1. Major THEMES for this chapter include:
Themes of Art
Major THEMES for this chapter include:
1. The Sacred Realm
2. Politics and the Social Order
3. Stories and Histories
4. Looking Outward: The Here and Now
5. Looking Inward: The Human Experience
6. Invention and Fantasy
7. The Natural World
8. Art and Art
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2. Key Terms for this chapter include:
space cells
iconoclasm

3. Themes of Art Themes and purposes may differ within a work of art.
A work of art may reflect more than one theme.

4. Themes of Art
Our modern world of art includes schools, galleries, critics, collectors and museums. It features individual artists working independently expressing their own ideas.
In the past, an artist typically worked for a client, patron, or collaboratively in a workshop. Rarely were individual artists known.

5. The Sacred Realm
The sacred realm cannot be seen with human eyes. Religious images help to give concrete form to abstract ideas.
Iconoclasm: Derived from the Greek word meaning “image breaking” and refers to the destruction of images in the name of spiritual purity.
Insert visual(s).
Suggestions:
3.2 prayer hall of Great Mosque
3.4 Madonna Enthroned

6. Prayer hall of Abd al-Rahman I, Great Mosque, Cordoba, Spain
Prayer hall of Abd al-Rahman I, Great Mosque, Cordoba, Spain. Begun 786 C.E.

7. Cimabue. Madonna Enthroned. C. 1280 –90
Cimabue. Madonna Enthroned. C –90. Tempera on wood, 12’ 7 ½” x 7’ 4”

8. Politics and the Social Order
Political art and social statements are often intertwined and reflect the nature of a society.
Discussion Topic:
What are some examples of modern day political art? Explain your examples.
Where do we most commonly find political art in our community?
Insert visual(s).
Suggestions:
3.7 Liberty Leading the People, 1830
3.8 Guernica

9. Eugene Delacroix. Liberty Leading the People, 1830. 1830.
Oil on canvas, 8’6” x 10’10”

10. Pablo Picasso. Guernica. 1937. Oil on canvas, 11’5 ½” x 25’5 ¾”.

11. Stories and Histories
Artists sometime use stories as subject matter to express cultural history or shared experiences.
Space cells: An area within a work of art referred to as “painting within a painting” used for visual narration of a story.
Insert visual(s).
Suggestion: 3.10 Rama and Lakshmana Bound by Arrow-snakes

12. Sahibdin and workshop. Rama and Lakshmana Bound by Arrowsnakes, from the Ramayana. Mewar, c –52. Opaque watercolor on paper, approx. 9” x 15 3/8”

13. Looking Outward: The Here and Now
This theme illustrates artwork dealing with the everyday, here and now, and often makes use of images that are part of the artists’ everyday lives.
The artists’ visual concerns are often close to their personal world.
Insert visual(s).
Suggestions:
3.14 Gas
3.15 Windward

14. Edward Hopper. Gas, 1940, oil on canvas, 26 ¼” x 40 ¼”.

15. Robert Rauschenber, Windward, 1963, oil and silkscreened ink on canvas,
8’ x 5’10”.

16. Looking Inward: The Human Experience
This theme addresses what it is like to be human and questions that many humans ask like “Who am I?”.
Insert visual(s).
Suggestion: 3.16 Talking Skull

17. Meta Warrick Fuller. Talking Skull, 1937. Bronze, 28” x 40” x 15”.

18. Invention and Fantasy
Art that springs from the imagination is represented through the theme of invention and fantasy. It is the product of dreams, fantasy, and daydreaming.
Insert visual(s).
Suggestions:
3.19 The Garden of Earthly Delights
3.20 The Dream

19. Hieronymus Bosch, The Garden of Earthly Delights, center section. C
Hieronymus Bosch, The Garden of Earthly Delights, center section. C –10, oil on panel, 7’2 5/8” x 6’4 ¾” .

20. Henri Rousseau, The Dream, 1910, oil on canvas, 6’8 ½” x 9’9 ½”.

21. The Natural World
This theme deals with our relationship to nature and the artist’s use of it as subject matter. Some artists simply represent nature and others use it as a vehicle to explore other ideas.
Insert visual(s).
Suggestions:
3.22 The Oxbow
3.23 White Clouds over Xiao and Xiang

22. Thomas Cole, The Oxbow (View from Mount Holyoke, Northampton, Massachusetts, After a Thunderstorm), Oil on canvas, 4’3 ½” x 6’4”.

23. Wang Jian, White Clouds over Xiao and Xiang, 1668
Wang Jian, White Clouds over Xiao and Xiang, Hanging scroll; ink and color on paper, height 53 ¼”.

24. Art and Art
This theme explores the use of art being pursued for its own sake.
Discussion Topic:
Should art be pursued for its own sake and what does that meet to you?
Insert visual(s).
Suggestions:
3.26 Ejira in Suruga Province
3.27 A Sudden Gust of Wind

25. Hokusai. Ejira in Suruga Province, from Thirty-six Views of Mt. Fuji. C Polychrome woodblock print. 9 5/8” x 14 7/8”

26. Jeff Wall, A Sudden Gust of Wind (after Hokusai), 1993
Jeff Wall, A Sudden Gust of Wind (after Hokusai), Transparency in lightbox,
7’ 6 7/8” x 12’ 4 5/16”

27. Themes of Art: Summary Major THEMES covered in this chapter:
1. The Sacred Realm
2. Politics and the Social Order
3. Stories and Histories
4. Looking Outward: The Here and Now
5. Looking Inward: The Human Experience
6. Invention and Fantasy
7. The Natural World
8. Art and Art
Key Terms: space cells, iconoclasm
Discussion Topic:
If you were a professional artist, which of the themes in this chapter would you want to explore through your art and why?