What is art criticism?

Art criticism is an organized approach for studying a work of art. It is a way to learn from the artwork itself. It can make art that you don’t understand or don’t feel comfortable with less mysterious and more logical. Art criticism provides a sequential approach for looking at and talking about art. Learning art criticism will help you interpret works of art and give you the confidence to discuss them.

1. Description - What do I see?
2. Analysis - How is the work organized?
3. Interpretation – What is the artist trying to communicate?

Step One: Description – What do I see?

For description, you must be objective and carefully make a list of all the things you see in the work. Do not try to guess why things are there or what they mean. Your description should include the following:

• The subject (the things you see)  and details.
• The function.
• The size of the artwork, the medium used (clay body, type of glaze or other surface, other non-ceramic media), and the techniques used (forming processes, decorating processes, firing proc`esses). This may be found in the credit line information, or you may have to do further research.
• The elements of art used in the artwork.

Line – lines may be thick, thin, straight, jagged, curvilinear, wavy…

Shape – 2-D shapes may be geometric (triangle, square, circle…) or organic (free-flowing, forms found in nature)

Form – 3-D – the shapes found in a three-dimensional work (geometric, ie. cone, pyramid, cube, cylinder…or organic)

Color – when describing clays and glazes, both color and texture are important.

Value - light and dark within a work (this does not mean lights or darks resulting from outside lighting, such as gallery spotlights.)

Texture – actual or implied texture – smooth, rough…

Space – What is the character of the space? Is it enclosed and compact, or does space flow in and between the solid forms?

Step Two: Analysis - How is the work organized?

During this step, you are still collecting facts about the elements and principles of art. In analysis, you discover how the main principles of art are used to organize the art elements of line, color, shape, form, space, and texture. You may not find every principle of art used in a single artwork.

The principles of art are the rules that govern how artists organize the elements of art.

Balance – Balance is the principle of art concerned with equalizing visual forces or elements in a work of art. Are objects balanced symmetrically around an axis like a butterfly, or are they asymmetrically balanced like a teeter-totter?  If you can pick the objec`t up, how does it feel in your hand?

Proportion – Proportion is the principle of art concerned with the size relationship of one part to another. Is one figure larger than all the rest to show importance (hierarchical scale) or do all the figures look like real life?

Rhythm – Rhythm is the principle of art that indicates movement by the repetition of elements.

Movement – Visual movement is the principle of art used to create the look and feeling of action and to guide the viewer’s eyes throughout the work of art.

Emphasis – Emphasis is the principle of art that makes one part of a work dominant over the other parts. An element, area, isolated figure, or unusual thing might be emphasized in a work. When you open your eyes and look at the work of art, what do you notice first? Second?

Variety – Variety is the principle of art concerned with difference or contrast. A work that is too much the same can become dull and monotonous. Variety, or contrast, is achieved by adding something different to a design to provide a break in the repetition.

Harmony – Harmony is the principle of art that creates unity by stressing the similarities of separate but related parts. Harmony is pleasing to the eye because elements of the work complement each other.

Unity – Unity is the quality of the wholeness or oneness that is achieved through the effective use of the elements and principles of art. It is a subjective quality that you feel as you view a work of art.

Step Three: Interpretation – What is the artist trying to communicate?

In this step, you will explain or tell the meaning or mood of the work. It is here that you can make guesses about the artwork, as long as they appear to be supported by what you see in the work. To interpret you must use your intelligence and imagination. Your interpretation may be different from that of other people. Your interpretation will be influenced by what you have experienced and seen in your life. Your interpretation must be based on the visual facts and clues you collected during the first two steps.

• Interpret the iconography of the work to help find meaning.
• Function, or a reference to function, can be part of the meaning.
• Artist's statement, or information you may discover about the artist's experiences, culture, time period, can help.