READING VISUAL ART MODULE 3

1. Subject of art is usually anything that is
represented in the artwork. It may be a person,
object, scene or event. Not all arts have
subjects. Those arts without subject are called
“non-objective”. They do not represent
anything.

2. -Artworks that depict something that can
easily be recognized which is real and part of
this world.
a. Portraiture – (pictures of men and
women) It became popular even before the
invention of the camera; was enjoyed only
by elite: kings and noblemen; nowadays,
charcoal is one of the mediums used in
doing portraits.

3. - Gil Ramirez
Charcoal Drawing
Portrait

4. Carlos Duarte

5. Hamar Woman
photographed by
Carlos Duarte

6. Mona Lisa
- Leonardo Da Vinci

7. Dmitry Ageev

8. b. Animals and Plants – It represents animals and
plants. It became the trend due to man’s first
encounters with plants and animals for survival;
even now, painters prefer animals and plants,
specifically flowering plants as subjects for their
paintings.

9. Patricia
White

11. “Eagle”
Painting
-Michelle Mara

12. c. Still Life – representing inanimate objects
or non-living things placed on a table or
another setting to become a subject in a
certain artwork. It is always available and
capable to be organized. E.g. a basket of
fruits, a bag of groceries, a pack of cigarettes,
a bunch of flowers, and a bucket of chicken.

14. Sejal Raval

15. Clara Peeters

17. d. Country Life – copying scenes happening
in the community. E.g. a barrio fiesta, a
fluvial parade, a bountiful rice harvest, a big
catch of fishes, and a natural calamity.

18. Robert Duncan

19. Fernando Amorsolo

20. e. Landscape – It depicts pictures of land forms.
E.g. the volcano, the mountain, the hill, the
valley, the plain, the cliff and the like.

21. Faim Faim

22. Painting
-Bob Ross

24. f. Seascape – pictures of any of the water forms
e.g. the ocean, the sea, the river, the lake, the
brook, the pond, the falls, and the like.

25. Watercolor painting

26. Tropical Seascape Studio

27. Oil Painting
-June Nelson

28. - Anton Gorlin

29. g. Cityscape – pictures of an aerial view of a city
or a portion of it.

34. h. Religious Items – The Holy Family,
Madonna and the Child, Jesus Christ, angels,
saints and other religious objects.

37. Shalin Indian
Brass

38. i. Mythological, fictional, and cartoon characters
– supernatural beings and fantasies,
technological items, and objects.

41. Medusa

42. Hercules and Cerberus

43. - Artworks that have no resemblance to
any real subject or objects or anything from
nature. It does not represent anything.

44. a. Abstract – Abstraction indicates a departure
from reality in depiction or imagery in art.
This departure from accurate representation
can be slight, partial, or complete.
It is an art that does not attempt to
represent an accurate depiction of a visual reality
but instead use shapes, colours, forms and
gestural marks to achieve its effect.

45. Energized by Tom Fedro
Chicago artist Tom
Fedro creates art with zing
and boundless humor. Bright
colors, big features and bold
lines that seem to be
electrically charged represent
an existing way of seeing and
experiencing the world
through his eyes.

46. Tom Fedro is a self-
representing Chicago
artist. He is best known
for his large-size original
abstract nudes, faces,
animals, wine and
contemporary modern
paintings, but likes to
experiment with other
styles as well.

48. What is the difference between subject and
content in Art?
Subject is the literal, visible image in a work
while content includes the connotative,
symbolic, and suggestive aspects of the image.
The subject matter is the subject of the artwork,
e.g., still life, portrait, landscape etc.
Content is not subject or things in the painting.
Content is the communication of ideas,
feelings and reactions connected with the
subject.

49. Every artist has his own individual
and unique style of doing his artworks. This
style is almost always governed by his
choice of the methods of presenting his
subject.

50. REALISM – It is also known as naturalism.
This is an attempt to represent things as it is
with accuracy and precision. It is executed in a
photographic precision. We can say that an art
is realistic when the representation and
organization of details in the work seem so
natural. Like-wise it mirrors reality.

51. The Desperate Man by Gustave Courbet,
1844-1845, Oil painting

53. SURREALISM – is an invented word
meaning “super naturalism” or beyond realism.
Surrealists attempt to represent subjects which
were the result of dreams and fantasies.
* Features of Surrealistic Art
Dream-like scenes and symbolic images
Games and techniques to create random effects
Visual puns
Distorted figures and biomorphic shapes
Primitive or child-like designs

54. The Persistence of Memory, oil on canvas by Salvador Dalí, 1931

56. Surrealism Photography (Rebecca Pratt)

57. African Sonata by Vladimir Kush

58.  SYMBOLISM - A symbol is a visible sign of
something invisible such as an idea or quality.
Symbolism systematically uses symbols to
concentrate or intensify meaning, making the
work of art more subjective (rather than
objective) and conventional.
For example, a flag is a symbol of a country
and it depicts the value of nationalism; a lion to
represent courage and a lamb to represent
meekness. The logos and emblems of business
firms and the coat of arms of bishops are also
examples of symbolism.

60. The Poor Fisherman, Oil on canvas by Pie
Puvis de Chavannes, 1881

61.  FAUVISM - It is derived from the French “les
fauves,” which means “the wild beasts.” It is
the first movement in the modern period in
which color ruled supreme and emphasizes
the use of extremely bright colors.
To a fauvist, for example, a tree trunk
need not be brown. It could be bright red,
purple or any other color.

64. DADAISM - The term “dada” is a French
word, which means a “hobby-horse.” A hobby-
horse is a child’s toy consisting of a wooden
horse mounted on a stick. With this etymology,
we could say that Dadaism is system of art
which is “nonsensical” or making no sense.
Some would say it is not an art because it
strives to have no meaning at all.

66. Mr. Chop Chop
Sculpture by Lorna Fernandez-Jumalon

68. FUTURISM – is an art movement that
originated in Italy in the early 20th century.
Machine and motions are the main subject of
this technique which try to show movement
and speed. Thus, futurism can be considered as
realism in the future.

69. “New City” by Antonio
Sant'Elia 1914

70. A moving sail bridge concept

71. IMPRESSIONISM – It is also sometimes
referred to as optical realism due to its interest
in the actual viewing experience, including
such things as the effect of color, light and
movement on the appearance of the objects
depicted in the artworks.
Impressionism focused on directly
describing the visual sensations derived from
nature. Devotees of Impressionism were not
concerned with the actual depiction of the
objects they painted. Instead they were
concerned with the visual impressions aroused
by those objects.

74.  ABSTRACT EXPRESSIONISM – Abstract
means “drawing away from reality” or “to move
away”. The principle of departure from the real
life or reality makes abstraction stands out and
different among other methods.
 A realist artist represents subject as is in his
artworks but an abstractionist ignores the exact
form of a real-life object.
 Abstract arts challenge the minds of the viewer to
look deeper. Abstract Expressionism was
influenced by the Existentialist philosophy, which
emphasized the importance of the act of creating,
not of the finished object. What matters for the
artist are the qualities of the paint and the act of
painting itself.

77.  An ARTIST is a person who performs any of the
creative arts. This captures all forms of art. For an
example, a person who paints can be referred to as
an artist. In the modern world, the term artist is
also used for musicians as well.
 This is why people often tend to hear the words
‘young artist,’ through media to refer to emerging
musicians. Here, it is important to highlight that
the term artist is not only attributed for those who
create art as an occupation, but also for those who
are skilled in a particular activity such as drawing,
designing, composing, etc.

80. An artisan is a skilled worker who makes
things by hand. This includes various objects
ranging from jewelry to furniture. An artisan
should not be confused with an artist because
there is a clear difference in the things that they
create.
An artisan is able to produce something that
has a functional value. However, it must be
stressed that there are cases where the objects
created by an artisan has only decorative value.

81. Most artisans have the skill of adding aesthetic
value to the objects that they create. This
transcends the object from a mere object of
utility. This is why most handmade objects are
much more expensive than mass-produced
objects.