Art Vocabulary Related to Principles and Elements of Design
vanishing point = a single point on the horizon of an image that all lines lead to.
usage: the railroad tracks all lead to one distant point.
texture = the visual surface of an object that shows the skin or outer dimension as appealing to the sense of touch.
usage: The texture of the drawing of the tree showed the detail of the bark in a very real manner.
scale = the size or visual weight of an object as compared to another object.
usage: The scale of the Lincoln Monument is 55 times larger than the average height of a man.
symmetry = a balanced composition on each side of an image. If yo draw a line down the middle of your face you would establish symmetry on your face. Think of a scale with equal weights on each side.
asymmetric = a form of balance concerning the same visual weight of a composition but presented in a different fashion or norm.
analogous = similar or comparable to something else ex: An airplane’s joystick is somewhat analogous to the reins on a horse. The emotional impact of a painting by Jackson Pollock is analogous to watching fireworks on the fourth of July.
aesthetic = another word for a personal form of understanding beauty in any of the arts.
The Siesta by the Dutch artist Vincent van Gogh
The Siesta is an oil on canvas painting by Vincent van Gogh painted between December 1889 and January 1890 while he was interned in a mental asylum in the French town of Saint-Rémy-de-Provence. It is part of the permanent collection of the Musée d'Orsay, in Paris.
Van Gogh chooses as his theme the siesta, while referring directly to the painting by the same name by French painter Jean Millet. Even despite the peaceful nature of the subject, the paintings radiates Van Gogh's renowned artistic intensity. Van Gogh's The Siesta has been considered one of his masterpieces.
A siesta is a short nap taken in the early afternoon, often after the midday meal. Such a period of sleep is a common tradition in some countries, particularly those in warm-weather zones. The "siesta" can refer to the nap itself, or more generally to a period of the day, generally between 2 and 5 PM. This period is used for sleep, as well as leisure, mid-day meals, or other activities.
Vincent van Gogh Dutch: 30 March 1853 – 29 July 1890) was a Dutch Post-Impressionist painter who posthumously became one of the most famous and influential figures in Western art history. In a decade, he created about 2,100 artworks, including around 860 oil paintings, most of which date from the last two years of his life. They include landscapes, still lifes, portraits, and self-portraits, and are characterised by bold colours and dramatic, impulsive and expressive brushwork that contributed to the foundations of modern art. He was not commercially successful and, struggling with severe depression and poverty, committed suicide at the age of 37.
Vincent van Gogh was inspired by the works of Jean-Francois Millet, a French artist that roamed the country side depicting the hard laborer.
About the Musee d’Orsay where The Siesta is found.
The Musée d'Orsay ((English: Orsay Museum) is a museum in Paris, France, on the Left Bank of the Seine. The museum holds mainly French art dating from 1848 to 1914, including paintings, sculptures, furniture, and photography. It houses the largest collection of Impressionist and post-Impressionist masterpieces in the world, by painters including Berthe Morisot, Claude Monet, Édouard Manet, Degas, Renoir, Cézanne, Seurat, Sisley, Gauguin, and Van Gogh. Many of these works were held at the Galerie nationale du Jeu de Paume prior to the museum's opening in 1986. It is one of the largest art museums in Europe.