ART APPRECIATION 1301 Simon

INTRODUCTION TERMINOLOGY

Form – the overall structure of the work, (1) the literal shape and mass of an object or figure. (2) More generally, the materials used to make a work of art, the ways in which these materials are utilized in terms of the formal elements (line, light, color, etc.), and the composition that  results.

Subject Matter – what is literally depicted. The literal, visible image in a work of art, as distinguished from its content, which includes the connotative, symbolic, and suggestive aspects of the image.

Content – what it means.  The meaning of an image beyond its overt subject matter; as opposed to form.

Composition – The organization of the formal elements in a work of art.

Representational Art – art work in which the subject matter is recognizable.  Any work of art that seeks to resemble the world of natural appearance.  Representational works that attempt to depict objects as they are in actual, visible reality are called realistic.

Abstract Art – In art, the rendering of images and objects in a stylized or simplified way, so that though they remain recognizable, their formal or expressive aspects are emphasized. The less a work resembles real things in the real world, the more abstract it is.

Nonobjective Art – Art that makes no reference to natural world and that explores the inherent expressive or aesthetic potential of the formal elements- line, shape, color- and the formal compositional principles of a given medium.  If the subject matter of the work is not recognizable, the work is said to be nonrepresentational, or nonobjective.