Analysis of a painting in class fine arts. From work experience
Gaponenko Natalya Vladimirovna, head of the regional educational organization for teachers of fine arts and art and art culture in the Novoilinsky district, teacher of fine arts at MBNOU “Gymnasium No. 59”, Novokuznetsk
“Art illuminates and at the same time sanctifies human life. But understanding works of art is far from easy. You have to learn this - learn for a long time, all your life... Always, in order to understand works of art, you need to know the conditions of creativity, the goals of creativity, the personality of the artist and the era. The viewer, listener, reader must be armed with knowledge, information... And I especially want to emphasize the importance of details. Sometimes the little things allow us to penetrate into the main thing. How important it is to know why this or that thing was written or drawn!”
D.S. Likhachev
Art is one of the important factors formation of a person’s personality, the basis for the formation of a person’s attitude to the phenomena of the surrounding world, therefore the development of skills in perceiving art becomes one of the essential tasks of artistic education.
One of the goals of studying the subject “Fine Arts” is to master the artistic image, that is, the ability to understand the main thing in a work of art, to distinguish the means of expression that the artist uses to characterize this image. Runs here important task development of moral and aesthetic qualities of the individual through the perception of works of fine art.
Let's try to consider the methodology for teaching the perception and analysis of pictures
Methods of teaching the perception and analysis of paintings
The methods used to introduce painting to schoolchildren are divided into verbal, visual and practical.
Verbal methods.
1. Questions:
a) to understand the content of the picture;
b) to identify mood;
c) to identify expressive means.
In general, the questions encourage the child to peer into the picture, see its details, but not lose the holistic feeling of the work of art.
2. Conversation:
a) as an introduction to a lesson;
b) conversation based on the picture;
c) final conversation.
In general, the conversation method is aimed at developing students’ ability to express their thoughts, so that in a conversation (teacher’s story) the child can receive speech samples for this.
3. Teacher's story.
Visual:
Excursions (virtual excursion);
Examination of reproductions, albums with paintings famous artists;
Comparison (paintings by mood, means of expression).
Practical:
Carrying out written work based on the painting;
Preparation of reports, abstracts;
In fine arts lessons it is advisable to combine different methods working with works of art, focusing on one or another method, taking into account the preparedness of students
Working with a painting
A. A. Lyublinskaya believes that a child should be taught to perceive a picture, gradually leading him to an understanding of what is depicted in it. This requires recognition of individual objects (people, animals); highlighting the poses and locations of each figure in in general terms paintings; establishing connections between the main characters; highlighting details: lighting, background, people's facial expressions.
S. L. Rubinshtein and G. T. Hovsepyan, who studied the issues of perception of a picture, believe that the nature of children’s responses to its content depends on a number of factors. First of all, on the content of the picture, the proximity and accessibility of its plot, on the experience of children, on their ability to examine the drawing.
Working with a painting involves several directions:
1) Studying the basics of visual literacy.
During the lessons, students get acquainted with types of fine arts, genres, and means of expressiveness of types of art. Students are taught the skills of using art terminology: shadow, penumbra, contrast, reflex, etc. through vocabulary work, art criticism terms are introduced, and the laws of composition are studied.
2) Learning about the life and work of the artist.
Preparing students for active perception of a picture is most often carried out during a conversation. The content of the conversation usually includes information about the artist and the history of the creation of the painting. Tracing the life of an artist, it is advisable to dwell on such episodes that influenced the formation of his beliefs and gave direction to his work.
The forms of communicating information about the artist’s life and work are varied. : teacher's story, scientific film, sometimes presentations with messages are assigned to students.
3) Use of additional information.
The perception of the picture is facilitated by appealing to literary works whose themes are close to the content of the picture. The use of literary works prepares the ground for deeper perception and understanding by children painting acquaintance with the plot of the myth.
Plays a huge role in understanding the plot of the picture. historical situation in the country under study, in a specific time period, stylistic features of art.
4) Looking at the picture.
The ability to examine a picture is one of the necessary conditions for the development of perception and observation. In the process of looking at a picture, a person sees first of all what in tune with him, his thoughts and feelings. The student, looking at the picture, pays attention to what excites him, interests him, what is new and unexpected for him. At this moment, the student’s attitude to the painting is determined, his individual understanding of the artistic image is formed.
5) Analysis of the painting.
The purpose of analyzing a painting is to deepen the initial perception and help students understand the figurative language of art.
At the first stages, the analysis of the work is carried out in the process of a conversation or story from the teacher, gradually students carry out the analysis on their own. Conversation helps children see, feel and comprehend a work of art more subtly, more deeply.
Techniques for analyzing a painting
Methodology of A. Melik-Pashayev. (Source: Magazine "Art at School" No. 6, 1993. A. Melik-Pashayev "Festive Day" or "Terrible Holiday" (On the problem of understanding the author's intention)
Questions for the painting:
1.What would you call this picture?
2. Do you like the picture or not?
3.Tell about this picture so that a person who does not know it can get an idea about it.
4.What feelings and mood does this picture evoke in you?
7. Would you like to add or change anything in your answer to the first question?
8.Return to the answer to the second question. Has your assessment remained the same or has it changed? Why do you rate the picture this way?
2 . Sample Questions for Analyzing a Work of Art
Emotional level:
What impression does the work make?
What mood is the author trying to convey?
What sensations might the viewer experience?
What is the nature of the work?
How do its scale, format, horizontal, vertical or diagonal arrangement of parts, and the use of certain colors in the painting help the emotional impression of the work?
Subject level:
What (or who) is shown in the picture?
Highlight the main thing from what you saw.
Try to explain why exactly this seems important to you?
By what means does the artist highlight the main thing?
How are objects arranged in the work (subject composition)?
How are the main lines drawn in the work (linear composition)?
Story level:
Try to retell the plot of the picture..
What can the hero or heroine of a painting do (or say) if she comes to life?
Symbolic level:
Are there objects in the work that symbolize something?
Are the composition of the work and its main elements symbolic in nature: horizontal, vertical, diagonal, circle, oval, color, cube, dome, arch, vault, wall, tower, spire, gesture, pose, clothing, rhythm, timbre, etc. .?
What is the title of the work? How does it relate to its plot and symbolism?
What do you think the author of the work wanted to convey to people?
Plan for analysis of a painting. Writing is a feeling.
1. Author, title of the painting
2. Artistic style/direction (realism, impressionism, etc.)
3. Easel painting (picture) or monumental (fresco, mosaic), material (for easel painting): oil paints, gouache, etc.
4. Genre of the work of art (portrait, still life, historical, everyday, marina, mythological, landscape, etc.)
5. Picturesque plot (what is depicted). Story.
6. Means of expression (color, contrast, composition, visual center)
7. Personal impression (feelings, emotions) - a method of “immersion” in the plot of the picture.
8. Main idea the plot of the picture. What the author “wanted to say”, why he painted the picture.
9.Your name of the painting.
Examples of children's work on the perception and analysis of paintings.
The essay is a feeling based on the painting by I. E. Repin “To the Motherland. Hero of the past war"
I. E. Repin painted the painting “To the Motherland. Hero of the Past War” most likely in the post-war period, more precisely after the First World War.
Art direction, in which the picture is painted, realism. Easel painting, the artist used oil paints for his work. Genre: portrait.
Repin's painting depicts a young man who has seen a lot. He returns home to his near and dear ones, a serious, slightly sad expression is visible on his face. The eyes are full of melancholy sadness. He wanders across a field that seems endless, which remembers the shots of weapons and every person who fell on him. He walks in the knowledge that many whom he loved so much are no longer there. And only crows, like ghosts, remind us of dead friends.
Repin chose cold colors of muted tones as a means of expression; many shadows in the picture convey the volume of objects and space. The composition is static, the man himself is the visual center of the composition, his gaze directed at us attracts the viewer’s gaze.
When I look at the picture, there is sadness and the realization that life today is different from what it was before. I feel a feeling of frost throughout my body, a feeling of windless, chilly weather.
I believe that the author wanted to show what people become after going through the war. No, of course, they have not changed beyond recognition in appearance: the body, proportions have remained the same, those who are lucky do not have external injuries. But there will no longer be the same emotions or serene smile on their faces. The horrors of war that this rather young man experienced were forever imprinted on his soul.
I would call the picture “The Lone Soldier” or “The Road Home”... But where is he going? Who's waiting for him?
Conclusion: Thus, the perception of a work of art is complex mental process, which assumes the ability find out, understand what is depicted, express your thoughts correctly using professional artistic terms. But this is only a cognitive act. A necessary condition for artistic perception is emotional coloring perceived, an expression of attitude towards it. The essay - feeling allows you to see the judgments of children, which indicate the ability not only to feel the beautiful, but also to appreciate it.
QUESTIONS TO ASK WHEN ANALYZING A WORK OF PAINTING
In order to abstract from the perception of the plot and everyday life, remember that a painting is not a window into the world, but a plane on which the illusion of space can be created by pictorial means. Therefore, first analyze the basic parameters of the work:
1) What is the size of the painting (monumental, easel, miniature?
2) What is the format of the painting: a rectangle elongated horizontally or vertically (possibly with a rounded end), square, circle (tondo), oval?
3) In what technique (tempera, oil, watercolor, etc.) and on what basis (wood, canvas, etc.) was the painting made?
4) From what distance is it best perceived?
I. Image analysis.
4. Does the film have a plot? What is shown? In what environment are the depicted characters and objects located?
5. Based on image analysis, you can draw a conclusion about the genre. What genre: portrait, landscape, still life, nude, everyday, mythological, religious, historical, animalistic, does the painting belong to?
6. What problem do you think the artist solves – visual? expressive? What is the degree of conventionality or naturalism of the image? Does convention tend towards idealization or expressive distortion? As a rule, the composition of the picture is associated with the genre.
7) What components does the composition consist of? What is the relationship between the subject of the image and the background/space on the painting canvas?
8) How close to the picture plane are the objects in the image?
9) What angle of view did the artist choose - from above, below, level with the depicted objects?
10) How is the position of the viewer determined - is he involved in interaction with what is depicted in the picture, or is he assigned the role of a detached contemplator?
11) Can the composition be called balanced, static, or dynamic? If there is movement, how is it directed?
12) How is the picture space constructed (flat, indefinite, the spatial layer is fenced off, deep space is created)? How is the illusion of spatial depth achieved (differences in the size of the depicted figures, showing the volume of objects or architecture, using color gradations)? The composition is developed by means of drawing.
13) How pronounced is the linear beginning in the picture?
14) Are the contours delimiting individual objects emphasized or hidden? By what means is this effect achieved?
15) To what extent is the volume of objects expressed? What techniques create the illusion of volume?
16) What role does light play in the picture? What is it like (even, neutral; contrasting, sculpting volume; mystical). Is the light source/direction legible?
17) Are the silhouettes of the depicted figures/objects legible? How expressive and valuable are they in themselves?
18) How detailed (or vice versa generalized) is the image?
19) Is the variety of textures of the depicted surfaces (leather, fabric, metal, etc.) conveyed? Color.
20) What role does color play in the picture (is it subordinate to the drawing and volume, or, on the contrary, subordinates the drawing to itself and builds the composition itself).
21) Is color simply a coloration of volume or something more? Is it optically faithful or expressive?
22) Do local colors or tonal coloring predominate in the picture?
23) Are the boundaries of the color spots visible? Do they coincide with the boundaries of volumes and objects?
24) Does the artist operate with large masses of color or small spots-strokes?
25) How are warm and cold colors painted, does the artist use a combination of complementary colors? Why is he doing this? How are the most illuminated and shaded areas conveyed?
26) Are there glares or reflexes? How are the shadows written (deep or transparent, are they colored)?
27) Is it possible to identify rhythmic repetitions in the use of any color or combination of shades, is it possible to trace the development of any color? Is there a dominant color/color combination?
28) What is the texture of the painting surface - smooth or impasto? Are individual strokes distinguishable? If so, what are they - small or long, applied with liquid, thick or almost dry paint?
06.08.2013
ANALYSIS OF WORKS
FINE ARTS
Anzhero - Sudzhensk
DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION AND SCIENCE OF KEMEROVSK REGION
GOU SPO ANZHERO - SUJENSKY PEDAGOGICAL COLLEGE
ANALYSIS OF WORKS
FINE ARTS
Council of the State Educational Institution SPO Anzhero -
"____" ____________ 2009
Chairman of RIS
Reviewer:
Teaching
GOU SPO Anzhero - Sudzhensky Pedagogical College.
Analysis of works of fine art: methodological recommendations. – Anzhero – Sudzhensk: State Educational Institution of Secondary Professional Education Anzhero – Sudzhensk Pedagogical College, 2009 – p.
This methodological development covers issues related to the analysis of works of fine art.
Its advantages include the presence of an application that contains plans and algorithms for analyzing works of fine art.
©GOU SPO Anzhero-Sudzhensky
teacher training college
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Introduction…..…………………………………………………….. | ||
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Methodological foundations for the analysis of works of fine art……………………………………………………….. | ||
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Literature……………………………………………………….. | ||
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Application ………………………………………………………… |
INTRODUCTION
How we look at the world
Before we talk about analyzing works of fine art, let's think about why they are also called visual and what they are actually intended for. “To caress the gaze, for the eyes!” - you will say and you will be right, although if we talk about architecture and design, then they can caress not only the eye, but also the body. Visual arts are focused on visual perception. Let's explore this ability of ours to see.
So, an ordinary person looks with two eyes, in each eye there is an optical center - the point from which the image of surrounding objects is seen most clearly. This means that our vision has two focuses. Let's do an experiment: take a sheet of paper, poke a small hole in it and try, at arm's length, to look through this hole at a distant point on the wall (for example, a switch). Without moving your hands, we will alternately close your right and left eyes - the image of the switch in the hole will either disappear or appear again. What would that mean?
In the human visual apparatus, only one focus works - either the right or left eye (depending on which eye is the leading one: if the image disappeared when the right eye was closed, then it is the leading one, and if the left eye is the leading one), then the leading left eye. One eye sees “for real”, and the other performs an auxiliary function - it “spies”, helps the brain complete the picture.
Look closely at your interlocutor during a general conversation. Your vision fixes his right eye (for you it will be on the left), and you clearly see only him. The rest of the image of the interlocutor gradually blurs from the center (from his right eye) to the periphery. What does it mean? The lens of our eye - the crystalline lens - is arranged in the form of a sphere. And the image will always be blurry at the edges - the object is reflected clearly only at a single focal point. The further away from focus, the blurrier the image.
It is clear that with such “pathetic possibilities” of vision, space, the shape of objects, and even colors are subject to natural distortion. The paradox is that we don’t so much see most objects as we think, completely unaware of the mechanisms of our vision. And since our vision is imperceptibly trained in cultural space society (and over the past six hundred years this training has taken place mainly on the straight linear perspectives of the classics), then such simple things do not even occur to us that occur to physiologists or artists. And we still think that the limit of realism in the image lies in the works of the Itinerants, and not in the paintings of Cezanne.
So we come to the topic of analyzing works of fine art. There are two ways to perceive the fine arts: one through the heart, the other through the mind. This methodological basis understanding of all art.
METHODOLOGICAL BASIS FOR ANALYSIS OF WORKS OF FINE ARTS
Those who are faced with the analysis of any work of art for the first time almost immediately have logical questions: “Is analysis necessary in art at all? Doesn’t it kill the living, direct, emotional perception of art?” It is necessary if it is carried out correctly.
Clear analysis doesn't hurt emotional art, but helps to reveal new aspects of the work, showing the deeper meaning. To do this, the analysis should not stop at a simple statement of the presence of an object or character on the canvas, at retelling the plot, but go further (or deeper) to the meaning of the picture.
But the meaning is expressed through external form. We are not directly given meaning in a work, but only a certain form. And we must “read” it, see the meaning behind it. Moreover, the artist builds the form of his works so that it better expresses the meaning he needs.
Each work of art has several levels. These are the emotional, subject, plot, symbolic levels and the level of the internal structure (microcircuit) of the work. Our perception of art begins with emotions.
Emotional level.
The first thing we “catch” is the emotional structure of the work. It is solemn or lyrical, we find it funny or sad. If the work has not touched us emotionally, then further analysis will not take place.! Therefore, it is very useful at the beginning of the analysis to try to capture the emotions that are born from communication with the work. This is all the more necessary when the work has been familiar for a long time. After all, we involuntarily remembered those “old” emotions that the painting once evoked in us. But now we are different, which means our perception is different. And now we will have different emotions for the old, long ago famous work. And at the beginning of the analysis, it is very useful for students to ask a question about the first impression born of the picture.
Moreover, this first impression must be preserved and supported in every possible way throughout the analysis. Often it is this first emotional impression that verifies the correctness of analytical conclusions. Gradually, during the analysis process, the correctness of the analytical conclusions is verified. Gradually, in the process of analysis, we begin to see how the artist achieves this or that emotional impression.
The end of the analysis should also be emotional. At the very end, it is not only useful, but simply necessary to return once again to the holistic emotional impression. Only now the emotion is supported by knowledge of the meaning.
Sample questions for analyzing a work on an emotional level.
1. What impression does the work make?
3. What sensations can a visitor experience (architecture)?
4. What is the nature of the work?
5. How do the scale of the work, format, vertical, horizontal or diagonal arrangement of parts, the use of architectural forms, the use of colors in the picture and the distribution of light contribute to the emotional impression?
Subject level.
It reflects what is directly depicted. It is from this level that analysis directly begins. Any object, any character or phenomenon is extremely significant. Random things in pictures good artists doesn't happen. Therefore, even a simple listing of what is located on the canvas already makes you think.
And here we often encounter difficulties.
Human attention is selective and for quite a long time we may not notice any important detail on the canvas. Yes, and historical things sometimes change beyond recognition. Or a suit, which in any era tells a contemporary a lot about a person - after all, it is a whole encyclopedia not only of external life, but also of morals, characters, and life goals.
Therefore, you need to make it a rule to begin “reading” a picture by carefully clarifying for yourself the meaning and purpose of all the things placed on it. The objective world of the picture is the words that make up the “text given to us.”
Already at this level, at the beginning of acquaintance with objective world paintings, we very quickly notice that all the objects and faces are not randomly scattered across the canvas, but form a kind of unity. And we involuntarily begin to comprehend this unity by doing the first step to painting composition. We will finally master it at the very end. But you need to start noting individual features right away. As a rule, it is immediately obvious that the most important elements form simple and clear shapes (triangle, circle, pyramid, square...). These forms are not chosen arbitrarily by the artist; they create a certain emotional structure. The circle and oval are calming and complete. A square or lying rectangle creates a feeling of stability and inviolability. The pyramid and triangle give the viewer a sense of aspiration. At this stage of analysis, the main and the secondary in the picture are easily distinguished.
A separate object, a separate color, a separate stroke does not give anything to understand the meaning. Only their ratios are significant. Through the relationship of colors, sounds, themes, objects, volumes, you need to be able to “read” the meaning of the work.
Contrasting oppositions, the predominance of movement or rest on the canvas, the relationship between the background and figures - all this is noted already at this stage of analysis. Here we notice that the transmission of motion is the diagonal, the free space in front of the object, the image climax movements, asymmetrical patterns; and the transfer of rest is the absence of diagonals, free space in front of the object, static poses, symmetrical patterns. But all this is just being noted for now. The true meaning of the features of the composition will acquire for us only at the very end of the analysis.
Sample questions for analyzing a work of art at the subject level.
1. What (or who) is shown in the picture?
2. What does the visitor see when standing in front of the façade? In interiors?
3. Who do you see in the sculpture?
4. Highlight the main thing from what you saw?
5. Try to explain why this seems important to you.
6. By what means does an artist or architect highlight the main thing?
7. How are objects arranged in the work (subject composition)?
8. How are colors compared in the work (color composition)?
9. How are volumes and spaces compared in an architectural structure?
Plot level.
I would immediately like to warn against the danger that researchers very often warn against. This is the desire to replace the plot presented by the artist on the canvas with a plot known from history, mythology, and stories about the artist. The artist not only illustrates the plot, but gives an understanding of it, sometimes going very far beyond the scope of this plot. Otherwise, art criticism cliches are born.
People often ask: do all paintings have a plot? On genre or historical picture it is most often obvious. What about in portraits, landscapes, still lifes? What about abstract painting? Everything is not so obvious here. French word“plot” means not so much the unfolding of events, but in general the “theme” of the work or “reason, occasion, motive.” And the first meaning of this word is “predisposed, susceptible.” Thus, the plot appears to us as cause-and-effect relationships built by the artist on the canvas. In a historical or genre film, these connections will relate to historical or everyday events. In a portrait - the relationship between the individuality of the person being portrayed, what he is, and who he wants to appear to be. In still life - the relationship between things left behind by a person and the person himself “behind the scenes”. And in abstract painting, the artist builds a relationship between lines, spots, colors, and figures. And this relationship is no less significant and plot-related than the gesture of Surikov’s noblewoman Morozova.
Two conclusions follow from the above.
First: the plot must be built based on the realities of a specific picture. " Not in the request itself prodigal son the meaning is not in repentance itself, but in the surprise that such fatherly love, such forgiveness evokes».
And the second conclusion: one way or another, the plot level is always present on the canvas. And it is simply irrational to bypass it in the analysis. Cause-and-effect relationships precisely build the special space and time of the picture.
The plot level also clarifies the compositional features of the canvas. We distinguish between a painting - a story and a painting - a show, we talk about figurativeness and expressiveness on the canvas. This is where the genre of the work is determined.
And it immediately becomes clear that not all faces, objects, and phenomena appear in the picture in the same sense as in life. Some of them are endowed with special symbolic meaning in the culture that raised the artist. Others were given the meaning of polysemantic symbols by the author himself. This is how we reach the next level – symbolic.
Sample questions for analyzing a work at the plot level.
1. Try to tell the plot of the picture.
2. Try to imagine what events may occur more often in this architectural work.
3. What can someone do (or say) this sculpture what if she comes to life?
Symbolic level.
At the symbolic level, we seem to return again to the objective content of the picture, but at a different qualitative level. Still life objects suddenly begin to show meaning. Watch- this is passing time, empty shells- empty mortal life, leftovers- a sudden end to life.
Moreover, each form is rethought.
Circular composition is a symbol of eternity. Square (cube)- This is a symbol of the earth, sustainable earthly existence. We see that one artist is building a canvas, breaking it into parts from left to right. And then there are positive values on the right side, and negative values on the left. The movement of the eye from left to right makes us see the beginning of the event in the left half, and its conclusion in the right half.
Another artist will highlight the vertical division of the painting field. And then our ideas about the top and bottom in the world around us come into force. A high, low or medium horizon, the “color heaviness” of the top or bottom of the canvas, the saturation of one or another part with figures, the openness of space - all this becomes the subject of analysis at the symbolic level.
We must not forget that the vertical or horizontal composition of the painting itself is also a significant symbol. Iconographic constructions unfold vertically, while the paintings of the New Age are almost all horizontal.
And although a painting is an arrangement of a plane, artists always strive to master the depth of space. The depth of space can be revealed in different ways. And each of them is symbolic. Near objects obscure distant ones. The depth of space is “drawn” due to the plane of the floor, the ground - the bottom acquires the main, peace-giving meaning in the picture. Depth is built with the help of architectural structures. And architecture begins to actively influence the characters - to elevate them or crush them, hide them or put them on display.
At this level of analysis, color and light in a painting become of great importance..
It is known that colors in the Ancient World and the Middle Ages were clearly attached to each other in an appropriate manner, being bright symbols. And since in a work of painting color is the main means of constructing the pictorial world, even modern artists do not avoid this symbolic influence. Light and darkness have always been more than just real life conditions for humans. But also by symbolic oppositions of external and internal: a bright face and inner enlightenment; dark painting and a difficult life path. This is how the grandiose system of the world of this canvas is gradually built in.
Sample questions for analyzing a work at a symbolic level.
1. Are there objects in the work that symbolize something?
2. Are the composition of the work and its main elements symbolic in nature: horizontal, vertical, diagonal, circle, color, cube, dome, arch, vault, spire, tower, gesture, pose, clothing, rhythm, tenor, etc.?
3. What is the title of the work? How does it relate to its plot and symbolism?
Next, we rise to a new level of understanding the picture. Here the individual aspects of the analysis must unite for us into a single world of this particular work. On this final stage of analysis There should not be a single detail left in the picture that somehow falls out of the whole. Here again we must talk about integrity. And this integrity is often comprehended not logically, but emotionally. “How cool and wise this is!” - admiration should come to us as a result of careful analysis. Try to mentally move the figures in this format, extinguish some and highlight others, and you will see that this affects not only the expressiveness, but also the very meaning of the picture. At this stage, the picture becomes “our own”.
But this is an ideal analysis system. In reality, something doesn’t work out, sometimes we don’t think it through, sometimes we don’t have time to feel it properly. But we simply must show students the entire process of analysis at least once, and guide them through understanding.
In each specific work, we can isolate one level and work with students on it. Moreover, any work of art allows for its completely independent existence at each of these levels. Moreover, in one work the plot level is clearly highlighted, in the other - the symbolic one.
To develop analysis skills, it is useful to use private techniques:
Ú a simple description of the picture, i.e., what is actually depicted on it. Such descriptions are extremely helpful in focusing attention on a given canvas and entering the world of the painting;
Ú collapse content. Here the teacher asks you to simply retell the image, but each time shortening your story. In the end, the story boils down to a few terse phrases in which only the most important remains;
Ú building hierarchies. Here the teacher, together with the students, tries to correlate the values proposed by the artist with each other, to answer the question: “What is more important?” - this technique is useful at all levels;
Ú creation of a “field” of analysis. Often, the “discovery” of meaning is helped by some insignificant fact of the artist’s biography or a fact of a given culture. It takes our attention to a different plane. It sends our thoughts along a different path. Therefore, we need to accumulate facts. And, as practice shows, the more unusual a personality trait or event seems to us, the more creative it contains for us;
Ú contemplative and motor feeling (empathy). This is already an acting technique - an attempt to imagine oneself in the world of the picture, to try to take poses characters, put on their expressions, walk along the paths of the landscape. Many discoveries await you along this path. This technique is often resorted to when the analysis for some reason has reached a dead end.
It is clear that the forms of analysis can be different. These are individual questions in an ordinary lesson, teaching children to feel like someone, to imagine something; immerse yourself in one environment or another. These are also comparison and comparison questions. These are exercises for attention (what do you see?). These are simple logical constructions about a specific work.
Appendix 1
PAINTING ANALYSIS Plan
1. Title.
2. Belonging to a cultural and historical era, style.
4. The history of the creation of the work.
5. The meaning of the name. Features of the plot. Genre affiliation.
6. Composition (what is depicted, how the elements of the picture are arranged, dynamics, rhythm).
7. Fixed assets artistic expression(color, line, chiaroscuro, texture, style of writing).
8. Your personal impressions.
SAMPLE
Painting by Savrasov “The Rooks Have Arrived”. Savrasov was an amazing artist whose paintings you never get tired of looking at. They are distinguished by their lightness and variety of colors. He was an artist who revolutionized Russian landscape painting. Unlike other artists, he depicted simple Russian landscapes. One of his most famous masterpieces is the painting “The Rooks Have Arrived.”
The picture was painted at the turn of the 1860s-70s. In it, the author depicts early spring, the moment when the first birds (rooks) arrive and begin to build nests in the trees.
We would like to draw your attention to color palette paintings. Savrasov uses the impression of a cloudy spring landscape, but at the same time the rays of the sun make the landscape more sunny. Of course, an important element of the picture is the church. Her silhouette adds a touch of poetry to the image of a gray day.
Feeling the artist admiring his landscape with us.
Appendix 2
ARCHITECTURAL MONUMENT ANALYSIS Plan
1. Name.
2. Location.
3. Architect(s).
4. Purpose of the task:
a) cult;
b) secular:
· housing,
· public building.
5. What is it built from?. If possible, indicate the reason for choosing this particular material.
6. Design features, by which you can determine the style (or the architectural details used, plan, dimensions, etc.).
7. Inference about the type of task, architectural style or belonging to any civilization.
8. What is your attitude towards the monument?. Justify your opinion.
SAMPLE
1. Pyramid of Djoser.
2. Egypt, Saqqara.
3. Architect Imhotep.
4. The cult building is a tomb.
5. Construction made of stone.
6. The shape of a step pyramid with a tomb room. Height 60 m, side length 120 m.
7. There is no architectural style; the building belongs to the civilization of Ancient Egypt.
8. …
Appendix 3
SCULPTURE ANALYSIS Plan
1. Name.
2. Sculptor.
3. Sculpture Type:
a) by execution:
1. round;
2. relief:
· in-depth,
§ high relief.
b) for its intended purpose:
1. cult,
2. secular,
c) by use:
1. independent,
2. part of the architectural ensemble,
3. part of the architectural decor of the building;
d) by genre:
1. portrait:
§ full length;
2. genre scene.
4.The material from which the work is made.
5.The degree of thoroughness of elaboration and finishing.
6.What is paid more attention to (features):
a) similarity,
b) decorative,
c) displaying the internal state of a person,
d) any idea.
7.Does it correspond to canon, if there was one?
8.Place:
a) manufacturing,
b) where is it now?
9. Style, direction or period of development of sculpture and its manifestation in a given work.
10.What is your attitude towards the monument?. Justify your opinion.
Appendix 4
SAMPLE
1. Nike of Samothrace.
2. The sculpture is unknown.
3. Sculpture Type:
A) in design – round,
b) by purpose - cult,
V) according to its original use - part of the architectural ensemble,
G) by genre - full-length portrait of a goddess.
4. Made from marble.
5. The work is very thorough.
6. Attention is paid to the idea of the unstoppable flight of Victory.
7. There was no canon.
8. Made in Greece in the 4th century. BC e., now located in the Louvre (Paris, France).
9. Statue antique era Hellenism.
10.I like (dislike) the monument because…
Appendix 5
ALGORITHMS FOR ANALYSIS OF WORKS OF ART
Algorithm for analyzing a work of painting.
The main condition for working with this algorithm is the fact that the name of the painting should not be known to those doing the work.
1. What would you call this picture?
2. Do you like the picture or not? (The answer should be ambiguous.)
3. Tell us about this picture so that a person who does not know it can get an idea about it.
4. How does this picture make you feel?
7. Would you like to add or change anything in your answer to the first question?
8. Return to the answer to the second question. Has your assessment remained the same or changed? Why do you rate this picture so much now?
Algorithm for analyzing works of painting.
2. Belonging to an artistic era.
3. The meaning of the title of the painting.
4. Genre affiliation.
5. Features of the plot of the picture. Reasons for painting. Searching for an answer to the question: did the author convey his idea to the viewer?
6. Features of the painting’s composition.
7. Basic means of artistic image: color, drawing, texture, chiaroscuro, brushwork.
8. What effect did this work of art have on your feelings and mood?
10. Where is this work of art located?
Appendix 6
Algorithm for analyzing a work of architecture.
1. What is known about the history of creation architectural structure and its author?
2. Indicate that this work belongs to the cultural and historical era, artistic style, direction.
3. What embodiment was found in this work of Vitruvius’ formula: strength, benefit, beauty?
4. Point to artistic media and techniques for creating an architectural image (symmetry, rhythm, proportions, light and shade and color modeling, scale), on tectonic systems (post-beam, pointed-arch, arched-dome).
5. Indicate the type of architecture: volumetric structures (public: residential, industrial); landscape (gardening or small forms); urban planning.
6. Point out the connection between the external and internal appearance of an architectural structure, the connection between the building and the relief, the nature of the landscape.
7. How are other forms of art used in the design of its architectural appearance?
8. What impression did the work have on you?
9. What associations does the artistic image evoke and why?
10. Where is the architectural structure located?
Algorithm for analyzing works of sculpture.
1. The history of the creation of the work.
3. Belonging to an artistic era.
4. The meaning of the title of the work.
5. Belonging to the types of sculpture (monumental, memorial, easel).
6. Material used and processing technology.
7. Dimensions of the sculpture (if it is important to know).
8. Shape and size of the pedestal.
9. Where is this sculpture located?
10. What impression did this work have on you?
11. What associations does the artistic image evoke and why?
LITERATURE
1. Ageev, V. N. Semiotics [Text] /. - M.: The whole world, 2002.
2. Ivlev, S. A. Control of students' knowledge in teaching world artistic culture [Text] /. – M., 2001.
3. Innovative teaching models in foreign pedagogical searches [Text]. – M: Arena, 1994.
4. Krysko, V. Introduction to ethnopsychology [Text] /V. Krysko. – M., 2000.
5. Methodical materials on the subjects “music”, “MHC”, “Theater” in context educational field“Art” [Text]: collection, to help the teacher. – M.: MHC Firm, 2001.
6. Oistrakh, O. G. World artistic culture [Text]: materials for teachers of the Moscow Art Theater /, . – M., 2001.
7. Pocheptsov, G. G. Russian semiotics [Text] /. – M.: Refl-Buk, K.: “Vakler”, 2001.
8. Solobud, Yu. P. Text-forming function of a symbol in a work of art [Text] // Philosophical sciences. – 2002. - No. 2. – P.46-55.
MINISTRY OF TRANSPORT OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION
FEDERAL STATE BUDGET EDUCATIONAL
INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION
"RUSSIAN UNIVERSITY OF TRANSPORT"
RUT (MIIT)
RUSSIAN OPEN ACADEMY OF TRANSPORT
Faculty " Vehicles»
Department of Philosophy, Sociology and History
by discipline
"Culturology"
Completed the work
1st year student
ZSA-192 group
Nikin A.A.
Code 1710-ts/SDs-0674
MOSCOW 2017-2018
Practical lesson No. 1
Assignment: Give a meaningful analysis of a work of architecture in your city (village, district)
Monument to railway workers, 2006 Sculptor I. Dikunov
I come from the city of Liski, Voronezh region. My city is the largest railway junction. Since 1871, the history of the city has been intertwined with the development of the railway. In our city, every sixth resident is closely connected with the profession of a railway worker, therefore, when the question arose about the location of the monument in honor of the 140th anniversary of the South-Eastern Railway, the choice fell on our city. The opening of the monument to railway workers took place in 2006.
This is one of the few original works in the city, made by the famous Voronezh sculptor Ivan Dikunov in collaboration with his wife Elsa Pak and sons Maxim and Alexey. They are the authors of busts of heroes Soviet Union and Russia on the Walk of Fame, as well as fairy-tale characters decorating the city park in our city.
Dikunov Ivan Pavlovich - Honored Artist of the Russian Federation, Honored Artist, State Prize Laureate in 1990. Full member of the Petrovsky Academy of Science and Art, professor.
Ivan Pavlovich was born in 1941 in the village of Petrovka, Pavlovsky district, Voronezh region. His childhood was difficult post-war years. Despite the difficulties, he found time for creativity - he liked to draw, and even more to sculpt. Even then his talent was visible. Ivan Dikunov graduated from the Leningrad Art School named after V.A. Serov in 1964, then the Institute of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture. I.E. Repin in 1970. In 1985 he came to Voronezh and went to work at the Voronezh State Institute of Architecture and Civil Engineering, where he taught for 20 years. From 1988 to 1995 Dikunov was a teacher at the Voronezh Art School.
In the cities of the Voronezh and Lipetsk regions, in collaboration with colleagues from VGASU, Ivan Pavlovich created a number of significant monuments that represent unique images of the formation of the architectural environment and are a combination of monumental sculpture and architecture. He acted as the author of projects and leader creative groups on the creation of Voronezh monuments to outstanding Russian personalities - M.E. Pyatnitsky (1987), A.S. Pushkin (1999), A.P. Platonov (1999) and others. Ivan Pavlovich constantly participates in regional, zonal, republican, all-Union, all-Russian and foreign exhibitions.
Dikunov said that work on the monument to railway workers took three years and his main idea was to show the idea of the railway in motion. The monument is located at the entrance to the town of Liski and is business card our city.
The monument to railway workers is a monument that amazes us with its complex composition, deep meaning and symbolism. According to the original plan, the monument was an image of railway workers diverging from the column in different directions. But subsequently the sculptors came to a composition in which both figures walk along the platform in the same direction. This set the tone for forward striving and unity in the inextricable connection of generations of railway workers.
Stone and metal were used to create the monument. It contains many symbolic details, which upon careful examination add up to a capacious, integral image of the railway. In the center of the composition is a tall, elegantly shaped column on a square pedestal, decorated with images of working tools against a background of diverging rays. It is crowned with the railway emblem and the inscription "Liski". The figures, 3.5 meters high, represent two generations of railway workers - a railway worker with a lantern and a long hammer, an image from the 19th century, and a modern driver in a uniform with a briefcase in his hand. They seem to be walking along the platform near the train.
Details of clothing and equipment were selected with special care: they maintained their shape and recreated the subtleties from museum paintings and exhibits. The sculptors' models were the workers of the Liskinsky railway junction. Along the edge of the slab there is an inscription: “Dedicated to the railway workers, toilers, warriors and heroes of 140 years of the SE railway.
This monument gives me a feeling of pride for my city, for ordinary working people, whose difficult, responsible profession is immortalized in the monument. And two figures of different generations say that the railway is moving forward in its development, improving every year.
Practical task № 2
Assignment: Give a meaningful analysis of a painting by an artist from your city (village, region)
My fellow countryman was the famous Russian artist Ivan Nikolaevich Kramskoy (May 27, 1837 - March 24, 1887). He was born in the city of Ostrogozhsk, Voronezh province (this is 30 km from my hometown Liski) in the family of a minor official.
Studied at the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts (1863-1868) In 1863. he was awarded a minor gold medal for the painting "Moses Bringing Out Water from the Rock." Kramskoy was the initiator of the "revolt of the fourteen", which ended with the withdrawal from the Academy of Arts of its graduates who organized the Artel of Artists. He was also one of the founders in 1870 of the "Association of Traveling People" art exhibitions". Under the influence of the ideas of Russian democratic revolutionaries, Kramskoy defended an opinion consonant with them about the high social role of the artist, the fundamental principles of realism, the moral essence of art and its nationality. In 1869, he taught at the Drawing School of the Society for the Encouragement of Artists. In 1869, Kramskoy received academician title.
The 70-80s of the 19th century became for Ivan Nikolaevich the period when some of his most famous works were written - these are “Polesovschik”, “Mina Moiseeva”, “Peasant with a Bridle” and others. Increasingly, the artist combined portrait and everyday themes in his works (“Stranger,” “Inconsolable Grief”).
Many of Kramskoy’s paintings are recognized as classics of Russian painting; he was a master of portraits, historical and genre scenes.
I would like to dwell on the analysis of his painting “Christ in the Desert,” which occupies a very special place in the creative biography of I. Kramskoy.
Christ in the desert.
Oil on canvas.
180 x 210 cm.
Kramskoy's main thought of those years, which greatly occupied him, was the tragedy of the lives of those high natures who voluntarily abandoned all personal happiness; the best, purest image that the artist could find to express his idea was Jesus Christ.
Kramskoy pondered his painting for a whole decade. In the early 1860s, while still at the Academy of Arts, he made the first sketch; in 1867, the first version of the painting, which did not satisfy him. The mistake of the first version of the painting was the vertical format of the canvas, and the artist decided to paint a picture on a horizontal canvas of a man sitting on the stones larger size. The horizontal format made it possible to imagine a panorama of the endless rocky desert, along which a lonely man walked in mute silence day and night. Only in the morning, tired and exhausted, he sat down on a stone, still not seeing anything in front of him. Traces of painful and deep experiences are visible on his tired, gloomy face, the weight of thoughts seemed to rest on his shoulders and bowed his head.
The plot of the picture is connected with the forty-day fast of Jesus Christ in the desert described in the New Testament, where he retired after his baptism, and with the temptation of Christ by the devil, which occurred during this fast. According to the artist, he wanted to capture the dramatic situation of moral choice, inevitable in the life of every person.
The painting depicts Christ sitting on a gray stone located on a hill in the same gray rocky desert. Kramskoy uses cool colors to depict early morning - the dawn is just beginning. The horizon line runs quite low, dividing the picture roughly in half. In the lower part there is a cold rocky desert, and in the upper part there is a pre-dawn sky, a symbol of light, hope and future transformation. As a result, the figure of Christ, dressed in a red chiton and a dark blue cape, dominates the space of the picture, but is in harmony with the surrounding harsh landscape. In the lonely figure depicted among the cold stones, one feels not only sad thoughtfulness and fatigue, but also “a readiness to take the first step on the rocky path leading to Calvary.”
Hands of Christ (detail of the picture)
Restraint in the depiction of clothing allows the artist to give the main importance to the face and hands of Christ, which create the psychological persuasiveness and humanity of the image. The tightly clenched hands are located almost in the very center of the canvas. Together with the face of Christ, they represent the semantic and emotional center of the composition, attracting the viewer’s attention. The clasped hands, located at the level of the horizon line, “in convulsive volitional tension, seem to be trying to tie, like a keystone, the whole world - heaven and earth - together.” Christ's bare feet are wounded from walking on sharp stones for a long time. But meanwhile, the face of Christ expresses incredible willpower.
There is no action in this work, but the life of the spirit and the work of thought are visibly shown. Christ in the picture looks more like a man, with his sufferings and doubts, than like God, and this makes his image understandable and close to the viewer. This man takes some important step in life, and the fate of the people who believe in him depends on his decision; on the hero’s face we see the burden of this responsibility.
Looking at this picture, you understand that temptation is part of human life. Often people are faced with a choice: to act honestly, fairly, or, conversely, to do something illegal and reprehensible. Absolutely everyone goes through this test. This picture tells me that no matter how great the temptation is, you need to find the strength within yourself to fight it.
Today this painting is in the Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow.
References:
1. (Electronic resource) Monument to railway workers in Liski. - Access mode: https:// yandex.ru / search / ? text = monument to railway workers in Liski (Date of access: November 23, 2017)
2. (Electronic resource): Dikunov Ivan Pavlovich sculptor vrnsh.ru›?page_id=1186 (Access date 11/23/2017)
3. Life of outstanding people. 70 famous artists. Fate and creativity. A. Ladvinskaya Donetsk - 2006 448 pp.
4. 100 great paintings. Moscow. Publishing house "Veche" - 2003, 510 pages.
Before you start practical analysis, it is necessary to make one significant remark: in the picture you should not look for what is not in it, that is, in no case should you set out to adjust living work under a certain scheme. When discussing the forms and means of composition, we listed the possible moves and options for the artist’s actions, but did not insist at all that all of them must necessarily be used in the painting. The analysis that we offer simply more actively reveals some of the features of the work and, if possible, explains the artist’s compositional intent.
How to divide a single organism into parts? You can use the traditional set of actions: draw diagonal axes to determine the geometric center of the picture, highlight light and dark places, cold and warm tones, determine the semantic center of the composition, if necessary, indicate compositional axes, etc. Then it is easier to establish the formal structure of the image.
2.1. ANALYSIS OF STILL LIFE COMPOSITION
To more broadly cover the various techniques in constructing a still life, let's consider the classic still life of the seventeenth century, then the still lifes of Cezanne and Mashkov.
2.1.1. V. Kheda. Breakfast with blackberry pie. 1631
Having drawn the first diagonal, we note that the composition of the still life was made on the verge of a foul, but the artist brilliantly coped with the task of balancing, introducing a gradual lightening of the background to the left and up. Examining the light and dark generalized spots separately, we are convinced of the light-tonal integrity of the composition, and we see how the white fabric and the illuminated surface of the base of the lying vase hold the main accents and create the conditions for the rhythmic arrangement of dark spots. A large bright spot gradually crumbles into small flashes of light. The location of dark spots is constructed using the same scheme.
The warmth and coldness of the still life in the context of an almost monochrome painting is very subtly and delicately expressed in detail and is separated into large masses left and right. To preserve the integrity of the color, Heda introduces cold shades of objects on the left, “warm” side of the picture and, accordingly, warm tones on the right, “cold” side.
The splendor of this still life, which is a decoration of the Dresden Gallery, lies not only in the absolute materiality of the objects, but also in the carefully thought-out composition of the picture.
2.1.2. P. Cezanne. Peaches and pears. Late 1880s.
In this still life, two consistent centers can be traced: firstly, a white towel on which fruits and dishes are placed, and secondly, peaches on a plate in the center of the picture. This creates a rhythmic three-way approach of the eye to the focal point of the picture: from the general background to the towel, then to the peaches in the plate, then to the nearby pears.
Compared to Heda's still life, Cezanne's work has a wider color gamut, so the warmth and coldness of the still life is spread over the entire surface of the painting and it is difficult to separate local arrays of warm and cold colors. A special place in the still life is occupied by an oblique wide dark stripe in the background. It is a kind of anti-dominant of the composition and at the same time emphasizes the whiteness of the fabric in the highlights and the purity of the colors in the shadows. The entire structure of the painting is rough and bears deliberately obvious traces of the brush - this emphasizes the hand-made nature and revelation of the very process of creating the painting. The aesthetics of the compositions of Cézanne, who later came to Cubism, lies in the constructive nakedness of a strong frame of color sculpting of the form.
2.1.3. I. Mashkov. Moscow food. 1924
The composition of a still life tends to be symmetrical. The fullness of the entire space of the picture does not go beyond the frame; the composition sits firmly inside, manifesting itself either in a circle or in a square (the arrangement of the loaves). The abundance of food seems to burst the boundaries of the picture, while at the same time the bread leaves the white vase as the color leader, grouping around it. Thick rich color, the dense materiality of the breads, emphasized by the precisely found texture of the baked goods, unites the objects into a harmoniously grouped hot integral spot, leaving the background a somewhat cooler range. White spot the vase does not break out of the plane, it is not large enough to become a semantic center, but it is active enough to firmly hold the composition.
In the painting there are two dark oblong spots located perpendicular to each other: this is a piece of hanging fabric on the wall and the surface of the tabletop. Combining in color, they restrain the “scattering” of objects. The same restraining, unifying effect is created by two horizontal stripes on the side of the shelf and tabletop.
If you compare the still lifes of Cezanne and Mashkov, you get the impression that, using the coloristic achievements of the great Cezanne, Ilya Mashkov also turns to the magnificent colorism of the “monochrome” Heda. Of course, this is just an impression; such great artist, like Mashkov, is completely independent, his achievements grew naturally from his artistic nature.
2.2. LANDSCAPE COMPOSITION
There is one traditional rule in landscapes: the sky and landscape should be unequal in compositional mass. If an artist sets as his goal to show space, boundless space, he gives most of the picture to the sky and pays the main attention to it. If for the artist main task is to convey the details of the landscape, the border of the landscape and the sky in the picture is usually located significantly above the optical center of the composition. If the border is placed in the middle, then the image splits into two parts, equally claiming dominance - the principle of subordination of the secondary to the main is violated. This general remark is well illustrated by the work of P. Bruegel.
2.2.1. Pieter Bruegel the Elder. Fall of Icarus. Around 1560
The composition of the landscape is complex and at the same time very natural, at first glance it is somewhat reduced in detail, but upon careful analysis it is very tightly tailored. The paradox of Pieter Bruegel was manifested in the displacement of the semantic center of the picture (Icarus) to the periphery, and the secondary character (the plowman) to the compositional center. The rhythm of dark tones seems random: the thicket on the left, the plowman's head, the trees at the water's edge, the hull of the ship. However, it is precisely this rhythm that does not allow the viewer’s eye to leave the picture along the dark diagonal strip along the dark edge of the high part of the coast. Another rhythm is built by the warm tones of the light areas of the canvas, as well as by a clear division of the landscape space into three planes: shore, sea, sky.
With many details, the composition is supported by a classic technique - a color accent created by the red shirt of the plowman. Without going into detailed description details of the picture, one cannot help but admire the brilliant simplicity of expressing the deep meaning of the work: the world did not notice the fall of Icarus.
2.2.2. Francesco Guardi. Isola di San Giorgio in Venice. 1770s.
In terms of color, this is one of the most magnificent paintings in the entire history of painting, but pictorial perfection would not have been achieved without a beautifully constructed composition that meets all classical canons. Absolute balance with asymmetry, epic majesty with dynamic rhythm, precisely found ratio of color masses, magical warmth and coldness of air and sea - this is the work of a great master.
The analysis shows that the rhythm in the composition is built both vertically, horizontally and diagonally. The vertical rhythm is formed by towers, columns, and the division of the walls of the palace in correspondence with the masts of the boats. The horizontal rhythm is determined by the location of the boats along two imaginary horizontal lines, the foot of the palace, and the lines of the roofs where they connect with the walls. Very interesting is the diagonal rhythm of the tops of the towers, the dome, the statues above the portico, the perspective of the right wall, the boats on the right side of the picture. To balance the composition, an alternative diagonal rhythm is introduced from the left boat to the central dome of the palace, as well as from the nearby gondola to the tops of the masts on the right.
The hot color of the palace walls and the gold of the sun's rays on the facades facing the viewer harmoniously and powerfully highlight the building against the background of the overall rich color of the sea and sky. There is no boundary between sea and sky - this gives an airiness to the entire landscape. The reflection of the palace in the calm waters of the bay is generalized and completely devoid of details, which allows the figures of rowers and sailors not to get lost.
2.2.3. G. Nissky. Moscow region. February. 1957
Nyssky created his works as pure compositions; he did not write them directly from life, nor did he make a lot of preliminary sketches. He memorized landscapes, absorbed the most characteristic features and details into his consciousness, and made mental selections even before starting work at the easel.
An example of such a refined composition is “Podmoskovye”. The locality of the color masses, the clear separation of long cold shadows and the pinkish whiteness of the snow, the strictly calibrated silhouettes of fir trees in the middle ground and the distant forest, a freight train rushing around a bend, like a concrete highway drawn along a ruler - all this creates a feeling of modernity, behind this one can see the industrial age, although the lyricism of the winter landscape with its pure snow, morning silence, high sky do not allow us to attribute the painting to a work on a production theme:
Of particular note are the color relationships in the background. As a rule, distances are written in a colder tone than the foreground, while in Nyssa the distant forest is maintained in warm colors. It would seem difficult to push an object into the depths of the picture with such a color, but if you pay attention to the pinkish-orange color of the sky, then the artist had to break the general rule of constructing space so that the forest would not stand out sharply against the background of the sky, but would be tonally fused with it. The master placed in the background the figure of a skier dressed in a red sweater. This bright spot, in a very small area, actively holds the composition and gives it spatial depth. The division of the horizontal masses converging towards the left side of the picture and the juxtaposition with the verticals of the fir trees gives the work compositional drama.
2.3. PORTRAIT COMPOSITION
Artists interpret a portrait as a work in different ways. Some pay attention only to the person, without introducing any details of the surrounding situation, they paint on a neutral background, others introduce surroundings into the portrait, treating it as a painting. The composition in the second interpretation, as a rule, is more complex; it uses many formal means and techniques that were mentioned earlier, but even in a simple image on a neutral background, compositional tasks are of decisive importance.
Angishola Sofonisba. Self-portrait
2.3.1. Tintoregto. Portrait of a man. 1548
The artist pays all his attention to conveying the lively expressiveness of the face. In fact, nothing is depicted in the portrait except the head; the clothes and background differ so little in color from each other that the illuminated face is the only bright spot in the work. In this situation, the scale and balance of the composition become especially important. The artist carefully measured the dimensions of the frame with the outline of the image, determined the place of the face with classical accuracy and, within the integrity of the color, sculpted halftones and shadows with hot paints. The composition is simple and perfect.
2.3.2. Raphael. Portrait of a young man (Pietro Bembo). Around 1505
In the tradition of the High Renaissance, portraits were created against the backdrop of the Italian landscape. It is against the background, and not in the environment of nature. A certain convention of lighting, maintaining the scale of the figure in relation to the frame, developed in portraits without surroundings, allowed the master to show the person being portrayed very closely, in all the characteristic details. This is Raphael’s “Portrait of a Young Man”.
Bust figure young man compositionally built on the rhythm of several color pairs: firstly, it is a red riding hood and visible part red shirt; secondly, on the right and left there are a pair of dark spots formed by flowing hair and a cape; thirdly, these are hands and two fragments of the left sleeve; fourthly, this is a strip of white lace collar and a strip of folded paper in right hand. The face and neck, forming a common warm spot, are the formal and semantic focus of the composition. The landscape behind the young man’s back is designed in cooler colors and forms a beautiful range in the context of the overall color. The landscape does not contain everyday details; it is deserted and calm, which emphasizes the epic nature of the work.
There is one detail in the portrait that has become a mystery to artists for centuries: if a meticulous draftsman traces the line of the shoulder and neck to the head (on the right), then the neck turns out, in professional terms, to be completely unrelated to the mass of the head. Such an excellent expert in anatomy as Raphael could not have made such a simple mistake. Salvador Dali has a painting that he called “Self-Portrait with Raphael’s Neck.” Indeed, the shape of the neck of Raphael’s portrait contains some kind of inexplicable plastic attractiveness.
2.3.3. K. Korovin. Portrait of F.I. Shalyapin. 1911
Much in this work is unusual for a viewer professing classical painting. The format itself is already unusual, the compositional repetition of the singer’s figure, the outline of the table and the shutter is unusual, and, finally, the picturesque sculpting of forms without a strict drawing is unusual.
The rhythm of color masses from the lower right corner (hot tone of the wall and floor) to the upper left corner (greenery outside the window) takes three steps, changing in the cold direction. To balance the composition and maintain the integrity of the color, flashes of warm tones were introduced in the cold zone, and, accordingly, cold ones in the warm zone.
The artist uses another color rhythm in details: hot accents flash across the entire surface of the picture (shoes - belt - glass - hands).
The scale of the figure in relation to the frame allows us to consider the surroundings not as a background, but as a full-fledged hero of the picture. The feeling of air in which the boundaries of objects dissolve, light and reflexes create the illusion of free improvisation without a deliberate composition, but the portrait has all the signs of a formally competent composition. A master is a master.
2.4. COMPOSITION OF THE STORY PICTURE 2.4.1. Raphael. Sistine Madonna. 1513
This painting is perhaps the most famous in the world, rivaled in popularity only by Leonardo da Vinci's La Gioconda. The image of the Mother of God, bright and pure, the beauty of the inspired faces, the accessibility and simplicity of the idea of the work harmoniously merge with the clear composition of the picture.
The artist used axial symmetry as a compositional means, thus showing the original perfection and balanced tranquility of the Christian soul, believing in the final victory of good. Symmetry as a means of composition is emphasized in literally everything: in the arrangement of figures and curtains, in the rotation of faces, in the balance of the masses of the figures themselves relative to vertical axes, in the roll call of warm tones.
Let's take the central figure. The baby in the Madonna’s arms makes the left side compositionally heavier, but Raphael balances the figure with the precisely calculated silhouette of the cape. The figure of the girl on the right is somewhat smaller in mass than the figure of Sixtus on the left, but the color saturation of the right figure is more active. From the point of view of the symmetry of the masses, you can look at the arrangement of the faces of the Madonna and the Child Christ, and then at the arrangement of the faces of the angels at the bottom of the picture. These two pairs of faces are in antiphase.
If you connect the images of the faces of all the main figures in the picture with lines, a regular rhombus is formed. The supporting leg of the Madonna is on the axis of symmetry of the picture. This compositional scheme makes Raphael’s work absolutely balanced, and the arrangement of figures and objects in an oval around the optical center preserves the integrity of the composition even with some disunity of its parts.
2.4.2. A.E. Arkhipov. Along the Oka River. 1890
The composition, open and dynamic even with static figures, is built along the reverse diagonal: from right to top to left. Part of the longboat faces the viewer, under the lower edge of the picture - this creates a feeling of our presence directly among those sitting on the longboat. To transmit sunlight and clear summer day the artist uses the contrast between the overall light color and shadow accents in the figures as a means of composition. Linear perspective required reducing the figures on the bow of the longboat, but aerial perspective (for the sake of the illusion of the distance of the shore) did not reduce the clarity of the figures on the bow compared to nearby figures, that is, there is practically no aerial perspective inside the longboat. The balance of the composition is ensured by the relative position of the general dark compositional oval to the left of the middle and the active dark spot to the right (the shadow parts of the two figures and the dishes). In addition, if you pay attention to the mast, it is located along the axis of the picture, and to the right and left in the distance there are symmetrical light color accents.
2.4.3. N. Eryshev. Change. 1975
The composition is built on the rhythm of verticals. Industrial buildings (by the way, very conventional), a single tree, human figures - everything is pointedly stretched upward, only in the lower part of the picture there are several horizontal lines formed by concrete slabs, pipes, and the horizon. The focal point of the composition is a group of teenage excursionists, located almost symmetrically on either side of the working foreman. The oil refinery facilities, along with the white jerseys of the two teenagers, form a vertical rectangle. As if limiting this rectangle, the author placed two young people in terra-colored clothes. A peculiar symmetry is created by placing the master’s figure on a vertical axis and juxtaposing a straight-standing tree with a pipe-shaped structure on the right.
Direct alignment, the deliberate conventionality of the situation, the clearly intended static nature of the figures could be considered controversial points in the realistic rendering of life, but this work bears the features of a monumental design direction, where all this is organic, logical and necessary. From the point of view of composition, clear, formally impeccable means are used here, from grouping to rhythmic gradations and divisions.
PART FOUR
COMPOSITION AND ARTISTICITY
Now the time has come to talk about those qualities of the work, which, in fact, are the bearers of aesthetic values, spiritual fullness, and vitality of artistic images. This is a subtle matter, there is a lot here that is elusive, involved in spiritual energy the artist, on his individuality, attitude towards the world. The role of composition comes down to literacy, the ability to express what is planned in the language of beauty and harmony, and the ability to build a good and strong form.
1. GENERALIZATION AND TYPICATION
In the tradition of classical artistic practice It is customary to avoid a heap of accidents that destroy the integrity of the image, its symbolic certainty. A sketch as a means of gathering factual material, as intelligence in the camp of objective reality, carries in itself excessive reportage, immediacy, and sometimes verbosity. By selecting the most characteristic features of the finished work, making generalizations and shifting emphasis, the author achieves the closest resemblance to his own artistic idea. As a result of generalization and selection, a typical image is born, not isolated, not random, but absorbing the most profound, general, true.
In this way, a type of hero or landscape is born, such as the protodeacon in the portrait of I. Repin or the absolutely Russian landscape in the paintings of I. Levitan.