THE SUBJECT OF ART

Meanings, Kinds and Functions

of Subject
 The Subject of Art
What Subject Is?
Ways of Representing Subject
The Artist and His Choice of Subject
Kinds of Subject
The Ugly and the Tragic in the Art
Subject and Content
 What is a Subject?
To a majority of people, the appeal of most
works of art lies in the representation of
familiar objects.
Their enjoyment of painting, sculpture and
literature comes not from their perception of
the meaning but from the satisfaction they get
out of recognizing the subject or
understanding the narrative content.
 What is a Subject?
The subject of art refers to any person, object,
scene or event described or represented in a
work of art.
Representational or Objective
Arts that have subject (eg Painting, Sculpture, Graphic
Arts, Literature and Theatre Arts)
 What is a Subject?
Non-Representational or Non-Objective
Arts that do not have subject.
Music, Architecture and many of the Functional Arts
Program Music musical compositions which have subject
They do not present descriptions, stories, or references
to identifiable objects or symbols. Rather they, appeal
directly to the senses primarily because of the
satisfying organization of their sensuous and expressive
elements.
Makoto Fujimuras
Golden Summer
 What is a Subject?
Many contemporary painters have turned
away from representational to non-objective
painting. They have shifted their attention to
the work of art as an object in itself, an
exciting combination of shapes and colors that
fulfills an aesthetic need without having to
represent images or tell a story.
Many modern paintings are like this making
them more difficult to comprehend.
 The Subject of Art
What Subject Is?
Ways of Representing Subject
The Artist and His Choice of Subject
Kinds of Subject
The Ugly and the Tragic in the Art
Subject and Content
 Ways of Representing Subject
The manner of representing subject varies according
to the intent and inventiveness of each artist.
Realism when things are depicted in the way they would
normally appear.
Abstraction it is the process of simplifying and/or
reorganizing objects and elements according to the
demands of the artistic expression.
Distortion is when the figures have been so arranged
that proportions differ noticeably from natural
measurements.
Surrealism it is realism plus distortion.
 Ways of Representing Subject
Realism
Strictly speaking, no work of art is realistic. Since
no work of art is an accurate copy of what exists in
the natural world.
Some paintings seem to be photographic
renderings of facts or anchored on historical facts.
Fernando Amorsolo.
A Basket of Mangoes.1949.
oil in canvas .
20x16 (frame 24x20)
 Ways of Representing Subject
Abstraction the artist selects and renders the
objects with their shapes, colors and positions
altered. In some abstract works, enough of a likeness
has been retained to represent real things.
In others, the original objects have been reduced to
simple geometric shapes and they can be rarely
identified unless the artist named it in title.
His concern is the rendering of the essence of the
subject rather than the natural form itself.
George Braque
 Ways of Representing Subject
Distortion it could also mean twisting, stretching or
deforming the natural shape of the object.
The relief sculptures and paintings of ancient Egypt
were distorted. The head and lower part of the body
were shown in profile, while the eye and upper part
of the body were in the frontal position. Convention
demanded the highly stylized representation of the
figure.
It is usually done to dramatize the shape of a figure
or to create an emotional effect.
Caricatures employ distortions so that their targets
of ridicule would appear grotesque and hateful.
 Ways of Representing Subject
Surrealism it is a method where the artist in
giving expression to what it is in the
subconscious composes dreamlike scenes that
show an irrational arrangement of objects.
The images are recognizable, sometimes
drawn from the nature but they are so
combined in utterly fantastic and unnatural
relationships.
Joan Miro. Carnival of Harlequin. 1924
Salvador Dali. The Persistence of Memory. 1931
Kawayan de Guia. Incubator.2008
Ateneo Art Gallery
 The Subject of Art
What Subject Is?
Ways of Representing Subject
The Artist and His Choice of Subject
Kinds of Subject
The Ugly and the Tragic in the Art
Subject and Content
 The Artist and His Choice of Subject
Practically everything under the sun is raw
material for the artist to draw his subjects
from.
Most, if not all, of the visual arts are
representations of what the artist thought
and felt about the world they lived in. Or they
are representations of things the artists
imagined or dream about.
Whatever subject an artist chooses, his choice
involves some personal statement.
 The Artist and His Choice of Subject
Things that affect an artists choice of subject
Medium
Time in which he lives and or the patronage he
gets
Developments in Science and Technology
 The Artist and His Choice of Subject
The value of a work of art does not depend on the
artists choice of subject. It does not mean that the
more profound the subject, the greater the work of
art. Rather, the worth of any representational work
of art depends upon the way the subject has been
presented.
How a work of art is to be appreciated and assessed,
it has been agreed has more to do with the way in
which its subject or theme is presented than with
what is presented.
 The Subject of Art
What Subject Is?
Ways of Representing Subject
The Artist and His Choice of Subject
Kinds of Subject
The Ugly and the Tragic in the Art
Subject and Content
 Kinds of Subject
Landscapes, Seascapes, and Cityscapes
Still Life
Animals
Portraits
Figures
Everyday Life
History and Legend
Religion and Mythology
Dreams and Fantasies
 Kinds of Subject
Landscapes, Seascapes and Cityscapes
Artists have always been fascinated with their physical
environment.
Favorite subject of Chinese and Japanese painters.
Fernando Amorsolo, is well known for having romanticized
Philippine landscapes.
In Europe, the paintings of pure landscapes without
human figures was almost unheard of until the
Renaissance. They only served as backgrounds prior to
this.
Modern painters seem to be attracted to scenes in cities.
Vicente Manansala, Arturo Luz and Mauro Malang Santos
are some who have done Cityscapes
Vicente Manansala. Barung-Barong
Fernando Amorsolo. Antipolo
 Kinds of Subject
Still Lifes
These are groups of inanimate objects arranged in an
indoor setting (flower and fruit arrangements, dishes food,
pots and pans, musical instruments and music sheets). The
arrangement is like that to show particular human
interests and activities.
The still lifes of Chinese and Japanese painters usually
show flowers, fruits and leaves still in their natural setting,
unplucked from the branches.
Today, focus is on the exciting arrangement and
combinations of the objects shapes and colors.
Juan Sanchez Cotan(15601627), Quince, Cabbage, Melon and
Cucumber (1602),San Diego Museum of Art
 Kinds of Subject
Animals
They have been represented by artists from almost every
age and place. In fact, the earliest known paintings are
representations of animals on the walls of caves.
The carabao has been a favorite subject of Filipino artists.
The Maranaws have an animal form of sarimanok as their
proudest prestige symbol.
Animals have been used as symbols in conventional
religious art.
The dove stands for the Holy Spirit in representations of the Trinity
The fish and lamb are symbols of Christ
The phoenix is the symbol of Resurrection
The peacock is the symbol of Immortality through Christ
 Kinds of Subject
Portraits
People have always been intrigued by the human
face as an index of the owners character. As an
instrument of expression, it is capable of showing
a variety of moods and feelings.
It is a realistic likeness of a person in sculpture,
painting, drawing or print but it need to be a
photographic likeness. A great portrait is a product
of a selective process, the artist highlighting
certain features and de-emphasizing others.
Leonardo da Vinci.
Monalisa
 Kinds of Subject
It does not have to be beautiful but it has to be truthful.
Besides the face, other things are worth noticing in
portraits are the subjects hands, which can be very
expressive, his attire and accessories for it reveals much
about the subjects time.
Statues and busts of leaders and heroes were quite
common among the Romans but it was not until the
Renaissance that portrait painting became popular in
Europe.
Many artists did self portraits. Their own faces provided
them unlimited opportunities for character study.
Bust of Aphrodite
Frida Kahlo. Self-portrait
with flowers
 Kinds of Subject
Figures
The sculptors chief subject has traditionally been the
human body, nude or clothed. The bodys form, structure
and flexibility offer the artist a big challenge to depict it in
a variety of ways, ranging from the idealistic as in the
classical Greek sculptures to the most abstract.
The grace and ideal proportions of the human form were
captured in religious sculpture by the ancient Greeks. To
them, physical beauty was the symbol of moral and
spiritual perfection; thus they portrayed their gods and
goddesses as possessing perfect human shapes.
Venus de Milo c. 150 B.C.
 Kinds of Subject
Early Christian and medieval artists seldom
represented the nude figure. The figures they
used to decorate the walls and entrances of their
churches were distorted so as not to call undue
attention and distract people from their spiritual
thoughts.
But Renaissance artists reawakened an interest in
the nude human figure.
A favorite subject among painters is the female
figure in the nude.
 Kinds of Subject
Everyday Life
Artists have always shown a deep concern about
life around them. Many of them have recorded in
paintings their observation of people going about
their usual ways and performing their usual tasks.
Genre Paintings representations of rice
threshers, cockfighters, candle vendors, street
musicians and children at play.
Fernando Amorsolo. Lavandera. 1932. Oil on board.
13 1/2x 10 inches
 Kinds of Subject
History and Legend
History consists of verifiable facts, legends of unverifiable
ones, although many of them are often accepted as true
because tradition has held them so far. Insofar as ancient
past is concerned, it is difficult to tell how much of what
we know now is history and how much is legend.
History and Legend are popular subjects of art.
While many works may not be consciously done historical
records, certain information about history can be pieced
from them. The costumes and accessories, the status
symbols, the kinds of dwellings or the means of
transportation.
Malakas and Maganda and Mariang Makiling are among
the legendary subjects which have been rendered in
painting and sculpture by not a few Filipino artists.
Eugene Delacroix. Liberty Leading the People. 1830. Oil on canvas. Louvre, Paris
 Kinds of Subject
Religion and Mythology
Art has always been a handmaiden of Religion.
Most of the worlds religions have used the arts to
aid in worship, to instruct, to inspire feelings of
devotion and to impress and convert non-
believers.
The Christian Church commissioned craftsmen to
tell the stories about Christ and the saints in
pictures, usually in mosaics, murals and stained
glass windows in churches. It also resorted to the
presentation of tableaux and plays to preach and
teach.
 Kinds of Subject
Some religions however, forbid the representation of
divinity as human beings or animal forms, although they
allow the use of some signs or symbols in their place.
Pictures of God, human beings, or animals are forbidden in
Judaism and Islam because people might worship the images
themselves
Other religions have taught that a god may sometimes assume
human or other visible forms.
Thus he is distinguished from human beings by a halo, wing, or a
darker complexion, or by the use of some attributes
The ancient Egyptians portrayed their gods as part human and
part animal
The ancient African tribes distorted their gods features
Among the Hindus, Shiva is shown as a four-armed god
Buddha, is symbolized by his footprints, a wheel or a true
 Kinds of Subject
In the early Christian world, representation of
divinity were also symbolic. There were
precise conventions in rendering them.
The serpent has been used to mean evil
The Four Evangelists were represented by animal
forms:
St Luke by an Ox
St John by an Eagle
St Mark by a Lion
St Matthew by a Winged Man
 Kinds of Subject
Dreams and Fantasies
Dreams are usually vague and illogical. Artists especially
the surrealists have tried to depict dreams as well as the
grotesque terrors and apprehensions that lurk in the
depths of the subsconscious.
A dream may be lifelike situation.
Therefore, we would not know if an artwork is based on a
dream unless the artist explicitly mentions it.
But if the picture suggests the strange, the irrational and
the absurd, we can classify it right away as a fantasy or
dream although the artist may not have gotten from the
idea of a dream at all but the workings of his imagination
No limits can be imposed on an artists imagination.
 The Subject of Art
What Subject Is?
Ways of Representing Subject
The Artist and His Choice of Subject
Kinds of Subject
The Ugly and the Tragic in the Art
Subject and Content
 The Ugly and Tragic in Art
There is nothing that may be considered as an
improper subject when it comes to art.
The grotesque, the ugly and the tragic are all
legitimate subjects as the pleasurable and the
beautiful are.
Many, in fact, have often deviated away from the
stereotyped and beautiful subjects.
The greatest plays are invariably tragedies.
And many of our songs speak about love denied or
lost.
Our sweetest songs are those that tell of saddest
thoughts according to Percy Bysshe Shelley.
 The Ugly and Tragic in Art
There are reasons for the wide appeal of works of art
that show human suffering. Each of us has suffered
grief, frustration or loss one way or another. In these
works of art we find an affinity with the rest of the
humanity who have likewise experienced these
painful emotions and tensions.
It is as if by vicariously experiencing the suffering
evoked by these works, we are purged of the pain
and we achieve a release of tension.
 The Subject of Art
What Subject Is?
Ways of Representing Subject
The Artist and His Choice of Subject
Kinds of Subject
The Ugly and the Tragic in the Art
Subject and Content
 Subject and Content
Subject refers to the Content is the
objects depicted by meaning
the artist In literature, it is
Content refers to the theme
what the artist Content reveals the
expresses or artists attitude
communicates on the toward his subject
whole of his work
Subject Matters Different Levels of
Meaning

1. Factual Meaning
2. Conventional Meaning
3. Subjective Meaning
 Subject Matters Different Levels of
Meaning

1. Factual Meaning the literal

statement or the narrative content in
the work which can be directly
apprehended because the objects
presented are easily recognized
 Subject Matters Different Levels of
Meaning
2. Conventional Meaning refers to the
special meaning that a certain object or
color has a particular culture or group of
people.
Examples: Flag- symbol of a nation, cross
for Christianity, crescent moon - Islam
Subject Matters Different Levels of
Meaning
3. Subjective Meaning any personal
meaning consciously or unconsciously
conveyed by the artist using a private
symbolism which stems from his own
association of certain objects, actions
or colors with past experiences.
 Functions of art
Aesthetic function- appreciating art for its
own sake.
Utilitarian function-it does not only enriches
mans life but it improves nature.
Cultural function-it enables to transmit culture
from one generation to another.
Social function-through art, man learns to love
and help each other.