Art History

Sae Kim

Survey of Western Art II

ARTH 201-001

Formal Analysis Quiz

Artists use a variety of ways to create works that would express a certain emotion, perspective or even an object. It is important for the viewers to observe every aspect of the work to understand the simplest message an artist is trying to convey. And in order to grasp what the artist is trying to show, a formal analysis will be carried out that examines the superficial parts of the artwork. Although the two paintings presented in the formal analysis assignment differ in impression, if important components of the artwork are recognized, it will enable us to better understand each artwork and what the artist is trying to show.

The second artwork (#2) presented in the assignment has a very bold impression. The techniques used in this artwork generally all work together to give off a very strong artwork. And the visual elements that are most significant to this artwork, is color, style, line, composition, medium and space.

First, color is the most striking part of the artwork. The majority of the painting is covered with bold, complementary colors of red and green. There is also a bulk of yellow to intensify certain shapes and black is also used to create outlines. Variety of different shades of brown and two different shades of blue are also present throughout the painting. Although cool colors such as blue is present, because of the abundance of opaque, bright red color, the painting gives off more warm impression. The next important part is the style of the artwork. It seems to be abstract because the variety of shapes represented in the artwork seems to be distorted and also transformed in such a way that the viewers are not able to easily distinguish objects presented in the work.

Lines also play a big part of the painting. While most lines are opaque and thick lines to simply outline different shapes, there are also thin, delicate lines that illustrate texture. Such as the...