Lesson 4 Subject and Contents

SUBJECT
AND
CONTENT
LESSON 4
LEARNING OUTCOMES
By the end of this lesson, you should be able
to,
 Differentiate representational art and
non- representational art;

 Discuss the difference between an artwork’s
subject and its content;

 Identify the subject matter and
specific examples of art; and

 Enumerate the sources of the subjects of
some of the most recognizable works of art

in Philippine art history.
 In viewing art, there are clues that mediate
between the artwork and the viewer, allowing the
viewer to more easily comprehend what he is
seeing.
 These clues are the three basic components of
a work of art:
 Subject – the visual focus or the image that may be
extracted from examining the artwork; the “what”
 Content – the meaning that is communicated by the
artist or the artwork; the “why”
 Form – the development and configuration of the art
work – how the elements and the medium or material
are put together; the “how”
Think-Pair-Share
Look at the painting below by artist

David Bailly entitled Selbstbildnis mit
Vanitassymbolen (Self-Portrait with
Vanitas Symbols). List down eveything
that you see within the four corners of
the work. List as many items as you
can in 3 minutes.
 With your seatmate, discuss and
compare the items you listed.
 Based on your answers, write an
assumption about what the

painting means.
 In the sciences, experimentation is
the key to proving a hypothesis or a
larger theory.
 In the arts, there are observable
qualities that the artwork holds that

will point to its subject, and
sometimes even to its content. (look
at the constituent figures that are
perceptible, the manner in which the
TYPES OF SUBJECT
REPRESENTATIONAL ART
 These types of art have subjects that
refer to objects that refer to objects or
events occurring in the real world.
 Also termed figurative art because
the figures depicted are easy to make

out and decipher.
Mona Lisa
Leonardo da Vinci
(1503)
 Despite not knowing who Mona Lisa is, it
is clear that the painting is of a woman
that is realistically-proportioned;
 only the upper torso is shown;
 a beguiling and mysterious smile is
flashed;
 the background is a landscape
NON-REPRESENTATIONAL
ART
 Art forms that do not make a reference to
the real world, whether it is a person,
place, thing, or even a particular event.
 It is stripped down to visual elements,
such as shapes, lines, and colors that are

employed to translate a particular
feeling, emotion, and even concept.
Number 1A
Jackson Pollock
(1948)
NON-REPRESENTATIONAL
ART AND ABSTRACT ART
 Is non-representational art the same
with abstract art?
 There is no clear-cut divide, rather,
they exist in a spectrum.
Non-
Representational
representational
art
art Abstract art
Head of a Woman,
Mougins
Pablo Picasso
(1962)
 Looking at the combination of lines,
shapes, and colors of the
sculpture will point to a head of a
woman
 Even with the abstraction of the
image, this work is arguably

representational art.
SOURCES AND KINDS OF
SUBJECT
 For non-representational art, a higher,
level of perceptiveness and insight might
be required to fully grasped the feeling,
emotion, or concept behind the work.
 For representational art, it is easier to infer
the subject matter because from the

figures depicted in the artwork, there is
already a suggestion as to its implication.
Sources of Subject
 Nature
 History
 Greek and Roman
mythology
 Judeo-Christian tradition
 Sacred oriental texts
 Other works of art
Kinds of Subject
 History  Mythology
 Still life  Myth
 Animals  Dreams
 Figures  Fantasies
 Nature
 Landscape
 Seascape
 Cityscape
Die Ebene von Auvers (Wheat
Fields Near Auvers
Vincent van Gogh (1890)
A Cockchafer, Beetle, Woodlice and Other Insect, with a Sprig of
Auricula
Jan van Kessel (early 1960s)
Fruit Pickers Under the Mango
Tree
Fernando Amorsolo (1937)
Young Women in the Ricefield

Fabian de la Rosa (1902)
Discobolus
Myron (Roman, 2nd
Century AD))
Sistine Chapel
Michelangelo (1508-1512)
Shah Jahan Receiving Dara
Shikoh
Folio from the Late Shah Jahan
Album (circa 1650)
El Tres de
Mayo
Francisco de
Goya
(1814)
CONTENT IN ART
 The meaning or message that is
expressed or communicated by the
artwork.
 In understanding the content of art, it
is important to note that there are

various levels of meaning:
Factual meaning
 The most rudimentary level of meaning for
it may be extracted from the identifiable
or recognizable forms in the artwork and
understanding how these elements relate
to one another.
Conventional meaning
 Pertains to the acknowledged
interpretation of the artwork using motifs,
signs, and symbols and other cyphers
as bases of its meaning.
 These conventions are established
through time, strengthened by recurrent

use and wide acceptance by its viewers or
audience and scholars who study them.
Subjective meaning
 When subjectivities are consulted, a variety
of meanings may arise when a particular
work of art is read.
 These meanings stem from the viewer’s or
audience’s circumstances that come into

play when engaging with art (what we know,
what we learned, what we experienced;
what values we stand for)
 Meaning may not be singular, rather,
multiple and varied

Creation of Adam (from the
ceiling of the Sistine Chapel)
Michelangelo (1814)
Analysis
 Subject: biblical art
 Factual meaning: Creation Story
(creation of man)
 Conventional meaning: man was
created in the image and likeness of

God
 Subjective meaning: endowment of
intellect to man from God

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SUBJECT

non- representational art;

subject and its content;

specific examples of art; and

some of the most recognizable works of art

Look at the painting below by artist

assumption about what the

qualities that the artwork holds that

the figures depicted are easy to make

 a beguiling and mysterious smile is

such as shapes, lines, and colors that are

they exist in a spectrum.

image, this work is arguably

the subject matter because from the

Young Women in the Ricefield

is important to note that there are

through time, strengthened by recurrent

audience’s circumstances that come into

multiple and varied

created in the image and likeness of

intellect to man from God

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