ART406A - Art Criticism: Theory and Practice

Name – Abhishek Bansal

Roll No. – 180020

My Favourite Art Pieces

Introduction

Visual images preceded written language as a means of communication. However, art goes beyond
communicating information; it also expresses a whole dimension of human personality—our inner,
or psychological, states of being [1] . Art immortalizes people, places and events. Art has opened
newer dimensions to a person’s creativity. It has become a standard means to understand society,
culture and individual emotions of the intellectual artists. There have been many great artists in the
history - Leonardo da Vinci, Pablo Picasso, Vincent Van Gogh, Michelangelo to name a few and
various great art movements have taken place overtime such as Cubism, Expressionism, Realism and
many more. Art is now not only restricted to paintings but has broadened its scope to include
sculpture, architecture, literature, music, cinema, and theatre as well. I will analyze and discuss some
of my favourite art works here giving analysis based on the widely used four step method of Art
Criticism by Edmund Burke Feldman [1] and the Three layered Method of Art Criticism by Alice
Guillermo[2].

Mona Lisa

Feldman’s four step Analysis

Description
The painting depicts a woman sitting on a chair in the centre
of the image. Her right arm is resting on her left arm, which is
placed on the arm of the chair. She is wearing a black veil.
She has long brownish curly hairs and she is looking at the
centre towards the observer. She has a very faded eyebrows
and apparently no eyelashes. Her face, Chest, and the hands
are lit up against the dark cloth. A balcony wall is also visible
besides her. The background behind the balcony wall shows a
landscape going quite far. On her right, The landscape has a
curvy road in between the little hills, leading to a flowing
water body and large hills. The same water body and the hills
seems to continue to her left side and there is a little bridge
there. The view becomes hazy as the distance increases.

Analysis
There are no brush strokes, sharp lines, and hard edges visible anywhere in the painting. There is
very fine blending of colours, the colour transitions being almost invisible. By repeating colours, a
sense of unity is created. The figure is mostly a balanced composition, but the woman is positioned

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slightly off-centre. She is shown much bigger than the background to emphasize on her body, her
face being the focal point. The contrast between distant objects gradually lessens as we move
further in the background and contours become less distinct giving an illusion of depth. There is
contrasts in prominent shade of light and to create the illusion of 3D form.

Interpretation
Mona Lisa’s clothing is simple, although being a wealthy woman to make more focus on the face of
Mona Lisa. Her eyebrows and eyelashes have disappeared overtime with cleaning and restoration.
Leonardo da Vinci has used several techniques for making this iconic piece such as Sfumato,
Verdaccio, pyramid shape structure, aerial perspective, and many others. The curves of her hair and
clothing reflect the rolling valleys and rivers behind her, connecting humanity and nature. Her eyes
seem to follow us, and the smile comes and goes as we scan around her face. Leonardo was a genius
in anatomy, visual perception, optics, and other scientific fields, and he applied all of them in this
revolutionary painting to create such effects. There is not much to what Mona Lisa symbolizes in the
painting rather, it is the scientific principles and geniuses that Leonardo da Vinci has embedded in
this painting what makes it unique. The Mona Lisa embodies Leonardo da Vinci’s belief that
everything is connected

Judgment
Mona Lisa by Leonardo da Vinci is certainly the most famous and scientific of all the paintings that
exist in the world. Completed in 16 years, it shows the true genius of Leonardo da Vinci. Although at
first glance, it might not have the wow factor that other paintings might seem to have but if we
examine closely, it turns out to be greatest psychological paintings of the world, and the more
closely you examine, the more secrets get revealed and she is a face in the revolution of the art. This
work shows the perfect combination of the intellect with imagination, art and science, although it
fails to convey any particular meaning to the viewer.

Three Layered Analysis

Semiotic Analysis
Leonardo da Vinci has used several techniques for making this iconic piece such as Sfumato,
Verdaccio, pyramid shape structure, aerial perspective, and many others. Her clothing is simple,
although being a wealthy woman to make more focus on the face of Mona Lisa. Her eyebrows and
eyelashes have disappeared overtime with cleaning and restoration. There are no brush strokes,
sharp lines, and hard edges visible anywhere in the painting. There is very fine blending of colours,
the colour transitions being almost invisible. By repeating colours, a sense of unity is created

Iconic Analysis
Although at first glance, it might not have the wow factor that other paintings might seem to have
but if we examine closely, it turns out to be greatest psychological paintings of the world. There are
many secrets hidden in the Eyes and the Smile Of Mona Lisa. Leonardo was able to create an
uncatchable smile, one that is elusive if we are too intent on seeing it. Her eyes seem to follow the
viewer, and the smile comes and goes as we scan around her face.

Thematic Analysis
The lady in the portrait is Lisa Gherardini.[3] She married Franceso del Giaconda, a nouveau riche silk
merchant in 1495. Leonardo’s father was Franceso’s lawyer, thus he had to take to paint her, despite
he was used to work only for the royal order and popes. Also he wanted to experiment out new

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techniques and ideas that would not have been possible for a royal portrait Leonardo started this
painting in 1503 and took 17 years to paint this iconic piece. During the time of Leonardo, subjects
were portrayed stiff and upright, while Mona Lisa is relaxed, her arm resting gently as if it’s a
snapshot. The standard renaissance portraits of women were in profile, and they weren’t smiling,
and looking directly at the viewer. The entire painting deviated from the traditional way women
were painted in Italy. Leonardo was a genius in anatomy, visual perception, optics, and other
scientific fields, and he applied all of them in this revolutionary painting to create such effects. At the
time when he was perfecting Lisa’s smile, Leonardo was spending his nights in the depths of the
morgue under the hospital of Santa Maria Nuova, peeling the flesh off cadavers and exposing the
muscles and nerves underneath

The Starry Night

Feldman’s four step Analysis
Description
The painting depicts a night view scene. In the
background of the painting, there is a blue sky made up
of many large whirling shapes. The sky ripples and flows
and contains many yellow radial luminous patches with
concentric circles. The sky meets blue mountains to the
right side of the painting in the middle ground. In front
of the mountains, there are some green flowing shapes
and in front of that, there are many colourful houses
and a bell tower. In the foreground, to the left side of
the painting, there is a green thick, tormented structure rising like a flame till the top of the painting.

Analysis
The rippling and curvy lines dominate the dark scene. The above painting is made of mostly cool dark
and light colours, with some intense yellows added to increase the contrast. Unity is maintained all
over the composition by keeping similar thick brush strokes, implied lines, curvy shapes, and the
dominating blue colour. The swirling line creates a sense of flowing movement that leads our eyes to
the bright yellow moon, which is the focal point. The glowing stars and the house lights are used as
counterpoints. The composition is asymmetrically balanced – the big tree on the left foreground is
balancing the houses, mountains, and colour of the moon. There is a lot of movement in the
composition- the dark tree moves our eye up, the swirls carry our eye to the moon, the color in the
moon leads our eye to the light-yellow streak beneath it, which in turn leads our eye back to the
dark tree.

Interpretation
The composition contrasts the darkness of village, where only few windowpanes of light can be seen
with the swirling brightness of the night sky and connecting between these two worlds is the dark
cypress tree, traditionally associated with mourning. The darkness of village echoes the closeness of
his room in the mental asylum and his depression state while sky reminds of brilliant light of the
universe, showing a greater meaning shining upon us. The natural elements such as the tree,
mountains, moon are also made larger than the houses in the village showing the supremacy of god
over man. It seems as if the author wanted to escape from this mortal world (world of darkness &

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miseries) to the world of god (world of light & happiness). He wanted to go out of the confined space
of his depression and freely move just like the flow of the sky.

Judgment
This work “Starry Night” by Vincent van Gogh is one of the world’s most famous paintings and is
truly a masterpiece making colour as his way of communication [4]. His appreciation and inspiration
from nature clearly depicts in this artwork. At the asylum, van Gogh observed the night sky from his
barred bedroom window and wrote a letter to Theo describing a magnificent view of the morning
star very early one morning in the summer of 1889. He later painted the scene from memory, adding
some other elements from imagination.

Three Layered Analysis

Semiotic Analysis
This work “Starry Night” by Vincent van Gogh is one of the world’s most famous paintings. There is a
lot of movement in the composition. The above painting is made of mostly cool dark and light
colours, with some intense yellows added to increase the contrast. Unity is maintained all over the
composition by keeping similar thick brush strokes, implied lines, curvy shapes, and the dominating
blue colour. The darkness of village echoes the closeness of his room in the mental asylum and his
depression state while sky reminds of brilliant light of the universe, showing a greater meaning
shining upon us. It seems as if the author wanted to escape from this mortal world (world of
darkness & miseries) to the world of god (world of light & happiness).

Iconic Analysis
This work “Starry Night” by Vincent van Gogh makes the viewer contemplate the viewer deeply
about his position in the gigantic sky, as if one should leave the darkness and go to the light and flow
freely into the sky. Vincent’s appreciation and inspiration from nature clearly depicts in this artwork
making truly colour as his way of communication.

Thematic Analysis
Vincent van Gogh was admitted to a mental asylum outside Saint-Remy in provence as he was
diognsed with epilepsy. He was admirer of Hokusai’s “The Great Wave” and there is very much
similarity to the Starry Night’s sky and the waves of “The Great Wave. The Starry Night depicts the
view from his asylum window on the upper floor, he had already painted the view dozens of time,
but this time he painted from his memory the view of the night during the day from memory. Like
the impressionists, Vincent had always insisted on working directly from nature however, later he
started to paint from imagination.

Guernica

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Feldman’s four step Analysis

Description
Painting has many abstract shapes and characters in it. On the left side, there is a woman whose
mouth is wide open while there is a child in her hand with no expression on his face. Just behind the
woman there is a bull while to her right there is a man’s head lying on the ground with his mouth
open wide. On the right of the bull, there is a horse’s head and neck. Above the horse is an eye along
with a bulb in its centre. To the right of this eye, there is a lamp, which is shown to radiate rays from
it being caught by a hand of a woman in the right. In the extreme right, a woman is looking upwards
with both her hands upraised while another woman is looking towards the radiating lamp but her
left foot stuck to bottom right corner. In the centre, there are too many weird scattered geometric
shapes overlapping each other comprising of horse’s body, man’s body and other things.

Analysis
This painting is very gigantic in size, almost 11 feet by 26 feet. Very little colour is used, and the
painting is almost black and white. The flattened objects give a 2-dimensional view. The painting is
made in a informal arrangement non-realistic style breaking things into basic curves and angles. The
composition has no focal point and looks chaotic making difficult to decide where to look creating
anxiety in the viewer. Horizontal, vertical, diagonal and all kinds of lines are used to convey chaos.
Bold contour lines emphasize the expressions and figures. Despite the chaos, there is perfect visual
order. He balances the composition, by organizing in three vertical grouping moving left to right
while central figure is stabilized within large triangle of light. There is combined use of organic and
geometric shapes, most shapes being organic. Repetition is seen through that are spread all over the
painting. Elements are lighter and the background is darker. Higher saturation is used to intensify
the effect.

Interpretation
A large scale is used to give a great sensation and emphasize the importance of the scene. The
picture depicts the war effects in response to bombing of Guernica made by Pablo Picasso in 1937.
The little colour in the painting shows the lifelessness of the whole scene while different shapes are
used to convey meanings. The woman on left is wailing to the sky in despair as her small child in her
hand is killed in the bombing. Bull fighting was the national sports of Spain and thus the bull

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symbolizes big, strong and merciless. The Bull symbolizes General Fanco who caused the bombing.
The man’s lifeless face shows his death, his arm separated from his body. The horse head and neck
looks like it is screaming in terror, showing the effect of bombs on innocent animals. The eye
symbolizes the Fascist Spanish government spying on everyone. The lamp shows a ray of hope in this
disturbing war scene. In the extreme right, a woman having her both hand upwards is screaming for
life, due to the fire in the building represented by the small triangles near her. The woman looking at
lamp, is looking for some [5]. guidance on how to save her life. Picaso has created an artwork showing
the injustice of a government killing its own people and shows how innocent people suffer in the
war and is still considered one of the greatest anti-war paintings of all times.

Judgment
Each part of the painting enhances another part however this painting lacks a sense of unity that
formal analysis prefers and is a failure in terms of organization and technical execution. This is also
due to the sense of urgency involved in completing the painting within few days. However this
painting succeeds as the most famous anti-war mural aptly titled “Guernica” The painting is a
powerful work of historical documentation. His use of multiple perspectives offers a profoundly
overwhelming view of violence, destruction and causalities. Behind the chaos, there are carefully
crafted scenes and symbols carrying out painting’s attack on fascism.

Three Layered Analysis

Semiotic Analysis
“Guernica”, made by Pablo Picasso in 1937 presents the the war effects in response to bombing of
Guernica in 1937. With abstract lines and shapes, Picasso has presented the injustice of a
government killing its own people and innocent people suffering in the war. A large scale is used to
give a great sensation and emphasize the importance of the scene. Very little colour in the painting
shows the lifelessness of the whole scene. Bold contour lines emphasize the expressions and figures
and there is combined use of organic and geometric shapes, most shapes being organic. The women
on left represents women whose small child were killed in the bombing. Bull fighting was the
national sports of Spain and thus the bull symbolizes big, strong and merciless. The Bull represents
General Fanco & the party who caused the bombing. The man represents soldiers who tried to
defend the bombing but died. The terrified horse represents innocent animals terrified in the war.
The eye symbolizes the Fascist Spanish government spying on everyone. The lamp shows a ray of
hope in this disturbing war scene. In the extreme right, a woman having her both hand upwards is
screaming for life, represents people caught in the fire in the bombing. The woman looking at lamp,
with left foot injured symbolizes people looking for some escape, some injury in bombing.

Iconic Analysis
Picaso had pioneered the cubist style and thus in Guernica also, he painted it in the abstract style,
leaving the peace and political message to be judged by the viewer. The open wide mouth of
woman, and the dripping eyes, the bend face of the child, the soldier’s hand separated from the
body, the horse scream, the right woman’s hand raise and open mouth, all communicates to the
viewer an intense scene of pain and anxiety. As soon as the viewer, looks at these elements, he feels
scared seeing the chaos of the war.

Thematic Analysis
Peter Paul Rubens was an artist that Picasso loved and Reuben’s painting “An allegory showing the
effects of war” from 1638, is the work that most inspired Picasso’s Guernica. If we flip Reuben’s

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painting, we can see the similarity in composition. Although his Guernica has no references to the
actual bombing of the Basque village, he has created a fictious scene whose intensity evokes the
sufferings of war and thus Guernica is an allegorical painting. When Picasso was given a commission
to produce a large-scale mural for Spanish Republic’s Pavilion at the 1937 World’s fair in Paris, and
he got an idea of depicting the scene of Guernica. He searched for Spanish Civil war images in black
and white in newspaper on the next day of bombing and took inspiration from there and this
painting was later used to raise money for Spanish refugees facing fascism and become a powerful
anti-war symbol.

Las Meninas

Feldman’s four step Analysis

Description
The painting depicts a scene in a large room in which
many people are shown. The central figure is a little
girl very well dressed with a bright face facing towards
the observer. In her right, a girl, half sitting, is holding
something in a small red pot looking at the central
figure while in the central figure’s left, a middle girl is
standing gazing at her. Behind the girl to the right of
the central figure, there is a grown-up man having a
brush in his hand looking at a big wooden structure in
front of him. In the extreme left of our central girl,
there is a little boy putting his left leg on a dog sitting
in front of him. Besides him, a middle age dwarf girl is
standing facing front. Behind the girl to the left of the
central figure, there is a grownup women and man standing. In the background the room’s dark wall
is visible. The dark wall has 2 large paintings on top while a mirror below in between the 2 large
paintings where reflection of a man and woman can be seen. To the right of this painting, there is a
light doorway passage. Through this doorway a man is visible standing on the stairs.

Analysis
The painting is made life sized on a 10.5*9 foot canvas. Here we have 3 focal points- the central
figure – the little girl, mirror showing reflection of man and woman, and the man visible standing on
the stairs through the doorway. Light, Perspective and Contrasts in value are very cleaverly used to
lead us to these focus points. The vanishing point of the painting is in the lighted doorway to the
right of the painting. There is a strong value contrast between the lights and darks to lay our
emphasis on the characters in comparison to the room. There is also a pleasing sense of balance in
the painting, with the "quiet" but large area balancing against the "busy" but relatively small area.
This painting features several frames provide a strong linear and geometric theme to the painting.
From a big picture standpoint, the painting is beautifully rendered to a fine and delicate finish. But,
as we look closer, we can see the confidence and looseness of his strokes.

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Interpretation
The painting depicts a large room in the Royal Alcazar of Madrid, Spain[6]. 6 of the 9 characters seems
to stare beyond the picture plan i.e at us. This image gives a sense of spontaneity, as if it were a
snapshot instead of the traditional royal portraits. It looks the king and queen visited in the picture
plane and thus all characters are looking at them. The mirror is reflecting the image of king and
queen from the painting which the author Velazquez is painting. The 2 big pictures on top shows the
contest between mortals and gods on the subject matter of arts. In Velazquez’s time painting didn’t
hold the same kind of noble place as a poetry and music did and this painting is as an argument for
the virtue of the painting.

Judgment
Las Meninas or The Maids of Honor painted by Diego Velazquez in 1656 is the most analzyed
painting in the court because of . He has blurred the boundary between art and reality, creating a
sense of 3D picture where we can walk into. With the incorporation of mirror, Velazques elevated
his art into an intellectual endevour. The use of perspective and multiple focus points is very
scientifically done and this painting is perfect both in terms of formal analysis and the deep meaning
it wants to convey.

Three Layered Analysis

Semiotic Analysis
Las Meninas or The Maids of Honora painted by Diego Velazquez in 1656 depicts a scene in the life
of the Spanish Royal Court. The painting is made life sized on a 10.5*9 foot canvas and the vanishing
point of the painting is in the lighted doorway to the right of the painting gives a very intense effect
of illusion of depth. There is a strong value contrast between the lights and darks to lay our emphasis
on the characters in comparison to the large room. The author has also cleverly used perspective
and contrast to turn our focus towards the mirror depicting King and Queen’s reflection. This
painting features several frames provide a strong linear and geometric theme to the painting

Iconic Analysis
The image gives a sense of spontaneity, as if it were a snapshot instead of the traditional royal
portraits however its highly unlikely to find all the characters together in the real life setting and thus
this was an imaginary scene made by Velazquez both visually and in terms of meaning. 6 of the 9
characters seems to stare beyond the picture plan i.e at the viewer. It seems as if we as the viewer
make the scene happen, as we look at it.

Thematic Analysis
Velazquez was a court painter for the Spanish King Philip IV for over 30 years and he was very close
to the king, thus he chooses his own studio in the royal court, the palace he knew very well to paint
this iconic piece. He made this painting for the pleasure of king. Through including himself in the
painting, Velazquez wanted to show how he was close friend of the king. This painting is the most
analysed painting in the world in terms of the formal structures thus showing the intellect of
Velazquez. Las Meninas is seen as a reflection between reality and illusion, life and art, something
that occupied the literality of the Spanish Baroque Period. Velazquez has used mirrors in several of
his previous works too, to turn the art into an intellectual endeavour

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References

[1] Feldman, Edmund Burke. 1992, Varieties of visual experience / Edmund Burke Feldman H.N.
Abrams New York ; [Great Britain]

[2] Guillermo, Alice. "Art Criticism." Humanities II: Art, M

[3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lisa_del_Giocondo

[4] https://youtu.be/wk9L1N9bRRE

[5] http://www.visual-arts-cork.com/paintings-analysis/guernica.htm

[6] http://www.visual-arts-cork.com/famous-paintings/las-meninas.htm