HOW TO DO A VISUAL ANALYSIS OF AN ARTWORK
Works of art have been analyzed according to many different schemes. The following directions are not intended to be followed literally but merely to help you make a systematic analysis of the work of art you choose. Many categories will overlap, and some are obviously more important for certain works than for others. Each work of art is a unique experience and must be treated as such.
INTRODUCTION:
Give the title of the work, the name of the artist who created it, if known, the country and time period when it was created, and the museum where it is now found. Is the work a painting, a graphic, a sculpture, or a piece of architecture? What materials were used ñ tempera, acrylic, oil, stone, wood, metal, ceramic, and so on. What technique was used ñ engraving lithography, etching, low or bas-relief, casting, carving, and so on?
SUBJECT MATTER/ICONOGRAPHY:
What is represented? Is it a portrait, a genre scene, a mythological or a biblical scene? Are there symbols in the work? What is the subject matter? If you know the source of the story - for example, the illustration of an ancient myth of a biblical story -give the appropriate citation. What was the cultural context of the work? What meaning did it have for the people who created it? How is the subject matter portrayed?
FORMAL ELEMENTS:
Artists use the formal elements of line, color, value, texture, shape, and rhythm to describe form, space, plane, and mass. Space can be three dimensional, as in a sculpture or architecture, or two dimensional, as in painting. Artists may use devices like linear perspective to give the illusion of three dimensional space on a two-dimensional surface, or they may use the properties of color and line to create spatial movement on the surface plane. Plane refers to flat, two-dimensional space and generally refers to the surface of a painting. Mass, which is also known as volume, refers to three-dimensional space.
Considering the following questions will help you to analyze how the artist used the formal elements of art to create the work of art you are considering. If you are writing about a piece of sculpture, just use the questions that apply. Try to use as many as you can.
How does the artist use color? (The name of a color is hue. The value of a color is the amount of light that is reflected by it. The degree to which a pure hue is mixed with other colors is called its intensity.) Is the composition done with colors of the same intensity, or are some hues more intense than others are? Are the colors warm or cool? Which colors seem to come forward and which seem to recede? Are the colors of equal value, or does the artist use differing values (light and dark)?
How does the artist use line? Does the artist use the linear approach, which emphasizes contours and the edges of things, or a painterly approach, which builds up the forms with brush strokes of patches? Does the artist emphasize vertical and horizontal lines of diagonal lines? How do the lines of the composition relate to each other and to the entire composition? Do they point out beyond the frame, or are they all composed within it? Are they rhythmic or jarring?
How does the artist handle light? Is the line fairly even, or are there strong contrasts of light and dark? Does the light seem to come from one source or from several sources? Does the artist model the forms with light and dark?
How does the artist handle space? Are the forms organized on a flat, two-dimensional plane, or are they set within a deep space? Does the artist use linear perspective or some other device to create the illusion of space? If the work is a sculpture, are you intended to look at the work primarily from one side, or does the artist try to urge you to walk around it? If the latter, what devices are used to achieve that effect?
How does the artist organize the forms of the composition? Does the artist organize the forms around a central axis? Are the two sides symmetrical, or the artist use asymmetrical balance? How do the proportion of the forms relate to each other? Do they seem harmonious or jarring? If figures are used, does the scale of those figures seem appropriate in relation to the setting? How are the figures arranged in relation to each other? Does the organization of the forms seem to be static or dynamic? Do the forms give a sense of monumentality or stability, or are they expressive of motion and tension?
CONCLUSIONS:
What connection do you see between the subject matter and the techniques the artist has used? What mood or interpretation has the artist tried to express through the use of those techniques? How successful has the artist been in expressing that mood or interpretation?