Lecture Notes: What is the Content of

Art?
In art, the definition of content is referred to as the general meaning or intention of the
artwork. It is the way to manifest the question: What is the message that the artist wants
to convey with his work?
The content of art is the message given by the artwork. It involves the subject, the things
that you see in the piece, the techniques used to make the piece, or anything that was
used by the artist to give a message.

It is the meaning that is expressed and communicated by the artist or the artwork.

Take a look for a few minutes over the image below (Fig. 2.7 (Links to an external site.).). 
The excerpt provides an example of the kind of meaning made of the artwork.

Fig 2.7

"…If I had to interpret the meaning inherent in the work with just one word, it would be “danger”. The
life of a sailor has traditionally been dangerous. Certainly there are some wonderful aspects of being a
sailor - travel, experiencing nature first hand, seeing things that people who have never been to sea
will never have the opportunity to see. But being a sailor, especially in the 19th century, was fraught
with peril. Even more so, the sailor in this picture is a fisherman which is obvious from the fish in the
stern of his boat.
By the title, I imagine that the clouds on the horizon is the fog. The ship in the distance is likely the
fisherman’s mothership and he is far out to sea. The mother ship is likely at least three miles away and
he not only has to fight heavy seas which is dangerous enough, but he also has to race the weather. If
he doesn’t get to the ship before the fog does, he could be lost at sea!
So danger is one meaning, but I think it also serves to honor the lives of the people who bring us our
food. It is easy for people who don’t have to fish to take for granted lives of the people who literally
risk their safety on a regular basis to bring us our food. "

 -Excerpt taken from the ‘traveler1972’ https://discourse.saylor.org/t/arth101- discussion-topic-5-form-and-

content/1923  (Links to an external site.)

To better understand the content of art, it is important to note that there three levels of
meaning:

1. Factual Meaning
The literal statement or narrative content in the work that can be directly apprehended
because the objects presented are easily recognized.
2. Conventional Meaning
It refers to the special meaning or symbol that the certain objects or color has for a
particular culture or group of people when it is shown in an artwork (such as a flag as the
agreed symbol for a nation, the Cross as the Christian symbol for faith).
3. Subjective Meaning
It refers to the individual meaning deliberately and instinctively expressed using a
personal symbolism of objects, actions, or colors based from the previous experiences or
circumstances. It is therefore expected that an art work may not only have one meaning;
rather it may communicate multiple meanings especially to its viewers.

To sum up, two basic considerations we need to be acquainted with are subject: the
depicted object(s) in the artwork, and content: the meaning derived from them. Anything
about the content includes any visual clues that provide an understanding of what the
art tells us. Sometimes an artwork’s subject or the content may be vague or hidden and
needs more information than is present in the work itself. Ultimately, these two
concepts are tied together in the effort to understand what art has to offer to us.