Jesse Bryant Wilder - Art History For Dummies

Contrast has other roles in art beyond disrupting and preserving balance. It creates interest and excitement. Consider these examples:

Artists can create contrast by offsetting wavy lines with straight lines (a winding road snaking through a grid, for example) or by juxtaposing (placing side by side) organic shapes and geometric shapes (like planting a pear inside a pyramid).

René Magritte created startling contrasts by placing a soft, curvaceous woman beside a boxy solid wall and a rock in his painting La Magie Noire, or Black Magic ; the color of the wall and the woman’s lower body are almost the same. But the wall is rough and rectangular, and the woman is soft and curvy.

That’s contrast.

Emphasis — something that stands out from the rest of the artwork — is important, too. Artists can achieve emphasis with striking colors, contrast, or the placement of a figure. Like the X that marks the spot on a map, emphasis draws the viewer’s attention to what’s unique and most important — to the treasure in the artwork.

Sometimes artists achieve emphasis by sticking something odd or striking in the middle of a painting (like a dark figure, when the other figures are well-lit) or by painting a naked woman having a picnic with men in suits (as Édouard Manet does in his famous Le Déjeuner sur l’herbe, or Luncheon on the Grass ).

Of course, art also conveys meaning. Sometimes it tells a story (visual narrative); sometimes it suggests meaning through symbolism and metaphor like a poem. At other times, meaning seems to swim inside the feeling you get from the art — kind of like it does in music when you have a vague sense of meaning, but the feeling dominates.

How do you know when an artist is telling a story? To decide whether a painting is a visual narrative, you should ask yourself three questions:

Does the artwork suggest the passage of time (as opposed to being static, like a still life)?

Does it seem to have a beginning and an end?

Does it hint at something that happens outside of the picture frame?

If the answer to any of these questions is “yes,” then the artist is probably telling a story.

How do you read these stories? To read a narrative painting, you don’t necessarily start at the left and move toward the right the way you read a book — although sometimes you do, as in the Bayeux Tapestry (see Chapter 10). Instead, you begin at the focal point (the place where the artist leads your eye). The focal point may be the beginning of the story — but it can also be the climax.

The key to reading a visual narrative is to look for relationships in the painting among people and between people and their surroundings. Is someone in love, broken-hearted, jealous, or vengeful? Is she at home in her world or alienated? Also ask yourself what happened to the person in the painting just before the moment depicted, what’s happening at that moment, and what will happen next. Look for clues, like pointing figures, facial expressions, and meaningful gestures, as in Caravaggio’s Calling of Saint Matthew (see Chapter 14). Who or what is the person in the artwork looking at? Let his or her eyes lead your eyes.

Symbolism is often a key part of visual narrative and even of portraits and still lifes. Understanding symbols helps you enter the world and situation of the painting. Without that understanding, you may miss much of an artist’s message. For example, consider these interpretations from many observers:

The meandering road in Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa (see Chapter 11) symbolizes the path of life, or as the Beatles called it, “The Long and Winding Road.”

The skull in Frans Hals’s Young Man with a Skull obviously symbolizes death.

The apple in Nicolas Poussin’s The Holy Family on the Steps (see Chapter 14) clearly suggests the Garden of Eden, even though there’s no sign of Adam and Eve or the serpent.

Chapter 3

IN THIS CHAPTER

Identifying the difference between a movement and a period

Introducing the major art movements of the 19th century

Examining art movements in the 20th century

In Chapter 1, you find out that art movements and art periods have varying time frames (periods are long, movements are short) and include the works of artists with similar concerns and outlooks. Chapter 1also presents the major art periods, which are not usually driven by conscious choice on the part of artists. Periods typically outlast movements and develop gradually due to widespread cultural or political pressures.

In this chapter, I tell you a bit more about the differences between art periods and movements and offer a tour through the sequence of movements that began in the mid-19th century. Enjoy the ride!

Distinguishing an art movement from an art period is largely a matter of scope: the duration and intention noted in Chapter 1and the number of participating artists.

An art movement is launched intentionally by a small group of artists who want to promote or provoke change. For example, members of the movement may oppose war or a particular political system. Here are some characteristics of movements:

A movement is usually associated with an art style and often an ideology. Like the women’s movement or the civil rights movement, an art movement may push for a new perspective on specific issues.

Sometimes, artists in a movement write manifestos that spell out their goals and hold movement meetings.

Typically, the artists in a movement hang out together and show their work in group exhibitions. Their art shares stylistic features and focuses on similar subjects.

An art period is often based on a parallel historical era and involves artists who paint similar subjects and typically, though not always, share a set of beliefs. For example, here are key characteristics of art made during the early Christian era:

The period is referred to as the Early Christian art period. Art historians group art of this period together because the artists lived at the same time, painted Christian subjects, and were often driven by the same spirit. Note: Early on, pagan artists were frequently hired to create Christian subject matter because, for the most part, they were the only ones with the experience and requisite skills.

The artists didn’t write manifestos or hold meetings in which they discussed ideology and stylistic guidelines. Instead, their shared time frame and beliefs gave their art a similar “Early Christian” look.