotic and bloody scene.
Color
-What colors are used in this piece? There is mainly primary colors used in this piece of red, blue and yellow. The other colors are off-whites and creams that make the primary colors pop. The pure black background aids in the focus on what colors there are.
-Are the colors warm, cool, neutral? I would say the colors are rich and has a warm feeling to them.
-Are there several colors and many combinations or only a few colors? What affect does this have? There are only a few colors in this piece which draws your eyes to the figures as they are clothed in these colors. With the simplicity of colors you really have to focus on what is happening in the painting, there is nothing else to look at.
-Is there use of light/shadow in this piece? There is a great deal of using light and shadow in this piece. It is a typical Baroque art piece where the darkness is almost like another figure or character in the painting. The light source is unknown and bathes the figures in light which draws our attention. The darkness and shadows do not leave anything for us to distract ourselves with.
Formal analysis can seem very foreign to us, but we use it everyday. We notice colors, lines, size, style, composition and material in nearly everything that we interact with. It is in these descriptions that we notice the little things in art and give us just another thing to ponder and draw us deeper. These questions can lead to asking things like:
-Why did the artist only use a few colors?
-What is this painting based on? How does the formal aspects of the painting help to tell this story?
-Can good paintings show bloody and violent things?
-Why do I dislike this style of art? Why do I like it?
-Why did the artist choose to paint this? Did someone pay the artist to create it?
-Where was this piece originally supposed to be shown? Where is it now?
-The artist is a woman - Artemisia Gentileschi. How does that affect how we see or understand this painting?
The questions above flourish with wisdom and knowledge when we start at the very beginning of understanding art through formal analysis. I hope that you can see that by building off the basics the Lord will bring you to deeper questions about the true, good and beautiful.
Let us pray -
Lord, you are the Divine Artist the created the entire universe in beauty, order, simplicity and complexity. Please show us how you are in the minor details of everything in our life whether it be in the colors of the sunset or the painting in front of us, the material of the sculpture or the clothes in which we wear. None of your universe was created without thought and intention. Thank you for your thought and love in created everything in order that we may experience your glory and magnificence. May I see myself as a beautiful, intent filled creature of yours.
Amen.
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