Subject – refers to what the work represents, could
be a person, object, scene or event
Representational or objective art vs. Non-
representational or non objective
Artworks with subject - artworks without
subjects
Sources of Subject:
Nature – most popular source of objective art
(google images)
People – the most interesting subject
(google images)
History – depicts real events which are verifiable facts that
occurred in the past, purpose may be to commemorate or
teach history to the viewers
(google images)
Legends – present to viewers of the art something tangible
even when unverified, “life” is brought in this source of
subject
(google images)
Religion – based on the sacred texts(Bible, Quran,
Torah), art is the handmaid of religion
(google images)
Mythology – based from the stories of gods and
goddesses of ancient Greece, Rome, Celts, Norse
and the Egyptians
(google images)
Dreams and Fantasy – Technology – the
the intrigue of the modern era
unconscious
(google images)
(google images)
Ways of Presenting the Subject:
Naturalism – subject is made to appear and behave like
human beings, always depicted in idealized human
form
(google images)
Realism – depicts the artist’s attempt of portraying the
subject as it is, try to be as objective as possible, the
most popular way of presenting art subjects
(google images)
Abstraction – “ move away or separate from”, subject
representation moves away from reality and involves the
process of simplifying or reorganizing characteristics
and elements of the work to adhere to the artist’s level
of artistic expression
Forms of Abstraction:
a. Distortion – subject of misshapen or twisted out, done
to dramatize the shape of a figure or to create a
dramatic, emotional effect
(google images)
b. Elongation – subject is stretched vertically and/or
lengthened to give the impression of thinness
c. Mangling – subject is shown as cut, lacerated,
mutilated or hacked with repeated blows.
Mangling (google images)
Elongation (google images)
d. Cubism – abstract form is presented through the use of figures:
cone, cylinder, sphere, triangle, square, cube and circle in
place or real pictorial elements
Cubism (google images)
Symbolism – subject is presented as visible sign of something
invisible such as an idea or quality, involves studying the
background and personality of the artist and his relationship to
the societal period that inspired the symbolisms ingrained in
his art
(google images)
Fauvism – began in France and was the first
organized movement in painting of the 1900’s led
by Henri Matisse, the term literally means “wild
beasts”, the FAUVES did not express ethical,
philosophical or psychological themes but painted
pictures of comfort, joy and pleasure, used bright
colors that did not reflect reality ( leaves as
orange and the sky as bright yellow
Dadaism – Dada is French for “hobby horse”, an
art movement that doesn’t follow the traditions
and principles in art, a revolt against tradition
and aims to show the wickedness of society, tries
to shock society and provoke the public with
outrageous pieces of writing, poetry recitals and
art exhibits
Fauvism art (google images) Dadaism art (google images)
Futurism – art movement that began in Italy which aims
at making their works capture the speed and force of
the modern industrial society
Surrealism – invented term for super realism, the art
movement began in Paris in 1924 by the French poet
Andre Breton, emphasized the activities of the
unconscious mind, subjects attempt to show man’s
inner mind and how he may perceive his outside
world, themes are mostly violent and cruel which
reveals the deep, true and ugly part of human nature
Expressionism – occurred during the first decade of the
20th century in Germany, believe that man needs
spiritual rebirth for him to correct defects that ruin
the society, subjects presented involve chaos, sadness,
tragedy and defeat
Source: google images
Futurism Art
Surrealism Art
Expressionism Art