Hello. Im maria cheremeteff of the Art Department at city college of san francisco. And i welcome you to gallery 52 where we have selected works of art to simulate a gallery or perhaps a Museum Setting so that we can experiment in analyzing works of art. This particular program is really a supplement to the telecourse art of the western world. Id like to start by asking you a question. How many of you have gone to a museum or perhaps an art gallery and stood before a work of art and felt perplexed, confused, possibly angry or perhaps even frustrated and wondered, what is it that im supposed to be looking at . Is there a particular way of analyzing a work of art . Are there special features that you should look at or pick out in works of art . The answer is, of course, yes. But ive had quite a number of students come up to me and ask, well, how should we analyze a work of art . Todays topic is descriptive criticism. And descriptive criticism involves an analysis of a work of art. It focuses on style. And style involves formal visual elements, elements that the artist had available in order to manipulate them and create a very profound or interesting statement in art. You might like it, you might hate it, but nonetheless, it does create an effect on you. What are these formal visual elements of style . Lets identify them. First of all, we need to discuss and address the concept of shape and form, mass and volume, line, composition, color, lightand those are very closely related texture and space. Well, space will figure predominantly in works addressing architecture or sculpture, but they are created in an illusionary way in painting. How are these works or how are these elements then introduced in works of art . This is what we have to look at in order to be able to describe a work effectively. Descriptive criticism, firstly, involves the ability to define these terms. And secondly, the ability to identify them in separate or individual works of art, for example, as we have distributed here on the wall or hung on the wall. Lets first look at or analyze shape and form. What do we mean by shape and form . Well, these are clearly discerned. We are talking about color, shapes which our eye clearly distinguishes, and we are able to separate individual shapes of color in the painting that we are looking at. And this is what we mean by shape and form. They can be flat. They can be threedimensional. What do we mean by mass . And what do we mean by volume . In this painting, for example, by caravaggio, the idea of volume and the idea of mass we are dealing with density, with weight. These figures are solid. These figures have a sense of corporeality. Theyre tangible. And that is achieved through the illusionary techniques that are available to the artist. This i will cover a little further in the program today. What about line . Now, line is a very important element of style. Line can be used in so very many different ways. It can be obvious. It can be actual. In other words, as in this drawing, watercolor, we can see actual lines. They vary. You have thin lines. You have very thick lines. For example, the figures here have very agitated and excited lines. These are very Straight Lines. But they create the illusion and suggest volume. They suggest shape and form. Line can also be implied, and that takes practice. It takes a considerable amount of work in order to be able to discern the implied lines because theyre not actually drawn on the painting. Theyre not included there, and theyre not easily discernible. The implied line, for example here, suggests the arrangement of the buildings in such a way that the artist is indicating depth. So we are addressing implied lines suggest perspective, the system of linear perspective and the way in which all the parallel lines appear to be converging towards a centric point in this work. When we look and continue with implied line, lets look at vermeers painting of a girl seated behind a desk. There are no actual, clearly defined lines. You can identify shape. You can identify form through the distribution of light and use of color. However, line is implied in the compositional arrangement. The figure suggests a pyramid, a triangular composition. And if you look at the painting that has been introduced in the painting, it suggests a very rectilinear direction. So lines are implied rather than really drawn. Lets go back to the caravaggio and look at color. Color is another exceptionally important feature. Now, color and light in nature really Work Together. But in painting, we can actually separate them. And we can discuss them separately or in very close relationship to one another. Color, in caravaggios work, is very important. And color is achievedyou have a very natural representation. In other words, the artist is introducing real colors, actual colors, colors of the object. It is used naturally. And he is introducing nature in his representation of these figures, natural flesh tones, for example, and actual color of the drapery. Now, if we go back to the vermeers work, we see that in the vermeers girl, color is complemented through use of light. They are integrally interwoven. They Work Together to create a very distinct impression. Light bounces off. Notice the metal, the shapes, the wonderful reflections in the translucent pearls. And all of these create the wonderful feeling of theyre achieved through color, but light is a very important element and a very important part. But color is used naturally. Hes observing light. There is a window thats implied. Its directly behind the girl or in front of her, and its casting a shadow. And it is illuminating the young lady. Now, color can be used, as in this case, a painting by marc of the red horses, it is used in an arbitrary way. We know horses arent red. This has nothing to do with nature. Color can be used decoratively. It can be used emotionally to suggest a certain emotional mood, evoke a mood on the part of the viewer. Or color can also be used in a very arbitrary way whereby the artist is simply going and moving away from nature. And so you can see this in the very, very decorative and exciting way in which the artist is using reds and pinks and represents the color almost represents the horses in this nonrepresentational way. Color, texture and light is almost the subject of this painting by makovsky, the russian bride. And in this work, again, light glistens. You have a clearly indicated light source, a window. But there is an implied light source which is not included in the painting, but we understand it by the reflections that glitter across the entire painting. Look at the little boy, for example. Now, through the use of light and the use of color, we have a sense and feeling for texture. And so you can see the textural differentiation. For example, the fur, the wonderful satiny quality, the beautiful pearls that decorate the kokoshnik or the very decorative native type of costume or headgear that was worn in the 17thcentury russia. Now that i have discussed or presented the individual elements of style and i have tried to focus on one particular aspect of style, one particular element in each of these works, id like to focus on four works. Id like to go back to and start with caravaggio. I would like to analyze caravaggio and incorporate or actually inspect and look at all of the essential and most important elements of style which worked in order to create a definite impact on the viewer. The artist caravaggio in the depiction of the deposition, the body its a religious painting. The body of christ has just been removed from the cross. You have a very theatrical and an exceptionally dramatic representation. What you see you have a group of figures. And they have all grouped together, and they are supporting the figure of christ. There is a spotlit effect. Now the manner in which the artist was able to suggest mass and volume in this work is through a very important technique which was developed and, in fact, perfected by none other than Leonardo Da Vinci during the renaissance, italian renaissance. It is the ability on the part of the artist to model a figure and suggests projection of solid form, an illusionary projection of solid form on a twodimensional surface through a contrast a very subtle one a contrast through light and shadow, if you notice the shaded areas across the body, if you notice the shaded areas in the garments, the very deep shadows and very strong spotlit effect. Well, Leonardo Da Vinci introduced a very subtle gradation in modeling the forms through the contrast of light and shadow called chiaroscuro. What caravaggio has done about a century later, in the 17th century baroque period, he has intensified this effect and created a dramatic effect spotlighting and creating very drastic sharp changes between the very deep somber tones in the background. You cannot even discern the figures in the background. There possibly arent any. But the very deep vacuous space in the distance suggests depth. The figures really project out and move toward this. And you have the most important figure, the figure of christ, is illuminated with a sharp contrast, a spotlight. Now, what is also interesting is that this lit effect spreads across and is used compositionally in this painting and works with the uplifted hands, with the face. Then you noticed the same thing that its picked up in the hand of the outstretched female figure, the figure of christs mother. Also, notice the stone. So light is very, very important in this work. The composition is very dynamic. The composition here, the structure and this you could say, implied line. Implied line is suggested through sharp, intercepting diagonals, the Diagonal Movement of the bodies. There isnt a Straight Line in this painting. And the figures are brought very close to the foreground. In fact this painting should be hanged a little bit higher because you should be looking and inspecting the work, analyzing it from a different vantage point. Vantage point maybeing your position, you, the viewer, my position as a viewer in perceiving the work of art. So you have the figures brought very close to the foreground and there is a very close theres almost an intimate relationship between the space represented in the work and the actual space which is occupied by the viewers. In the drawing or watercolor, its both, you see the buildings. Now the buildings are solid. There is a definite sense of contained volume. Theres mass. And this is achieved purely through lines, so the mostobviously color is not a very significant part of this work. It is primarily focused on line. But there is a system, the implied line that i had originally introduced, the idea of composition. But also line is used to suggest depth and you have a system which is called the linear perspective. And linear perspective is the buildings are drawn according to this very specific and very rigid system which produces a very clear indication of recession into depth. In the vermeers girl, everything and the artist is vermeer, and the young girl writing every part of this painting, the composition itself is organized. All of the separate elements in this painting are coordinated in such a way that they are organized around the triangle, the pyramid, their geometric shapes. Theres a geometric order and structure to this particular work. Ive been already discussed the pyramid, the idea of the rectangle represented or indicated in the painting. And you notice the positioning of the chair, their hard edges, their straight edges. The figure is brought very close to the foreground. Shes looking at us. And theres a wonderful immediacy. Theres a wonderful relationship that is struck between the one depicted and those perceiving it or appreciating this work of art. I had already mentioned the idea of color, the idea of light, light glistening and bouncing across, because this particular artist was interested in the camera. He was interestedin fact, he experimented and contributed substantially towards the development of what is called the camera obscura, a device which was used in order to project natural images through through lenses and mirrors onto the wall and then the artist would paint that image. So you are truly recording what you are actually seeing in nature. And to finish this program, id like to focus on the painting by makovsky called the russian bride. In this work, its all about texture. It is very naturalistic. It discusses and it describes its a descriptive work just as the vermeer girl had been a descriptive work. It describes the world around these figures. It pays particular attention to the very small, minute details of jewelry, for example, the carpet, the lovely ceiling, the wonderful woodcarving which reflect folk art in russia in the 19th century. This is a young bride. She doesnt look very happy. Some suggest perhaps this is her lover or the one she really loves and she is marrying someone else. But this is a wonderful its a visual display of textures, and texture is affected by light. And the various participants here, you have a very clear indication of depth and the rug helps move your eye into the picture. The light also, the way it moves and comes in from the window, and the suggested or implied window, also filters and flickers through the painting and revealing or defining the figure through volume. The brushstroke is very impressionistic. There are very, very few, there are no, in fact, clearly cut linear edges. You have a very emotional and very impressionistic brushstroke. Look at the hair, for example. Theres a wonderful, almost smokelike film or screen thats developed. You can see through her hair. In fact, through this section of the hair, you could pull and see the colors of the very elaborate garment, details in the wood area, also the details in the cabinets, there was a particular interest at that time, in the 19th century in recording what they considered to be lost art or the arts and crafts of the wooden tradition or woodworking tradition in russia at that time. So it brings in very important historical elements cabinets which date to the 18th century, slippers which date to the 17th century. So its a very significant work in terms of history as well. But i think, what i have tried to accomplish with this or in this program is to demonstrate that once we understand what the individual elements are all about, once we are able to define them, we know them, we define them, and then to be able to selectively identify them in individual works of art, we can only then embark on the most interesting aspect of art analysis and that is interpretation of a work of art. In other words, how has the artist been able to successfully manipulate these elements in order to make a particularly profound statement or simply a particular statement which is characteristic of the time and period . This work is clearly very 19th century. This work is clearly very 17th century. The work of caravaggio is distinctively baroque, the one that we have on the extreme righthand side. But that will be the topic for next session. But before i end, i want to mention another element which is very important in sculpture. Sculpture is about space. In paintings, we talk about elements in art but we discuss the illusion, how you can achieve this effect through illusionary methods. But in sculpture, space is part of the work. And so, especially in this modern piece where you have very organic forms, its not only the solid quality of the sculptural piece, but its how space interacts with it. Not only that it occupies space and it confronts space, but it absorbs space. It integrates it and uses it through the hollowedout spaces. And we can actually then use the term positive space against negative space, and space defines. It is an active, almost physical entity in this particular work of art. Therefore, when you are given the task of analyzing a work of art, perhaps writing about it, if you are able then to carefully walk around and separate the individual elements and to identify them very clearly in your mind, that is the beginning of any art criticism, of any analysis of a work of art. And hopefully next time, this program could be continued to include the most exciting part of art analysis and that is interpretation of a work of art. Thank you very much and see you soon. [music] the eye, which is the window of the soul,