 A work of art is the visual expression of an idea or experience created with skill.  Perceive: To become deeply aware through the senses of the special nature of a visual object.

Edvard Munch. The Sick Child

 Painted in 1885  Portrait of his older and favorite sister who died of tuberculosis years earlier at the age of 15.  What has the artist done to focus your attention on the sick child?

 Personal function: To express personal feelings.  Social function: To reinforce and enhance the shared sense of identity to those in a family, community, or civilization.  Spiritual function: To express spiritual beliefs about the destiny of life controlled by the force of a higher power.

 Physical function: To create/invent functional art.  Educational function: Art is sometimes used to provide visual instruction. When not everyone could read, artists would use symbols to provide information.

 The urge to create is universal!  Artists: Creative individuals who use imagination and skill to communicate in visual form.

 Nature  People and World Events  Myth Legends  Creative Techniques  Artists of the past  Ideas commissioned by employers

*The Lackawanna Valley *George Inness *Morning Suprise *Terry Redlin

The Symbols in this picture tell a story: *The gothic window represents the couple’s European heritage. *The pitchfork represents their determination. *American Gothic *Grant Wood

*Twin Towers Crying *Tone Granberg

Dragons Depicting the return of a legendary hero, Ulysses.

Jackson Pollock

*Las Meninas *Diego Velazquez 1656 *Las Meninas *Pablo Picasso 1957

*Leonardo Davinci *Ginevra de’ Benci Commissioned by her husband at the age of 16.

 Symbol: Something that stands for, or represents, something else.  Elements of Art: Basic Visual symbols in the language of art. › Line › Shape and Form › Space › Color › Value › Texture

 Principles of Art: Rules that govern how artists organize the elements of art. › Rhythm › Movement › Balance › Proportion › Variety › Emphasis › Harmony › Unity

 Subject: The image viewers can easily identify in a work of art.  Nonobjective Art: Art that has no recognizable matter.  Composition: The way the principles of art are used to organized the elements of art.

 Content: The message the work communicates.  Credit Line: A list of important facts about a work of art.  Medium: The materials used to make art.