1. { Interpreting Art Discovering meaning in artists’ marks

2. How to Read Art 1. Start by Observing: what is the image, what is being emphasized; How does the artist work? What techniques/styles has the artist used 2. Is there a Narrative? How is the artist using symbolism, character and dramatic action to tell a story? 3. Is there an Historical content, context or reference that illuminates what the artist wants to say? 4. What do you know about the Artist? Two Calla Lilies on Pink (1928) Georgia O'Keeffe http://www.georgiaokeeffe.net/two-calla-lilies-on-pink.jsp Contrabando y Traicion (2007) Rigoberto A. Gonzalez Oil on linen 6ft x 7 ft http://rigobertogonzalezalonso.com/gallery Kathe K ӧ llwitz The People (1922) woodcut Pablo Picasso The Old Guitarist (1903) Oil on Canvas http://www.pablopicasso.org/images/paintings/the-old-guitarist.jpg

3.  Art provides a “voice” for ideas, knowledge and experience that cannot be expressed in another way  Art only provides this information if they are interpreted  When we interpret a work of art, we get a glimpse of the artist’s world and create a version of that work that is ours alone  Multiple correct interpretations  How the interpretation is built (nuances)  Aesthetics: the theory of beauty in artistic expression and related concepts  Visual Culture: merging “low” arts (craft, media and communications) with “high” arts (fine art, design, architecture)  The Sublime: of such excellence, grandeur, or beauty as to inspire great admiration or awe. Starting Points

4. Caspar David Friedrich Wanderer Above the Sea of Fog 1818 Oil on Canvas 98.4 cm × 74.8 cm (37.3 in × 29.4 in) Kunsthalle Hamburg, Germany https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wanderer_above_the_Sea_of_Fog#/media/File:Caspar_David_Friedrich_- _Wanderer_above_the_sea_of_fog.jpg Elbsandsteingebirge, Germany Edvard Munch The Scream 1893 Oil, tempera, pastel and crayon on cardboard 91 cm × 73.5 cm (36 in × 28.9 in) National Gallery, Oslo, Normandy Both illustrate the "halted traveler" where the solitary figure experiences an epiphany in the middle of nature. Both reject the traditional horizontal orientation of landscapes, employing a vertical orientation. Friedrich's figure keeps his back to the viewer while Munch's figure confronts the viewer directly Munch displays a hostile landscape, showing the opposite of the Romantic ideal linking God and man through nature. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Scream

5. Decoding an Attribution Caspar David Friedrich Wanderer Above the Sea of Fog 1818 Oil on Canvas 98.4 cm × 74.8 cm (37.3 in × 29.4 in) Kunsthalle Hamburg, Germany Artist’s Name Title Year created Dimensions Location Medium A medium refers to the materials that are used to create a work of art. When indicating a measurement, you MUST include the unit (inch, cm, ft, etc.) so scale can be determined.

6. General Questions  What does it mean to interpret a work of art?  Who interprets art?  Are interpretations necessary?  What is a good interpretation?  Is there a right interpretation for a work of art?  If more than one interpretation is accepted, are all interpretations equal?  What is the artist’s role in interpretation?  Is not the artist’s interpretation of the artist’s own work of art the best interpretation?  Who decides if an interpretation is acceptable?  Are correct interpretations universal and eternal?

7. http://www.wikiart.org/en/rene-magritte/the-two-mysteries-1966 Rene Magritte The Two Mysteries (1966) Oil on Canvas 80 cm × 65 cm Private Collection WHAT STATEMENT IS THE ARTIST MAKING? BETTER YET, WHAT QUESTION IS HE ASKING? SAME PIPE OR TWO DIFFERENT PIPES? What does this sentence mean (Ceci n’est pas une pipe)? Where is this pipe located? Over the easel? Between the easel and the wall? Close to the viewer? “Do not look overhead for a true pipe. That is a pipe dream. It is the drawing within the painting, firmly and rigorously outlined, that must be accepted as a manifest truth.” Michel Foucault This pipe has reference points to establish scale This pipe does not. What does the title mean? How does it influence your interpretation of the painting?

8. Rene Magritte The Postcard 1960 Oil on Canvas 27½” x 19½” Mayor Gallery, London, UK Some Facts about the painter: A Surrealist – believed that the the pursuit of rationalism in culture and politics and scientific progress led to the horrors of WWI Influenced by the subconscious (dreams, Sigmund Freud) Some of Magritte’s paintings are titled after Edgar Allan Poe stories At age 14, Magritte found his mother in the river with her face covered by her nightgown-she had drowned by suicide Ceci n’est pas une pomme At least 12 paintings of green apples Wanted to create “a contact between consciousness and the external world” through the creation of new objects, transformation of known objects and changing the materials of objects http://www.wikiart.org/en/rene-magritte/the-postcard-1960

9.  To interpret a work of art is to make it meaningful  Interpreters are attentive to unity and diversity in multiple works by the same artist  Interpretations of artworks need not be limited to what the artist intended in making those artworks  Artists often provide interpretive insights into their own works  No single interpretation of an artist’s work exhausts the meaning of that work  Interpreters place artworks into philosophical, historical and artistic contexts  Interpreters selections of which images by an artist we see greatly determine our understandings of that artist’s work  Meaningful interpretations are both personal and communal  Description is NOT interpretation. It is a step in building an interpretation. How you select and combine facts to answer questions of meaning constitute interpretation.  Interpreters consider individual elements in relation to the entire composition. This is known as the Hermeneutic circle – the interdependence of interpretation and description.

10. "Art evokes the mystery without which the world would not exist." Rene Magritte

11.  Barrett, T. (2003). Interpreting art: Reflecting, wondering, and responding. New York, NY: The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.  Powers, S. (2016). "Rene Magritte Biography, Art, and Analysis of Works." The Art Story. The Art Story Contributors. Web. 23 July 2016.  “Wanderer Above the Sea of Fog.” Artble. Artble Contributors. Web. 2 August 2016. References