• Object, scene, or event described in

Subject of an art

• The main idea represented in an

Art artwork

• The overall essence of an art

Kinds of Representational or Objective
Art
Art

Non Representational or Non

Objective Art
BY SUBJECT
 Representational Art
or Objective Art
• A kind of art containing a certain
subject

• An artwork that is clearly recognizable

for what it claims to be
 Artworks derived from

real object sources

It includes: Paintings, sculpture, graphic arts, literature and theatre

Non Representational
Art or Non Objective • A work of art without subject

• Do not represent descriptions nor stories to

Art identifiable objects and symbols

• Appeal directly to the senses because of sensuous

and expressive elements
 IT
INCLUDES:

Music,
architecture
and the
functional arts
Musical compositions containing
a certain subject is called
program music.
 Ways of
Representing a
Subject
1. Realism Self-Portrait (1880)

- artistic movement which began in France

in the 1850s
- desire for people to produce things that are
“objectively real”
- revolted against exaggerated emotionalism
- depicts what the eyes can see, what the ear
can hear, what the sense faculty may receive

Thomas Eakins
2. Abstraction Rhythm, Joy of Life (1930)
- derived from Latin “abstractus "drawn
away," or Latin past participle “abstrahere”
which means
"withdrawn or separated from material
objects or practical matters.”
- It is all about what the artists feel and what
mood they might want to portray.
- all shapes, no real-life images, scenery, or
objects

Robert Delaunay
 A. Distortion
- subject is in misshapen condition, or the regular shape is
twisted out.

B. Elongation
Forms of - subject is to that being lengthened, a protraction or an
Abstraction extension.

C. Mangling
- subject or objects which are cut, lacerated, mutilated, torn,
hacked or disfigured
 D. Cubism
- Many of their subjects, be they people or landscapes, were represented
as combinations of basic geometric shapes - sometimes showing multiple
viewpoints of a particular image.

Forms of E. Abstract Expressionism

Abstraction - In a painting, the artists applied paint rapidly, and with force to their
huge canvases in an effort to show feelings and emotions, painting
gesturally, non-geometrically, sometimes applying paint with large
brushes, sometimes dripping or even throwing it into the canvas.
- emphasized the importance of the act of creating, not of the finished
object
3. Symbolism Spoliarium (1884)

- A symbol is a visible sign of something

invisible such as an idea or quality
- systematically uses symbols to concentrate
or intensify meaning, making the work of art
more subjective (rather than objective) and
conventional.

Juan Luna
4. Surrealism The Persistence of Memory (1931)
- offshoot or a child of dada
- also known as “super realism,” which
revolves on the method of making ordinary
things look extraordinary.
- focuses on real things found in the
imagination or fantasy or it has realistic
subjects that are found in the unconscious
mind; depicting dreamlike images of the inner
mind.

Salvador Dali
 Two Types of Surrealism

- allowed the images of the subconscious to be undisturbed so

A. Veristic that the meaning could be understood through analysis.
- follow images of the subconscious until consciousness could
Surrealism
understand the meaning.

- Images of the subconscious should not be burdened by

B. Automatism or meaning, so they are represented in an abstract form.
Abstract - It is focused more on feelings and less analytical.
Surrealism
The Artist and His
Choice of Subject
Artist’s Choice of Subject

is affected by his medium.

DID YOU
KNOW? The nature of the medium demands subjects that
would justify the work of art.
 An artist’s choice of subject also depends upon time in which he/she lives and the
patronage he/she gets.
Artist’s Choice of
Subject

Spanish colonial influence

(artistic paintings in the church’s ceiling and walls)
OTHER
SUBJECTS

In our century, many

subjects have become
available to the artists.
 The value of a work of art does not depend on the artist’s
choice of subject.

Work of Art Rather, the worth of any representational work of art

depends upon the way the subject has been represented.
Harold Osborne
- How a work of art is to be appreciated and assessed has
more to do with the way its subject or theme is presented
not with what is presented
- No subject or situation or theme can guarantee the aesthetic
quality of work of art
- The most sublime themes can become the subject matter of
trivial and mediocre works of art.
- Conversely, no subject or theme, however trivial or
unattractive, is precluded to become an aesthetically
admirable artwork.
Kinds of Subject
 1. Landscapes, seascapes, cityscapes
-physical environment

-favorite subject of Chinese & Japanese

Kinds of Subjects

Landscape Seascape Community

Fernando Amorsolo Fernando Amorsolo Vicente Manansala
2. Still Life Still Life with Fishes and Bottles

- Inanimate objects arranged in an

indoor setting

- Arrangement is to show particular human

interest and activities Presentations are communication tools that can

be demonstrations, lectures, speeches, reports,
and more.

Pablo Picasso 1909

 3. Animals

- Earliest known paintings

- Grace and vigor of animals in action

- used as symbols in religious art

Ex. Lamb & fish symbol for Christ

Phoenix for Resurrection

“Carabao”
Dove for Holy Spirit Made of Bronze

By Napoleon Abueva
 4. Portraits
- Intrigued by the human face as an index of the owner’s character
- Instrument of expression showing a variety of moods and feelings

Mona Lisa by Leonardo da Vinci Marilyn by Michael Tompsett

 5. Figures “David”
By Michelangelo
-A sculptor’s traditional subject is the human body, nude or clothed.
-Challenges the artist on how to depict it in various ways

“Birth
of
Venus”
By Sandro
Botticelli
6. Everyday Life
-deep concern about life around them

“Candle Vendors”
Vicente Manansala

“Rice Planting”
Fernando Amorsolo
Model
 7. History & Legend
-Many works were pieced from certain histories and legends as basis

“Spoliarium” “Maria Makiling”

Juan Luna Dante Hipolito
8. Religion and Mythology
-Most of the world’s religions have used arts to aid in worship.

Sistine Chapel
Ceiling
Michelangelo

Tikbalang
Solomon Saprid
9. Dreams & Fantasies -depict their dreams and fantasies that lurk in thei
subconscious

“Nightmare”
John Henry Fuseli

“The Starry Night ”

Vincent van Gogh
 There is nothing considered
The Ugly and improper subject for a work of
art.
the Tragic in
As a matter of fact, artists have
Art deviated from the stereotyped
and beautiful subjects.
Painting of the flayed carcass of an ox
hanging in a butcher’s stall

Rembrandt van Rijn

CRUCIFIED
CHRIST
A good number of
works of art are

WHY?
concerned with pain
and evil.

LA PIETA
Stories behind the canvass

Content
Subject &
 Wounded Soldier

Subject – wounded soldier

Content – war, violence

Otto Dix, 1924

SUBJECT
Objects depicted by the artists

 Impact or meaning of the work

 The statement we apprehend or the feeling or mood we
CONTENT
experience with the work of art
 what the artist expresses or communicates on the whole of
his work
 The Odyssey
Homer, 750 BC
In literature
Hospitality, loyalty, and
vengeance
Content is referred to
Romeo and Juliet
as the theme. Les Miserables
Shakespeare, 1597
Victor Hugo, 1862

Love – a violent, ecstatic,

Social justice and human
overpowering force.
rights
 Scream

Content:
• The statement we apprehend or the
feeling or mood we experience with the
work of art

Ang Kiukok, 1984

Easier seen in explicit subject matters than in abstract art

The Persistence of Memory

(Salvador Dali) Number 26 (John Pollock)
 Issues of content include any visual clue that provide an
understanding of what the art tells us (lines, shapes, colours involved)

Head of a Horse, Sketch for The Selene Horse Cast

Guernica, 1937
Pablo Picasso
 Factual Meaning
Cleavor’s Literal statement or narrative content in the work

Different Conventional Meaning

Levels of special meaning that a certain object or colour has for a
particular culture or group of people.
Meaning of Subjective Meaning
Subject Personal meaning consciously or unconsciously conveyed by
the artist
Matters
 The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock
99 And would it have been worth it, after all,
100Would it have been worth while
101 After the sunsets and the dooryards and the sprinkled streets,
102 After the novels, after the teacups, after the skirts that trail
along the floor –
103 And this and so much more? --\
104 It is impossible to say just what I mean!
105 But as if a magic lantern threw the nerves in patterns on a
TS. ELIOT

screen:
106 Would it have been worth while

101: Sprinkled streets: necessary to keep the dust down

 References
• Hinacay, M. (2008). The subjects of art and the methods of presenting them. Geocities.ws. Retrieved
from http://www.geocities.ws/vitasophiabookcenter/humanities2.pdf

• Pine, K. (n.d.). The subjects of art. Retrieved from

https://www.academia.edu/14874159/THESUBJECTOFARTMeaningsKinds_
andFunctionsofSubjectMeaningsKindsandFunctionsofSubject