content, iconography, style and context to describe and analyze an artwork.

Formal Analysis of an Artwork The formal analysis paper uses form, content, iconography, style and context to describe and analyze an artwork. Form describes all of the physical attributes of an artwork including the work’s size and medium, the techniques the artist has employed and the visual composition and design implemented. Content refers to the narrative aspects of the work, such as the message or story a work contains. Iconography involves the identification and description of the symbols in an artwork. Style describes the sum of identifiable traits and aspects in an artwork such as choice of subject matter, brushwork or use of color. Context explores the web of relationships that connect a work to the surrounding culture. All of these aspects of an artwork typically complement each other in communicating the artist’s intent. Note that it is likely that you will place more emphasis on some aspects depending on the artwork. Students will analyze a chosen work using the structure of the formal analysis paper. Be sure to choose a work with ample information on many aspects of the work: form, content, iconography, context. Directions Word count requirement: 450 Students will upload a rough draft for instructor review, then revise and submit a final version. Provide 2 sources. Examples of successful essays are found under: content/writing about art. Essay structure: Introductory paragraph: Introduce the work. What is the title and whom is the artist? What medium? Develop a strong thesis statement which reflects the main points of the paper. Description: Briefly describe the work. Assume the reader has not seen the piece. Body: In the main body of the essay develop your researched ideas and analyze the work. Support your thesis. Elaborate. Conclusion:Finally, end the essay by reinforcing the main arguments of the thesis.

SUCCESSFUL ESSAYS BELLOW :

The Last Supper by Jacopo Tintoretto

The painting The Last Supper by Jacopo Tintoretto, an Italian Renaissance artist, was made 1592-1594. (Wikipedia) It is currently housed in San Giorgio Maggiore in Venice. The Last Supper is an incredibly involved work of art. It

displays so many human elements yet there is an incredible sense of the supernatural that is present also. The Last Supper is oil on canvas painting and is 12' x 18' 8. Its lines draw the eye from the bottom left corner where the dining table begins to the center where Christ appears to be feeding one of His disciples and. Everything in the work, even the figures that are not facing Christ, suggests that He is the focal point. The halo of light that is present around His head draws all attention to Him. Although there is much activity in the room, the eye may scan the room for observation, but is ultimately directed back to Christ. The use of light to draw us to this figure is typical of the latter years of the Renaissance period and the beginning of the Baroque Period in art. Its theatrical qualities, such as the postures and movements of the workers, bring us to the edge of Renaissance art then pour right over into the Baroque era. The darkness that is present in most of the painting is representative of the ignorance and sinfulness of mankind. The only lights present are the halo around Jesus’s head and the chandelier that is present in the top left portion of the painting. Christ is the dominant figure in the work. In the reflections on the persons and objects in the painting, all of the light is on the Christ side of them and the opposite is considerably darker. Light is both an artistic term and a Biblical description of Jesus Christ. In John 8:12 Jesus says, “I am the light of the world.” (The Bible) The individuals that are presumed to be the disciples are seen with a glimmer of light around their heads. This suggests that they either have an understanding that they are in the presence of the son of God or they are by choice reflecting His light. There is one man kneeling near the far end of the table that does not appear to have the “light” that is present in the other disciples. It is assumed that this is Judas. The lack of understanding or absence of light hints that he does not have the same understanding that the others may have, or he has chosen not to be a reflection of the Light. The angels in the top portion of the painting are focused on Christ. This amplifies the message that the scene before them in intense. Tintoretto has created a fantastic balance between the simplicity and calm of the Renaissance and the intricate emotional experience of Baroque art. The use of light and dark easily identify the emphasis that is placed on the actions of Christ. The use of lines make it simple to spot the most important part of the story that is being told is involving Jesus. In conclusion, The Last Supper is a painting dense with emotion, and theatrical expressions and postures. Tintoretto’s use of the Renaissance colors and calm coupled with the emotion from Baroque makes this a beautifully complex work of art.

The Persistence of Memory by Salvador Dali

The Persistence of Memory, often referred to as Melting Clocks, painted by Surrealist Salvador Dali is a disquieting and haunting surrealist masterpiece that represents a clash of two different sides: real and imaginary. Salvador Dali was an outrageous and eccentric personality known for his weird and outlandish subject matter. Most of his works showed a sort of dream sequence in which he often draws hallucinatory characters. A well-read student of Sigmund Freud, Dali considered dreams and imaginations as central rather than marginal to human thought. Although he embraced the surrealist theory of automatism, he transformed it into what he called critical paranoia. He was able to stimulate a paranoid state without the use of drugs, and upon his return he would paint what he saw and envisioned therein. The concept of dream is integral in understanding surrealism and essential in finding meaning of its work. In Persistence of Memory, Salvador Dali evokes strong emotions from a desert setting with minimal objects. Dali uses quite mild colors to reveal his ideas. The blue and gray colors suggest the atmosphere of a dream or a hallucination. The cliffs in the background are depicted in bright yellow and gray colors, which make them stand out. Remarkably, the cliffs are depicted in a very realistic manner, which contributes greatly to the idea of dreaming, as people see realistic images when dreaming. Dali depicts a dream world where commonplace objects are juxtaposed, deformed, or otherwise metamorphosed in a bizarre and irrational fashion. The emphasis of this piece are the four melting watches scattered among the barren desolate landscape. In the foreground is a sandy beach with a dark middle ground like it’s in shadow. The beach stretches toward the background reaching the ocean that meets the horizon line. The sky above the horizon is featureless, no cloud, sun, or birds. A jagged rocky cliff extends down into the water. Along with dark, dull colors of the background, this sets a sad tone for the painting. At the center is a large, strange animal-like creature lying in the sand, looking somewhat pathetic and lifeless with one of the four melting watches draped over it. May historians claim that this creature actually has the face of Dali himself and its long eyelashes seem disturbingly insect-like. Perhaps this is how he pictured himself, somewhat peaceful and yet lost with no concept of time to keep him moving forward. Next to the creature is a rectangular form like a table. On the table is a lifeless tree with a hollow top and another melting watch on the end of its only branch. Along with the tree, there are two more watches on the table. One of them is gold and melted, hanging half off the table. There is a fly on the face of the half that is hanging onto the table. The fly casts a very small shadow, which is shaped more like a human. Unlike the others, the fourth watch is shut and not warped or melted. The exterior is covered with a swarm of black ants. The melting watches, swarming ants, and the landscape all symbolize death and decay. Dali’s message is that we must use the time that we are given to our advantage before time runs out. Time stands still within the

dreamer’s mind, as in Freud’s timeless unconscious, so that in Dali’s arid, airless landscape the mental watches go limp and stop forever. They even melt and decompose. Although some art scholars believe that Dali’s melting clocks may symbolize Albert Einstein’s groundbreaking Theory of Relativity, this painting is often regarded as a result of Dali’s interest in psychology and his interest in the concept of “soft and hard.” The melting clocks were an idea Dali got from looking at gooey cheese. Dali is regarded as one of the most influential painters of the 20th century. His works confirm that symbols could communicate important messages to the viewers. Persistence of Memory can be regarded as an illustration of the manifesto of surrealists. The painting reveals vision of the world, his vision in himself in the world. The work also reveals his own world. The Persistence of Memory also reveals people’s disorientation which was characteristic feature of the society between the two World Wars. The Persistence of Memory fulfills major objectives of Surrealism, it makes people self-reflect. When looking at the painting, people are made to think about the meaning of their existence. Every viewer sees specific messages communicated by the surrealistic world created by Dali.

Relativity by M.C Escher

The surrounding world is infinitely interesting, yet people seem to be blinded. Though the latter may be true of some, it cannot apply to the twentieth century, Dutch, graphic design artist M.C Escher as he had a brilliant way of observing the true dichotomous beauty of mathematics intertwined with nature. Concurrently, M.C Escher shows his eccentric outlook in his 1953 lithographic print, Relativity. Moreover, Escher’s extensive use of design and geometric principles lead to masterful works of art that embody the lost mystery and wonder of life which was forcibly eviscerated throughout the horrors of the twentieth century and the rise technology. Relativity is one of Escher’s optical art prints. In said painting, Escher portrays an idyllic scene in a gravity defying house of stairs. The work is done on gray scale using crosshatching for values and depth. Likewise, due to the crosshatching and optical illusions, the drawing gives the illusion of varying perspective depending on the viewers focal point. Additionally, all the people portrayed are completely identical, faceless, and wooden-like.

Escher’s works not only show great artistic merit but also express adherence to complex mathematical principals. Relativity is a perfect example of the artists amalgamation of geometry and graphic design into a wondrous work of art. Physically, the print uses innate faults in human cognition and geometrically precise proportions to create optical illusions which classify Escher as a surrealist optical artist. The illusions in Relativity are the sensation of depth as well as the shifting focal points that arise due to the shifting gravitational wells. Moreover, the name itself, Relativity, implies ambiguity and a subjective interpretation to reality. Additionally, the work also contains iconography specific to Escher. The iconography of the print takes form in the shape of the triangular stair cases as well as the three focal points. This trinity is a recurring theme in Escher’s work, likely due to his mathematical interests, i.e. his adherence to patterns, and his following of the Roman Catholic faith which emphasizes the Holy Trinity. Furthermore, the deeper, subjective meaning of the work revolves around Escher’s life at the moment of the painting. During the time that Relativity was created, Escher was on a so-called creative fever, creating the bulk of his artistic catalog in roughly a decade. Part of the reason behind his work ethic is due to his metaphysical disillusion brought about by his extensive relocation during and after the Second World War. Escher’s work is subjective largely due to its ambiguity; the people portrayed are indistinguishable from each other and seem to be cogs in a great, bizarre system that they have no conscious understanding of. This expression of the blindness of the world again arises probably due Escher’s observations of the aftermath of World War Two and the soul devouring horrors and geopolitical disasters that reaped the metaphysical meaning from under entire nations. Technology is alongside the events of the twentieth century as the important actors responsible for shifting people’s perspectives. Though Escher never lived to see the advancement of the present day, nevertheless is Escher’s impact evident in that how his works seem to be timeless, either due to their ambiguity or their surprising mathematical predictions. Likewise, the most likely, overarching theme to Escher’s body of work is the absolute importance and necessity for each and every human being to realize the true absurdity and inexplicable qualities of the world around them.