Author: Diana vanderSon

Art Investigation Project
Session 5, Monday 23rd November.

To be completed and saved then printed Tuesday 24th November for handing in.

Our themes for this semester have been portraits and still life. If you have done what I have asked, your visual diary should have not only examples of these but also evidence of the work you have done and reflective statements about other peoples’ works that you have collected. If you have not done this it is not too late to catch up in your own time and get your visual diary up to scratch for assessment.
On the following page, you will see an example of how to analyse an artwork. It looks at the art elements and how they apply to the piece you are viewing with a thorough explanation. It is the combination of these elements that contributes to the aesthetics of a piece of work. Not every artwork has all elements. Many artworks have the elements in combination and they work with or against one another to evoke a response from the viewer.
Then complete the other pages, save and ensure that you have done all the other work from this semester in your visual diary!
Hint: Write like you are trying to convince someone how wonderful the artwork is so they will buy it.

In the space below, list the elements of art. Include a reference as to the web pages you got the information from.

Sample Analysis

Line: Lines in the sky are curved, surging, rolling, energetic, dynamic, powerful, strong, painterly.

Point: The stars exploding stars are points in the sky.

Shape: Most shapes are organic, curved; shapes from nature. The shapes of houses are not really geometric. It is as if they blend into the landscape.

Movement: In the sky there is an energetic movement from left to right, through the arabesques in the sky. There is a vigorous, nearly-vertical movement up through the cypress tree. A second vertical in the church spire. The hills echo the sky with an undulating movement from left to right. In the village, we see a variety of small movements in the brushstrokes in rooves & bushes.

Symbolism: The cypress tree was associated with graveyards & mourning.

Colour: Blue is the main colour. Another primary colour, yellow us used for the moon and stars. In the tree, he uses a lot of blue but dark greens have been added. He has also used quite a lot of white, especially in the sky.

Balance: Balance is asymmetrical. The tree on the left is balanced by a combination of the moon, the high cliff or crest at the right hand side and the thick, rising area of white cloud above it.

The village is quiet & sleepy, oblivious to the drama that is visible in the heavens. It takes up quite a small area of the composition.

Vincent Van Gogh
The Starry Night
He was a Dutch artist.
The Style is Post Impressionism.

Vincent van Gogh. The Starry Night. 1889. Oil on canvas, 29 x 36 1/4" (73.7 x 92.1 cm).

Repetition is evident in the eleven circular shapes in the sky [moon & stars]. These vary in size and they also vary in the thickness of ‘halo’ around them. The thin church spire repeats the upward movement of the tree. The undulating hills repeat the surging arabesques in the sky.

Meaning & message. The apparently energetic painting technique suggests his excitement and joy at the scene in the night sky. It is if he is saying ‘Oh Wow!’. He seems to want us to really look at the drama of nature.

http://www.moma.com/collection/depts/paint_sculpt/blowups/paint_sculpt_003.html

In the space below, write a detailed analysis of the above artwork that uses the language of art (elements) to present information to the viewer. Include information on the media and techniques used and some information on the artist and the other types of artworks produced. Include images and references.

In the space below, write a detailed analysis of the selected artwork that uses the language of art (elements) to present information to the viewer. Include information on the media and techniques used and some information on the artist and the other types of artworks produced. Include images and references.