Art Appreciation - Formal Analysis of an artwork

1.10 Engaging with Form and Content The tools of formal analysis are the starting point for understanding any work of art; they will help you realize how it was made. When you see an artwork, take a long look and use the elements and principles of art as your guide. The other methods of analysis discussed in this chapter can help you to understand why an artwork was made, and what its message is.

You can take one mode of analysis at a time, or combine them for a deeper understanding of an artwork. Stylistic analysis can be used to tie an artwork to a specific time, place, or artist. Iconographic analysis explores the meaning of symbols in an artwork. Contextual analysis looks for the messages that the artwork would have conveyed to its contemporary audience, and at the religious and historical environment it was made in as well as considering biographical details about the artist. Feminist and gender studies analyses and critiques take into account the gender of the artist, the artwork’s subject, and its viewers. Critical race theory reflects on the biography and life experience of the artist, what meaning the artist intends us to understand, and contextual cultural practices related to racial identity. Psychological analysis considers the artist’s state of mind. A number of these methods will involve further research: using primary and/or secondary sources to develop your interpretation of an artwork.

Artists often study and copy the work of other artists, and often they go on to create imitations or reimagined versions in their own individual style. We look at how Pablo Picasso took inspiration from Diego Velázquez’s Las Meninas (1.10.12a), three hundred years after the artwork was made. We then conduct a combined analysis of Las Meninas and Clive King's “Chaos Machine,” a contemporary work, (1.10.14), and explore how multiple approaches can be used to understand an artwork, regardless of its age.

Using a variety of methods of analysis, you can endlessly explore both the minds of great artists and the furthest reaches of your own!

TOPICS COVERED IN THIS CHAPTER:

• FORMAL ANALYSIS • STYLISTIC ANALYSIS • ICONOGRAPHIC ANALYSIS • CONTEXTUAL ANALYSIS • ANALYSIS, CRITIQUE, AND INTERPRETATION • COMBINED ANALYSIS IN HISTORICAL AND CONTEMPORARY ART