1.

List down everything that you see

within the four corners of the work.
2. List as many items as you can in three
minutes.
1. With your seatmate, discuss and
compare the items you listed.
Based on your answers, write an
assumption about what the painting
means.
 SUBJECT
AND
CONTENT
Why do you think that in the
Philippines, people are not
engaged in art activities?
In the Philippines, which is
predominantly a non-museum-going
public, looking at art has always
been a tricky business. This is true
not only for novices, but also at
times, confronts the long-time art
aficionados.
Failure to do so automatically implies a failure of
comprehension and therefore, failure of the experience.
This relegates art engagement and therefore appreciation
to the very few who had training and instruction in
producing and in reading art. This should not be the case.
The primary stage of engaging
with art is its PERCEPTION.
 Subject and Content
For most art forms, the beginning of
engagement is through looking at the artwork.
The eyes play a big role in mechanically
making a vision possible. However, like in
any tool, it is but one component.
 Subject and Content
What makes the difference is the awareness in the
process of looking where subjectivity is essential in
navigating through artwork.
Subjectivity is illustrated in the way that selective
perception renders one or two details more prominent
than others, prompting the viewer to focus on some
details as essential or as standouts.
 Subject and Content
Even the disposition or mood of the
viewer, his education, his background, and
his exposure to varying contexts
contribute to what information is taken in
and how they are interpreted.
 Subject and Content
In most cases, 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, form and content.
 Subject
Subject – refers to the visual focus or
the image that may be extracted
from examining the artwork; seen
as the “what.”
 Content

Content – meaning that is

communicated by the artists
or the artwork; the “why”
 Form
Form – the development and
configuration of the artwork –
how the elements and the
medium or material are put
together; the “how”
In the arts, there are also observable
qualities that the artwork holds that will
point to its subject, and sometimes even to
its content.
 Subject and Content
In order to flesh out what the subject of the
artwork is, it is important to first look at the
constituent figures that are perceivable on the
surface of the canvas or the sculpture, and the
manner in which the artist chose to depict those
figures. From these, the type of subject can then
be inferred.
TYPES OF
SUBJECT
 Types of Subject
Portraits such as the “Mona Lisa” are good
examples of what is called representational
art. These types of art have subjects that
refer to objects or events occurring in the
real world. Often, it is termed figurative art,
because as the name suggests, the figures
depicted are easy to make out and decipher.
 Types of Subject
On the other hand, seeing a painting that has
nothing in it but continuous drips of paint or
splotches of colors either confounds the viewer
or is readily trivialized as something that
anyone with access to materials can easily
make. The works of Jackson Pollock, who is
known for his “action paintings,” are often
subjected to these remarks.
 Types of Subject
Using large-scale canvasses that were laid out on the floor or
resting on a wall, Pollock titled his paint can and allowed
paint to drip. Assisting it with movement, he used other
implements such as hardened brushes, knives, sticks and
trowels to add detail, texture, and dimension to his paintings.
There were no clear figures that jot out from the canvas; there
were only drips and splashes. This kind of work can be
subsumed under the category of non-representational. As the
opposite of the previously discussed type of subject, non-
representational art is also often termed non-figurative art.
 Non-representational Art
Non-representational art does not make an
inference 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,
colors, that are employed to translate a particular
feeling, emotion, and even concept.
 Types of Subject
It is in this light that representational works
are often favored because they are easier to
recognize. Viewers find a greater degree of
comfort when what they see registers as
something familiar.
 Types of Subject
It can be argued that the artist is faced with a
strong persuasion of creating works that veers
toward representational art. However, it is
not simply an issue of assumed preference;
rather, it cuts across matters relating to
prevailing themes, norms and practices of
specific historical moments.
 Types of Subject
One source of confusion is the notion that non-
representational art is the same as abstract
art. This is essential to discuss because it
introduces the fact that representational art
and non-representational art is a clear-cut
divide; rather, they exist in a spectrum.
 Types of Subject
An abstract work of Pablo Picasso is a great
example to illustrate this.
Cut metal that is hinged on a metal base, there
is a palpable distortion of the image –
whatever it is – seems to be melting.
 Types of Subject
Abstract art is in itself a departure from
reality, but the extent of that departure
determines whether it has reached the end of
the spectrum, which is non-
representationality – a complete severance
from the world.
 Sources and Kinds of Subject
Where do artists source the subjects
of their paintings? What do they
paint?
 Sources and Kinds of Subject
In discussing the sources and kinds of
subjects in artworks, it is important
to note that these two are often
inextricably related.
 Sources and Kinds of Subject
Often, even a singular source of
inspiration can yield multiple
translations. A good starting point is
nature.
 Sources and Kinds of Subject
Early childhood often revolves around
getting to know not just the body and
what it can do, but also getting
accustomed to a multitude of sensory
prompts around the artist especially
those situated in his environment.
Sources and Kinds of Subject
Sources and Kinds of Subject
 Sources and Kinds of Subject
In the history of art, it is important
to remember that the source and
kind of subjects were not merely a
product of the artist’s inclination
and choice.
 Sources and Kinds of Subject
A particular kind of subject and the way it is
visually translated may be traced in relation
to the art patrons (those who commission
the artworks), the favored artistic style and
canons and the norms and trends prevailing in
the artist’s milieu.
 Sources and Kinds of Subject
During the Spanish colonial period in the
Philippines, art was predominantly
representational. During the first century of
their dominance, art came as an aid for
communication – a means of propagating
religion to locals who spoke a different
language.
 Sources and Kinds of Subject
The visual arts, from paintings to early
sculptures, such as santos and other
votive figures and icons, were
created to assist Catholic ministry.
Existing art and craft traditions
persisted, with some augmented and
infused with foreign influences that
were not limited to the Spanish
culture through contact.
 Content in Art
Why was the artwork created in the first
place?
When this question is asked, we are after the
meaning or message that is expressed or
communicated by the artwork.
 Content in Art
Erwin Panofsky – art historian; one of the
foremost scholars who expounded on content
analysis or how meaning is arrived at in his
seminal work Meaning in the Visual Arts
(1983). His methodology will be later
identified as Iconology through the
interpretation of iconography.
 Content in Art
To take on the challenge of understanding the
content of art, it must be reiterated that there
are various levels of meaning. Perhaps the
most common is what we call factual
meaning.
 Content in Art
Factual meaning – pertains to 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.
 Content in Art
Conventional meaning – pertains to the
acknowledged interpretation of the artwork using
motifs, signs, 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.
Ex. Flag – symbol of a nation, cross- for Christianity, etc.
 Content in Art
Subjective meaning – any personal meaning
consciously or unconsciously conveyed by the artist
using a private symbolism which stems from his own
association of certain objects, actions or colors with
past experiences.
A painting may communicate multiple meanings to its
many viewers. This is what we call
subjective meaning of art.