Equestrian statue of Marcus Aurelius
Representational
Recognizable as a man on a horse
Artist tries to create realistic movement and expressions
José de Rivera, Infinity
Non-objective
Unrecognizable subject matter
Subjective: individual viewer creates his or her own interpretation
Allan Houser, Reverie
Representational
Can identify two faces
Size of faces and positioning of forms suggest mother and child
Abstraction
To emphasize, distort or simplify forms
The degree to which an artwork is less representational and moves toward non-objective
Audrey Flack, Marilyn Monroe
Representational:
Marilyn Monroe
Still life objects
Symbols of vanitas (reminders of mortality):
Time: Calendar, watch, hourglass
Vanity: Cosmetics, mirror, jewelry, perfume
Death and decay: Candle, fruit, flowers
Wealth and fame: Marilyn, necklace
Individual meaning:
Our mortality
Photograph of artist and her brother
Eva Hesse, Hang-Up
Representational
Empty frame
Materials are wood, cloth, steel tube, and cord
Biographical analysis
Title may relate to issue (hang-up) artist has not resolved:
Born a Jew in Nazi Germany
Mother’s suicide
Divorced
The artist herself did not claim these associations
Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres, Grande Odalisque
Feminist analysis
Objectified subject (nude woman in a harem)
Male audience/viewer
Pose is sensual and submissive
Leni Riefenstahl, still from Triumph of the Will
Contextual analysis
Film made for Hitler of his speech in Nuremberg in 1934
Film as propaganda for Nazi regime
Edward Hopper, Nighthawks
Psychological analysis
Made during America’s entry into World War II
Emotion conveyed through figures and setting
Diego de Silva y Velázquez, Las Meninas
Combining modes of analysis
Formal analysis-Multiple focal points discovered:
Princess Margarita
King and Queen
Velázquez painting
Nieto in doorway
Contextual analysis
Identification of members of the court in scene
Biographical analysis
Artist’s desire to be knighted
Artist’s relationship with King Philip IV
Iconographical analysis
Cross on Velázquez
Velázquez used Las Meninas to show his importance as a painter and his intimacy with the royal family
Picasso, Las Meninas
Thomas Struth, Museo del Prado 7
Artist is studying the act of looking
Discuss whether the students are viewers or are subjects of an artwork
Consider the experience of looking at this photograph while it hung next to Las Meninas in the Prado