Chapter 3 Introduction
In this section, we will examine art themes provided by the Annenberg Learner, Art Through Time: A Global View – video series. Once again, the materials examine a variety of themes that connect artworks created around the world in different eras and it explores how they are universally inspired through our shared human experiences.
Remember that themes are different than what may be perceived as the subject matter of the art – that which provides the main idea of the artwork. Instead, a theme is recognized as that which represents the central or main topic of the artwork. Another distinction is that themes are usually implied rather than explicitly stated. However, it also needs to be mentioned that thematic content is not required in a work, and some artists will create works where the theme might depend on the viewer to determine.
Death
Death is one of the few experiences common to all people and all societies. But how different people have conceived of death and how those conceptions have shaped their behaviors and practices has varied over time and across cultures. Through art, people have expressed attitudes toward death that are in some respects universal, while in others personally and culturally specific. They have, moreover, used a wide range of objects, images, and structures to negotiate the processes of aging and dying, grieving, and commemorating.
Optional Viewing
The video below discusses this topic in more depth if you’re interested (not required).
Domestic Life
From furniture and tapestries to bowls and baskets, art has figured prominently in domestic life for thousands of years. Within the space of the home—be it a palace or a hut—aesthetically and culturally significant objects have fulfilled purposes both mundane (e.g., storage and service) and transcendent (e.g., the facilitation of prayer). Moreover, the activities and events taking place within these domestic spaces have been the inspiration for countless artists. Their depictions of everyday life are best understood as complex documents melding real-world observations with ideal social expectations.
Optional Viewing
The video below discusses this topic in more depth if you’re interested (not required).
Watch “Domestic Life” Video (26:44)
Writing
Images and words are symbols that both denote actual things, like people, objects, and places, and connote more abstract ideas, feelings, concepts, and theories. Given this shared function, it makes sense that the boundaries between words and images often overlap and that the two are so frequently juxtaposed.
Since the dawn of civilization the relationship between written words and pictures has been manipulated to communicate ideas. It has also inspired countless artists around the globe, whose works demonstrate how text and image can enhance, supplement, complicate, or even undermine each other’s meanings.
Optional Viewing
The video below discusses this topic in more depth if you’re interested (not required).
Portraits
Throughout history and across cultures, people have shown a fascination with faces, and in turn, with portrait representation. The depiction of an individual likeness is about identification, but more than that, it is a record of an interaction between an artist and a sitter, both of whom contribute to the portrait’s form and content. Far from being mirror reflections, portraits are complex constructions of identity that serve a range of functions from expressing power and declaring status to making larger statements about society at a given point in history.
Optional Viewing
The video below discusses this topic in more depth if you’re interested (not required).
The Natural World
From the earliest times, people have found sustenance and solace, challenge and mystery in the natural world. From representations of animal and vegetable life to landscapes and earthworks, art has been a means by which humans have expressed their awe of, communion with, dependence on, and isolation from nature.
Of course, art is never a mere transcription of reality. Every rendering of the natural world is, ultimately, a construction, in which nature is translated through the filter of our own interests, values, and desires.
Optional Viewing
The video below discusses this topic in more depth if you’re interested (not required).
Watch “Natural World” Video (26:45)
The Urban Experience
For thousands of years, cities have been hubs of activity, centers of industry, and places from which new aesthetic trends originate, evolve, and spread.
The creative visions of planners, painters, architects, and sculptors have shaped the development of cities around the world. In turn, the urban experience has inspired the creation of artwork depicting aspects of city life.
Optional Viewing
The video below discusses this topic in more depth if you’re interested (not required).
Watch “Natural World” Video (26:44)
Conflict and Resistance
Throughout history, groups and individuals have sought not only to maintain control over their own lives, but also to assert their power over the lives of others.
Visual art has played an important role in documenting such conflict and resistance. It also has served as a means for expressing personal views on politics, war, social inequities, and the human condition.
Optional Viewing
The video below discusses this topic in more depth if you’re interested (not required).
Watch “Conflict and Resistance” Video (26:44)
The Body
From painting to sculpture, body art to performance art, the body has figured prominently in the creative expression of nearly all cultures from the beginning of civilization.
Through art, the body becomes a site for defining individual identity, constructing sex and gender ideals, negotiating power, and experimenting with the nature of representation itself.
Optional Viewing
The video below discusses this topic in more depth if you’re interested (not required).
Video
Must art be beautiful? Picasso’s The Old Guitarist (6:20)
