Chapter 2Visual Communication

• Subject matter - What the artist is conveying

• Media - The tools and materials the artist used

• Craftsmanship - The ability to make objects attractive

• Design - The grammar, or structure, of visual language

The artist has used the medium of a fabric quilt to depict a series of Biblical images.

Can you identify the subject matter of any of these scenes? Harriet Powers, Pictorial Quilt, 1898 American

Pierced and appliqued cotton embroidered with plain and metallic yarns, 69” x 105”

Chardin has used the student artist as his subject. What impression is he trying to convey about this laboring student?

Jean Baptiste Simeon Chardin, Young Student Drawing, 1738, FrenchOil on wood, 8.25” x 6.75” (detail)

2.1 Subject Matter: What Is the Art Saying?

Subject matter may be things, such as people, objects, landscapes or animals. Subject matter may also be ideas such as war, love, loneliness or joy. Some artists are concerned with purely

design aspects of creating art, such as color and proportion.

Artists’ attitudes towards subject matter has changed greatly over the course of history and

civilization.

Narrative SubjectsIn narrative paintings the artist is telling a story. Within this large painting, artist Pieter Brueghel included numerous small scenes of peasant life that form a larger

story of life in that time and society.Pieter Brueghel, Peasant Wedding, 1566, Netherlandish. Oil on panel, 44” x 63”

Durer has chosen a close-up view of plants as subject matter. There is no narrative “story” being told in this highly detailed image of nature.

Albrecht Durer, The Great Piece of Turf, 1503, German. Watercolor on paper, 16 x 12”

Religious SubjectsAny religious figure from any religion in the world can be the subject of a work of

art. The Mayan maize god pictured here held great significance for the Mayan people.

Maize God, 775 AD, Honduras. Limestone, 35 x 31”

Literary SubjectsArtists may use literary subjects, such as the Bible, or famous myths and legends

on which to base their artwork. This painting illustrates a scene from Washington Irving’s story of Rip Van Winkle, the man who fell asleep for 20 years and awakened to see his village and

himself transformed to the point where they did not recognize one another.John Quidor, The Return of Rip van Winkle, 1849, American. Oil on canvas, 40 x

50”

LandscapesLandscapes are paintings of the natural environment, a subject which has

engaged artists throughout he centuries. Here the Chinese artist Hsia Kuei used ink on silk to show a misty view of a river and mountain, using a

minimum amount of detail to evoke a particular mood.

Hsia Kuei, Views from a Thatched Hut, 1230, Chinese. Ink on silk, 11” tall

CityscapesViews of urban environments, including streets, buildings and activities taking place there are called cityscapes. The French artist Corot painted

this view of the Italian city of Venice in 1834. He made preparatory sketches and notations before painting this in his studio.

Jean-Baptiste Corot, View of Venice, 1834, French. Oil on canvas, 18 x 27”

The Human FigureArtists have used the

human figure as subject matter for many reasons over the centuries. The

ancient Greeks considered the human figure to be

the ideal of beauty, and it was perfectly acceptable to display well-toned and proportioned nudes to be admired by all viewers.

The human figure is a complex form that

changes dramatically with the slightest shift in

weight, or twist in posture. It is also capable of a tremendous range of

expression and emotion.

Myron, Discus Thrower, Roman marble copy after

Greek bronze, 450 BC, life-size

European society has sometimes considered nudity inappropriate for public display in artwork. However, during the period known as the Renaissance

the human nude was celebrated; artists were fascinated by a rediscovery of ancient Greek traditions and ideals, including the

study and portrayal of the human figure.Peter Paul Rubens, Judgement of Paris, 1629, Flemish. Oil on panel, 57 x 77”

PortraitsPortraits come in a variety of sizes and

shapes, but have one thing in common—they are representations of

people. Typically, a portrait shows the face of

a specific person, regardless of whether or

not the entire body is also depicted.

The pose may vary, as well as any particular

action the person may be engaged in.

Hans Holbein, one of the world’s great portrait

painters, painted England’s Prince Edward VI for the boy’s father,

King Henry VIII, in 1538. Oil paint on panel, 22 x

17”

Self-PortraitsMany artists make

pictures of themselves, called

self-portraits. Frances Benjamin Johnston, depicted in her 1895 self-

portrait photograph, shows

herself as an independent and fearless woman.

Historical SubjectsImportant historical events have long been memorialized by artists. In

1939, African-American artist Hale Woodruff painted a series of murals at Talladega College in Georgia. These images tell the story of the 1839 revolt by Africans imprisoned on the Portuguese slave ship Amistad. Following the slave revolt the ship landed in Connecticut, where the

Africans were acquitted, freed, and allowed to return to their homeland.Oil on canvas, 12 x 40,” 1840

Genre SubjectsGenre painting refers to images of normal, everyday activities of ordinary people. A king and queen posing on the throne is not a genre subject. Here, French artist Edgar Degas’ painting of laundry workers shows two woman engaged in tedious

labor. Oil on canvas, 1876, 26 x 32”

Social CommentAn artist with strong political views may want to use artwork as a vehicle for

expressing these ideas. Social comment might criticize government leaders, war, or the structure of society. Fernando Botero created this unflattering portrait of the

Colombian presidential family in 1967. Oil on canvas, 80 x 77”

Still LifeStill life refers to images of inanimate objects — things that are not alive and

cannot move. Bottles, bowls, fruit, flowers and cloth often appear in these works. Paul Cezanne was a French artist who created this oil painting in 1905; it was one

of many still life paintings he made. 32 x 39”

AnimalsArtists are often intrigued

by animals. Nearly all cultures have portrayed birds and mammals with

great skill, both in realistic and stylized versions. This Alpaca from the early Inca

civilization is made of soldered sheet silver. The artist shows the fine long

hair of this wool-producing animal.

Undated, 9.5” tall

ExpressionWhile some artists

paint only what they see with their eyes, others, like El Greco, include

their inner feelings about the subject. When personal and emotional feelings

are added to a work, it is an expressionist

artwork. This oil painting of the Spanish city of Toledo seems

mysterious, scary and brooding. 47 x

42 “ 1610

AbstractionAbstraction is the simplification of subject matter into basic, often geometric

shapes. Pablo Picasso makes the simplified shapes themselves the subject of his 1928 oil painting. He depicts a table as a simplified shape. The white oval on the

right might represent a sculpture in his studio. The two triangles in the center are a container, and pictures hang on the back wall. The artist and his easel are on

the left; he has three eyes! 59 x 91”

Nonobjective PaintingIn the twentieth

century, many artist created works which did not refer to any objects in the real world; their fully

abstract works were only composed of

color, shape and line. American artist

Jackson Pollack’s 1947 oil painting, Full

Fathom Five, is 51 x 30.”