Manes, Paul (1995). Eiso [oil on canvas]. Paul Rogers/9W Gallery.

This is a very strong work that uses a single object to establish both harmony and interest. Manes’ use of texture is particularly pleasing to me. One detail I find a little odd is each object is viewed from the same oblique angle, although the full range of orientation is used. |

In this oil on canvas painting, the subject blends into a theme: bowl (noun). This work is a strong example of how formal treatment can rise in importance above allegory, historic documentation, optical precision and other aspirations of classic master artists. A combination of basic elements are elevated to equal importance in a way that is not confusing, but unified. The primary of these are shape and texture. All of the objects are miniature light source experiments; shadow and highlight are placed in overlapping proximity to create the bowl shape, although some seem to be transparent, and others have the contrast between values calibrated so close that they seem bathed in light. Still others are defined with gestural, textured line. 

This a case study in building strong depth through overlap and diminution. Value contrasts create three dimensionality within the objects themselves. Overall, the canvas is homogeneous, but the haphazard, scattered energy of the bowls negates any stationary stability this work may have. Transparency and split planes are used more to the bottom, while opaque objects tend to occupy the top, adding to the sense of tension.

Similarity and difference are effortlessly combined. All objects are built with the same shapes viewed from the same angle and most have light, high-key values. All vary in size and orientation. Still more variance is created with color, value, opacity and edge definition. Eye movement is attracted to the starkest differences: The large, red bowl to the bottom left and the rough, dark bowl to the upper right of the center. The lighter bowls and background create an overall stable field pattern for some of the more clashing elements to stand out against.

Manes builds graceful harmony and rhythm with the repeated subject of this work. The formatting differences seamlessly create visual interest. This work is a perfect example of what it means to masterfully combine visual similarities and differences on the canvas. 

Hokusai, Katsushika (1829-33). Under the Wave off Kanagawa [colored woodblock print]. Takahashi Collection.

This is certainly one of my favorite master works. The sense of impending doom, opposing lateral directional forces and motifs that blend into each other are qualities I appreciate. |

The subject of this woodblock print is a moment frozen in time before a small cluster of fishing boats is about to be enveloped by a towering, attacking wave. Hokusai’s elemental choices make the wave seem like a destructive monster, while the surrounding water pushes the victims in the deadly path. 

Lines create a repeating motif across the crests of enormous sea waves. Arched shapes of light and dark blue provide right-left directional thrust in a pattern representing the body of the water. A third pattern supports the first two with specs of water created through foamy white dots and the heads of figures bracing for impact. The color scheme is complementary: Pure blues counterbalanced by vague oranges and yellows. 

Detail, value contrast and atmospheric perspective provide only the required level of spatial depth, a hallmark of a master. Pictorial balance is infused with tension, resulting in shifting balancing points (asymmetry). Areas of force are placed in opposition with those containing more grounding and a secondary area of focus. Tiny, light curves support and contrast against longer, darker ones. Rounded contours and forms characterize most of the work, but there is a split between natural and artificial.

Less contrast is created with color opposition. Patterns and motifs bind the foreground. The orientation of the forms that create the bulk of the sea and the elongated vessel shapes combine to create motion up and into the dominant form of this work, the deadly, monstrous sea wave. This portion of the canvas inherently captures attention simply through its size and the fact that it’s the only recognizable object surrounded by the negative space of the background sky. A secondary detail capturing follow-on eye movement is the mountain-form placed deep in the background. The observer is on the sea with the victims, witnessing the unavoidable tragedy. The orientation of the picture frame enhances the lateral motion of this work. 

The elegance of this disastrous event depicted in ink has no room for improvement that I can identify. Of particular strength is how three motifs all built on different elements (point, curve and shape) can blend together so seamlessly across the canvas. 

Picasso (1905). Family of Saltimbanques [oil on canvas]. Chester Dale Collection, (c) 2008 Board of Trustees, National Gallery of Art, Washington.

High key, pastel-like values and a rough texture characterize this work. The color palette is disharmonious, and denser, colorless values are placed for variety. Depth and focal points are built through contrasts in value and detail. At points in the composition, forms have ambiguous edges, blending with their surroundings. |

The scene depicts a reasonably realistic yet highly stylized portrait of a family of acrobats. The subject matter and orientation of the poses is somewhat unexpected. All have calm, contemplative expressions on their faces. The overall feel of the work has a pastel, even an unfinished, quality, but it is created with oil on canvas.

There is some brittle line use to define figurative edges. This work is primarily built through roughly textured values and colors which create shapes. All forms are natural or somewhat artificial (clothing). The color scheme is difficult to identify. Complementary are used, but not the full range, as for example a number of varying blues play off of oranges, but reds and pinks are left on their own. It's difficult for me to make a connection with this work to Picasso's later work, although abstraction is clearly beginning to soak into the character of this work.

Manipulation of detail and value contrasts (both sharp and blended) create the illusion of space. Overlap and a specialized version of atmospheric perspective are also at work. The figures carry almost all of the weight in this work as the background is quite indistinct. There is interesting balance achieved by the standing group in opposition to the single seated figure. The cropping of her gown at the lower edge of the picture plane infuses her with more interest.

The full value range is used, which is what attracts attention more than anything. This is used to created the most detailed moments which are the faces, and the direction of their gazes further directs the eye. A wide, not full, range of colors is used, which what secondarily creates movement. While color treatment and the contrast of background versus subject detail gives this work a slightly haphazard feel, the arrangement of the figures and their poses offer stability.

Calibration of detail and a sense of economy are foundational to this painting. The equation of vagueness and detail Picasso has created is a perfect example of how to include everything necessary and not a drop more.

Lawrence, Jacob (1993). Builders in the Workshop [gouache on paper]. © 2008 The Estate of Gwendolyn Knight Lawrence/Artists Rights Society, New York.

I believe spatial order, the perception of color and realism in general are subordinate to the motion and focused tone of this work. Action and movement are expressed exceptionally well, in large part because of the decorative treatment and unexpected coloring of shapes and space. |

Three figures interact in a machinery or carpentry work shop. Their rendering and directional forces express the deliberate activity they are engaged in with creating and building. This work is created with gouache on paper.

Rigid shapes create gestural and mechanical forms. They are all formatted with rough texture and some detail, but the overall affect is to create a flat sense of space. A child-like sense of convergence in combination with overlap are also used. All natural and artificial objects are positioned in a sort of fractional representation unique to this work, to present them from their most recognizable angle. High and low-key values format the small shapes, the treatment of which support the dominant elements.

This is an asymmetrically balanced work inspiring a sense of vertical tension. Texture and form format are consistent throughout the work. Stark colors and large shapes dominate, and are somewhat countered by dense and light small objects. Balance is found with the interaction between gestural and artificial forms. The background and shelves create even starker geometric shapes than the mechanical ones.

Energy and motion are what creates dominance in this work, not visual formatting. This is especially true where the two central figures seem to share the same shape. The gestures of all three figures and their overlapping interactions infuse this work with life. The picture plane is roughly parallel with all lines of force. The picture frame supports the motion, and is contrasted with some of the horizontal organization.

Lawrence uses several creation-organizing strategies well in this work: countering lines of motion, primary and secondary areas of importance, and the subordination of certain aspects of development (such as spatial dept and optical realism). This is truly a master work of fine art; artistic elements and formats are carefully considered and arranged in a way that brings order from from roughly created shaped.

Butler, Benjamin (2005). In the Forest [oil on canvas].

This work is amazing. A realistic, believable forest is created through the arrangement of rectangular organic shapes, the combination of perpendicular and curved arrangement of them, and a complementary color scheme. On a strictly formal and conceptual level, this is exactly the kind of work I am striving to create. |

The subject of this work, a sparse forest of spruce trees, crystallizes strictly through our psychological ordering of shape and the attributes used to create them. This work inspires a sense of life and rhythm through oil on canvas. Vertical lines formatted with slight texture in combination with an analogous color scheme do most of the heavy lifting in this work. Curved and lateral strokes create a complicated network of elements in addition to graceful directional contrast. In combination with value, these elements create a harmonizing pattern across the picture plane.

This work's reliance on shape results in a somewhat shallow sense of depth. Overall stroke measure builds some space where longer vertical strokes penetrate further down on the canvas. In addition, value provides something of a skeleton for the illusion of depth. That is, moderate values intermingle and sink with starker, more terminal values advancing. Pictorially, this work creates a stable sense of approximate symmetry.

All elements are organic and defined. The natural and muddy color scheme reinforces this sense of life. This use of color is the single-strongest source of variety and contrast in this work. Tonality provides more subtle, but still effective, contrast with values occupying either end of the scale much more than the middle.

Directional forces are vertical and at the same time draw the viewer into the picture plane. The horizontal orientation of the picture frame supports this flow. The eye follows along the value pattern Butler has created through similarly-paced light and dense shapes. The viewer's position is a stationary, single point, the plane of her vision is parallel with the ground.

Butler's blending and arrangement of the elements of shape, analogous color, value and pattern is simply amazing. All elements depend on and support each other seamlessly, the definition of unity.

Newman, Barnett (1949). Covenant [oil on canvas]. Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Smithsonian Institute, Washington, DC.

Two vertical lines on a red field. This is the kind of work that causes the masses to mock fine arts. I do appreciate it for it's formal execution, however. For me, it's an exercise in how much I understand when it comes to elemental visual expression. |

The subject of this work, as with most works of nonobjective abstraction, is the interaction between a minimal number of severely distilled and placed elements. Content and subject are indivisible. Oil on canvas.

Line, pure color, value and shape are the only elements I can identify. The dark stroke is just barely wider than the lighter one, resulting in an equivalent sense of depth for both. However, the white stroke is surrounded by a slightly cooler field of red, which would normally cause it to sink back slightly. This doesn't really happen here. Pictorial balance is approximately symmetrical; elemental balance is nearly absolute because of the minor differences in shape widths.

Pure red dominates. All edges are crisp. At the exact vertical center of the picture plane, the field is divided into equal warm and cool halves. Line values are nearly terminally absolute, but both are calibrated in a nearly imperceptible manner with their complement to edge them slightly to the middle. Shapes vary slightly in width.

Like the establishment of space, a single center of attention is ambiguous and difficult to define in this work. Typically, this would be the side effect of a novice artist. However, in this case, it is clear Newman caused this to happen with measured, deliberate consideration. The picture plane is used to remarkable effect because it is required to set up the very minor differences in the shape widths.

This is truly a work of absolutes and absolute balance. This is accomplished through Newman's precisely considered application of space-occupying and formatting elements. In terms of appreciation, surely this is a divisive work, but it is also a case study in economy.

Witkin, Jerome Paul (1980). Jeff Davies [oil on canvas]. Palmer Museum of Art, Pennsylvania State University.

This is a work I appreciate because the subject matter is not typical or obvious. At first glance, it is created with strong realism, but further inspection shows that forms are highly abstract throughout. Even so, the rendering works well. A particularly strong choice is the encroachment of the subject on the picture frame and the tension caused on the lateral edges. |

The subject is a specific, identifiable person, however he and the subordinate planes (foreground, background) are built through a considered network of shapes, more so than most illusionistically realistic works. This painting is a living example of how someone's character can be better communicated through visual rather than verbal language. Oil on canvas.

I would identify minor shapes pieced together to make recognizable items as the primary visual vehicle of this work. Yes, small shapes creating larger shapes, but there's more to it than that. Witkin creates, not a hyper-realistic, but believable work with a specific, somewhat rough style. There are rough, smooth, natural and artificial textures as well that define the character of what is seen.

The primary space-establishing element to this work are two light sources to either side of the central figure. This unusual strategy is effective because of a combination of stark light/dark contrasts and other areas of more smooth, shape-defining shading. This is one of the most stable non-abstract works I've ever seen; approximate symmetry is used.

Dominance characterizes this work, first and foremost. Beyond the obvious, the double-complement (green-red, blue-orange) color scheme is controlled by the cool colors. Balance can be found in the work's textures (rough versus smooth, artificial versus flesh) and value range. Psychologists have proven that our minds actually try to search out and recognize faces, and this applies in this (and all) works. The contrasting, fleshy rendering of the figure's face is formally reflected in the oranges and reds that can be found cropped by the lower edge of the picture plane.

This work's incorporation of the picture frame is one of the primary strengths of it. Along with the figure's detail and volume, the canvas edges support the almost forceful nature of the subject. Formally, this work is masterful. Shape, color, texture and value melt and tie together in a manner that silently explains very clearly very much of the figure's character and disposition. The layering of darker elements around the central high-key area gives the impression that he will break through the edges of the canvas.

Victory, Poteet (1999). Symbols of Manifest Destiny [oil and mixed media on canvas].

I see a pleasing work of non-objective abstraction. The picture plane is balanced, but the overall character of this work is characterized by uneven proportions. Cool over warm colors, rectilinear over curved shapes, global texture and horizontal elemental orientation resulting in vertical flow. |

An effective domination of interest is achieved (content) by Victory's use of contrast through proximity and complementary colors, all told in the language of texture and shape (subject). This work is built through mixed media, mostly oil, on canvas (form).  Texture presents itself over shape in this work. It is created to great effect, similar in grain throughout but with enough variation from element-to-element to support their pictorial differences. The color scheme is complementary; the axis might be "bent" slightly because the blue seems to straddle it's temperature possibilities, while the yellow is not strictly orange, but leans in that direction.

Space is decorative but built to great effect. Overlap, value, color temperature and textural detail all work in a cooperative manner to create the illusion. There is some tension centered around the primary center of interest. Beyond that, this is a naturally stable work of approximate symmetry. While the composition is unified, it is a study in unbalanced proportions. The entire painting is formatted with a pleasing texture that softens the straight, rigid edges, which in turn overwhelm curved edges. Colors are mostly pure and cool, with the perfect contrast of muddy and warm.

The bright, warm stripes of the primary element, while outnumbered, control eye movement initially, and hold it. Beyond that, elements are arranged on the picture plane horizontally, resulting in a top-down path of the eye, following the pattern created by the rectilinear shapes which are bound by treatment in texture. As a pictorial element, the canvas edge complements this calibrated motion.

Victory creates his own reality, where the interaction of the elements he chooses to use meld and play off of each other in the observer's mind. This painting is a perfect example of pleasing, unbalanced proportions, and global unification.

Seurat, Georges (1887-8). Circus Sideshow [oil on canvas]. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Bequest of Stephen C. Clark, 1960.

I think it's magical how Seurat can create a more than "understandable" depiction with a single element: point, or dot. The character of the work is stiff, but the other side of that same quality is pleasing order. This work is simply masterful for a handful more reasons, but two more I'll mention is (first) the comfortable, warm, analogous color scheme he employs. Second, the full value range is used, creating expert contrast, as well as more dull, subordinate areas on the canvas. |

The title of this work, which is the subject, is presented with (at least) two extraordinary innovations. First, it is rendered through pointillism, which as an artistic technique took it's rightful intermediate place (before Cubism) in the evolution of abstraction characteristic of the 19th and 20th centuries. Second, the pain-staking and nearly infinite use of the golden proportion to organize the content requires acknowledgement.

The entire work is constructed through the use of point. Edges are implied through stark contrasts in color and/or value from adjacent areas. Through gestalt, a form is created. Subordinate shapes are arranged with rhythmic spacing to frame and direct attention to the central figure. Geometric shapes are formed across the top, organic at the bottom, both effectively balancing and framing the vertical edges of the composition. Spatial order is well-crafted. Diminishing detail, diminution and value contrast are used to do this.

I believe this work is approximately symmetrical. Horizontal and vertical tipping points, as well as the overall composition, are stable, near the center of the picture plane. The Fibonacci series is seamlessly imbedded throughout to create an underlying architecture. It creates a somewhat rigid feel to the painting, but other strategies Seurat uses infuses warmth and life.

Equivalency characterizes this work. A full range of values, curvilinear versus straight edges and natural versus geometric shapes all balance off of each other. Dominance is sparse: rusty diluted colors and a complementary color scheme overwhelmingly favoring a base orange hue. Edges, lines of sight and implied lines all are nearly completely vertical and horizontal. This could be argued to be a precursor to the Swiss grid system of a century later. Tension starts with the central figure and is dictated by this skeletal framework.

The viewer is just that: A spectator in the audience enjoying the show. This work has no "flaws" I can identify. Of the many strengths it has, the most impressive is how Seurat has organized visual elements and implied lines of motion along a complicated yet identifiable framework of perpendicular and corner-to-corner diagonal lines. They all take advantage of the golden ratio to either anchor or define edges. This is truly a masterful work.

Moholy-Nagy, Làszlò (1924). A XX [oil on canvas]. © Artists Rights Society, New York, VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn.

This is an example of the kind of design I personally am trying to emulate. It is spacious, elegant, simple yet complicated. It’s the perfect kind of composition for text placement to create an effective, attention-grabbing poster or advertisement, beyond its strictly expressive utility. | 

The deliberately considered interaction of elements (subject) create this work’s content in an amazingly unified work of nonobjective abstraction. Slight, nearly-indistinguishable line is used to create narrow transparent planes. Line also creates subtle global texture. All other shapes use edge to define their shapes; thick, transparent strokes overlapping at places perfect, dense circles. Lines and edges are both at perfect perpendicular angles; where they are angled, a sense of foreshortening is used to create invasive plastic space. Shapes are either curved or straight; in both cases they’re perfect versions of themselves. 

Besides elemental foreshortening, diminution, convergent intuition, transparency and overlap are used to create amazing plastic space. This work is not perfectly symmetrically balanced elementally (it’s asymmetric), but pictorially it is. The division of balance vertically and horizontally is on the tipping point (half way) because of the interaction between elements and their positions on the picture plane. This work is thoroughly dominated by rigid geometric shapes. Perfect equivocal balance is achieved in how rounded shapes play off straight; downward motion is buoyed by floating objects; dense versus middle versus light values; transparent and solid elements; and far being drawn up into near elements. 

This work is an example of masterful eye movement control. Motion follows the path created by the elements toward the top and acknowledging the picture plane, down along the rectangular shapes, through the circular ones and “out” of the picture plane through the transparent shape occupying the lower half of the canvas. All of the amazing things that are accomplished in this work are done so without the use of objects recognizable in reality. Spatial depth, largely balanced proportions, viewer engagement, perfectly controlled eye movement, and I’m sure things I’m leaving out, are all created in a language created by the artist on the picture plane seamlessly absorbed by the viewer on their own terms. 

Stella, Frank (1968). Damascus Gate Stretch Variation [acrylic on canvas]. Collection Walker Art Center, Minneapolis. © 2008 Frank Stella/ARS, NY.

A pleasing, rhythmic non-objective pattern of roman arches (if everything below the springings were cropped) that confuse field and ground. Interest is created with variations in hue, value and color intensity. | 

The content of this work might be architectural innovations from a time period when the title location was one of the major cultural centers of the western world. It is rendered with acrylic on canvas. Repeated, intermingled half-circles are the spatial elements that comprise this work. They are arranged in horizontal motion and oriented as upright or vertically reflected, creating directional tension. The lateral character of these elements and the way they interlock create a pleasing rippling sense of rhythm. The varied manipulation of all color dimensions effectively creates interest. The color strategy is simply what the work calls for, and I cannot identify it as a dogmatic, conventional one. 

Spatial order is ambiguous, but not distractingly so. Elements overlap, bisect and interpenetrate resulting in depth that feels highly decorative. Pictorial balance is approximately symmetrical and secondary to the elemental treatment that carries the message of this work. This work employs crisp edges, stroke width and shape type with nearly absolute uniformity. There is an intuitive mix of bright, dull and intermediate colors and values, representing the balance this work possesses. The strongest, most pleasing contrast is how Stella plays straight-edged shapes against curved ones.

Due to the limited use of dense value, eye movement starts with the heavily cropped green arch, followed by the nearly-intact red one. The architectural shape element not only builds this work, it defines its boundaries, a strategy rarely seen in fine art. Stella expertly calibrates elemental ratios to create order (shape, stroke width, edge definition) and tension (all dimensions of color, spatial ambiguity). The picture plane, color strategy and color strategy are absolutely subordinate to this sense of balance and tension. This work is harmonious yet exquisitely interesting, a hallmark of artistic unity. 

Vermeer, Johannes (1655-6). Diana and the Nymphs [oil on canvas]. Royal Cabinet of Paintings, Mauntshuls. The Hague, Netherlands, Scala/Art Resource.

A beautiful, optically realistic painting of five young women. Their age is emphasized by the slightly diluted overall contrast and the shining glow of their skin. Directional forces of closure create graceful lines of motion in global elliptical swirls, aided by the direction of the gazes of the figures. The muted overall contrast is contradicted in a few places where color, value and purity juxtaposition is employed. |

Shapes are defined by exquisitely rendered differences in value and color purity to create larger, more recognizable shapes, such as body parts, trees and clothes. Color is muddied with some strong purity; the scheme is a primary triad. This aids the sense of plastic space of this work. The primary depth-defining measure used is expertly calibrated edge detail. Varied contrasts in value, consistently defining the light source, is a close second. Adjustments to purity contrasts (or a lack of it) support the sense of depth of this work. 

While not symmetrically balanced, this work is quite stable. Gestural and natural shapes overwhelmingly dominate. Less dominance is found in the use of high key values and muddied hues. Texture implies near equivalency between those found in nature and those artificial. No fewer than five sight lines direct the eye to the bottom-right corner of the canvas. The light source adds a sixth. Tonal contrast is strongest where red and blue elements are placed near each other. A number of closure ellipses which the eye follows are created by arms, hair, tree edges and other hazily-defined edges. 

With the possible exception of the bowl found at the extreme bottom of the picture plane, the frame is the only rigidly mechanical element of this work. This only emphasizes the biomorphic forms that dominate. The viewer’s eye level is nearly even with, but slightly below, the upright figures. The greatest strength of this work is how shape edges and the directional forces they create interweave the elements and negative space together resulting in constant, but natural, eye movement across the canvas. They interlock with more ease than that of a puzzle. This underscores the total and subtle unification that characterizes this master work. 

Gerzso, Gunther (1966). Personage in Red and Blue [oil on fabric]. The Gene C. Gerzso 1999 Trust.

Ordinarily I would view the elements in this work as being stacked, but because of Gerzso’s subtle spatial separation between them the viewer seems to be above and looking down on them, changing the tone of their arrangement. Normally I don’t care for static, flat fields of color, but the way the blue elements interact with each other and his use of texture infuse this work with interest (for me). |

In this oil on fabric painting, the subject cannot be identified beyond the shapes themselves, and their interaction with each other. The interplay of the elements inspires a specific sense of spatial depth and elemental character, if one could reach out and touch them. One of the truly remarkable attributes of shape in this work is Gerzso’s rendering of edges; they are not defined by line, but a hazy, narrow value blend throughout. The “color scheme” is the display primaries treated with relatively pure intensity. Texture is also used to infuse the blocky shapes with character. 

Gerzso’s intended illusion of decorative depth is locked solidly in place. He uses all components of gestalt in combination with color temperature, value and purity to create both spatial order with regard to elemental relations but also forms on the elements themselves. The sense of balance in this work is approximately symmetrically balanced, although if looking straight-on, there is an unmistakable sense of tension that disturbs this. 

This work seems to be dominated by geometric, nearly-mechanical shapes. However there are enough edges with subtle, curved forms but counteract this. Element size and relative position (spatial order and isolation) direct the eye to the large red objects toward the top of the picture plane. Shared and close edges create a pattern where the eye flows downward and follows in a sort of stair-step manner to the supporting, subordinate elements. 

This work is one of the best possible examples of how to create restricted (proximity, texture) and moderate (value, overlap) space, as well as harmony (elemental pacing, shape character) and interest (value, color). Gerzso’s manipulation of these attributes and qualities is seamless. 

Rockburne, Dorothea (1985-7). Mozart and Mozart Upside Down and Backward [oil on gessoed linen hung on a blue wall]. The Andre Emmerich Gallery, a Division of Sotheby's. © 2008 Dorothea Rockburne/ARS, NY.

Basic straight-edge shapes are arranged in two groups, the second a near-vertical inversion of how the first is ordered. The bright colors and basic shapes reflect singular notes that would be used in one of Mozart’s classic scores. The point of the work seems to point out the elemental similarities of music and visual art by making them the subject. | 

Geometric shapes are arranged in two groups in this oil on gessoed canvas painting. Though the individual shapes are nearly identical in both groups, the viewer’s reaction to them is different due to Rockburne’s use of elements and their formatting. Angular shapes are grouped together in two vertical arrangements. Their spatial orders are inversions of each other. Color is the next element expressed in this work, followed by texture. The use of texture, overlap and transparency create spatial order. This order is contradicted by what seems to be two light sources. 

This is a work built by basic shapes with straight, well-defined edges. While the two arrangements are near-reflections of each other, enough variety is incorporated to keep things from getting boring. For example, the small blocks are different temperatures of purple, and texture is used to create interest. There is a well-balanced mix of dense (background) and light (foreground) values. The result is a work that is approximately balanced pictorially. The twisting, rotating arrangement of the highly recognizable shapes help to create a sense of motion. The left grouping has slightly more gravity than the right.  The entire work is oriented parallel with respect to the picture plane.

Rockburne uses color, value, purity, texture and subtle interpenetration to control spatial relationships and emotional impressions in a manner that can only be described as professional. As a work of nearly-pure abstraction, it might not be the most accessible, but if considered for its formal qualities this truly is a well-rounded, unified painting. 

Burchfield, Charles (1959). Orion in December [watercolor and pencil on paper]. Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, DC/ARS, NY.

The depiction “feels” like it is under water. The media, bubble-like stars, formatting of the ground and elongated tree forms create this impression, but the scene is above ground. The vertical character of the forest raises eye focus to the night sky. |

The subject is a wonderfully rendered forest viewed from a clearing. This work is saturated in emotional expressiveness. A sense of weightlessness, like one would find deep under water, is created. A pulsing impression of lush life radiates from the canvas. Watercolor and pencil on paper.

Line can be identified in this work, but shape is the primary visual element. They are all organic and have respectably defined edges. They are all either small and equal in length and width, or tall and narrow. Negative space outlines plant forms on the ground portion of the canvas, giving them an icy character. The color scheme is analogous. Dots, circles and vertical strokes create various patterns across the canvas. Diminishing detail is used somewhat to create spatial depth. The edges in the sky are hazy. Value is also used; the high key forms that create the ground seem nearer than the dense forms of the trees. Diminution is used in reverse; larger forms actually sink while smaller forms approach. 

Pictorial balance is required by the subject and the emotions Burchfield is trying to create. He accomplishes both: this work is approximately symmetrically balanced and static. Organic forms dominate. Where edges are light on the upper and lower thirds of this work, they are dense in the middle. Circular and thick dot-like shapes mimic each other on the terminal thirds also, inverting value format from each other. Value contrasts are also strong, and effective, in how the stars and lower plant-forms are rendered. Value also creates a pleasing and contrasting pattern across the canvas.

The pacing of the strokes the build the forest create a harmonious lateral sense of motion, but those same strokes create perpendicular lines of force, leading the eye to the starlit sky and swaying, highlighted forest floor. The vertical orientation of the canvas greatly aids the sense of weightlessness and vertical character of the forest elements. 

The title figure of this work, Orion, is placed in such a manner as to seamlessly blend the forest with the night sky. Color temperature and the formatting of the ground create a sense of cold. This evocative painting effectively combines contrasts of value, shape and patterns to create a beautifully blended work. 

Léger, Fernand (1921). Le Grand Déjeuner [oil on canvas]. © 2008 ARS, NY/ADGP, Paris. The Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY, USA. Mrs. Simon Guggenheim Fund.

This is an example of the kind of modern work that it took me a long time to appreciate. The composition is much too stiff for my tastes, I don’t go for too much color purity, and the nearly-divergent perspective is distracting. However, there is clearly quite a lot of formal activities in this work I am not recognizing. |

The subject of this work is three female forms who seem to be placidly, if not disinterestedly, engaged with the observer. Not only their attention but the rendering of the entire scene seem to reinforce a sense of attention on the viewer. Shape is formatted in a consistent manner: flattened to the picture plane, often with a gradient blending inward. Through shape, pattern is established, repeating or mimicking the rounded forms of the female figures at points in the background. An overall pattern in constructed with geometric, straight-angled shapes too. The color scheme is a primary triad that favors purity and is in some places mixed to create secondaries.

Spatial depth is developed minimally and only to the degree required to support a system of hierarchy, aid in eye movement, and support the tonal pattern embedded in this composition. Viewing the canvas inspires an instinctual sense of homogeneity; objects and space are distributed to near-perfect balance across the surface, resulting a strong sense of static asymmetry. The extreme flattening of elements and use of fractional representation overwhelmingly dominate this work. Beyond that, this work is a study in equivalencies. Living, curved forms dominate the center of the canvas; non-animated, rectilinear forms dominate the outer edges. The value construction of this work is superb, and the ratio of dense to light is nearly equal. 

The only areas treated with deliberate softness are the three women’s faces. Like all elements in this work, they are twisted and forced to respect the picture plane. From one to the another of these three circular figures is where the eye rests first, followed by the smattering of other circular and rounded objects distributed in the background. The viewer seems to be engaged in a comfortable, leisurely activity with the figures (from what I can tell), irrespective of parallax.  

This is an amazing work of art. Constructed in the cubist style, it is the most realistic of that portion of the abstraction scale. It is a more than reasonable distillation of elements and closure figures to carry Léger’s message. This work not only communicates a scene, but a pattern as well. 

Sassetta (c.1440). The Meeting of Saint Anthony and Saint Paul [tempura on panel]. Samuel H. Kress Collection. © Board of Trustees, National Gallery of Art, Washington.

I believe this work “reads” consistent with western writing. Ie, the painting is a narrative, the figure of Saint Anthony passing along the picture plane in pace with the forest motif, until the “end” of the story where he meets the second figure. This work shows the developing sense of perspective specific to western art of the Renaissance. |

The subject of this work is the figure of Saint Anthony and his embrace of Saint Paul, both elevated in focus by the glowing halo around their heads and more subtly by Sassetta’s use of value. The content is the story that is described by the painting. This is done with tempura on wood paneling. Shape and color are the primary visual elements used in this work. One can see Romanesque and even Byzantine influences quite clearly, but at the same time there is a strong push in the direction of naturalism that would be perfected by numerous cultural centers in the unfolding centuries.

The illusion of depth is intermediate, yet typical of the period, and absolutely necessary. It is because of works like this that complicated multipoint perspective would be possible in the decades to follow. Diminution and a strong impression of a light source are the primary ways depth is created. Pictorial balance is stable and secondary to the narrative. The activity of the main figure is emphasized by strong contrasts in tone and color. This work has a strong impression of horizontal and vertical elements playing off each other. This is contrasted somewhat by the gentle, flowing curvature of the path and hills the figures travel upon and behind. Because of the setting (a wondering forest), the work is dominated by non-mechanical forms, but in this gestural play off natural.

I would argue that centers of attention and eye movement are the primary “reasons” for this work. As described before, the eye follows the path of the first saint, inviting the viewer to join him in his travels. The tilt of view is somewhat extreme, placing the horizon line so far up on the picture plane that the sunset sky functions as a frame component. In fact, it has a motif design embedded in it, similar to one typical of frames.

This work has many strengths. Two I would place above all others: First, an impression of time is created with the tree pattern, seamlessly supporting Saint Anthony’s journey. Second, Sassetta’s choices of building emphasis on the figures (color, value contrasts) are difficult to identify (at least for me) but very effective. Overall this is a satisfying, unified work that is exceedingly effective at controlling attention. 

Goya, Francisco (1824). Bullfight [oil on canvas]. Toledo Museum of Art, Toledo, Ohio.

A detailed, engaging painting that accomplishes a perfect balance of positive and negative space, purity and value use. The scene is wonderfully natural, yet is rendered in a unique way only Goya is capable of. | 

The scene brings to light a violent and inhumane form of entertainment. The purpose is to increase awareness of the carnage and suffering it brings, not just to people but to the animals as well. This is accomplished with oil on canvas. Shape and color properties are seamlessly unified in this work. The fine-tuned roughness of this painting unifies all grounds across the canvas with a subtle texture. The color scheme is a basic complementary purity gradient, used to near-perfection.

Value and purity create depth to great effect. Not only do they both create richness in the figures, color temperature is used (mostly cool) to aid in the intuitive sense of space. This work is asymmetrically static. The distribution of figures and lines of motion do the heavy lifting for creating balance, but so too does the value contrast across the top of the canvas. This is particularly effective, and unique (from my experience) to this painting alone. Flecks of shadow scattered in the left upper-corner, and the same with white in the right, create near inverted reflections of the respective areas.

Subjects and ground are both treated with gestural shapes characterized by finely-tuned detail. A cold tinge is felt throughout, yet is professionally counter-balanced by moments of warm colors. The purity of the identifiable colors is well contrasted against the muddy, high-key character of the entire scene. The interaction of the stage-center figures is the primary area of focus, followed by the loose pattern implied by the minuscule, rounded figures strewn across the top of the canvas. Color interaction is the secondary focal point where green and red highlights are found in near proximity. The dimensions of the frame strongly complement the lateral motion of the scene playing out. 

The style innate to Goya’s mind is beautiful, and this painting is an example of it. His choices in the use of shape, color dimensions and elemental economy support, and do nothing to distract from, his subtle yet unmistakable commentary on the subject activity. 

Braque, Georges (1938). Still Life with Fruit and Stringed Instrument [oil and sand on canvas].

Braque creates patterns and textures through restricted line formats and recognizable shapes encapsulated in larger, more abstract shapes. The objects interlock in an almost puzzle-like manner to create highly decorative depth. A wide variety of shapes are used; meandering, organic, rigid, geometric and curvilinear. Color use is interesting but I cannot identify what the actual strategy is. | 

If not for the title, it would take some time to identify the subjects. This work is created with oil and sand applied to canvas. There is a wide variety of shapes in this work, which are the primary elements used. They are twisted and bent to conform to the picture plane, resulting in a flat and interesting work. Shapes are either highlighted by a rough, dense white stroke or are simply defined by their natural edges. Those that represent space-spanning devices, like table tops, floors and walls, are textured with various motifs.

Solid objects and negative space are distilled, sometimes forced, into simplified planar shapes. Their proximity to each other and overlapping manner create a shallow and consistent sense of depth. The careful manner in which the planes and shapes fit together gives this work a natural sense of rest, and therefore balance. This is supported and not contradicted by the use of color and value. 

There is near-numerical balance between rigid and curved, natural and artificial, and edge-separated and edge-interlocked forms. A rich range of purity is employed. There is heavy use of textures and high-key values. The picture plane actually dominates most choices relating to how the pictorial elements are formatted. 

The most complex positive shapes are grouped toward the center of the work, slightly favoring the right side. Simpler forms populate the outer edge of the canvas. Eye movement mimics the oval-shape of the table the positive shapes rest on; the use of white and high-key colors further organizes eye movement. The frame highlights the central portion of the painting. Even though many of the elements created in this work are rough and jagged, Braques’ rhythmic arrangement of them and considered use of light values subtly controls the energy of this work well. 

Tanning, Dorothea (1946). Guardian Angels [oil on canvas]. New Orleans Museum of Art: Museum Purchase, Kate P. Jourdan Memorial Fund, 49.15 © 2008 ARS, NY/ADGP, Paris.

A realistically-rendered work of a surrealist landscape and imaginary figures. There seem to be creatures populating the scene, but the distinction of where they end and the surroundings begin is almost always difficult to identify. Color is “cast” on the objects, rather than being a property of the objects themselves. The illusion of depth is seamless. |

The scene can be roughly identified as creatures occupying a surrealist landscape, but beyond that this work becomes a case study in the blending of definitions (edges, living versus inanimate…). Recognizable object components, such as legs, wings, bird-like eyes and legs, all living in character, are the only reason why such a landscape can be implied in the first place. Tanning seems to be pointing out our own instinctual tendency to fabricate order out of what cannot be defined; that we lie to ourselves. This is accomplished through oil on canvas.

Subjective shapes which owe their existence to Tanning’s imagination are the primary elements used in this work. Through deliberate use of color, light and subject interaction, she creates a beautiful, satin-like texture throughout. One element Tanning uses that the viewer does not need to come to terms with is shadow; Tanning creates a consistent and hyper-realistic light source. This, combined with overlapping objects, create a strong illusion of depth. 

This work places pictorial balance as subordinate to other strategies used to build a composition. It is asymmetric, but static. This work is dominated by subjective shape; those shapes are mostly organic in tone, but the internal shape ratio is more balanced between organic and vaguely geometric. Color is cold for the most part, and is subordinate to shape and texture.

Lines of motion are created in how the implied creatures interact with each other. They gesture inward toward the center of the picture plane, and up the tree-like structure running along the right half of the scene. The viewer seems to be watching the interaction, unnoticed. The vertical orientation of the composition supports the flight-capable character of the creatures.

When the innate beauty, delicate texture and realistic character of the scene is combined with the underlying question, the result is an excellent and organically unified work of creation. 

Jacquette, Yvonne (1976). Lower Manhattan - Brooklyn Bridge View II [pastel on off-white paper].

This work is a beautiful rendering of the city straddling a river executed through pointillism. This work carves out its own unique position on the abstraction scale. Jacquette’s treatment of the background makes the scene look like it’s snowing. |

The subject is obvious enough; this is a work of pastel on off-white woven paper. It is impressionistic; though the scene is pleasing, one gets a sense of the impurities in the air causing the distance to fade in a haze, and the chilly crispness in the air as it snows. Point is the element used in this work to, through closure, build shapes and inspire impressions. They vary in color and purity, but for the most part lack chroma and stick to the middle/high-key. Space is seamlessly created through changes in detail and atmospheric perspective.

This work strongly favors harmony over disorder. Values do not clash and are analogous, as are colors, not in hue, but where they group up in terms of purity. Shapes are vaguely rigid in the foreground, begin to lose definition as the eye travels upward (to the middle ground), and become more biomorphic in the background. There is graceful contrast between the directional forces of the foreground (vertical) and background (diffuse horizontal). The unexpected oblique and elevated perspective creates some needed tension. 

The skyline creates a jagged rhythm the eye follows from left to right or right to left, followed by the more stable and softer pattern created by the diagonally-slanted rectangular figures resting on the river. The picture frame supports the horizontal “flow” of this work; the picture plane is treated like most two-dimensional works in that it is a sort of glass plane the viewer looks through to the scene. 

Jacquette has acknowledged the influence that Seurat and Van Gogh have had on her works. With a handful of elements (point, implied shape, atmospheric perspective), she has created a truly elegant, unified work that keeps faith with the impressionist style she loves. 

Miró, Joan (1933). The Painting [oil on canvas]. Loula D. Lasker Bequest/The Museum of Modern Art, New York.

I personally find this painting unsatisfying and toneless. Beyond the many formal statements that can be made, there’s not much going on. A field of biomorphic shapes, a ground of textures. I am honestly trying to appreciate it on its terms, however. | 

The subject of this work is a series of biomorphic shapes and how they change as they interact. Deducing a message from this work, beyond the equivalencies that are created (and the confusion they cause), is difficult for me. This work seems to be microscopic in scale, like we are watching cell-sized organisms interact. Oil on canvas.

Shape and texture are the primary elements used in this work. Where the shapes are hollowed out, the shapes become lines. Color is used in two different formats. Space is quite shallow because of the decorative treatment of the shapes and because two layers (field and ground) are used. This sense of depth is supported by how the elements change where interpenetration occurs.This is an asymmetrically balanced work, but certainly on the “stable” side of asymmetry.

Simple, flat, biomorphic shapes predominate. Moments of eye-catching contrast occur where pure white and red appear; there seems to be no rhyme or reason to how the figures change when they come into contact, suggesting they are different even if their basic appearance is not. The somewhat square figures that blend into each other in the background clash seamlessly against the organic and crisp nature of the subject elements.

The shapes seem to be interacting with each other, somewhat as if they were swimming around each other. Where currents seem to swell laterally and upward on the lower portion of the canvas, U-shaped figures resist this direction, and in total keep motion within the framework. The picture frame mimics the shape and proportions of the background blocks. 

This work uses purely abstract shapes to create the impression of slowly interacting organisms to great effect. The vague, dense background supports the fluid character of this work. It is not balanced in terms of value; overall it has a dense tone, even with the pure splashes added. 

Echuarren, R. S. A. M. (1941). Listen to Living [oil on canvas]. © 2008 Artists Rights Society, NY/ADGP, Paris. The Museum of Modern Art, NY., USA, Inter-American Fund.

My interpretation of this work is that Echaurren is visually describing an alien world, teeming with life. He is pointing out that humanity simply cannot imagine before-hand what alien life will look like, including their world. We as a species are reasonably sure how elements behave under a range of conditions, but his assertion that predicting with the remotest accuracy the form that other-worldly intelligent life will take is accurate in my opinion. | 

The subject is the landscape of an alien world. Its appearance is so foreign that it may be a place where our understanding of the laws of physics are changed. Echuarren is pointing out how little we as a species know, or have experienced. This is a surrealist oil painting on canvas. The primary element employed in this work is amorphous shape. Shapes are well-defined in some areas, but blended and mixed together in others, through the exquisite use of color. I believe the color strategy is a primary triad, which supports the jarring color use. Color and shape are a single force in this work. Echuarren’s strategy of employing color to create shape builds a canvas-wide texture that is characterized by delicate vibrancy. 

The establishment of plastic depth is difficult to identify formally, but cool colors populate in the “sky” (far); warm toward the bottom (near). One of the subtle effects of the color strategy is that the clash of colors support the illusion of depth. However, the treatment of detail and texture have a flattening effect. Due to the placement of denser, warmer elements in opposition of that of airier, cooler ones, an asymmetric balance is struck. The tipping point is in the lower-left quadrant. This work is dominated by organic forms, relatively pure colors and strong value contrasts. Contrasting balance is struck when gestural shapes are compared to naturalistic ones and color temperature is considered. 

Moments of stark value contrast are used across the implied horizon. Naturalistic, indistinct shapes populate the canvas, but a tangled mass of more gestural forms in the bottom-left quadrant actually contrast quite effectively. Lines of motion are implied through the what appear to be sprouting, spraying forms located in the upper-left quadrant. It’s possible our own preconceived notions of gravity, solid ground, breathable air, etc are keeping us from truly seeing what is in this work. Beyond that, the viewer seems to be standing on a surface, looking off into the distance of this foreign landscape. 

Echuarren creates an eye-catching, credible alien landscape. He uses the minimal amount of our innate assumptions to create the field of a sky, ground and horizon line, striking near a perfect balance between lacking information and providing too much. 

Jaudon, Valerie (1995). Big Springs [oil and gold leaf on canvas]. © Valerie Jaudon.

This work is an excellent example of how pure symmetry can be anything but stale. The horizontal halves are reflections of each other; a static stroke weight and speed are used. Jaudon’s treatment of the picture plane, soaring strokes and implied architectural elements create unmistakable interest. The creation of pointed webbings and roman arches create a graceful sense of depth. I feel the impression of gothic architecture in my chest. |

An objective subject is not possible to pull out of this beautifully intricate work. The impression of gravity, space and grace might be described as the “message”. This is done through a combination of gold leaf and oil on canvas. A single element presents itself first and foremost: dense line of consistent width. A slight outline of this stroke that is an extension of the compositions negative space is used to build hierarchy where strokes meet or overlap. Pattern is created by negative space.

Depth is created by a number of “weight bearing” elements; the soaring character of the lengthier lines imply a graceful sense of airiness, of open exposed doorways framed by the dominant lines. The elegant simplicity of this work is made possible because only two elements are used: line and space (which create shapes and a pattern). This describes dominance. Beyond that, the diagonal, straight, and curved stroke treatment, in addition to overall pure symmetry, explain this works equivalency.

There is an unmistakable sense of upward movement created in this work. The primary cause of this is the vertical direction of the longer strokes, complemented by the shape of the picture frame, and upward-pointing arrow shapes where a number of the lines merge. There are few clues (as I can tell) explaining with certainty where the viewer would be positioned. The dominant lines seem to form arches and webbings, and given how they are treated when they merge, this would put the viewer in a diminished position, looking up into a great height, in a similar manner to one who stepped into a gothic church.

In the end, the pitfalls of monotony were not an issue with this work of masterful symmetry. The grace of this paintings character, the interaction of its elements, and the emotions it evokes result in a truly unified work of art.  

Albers, Josef (1966). White Line Square IX [colored lithograph]. © 1966 Joef Albers and Gemini G.E.L., Los Angeles, CA. © 2008 the Josef and Anni Albers Foundation/Artists Rights Society, NY.

This is a simple work of nonobjective abstraction that is an example of the inaccessibility of modern art to the man on the street. Two comments: I enjoy the temperature calibration of the color purple. Second, I appreciate the creation of ambiguous and shallow space through the spatial arrangement of the square elements and the proximity of the analogous colors belonging to the two outside figures. |

The subject is not only the “square” and building an homage to it; it is putting front and center the influence the shape has on other elements, and in turn their influence on the shape. This is accomplished colored lithography. The elements of mutual adjustment in this work are the square, color, purity and line. Though the idea of “square” is the subject, the center of interest is actually a contrasting white line forming a hollow square. 

The arrangement of the shapes is such that a sense of sinking in to the white square, or raising to the same shape (like a pyramid), is felt. In opposition to spatial ambiguity is the natural sense of static balance this work achieves. The elements are aligned in a vertically symmetric fashion, favoring the lower half of the picture plane. The result is a sense of overall stability. 

This work is a case study in employing unbalanced proportions. Clearly stable shapes with perfect perpendicular edges dominate, as do analogous and cold colors. This works equivalencies both stabilize (pictorial balance) and confuse (spatial ambiguity). The white stroke/square dominates attention. After a long pause there, one may become sensitive to the subtle temperature transition of the two purple figures. This is followed by a second transition not of coolness but of hue, from purple to red. 

The viewer seems to be on a near-level elevation as that of the figures. If, for example, the elements were perfectly centered on the picture plane, one would get the impression they’re looking slightly up at the figures. The frame shape becomes a part of the subject and strongly supports this composition. Though it seems simple, elemental treatment and calibration is clearly deliberately considered. In addition, the tension between stability and depth is superb. This is a unified work.