Reading the Image of the

Visual Work
Documentary Information
• Visual work (painting, print, sculpture, architecture, film,
advertising images) as a text that conveys a complex of
concepts, feelings, attitudes, moods, atmosphere and value that
derives from world views and ideologies, public or personal
• Basic documentary information required in reading a work of art
1. Title of the work
- May or may not contribute to the work meaning or identifies the
subject, or bears an ironic relationship to the work or a witty
comment about the work or its subject
2. Name of Artists
- generation the artist belongs
- dominant artistic trends during their active years
- name of their peers
- personal background and training
- record, diaries and published statements which shed light on
their art
3. Medium and Technique
- Determine the medium (artistic choice as in mixed media or
multimedia)
- Keen awareness of the work of art in terms of artistic process
involving particular medium and techniques
- Identify the particular kind of materials used
- Note to be added regarding the ground of a painting (cloth,
canvass, wood)
4. Dimensions of measurements
- Format of the work
- Measurements (big, large-scale, mural size, average, small, miniature)

5. Date of work
- Provides historical context of the work
- Provides information as to what period of the artist development the
work belongs
- Date of the work situates in art history (particular trend, school,
movement)
Three Levels of Content in Art
1. Semiotic Plane
- Includes the elements and general, technical and physical aspects of the
work

2. Iconic Plane or the Image Itself

- Includes the choice of the subject which may bear socio-political implications
- “Icon” – refers to an image with a meaning
- It presents the figure relative to the viewer – its positioning (frontal, profile)
and what meaning those orientation convey
- Some questions to be asked: 1) What would be the difference if the figure
was centered or all crammed on one side?
- 2) What does the direction of the character’s gaze imply?
- 3) Why is the figure cropped?
3. Thematic Plane
- Every art has historical or cultural influence
- Art is viewed in relation to its time, the ideologies and
concerns of that period
- The theme is derived from the significant circumstances
of the artist and therefore a good analysis within its
plane demands that the viewer knows the artist’s
background