Ars Chapter 4

4

STYLE, FORM, AND CONTENT

The duty of an artist is to strain against the bonds of the existing style. —Philip Johnson

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uman languages combine words according to rules of grammar to express and communicate emotions and meanings. Artists use the language of art to combine the visual elements of art according to principles of design. The resultant works of art are said to have style and form and to express and communicate a certain content. Despite individual differences—and despite wholesale revolutions!— through the ages several characteristic methods of expression have developed that we refer to as style. Works of art can also be said to have a certain form, which is the totality of what we see—the product of the composition of the visual elements according to (or in total violation of) principles of design. The content of a work includes not only its form but also its subject matter and its underlying meanings or themes. Some works of art can seem to be devoid of content other than the pencil marks or, perhaps, the swaths of paint we find on a sheet of paper or on a canvas (see left). But many are filled with levels of content, more of which are perceived by some viewers than by others. The content of a work varies with the amount of information available to the viewer. For example, viewers who are aware of the symbolism of a particular work of art will find more content in it. Awareness of style, form, and content helps viewers understand and appreciate the visual arts more fully.

NEW YORK, UNITED STATES–APRIL 1949: Contact sheet of artist Jackson Pollock dribbling sand on painting while working in his studio on Long Island. ©Martha Holmes/Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images.

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STYLE

In the visual arts, style refers to a distinctive handling of elements and media associated with the work of an individual artist, a school or movement, or a specific culture or time period. Familiar...