Gateways to Art Chapters 1.8 and 1.9

Chapter 1.8

Emphasis and Focal Point

PART 1FUNDAMENTALS

Copyright © 2011 Thames & Hudson

PART 1FUNDAMENTALS

Gateways to Art: Understanding the Visual Arts, Debra J. DeWitte, Ralph M. Larmann, M. Kathryn Shields

Chapter 1.8 Emphasis and Focal Point

Emphasis

The principle of drawing attention to particular content in a work

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Emphasis and Subordination

The opposite of emphasis is subordination Subordination draws our attention away from certain areas of a

work

1.141 Double-chambered vessel with mouse, Recuay, Peru, 4th–8th century. Ceramic, 6” high. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

1.142 Jules Olitski, Tin Lizzie Green, 1964. Acrylic and oil/wax crayon on canvas, 10’10” x 6’10”. Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Massachusetts

1.143 Mark Tobey, Blue Interior, 1959. Tempera on card, 44 x 28”

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Focal Point

A focal point is the specific part of an area of emphasis to which the artist draws our eye

1.144 slide 1: Pieter Bruegel the Elder, Landscape with the Fall of Icarus, c. 1555–8. Oil on canvas, mounted on wood, 29 x 44⅛”. Musées Royaux des Beaux-Arts de Belgique, Brussels, Belgium

1.145 Artemisia Gentileschi, Judith Decapitating Holofernes, c. 1620. Oil on canvas, 6’6⅜” x 5’3¾“. Uffizi Gallery, Florence, Italy

1.145 slide 2: Directional lines in Artemisia Gentileschi's Judith Decapitating Holofernes

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Emphasis and Focal Point in Action

Artists can use direction, dramatic contrasts, and placement relationships to organize the elements in a work and draw our attention to areas of emphasis and focal points

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Emphasis and Focal Point in Action:Line

Line is an effective way to focus a viewer’s attention in an artwork

1.146 slide 1: The Emperor Babur Overseeing his Gardeners, India, Mughal period, c. 1590. Tempera and gouache on paper, 8¾ x 5⅝”. Victoria and Albert Museum, London, England

1.146 slide 2: Detail of The Emperor Babur Overseeing his Gardeners, showing directional lines

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The Emperor Babur Overseeing his Gardeners

The gardener/artist Babur is pointing to a feature that channels water in four directions

The strong diagonal of the channel draws our attention to the water as it runs toward us

The central cross-shaped confluence of the waters becomes the focal point of the composition

In this work, water is the focal point conceptually as well as visually

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Emphasis and Focal Point in Action:Contrast

Artists look to create effects of contrast by positioning elements next to one another that are very different

For example, areas of different value, color, or size

1.147 Francisco de Zurbarán, The Funeral of St. Bonaventure, 1629. Oil on canvas, 8' 2” x 7' 4”. Musée du Louvre, Paris, France

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Francisco de Zurbarán, The Funeral of St. Bonaventure

Most of the lightest values in the painting are reserved for the clothing adorning the dead body of St. Bonaventure

These create a central focal point that stands out in contrast to the surrounding dark values

The whiteness of his clothing symbolizes Bonaventure's spotless reputation

Enough light value is distributed to the other figures to allow our eyes to be drawn away from the saint’s body, making the composition more interesting

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Emphasis and Focal Point in Action:Placement

The placement of elements within a composition controls rhythm and creates multiple focal points

1.148 Ando Hiroshige, “Riverside Bamboo Market, Kyobashi,” from One Hundred Famous Views of Edo, 1857. 15 x 10⅜”. James A. Michener Collection, Honolulu Academy of Arts, Hawaii

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Ando Hiroshige, “Riverside Bamboo Market, Kyobashi”

The positions of the moon, the bridge, and the figure in a boat form three separate focal points

Each shape commands our attention and draws more of our focus to the right side of the work

The varying distances between the placements of the three focal points also create rhythm that adds visual interest

Chapter 1.9

Pattern and Rhythm

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Copyright © 2011 Thames & Hudson

PART 1FUNDAMENTALS


Chapter 1.9 Pattern and Rhythm

Pattern

An arrangement of predictably repeated elements

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1.149 Horizontal alternating pattern

1.150 Suzanne Valadon, The Blue Room, 1923. Oil on canvas, 35½ × 45⅝”. Musée National d’Art Moderne,Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris, France

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Motif

A design repeated as a unit in a pattern is called a motif

Motifs can represent ideas, images, and themes

1.151 Huqqa base, India, Deccan, last quarter of 17th century. Bidri ware (zinc alloy inlaid with brass), 6⅞ x 6½ in. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

1.152 slide 1: Pashmina carpet with millefleur pattern, northern India, Kashmir or Lahore, second half of 17th century. Ashmolean Museum, Oxford

1.152 slide 2: Detail of pashmina carpet with millefleur pattern

1.153a Chuck Close, Self Portrait, 1997. Oil on canvas, 8’6” × 7’. MOMA, New York

1.153b Chuck Close,Self Portrait, detail

1.153c Chuck Close, Self Portrait, detail

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Rhythm

Rhythm gives structure to the experience of looking, justas it guides our eyes from one point to another in a workof art

There is rhythm when there are at least two points of reference in an artwork

The intervals between elements provide points of reference for more complex rhythms

1.155 slide 1: Pieter Bruegel, Hunters in the Snow, 1565. Oil on panel, 46 x 63¾ in. Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna, Austria

1.155 slide 2: Detail of Pieter Bruegel, Hunters in the Snow

1.155 slide 3: Detail of Pieter Bruegel, Hunters in the Snow

1.155 slide 1: Pieter Bruegel, Hunters in the Snow, 1565. Oil on panel, 46 x 63¾ in. Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna, Austria

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Simple Repetitive Rhythm

A repeating “pulse” of similar elements sets up a visual rhythm that a viewer can anticipate

1.156 Great Mosque of Córdoba, prayer hall of Abd al-Rahman I, 784–6, Córdoba, Spain

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Progressive Rhythm

Repetition that regularly increases or decreases in frequency to create a progressive rhythm

Edward Weston, Artichoke Halved, 1930. Silver gelatin print. 7 3/8 x 9 3/8”. Collection Center for Creative Photography, University of Arizona, Tucson.

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Alternating Rhythm

Artists intertwine multiple rhythms until theybecome quite complex

1.158 slide 1: Bai-ra-Irrai, originally built c. 1700 and periodically restored, Airai village, Airai State, Republic of Palau

1.158 slide 2: Detail of Bai-ra-Irrai

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Bai-ra-Irrai

The imagery above the entry of this bai begins, at the bottom, with the regular rhythms of horizontal lines of fish, but the images above become increasingly irregular as they change to other kinds of shapes

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Rhythmic Design Structure

How artists divide visual space into different sections to achieve different kinds of effect

1.160a Rosa Bonheur, Plowing in the Nivernais: The Dressing of the Vines, 1849. Oil on canvas, 4’4¾” x 8’6⅜”.Musée d’Orsay, Paris, France

Gateways to Art Chapters 1.8 and 1.9

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Transcript of Gateways to Art Chapters 1.8 and 1.9