Art Appreciation Enjoying Painting (1972)

foreign [Music] [Music] foreign [Music] foreign [Music] foreign is talking to you with words you know the language you understand someone else is talking to you but not with words do you understand the language [Music] how does a proud artist speak who in youth was famous rich and loved but now has lost everything in his self-portraits what does he say about old age [Music] about death [Music] what's the difference in these two paintings not in what's being said really but in how it's being said in the visual language [Music] much of the enjoyment of paintings comes from learning how the painter speaks his language isn't words and sentences but line shape and color in good paintings the lines are carefully planned and developed [Music] here the lines help unify the painting and hold the different elements together and keep the viewer's eye within the painting here though we've made the lines unrelated the objects don't seem to fit together and the Lions accidentally lead your eye out of the painting [Music] [Music] the flowing lines of the painting visually reinforce and repeat the idea music [Music] often the artist uses line to guide your eye throughout the painting and to call attention to the other elements he wants to emphasize [Music] thank you the artist can use line to suggest tension and violent action [Music] or he can use line to give a sense of movement and Direction notice how the artist has used line here pull the different elements together how the man's arm is placed so it makes a continuous line with the side of the boat or how this line is repeated throughout the painting [Music] the artist can repeat and Vary a line to create linear rhythm foreign [Music] the second element in the painter's vocabulary is shape the shape is something like the filled in outline or silhouette of objects the Bold simple shapes make a pleasing pattern without details or color and serve as a strong foundation for the realistic details here though we've made the pattern of shapes less pleasing the shape seem isolated and not as well related individual details are organized here into two strong opposing diagonal shapes balanced by three vertical shapes the placement and relationship of the shapes are thought out and harmonious [Music] often traditional painters extended shape to include all three dimensions they were concerned with the relationships of volume or form [Music] these painters stroll for an illusion of recession of deep space it was as though the frame were a hole in the wall a window and the painting of you outside [Music] modern painters see a painting not as a window but is a flat surface with paint on it they're more concerned with flat shapes and shallow space [Music] they feel that it isn't just the content or the real objects that make a painting it's the skillful manipulation of abstract elements like shape [Music] [Laughter] [Music] [Applause] [Music] many abstract paintings don't have another subject the shapes are the subject [Music] a third element of the painter's vocabulary is color and it's here in color that many modern painters differ from the Old Masters usually in traditional paintings the colors are closely related and subtle the power of the painting coming from strong line and shape relationships [Music] in many modern paintings color is the most important element when the color is removed line and shape alone can't make the statement [Music] a good painting whether modern or traditional uses particular colors to suggest its emotional meaning the repetition of the Reds blacks and whites creates a lively abstract color Rhythm and contributes to the feeling of a happy wedding dance [Music] [Music] here the artist has boldly divided his painting into two large opposing color masses [Music] to integrate the work he added fragments or reminders of each color in the other color masks and so using color he unified the painting line shape and color three important tools in the visual language of painting they are how the painter makes his statement foreign is a Feeling an emotion a way of seeing that someone the painter hopes to share with you [Music] [Music] foreign [Music] is talking to you [Music] foreign