How do I Analyze an Art Painting?

Look at various aspect of a painting to understand it.

Artists have a great deal of expressive tools at their disposal when creating a painting. The most obvious is the subject matter, but what if the painting is abstract? The graphic elements of the painting such as color, composition and value also have much to add. Newer paintings may incorporate novel materials such as heavy textures or fluorescent paints to expand the vocabulary of painting. You can start with these elements to get an idea of what is going on in a painting, then expand your understanding by investigating further the artist, the time period and the special characteristics of the symbols and subjects.

Instructions

1. Start with the most basic elements of a painting: what is in it. Paintings can be landscapes, portraits, abstracts or other fanciful designs. Beyond that, note the expression of the sitter, how the landscape feels (bleak or bright) or if the interior is inviting or empty.

2. Look at the composition. Is it simple, with a few ordered objects, or chaotic, with many elements like trees or waves in disordered array? These elements are the tools of the artist to convey shades of meaning to the painting.

3. Examine the colors and tonality. See if the artist has used predominantly dark and dreary colors or if the painting is bright and light. Bright colors can be uplifting--or they can be jarring, if the colors clash or if the artist used many in great intensity. Color is a visceral element, so trust your intuition.

4. Look at the lines, real or implied, in the painting. If a subject is looking to the side, what is there? Perhaps there is an implied action not rendered in the painting, such as someone's arrival. See if the contours of objects or the lines that construct a building seem to indicate harmony and strong structure, or if they lead the eye around the painting playfully.

5. Put all your observations together and think about how they fit and what sort of conclusion you can draw. There may be contradictions or things that don't seem to fit. That is fine. With a good painting, the meaning often reveals itself over time, so think of your analysis as the beginning of a journey, not the end.

References

• Harvard Crimson: Painting Perception
• Washington State University: Abstraction