what is formalist criticism in art

Full Answer

What is the main purpose of art criticism?

• describe. Tell what you see (the visual facts)
• analyze. Mentally separate the parts or elements, thinking in terms of textures,shapes/forms, light/dark or bright/dull colors, types of lines,and sensory qualities.
• interpret. seeks to explain the meaning of the work.
• judgment.

What are the three principle theories of art criticism?

• Art criticism is responding to, interpreting meaning, and making critical judgments about specific works of art.
• Art critics help viewers perceive, interpret, and judge artworks.
• Critics tend to focus more on modern and contemporary art from cultures close to their own.

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What are the three types of art criticism?

What are the three principle theories of art criticism?

• Formal Theories. Artists may be influenced by other artists or their work. This influence may be depicted in their work.
• Contextual Theories. Artists are part of different societies and cultures. They may work according to these or other social or cultural contexts.
• Expressive Theories. Art work may be a product of self-expression of the artists. ...

What is the purpose of Art critism?

More specifically, art criticism:

• Involves your own interpretation
• Is done to help you understand a particular work of art by using what you know of art theory, and
• Establishes where a work fits in with the different artistic styles and movements throughout art history

What is formalist criticism example?

A strictly formalist critic would, for example, approach The Great Gatsby as a structure of words, ignoring the details of Fitzgerald's life and the social and historical contexts of the novel.

What is a formalist analysis in art?

Formal analysis is an important technique for organizing visual information. In other words, it is a strategy used to translate what you see into written words. This strategy can be applied to any work of art, from any period in history, whether a photograph, sculpture, painting or cultural artifact.

What is an example of formalism in art?

But perhaps, the best example of formalist art would be compositions of Piet Mondrian like his Composition with Yellow, Blue, and Red (1937-42). Working with simple geometrical lines and primary colors, his paintings are the purest manifestation of that which Clive Bell considered significant form.

How do you identify formalist criticism?

Formalist critics examine a text regardless of its time period, social/political/religious setting, and author's background. They believe that true meaning of the text lies only in the text. Other issues create a false impression of the text and thus jeopardize the audiences' interpretation.

What is formalism criticism?

A formalist critic examines the form of the work as a whole, the form of each individual part of the text (the individual scenes and chapters), the characters, the settings, the tone, the point of view, the diction, and all other elements of the text which join to make it a single text.

What is formal context in art?

Formal context The formal context informs the analysis and interpretation of formal visual art elements and. principles, the application of materials and techniques, the stylistic qualities relative to historical. periods or iconology seen in artworks, and how these contribute to engagement, communication. and meaning.

What is an example of formalism?

For example, formalists within mathematics claim that mathematics is no more than the symbols written down by the mathematician, which is based on logic and a few elementary rules alone.

What formalist means?

1 : the practice or the doctrine of strict adherence to prescribed or external forms (as in religion or art) also : an instance of this. 2 : marked attention to arrangement, style, or artistic means (as in art or literature) usually with corresponding de-emphasis of content.

What is the difference between formalist art and expressionism art?

Abstract. Formalism can be defined as a conception which negates any possibility of expressing the contents which are outside the fields of music, by music. Expressionism can be defined as a conception which considers music capable of expressing definite contents outside the fields of music.

What does formalist criticism emphasize?

Formalist criticism is defined as a literary criticism approach which provides readers with a way to understand and enjoy a work for its own inherent value as a piece of literary art. Formalist critics spend a great deal of time analyzing irony, paradox, imagery, and metaphor.

What is the main idea of formalism?

Formalism describes the critical position that the most important aspect of a work of art is its form – the way it is made and its purely visual aspects – rather than its narrative content or its relationship to the visible world.

What is the focus of formalism?

The focus in formalism is only on the text and the contents within the text such as grammar, syntax, signs, literary tropes, etc. Formalism also brings attention to structural tendencies within a text or across texts such as genre and categories.

What is an example of formalism?

For example, formalists within mathematics claim that mathematics is no more than the symbols written down by the mathematician, which is based on logic and a few elementary rules alone.

How do you write an art analysis?

Give a brief description of the painting: name of artist, year, artistic movement (if necessary), and the artist's purpose in creating this work. Briefly describe what is in the painting. Add interesting facts about the artist, painting, or historical period to give your reader some context.

What Formalist means?

1 : the practice or the doctrine of strict adherence to prescribed or external forms (as in religion or art) also : an instance of this. 2 : marked attention to arrangement, style, or artistic means (as in art or literature) usually with corresponding de-emphasis of content.

What are the elements of formalism?

In painting, formalism emphasizes compositional elements such as color, line, shape, texture, and other perceptual aspects rather than content, meaning, or the historical and social context.

What is formalist criticism?

Formalist criticism is one way that a reader can approach his understanding of a text. When a reader looks at a poem, play, story or novel from a formalist perspective, he is looking solely at the work as something to be dissected, so he looks for all of the literary techniques and devices that an author uses to create the text and its meaning. He does NOT look at the author's life, he does NOT consider the text from a historical or psychological perspective; he does NOT consider how this text is like other texts -- those are all other modes of literary criticism.

What is formalism in literature?

Formalism, as the name implies, deals with the form of the text. That is, formalists view literary language as distinct from other forms of language, and concern themselves with studying the verbal qualities of the text independent of external psychological or historical factors. This may sound similar to New Criticism, ...

What is formalist approach?

A formalist approach studies a text as only a text, considering its features, such as rhymes, cadences, and literary devices, in an isolated way, not attempting to apply their own opinion as to what the text means. In general, formalists are focused on the facts of a text because they want to study the text, not what others say about it.

What does formalism counter?

Advocates of formalism would counter that cultural, historical, and political interpretations of texts are all very well, but once we have stripped away all the outer layers of textual interpretation, the text in its original incarnation still remains with all its formal elements in place.

What is literary criticism?

Formalist literary criticism focuses on the text as the major artifact worthy of study rather than, say, the author him or herself, the historical time period during which the text was written, how the text responds to gender roles or class concerns during the period, or anything else that exists outside of the text's world itself.

Is formalism more linguistic or linguistic?

In this sense, formalism is more explicitly "linguistic" than New Criticism, which is primarily concerned with aesthetic effects, whereas formalism is more concerned with investigating the ways in which language creates these effects.

Is a different interpretation valid?

Different interpretations are perfectly valid —indeed, the whole critical enterprise would be impossible without them—but according to formalists, such interpretations exist to clarify and explain what is already there in the text instead of replacing it altogether. Approved by eNotes Editorial Team. Lisa Metcalf.

What is Fried's dismissal of Minimalism as “ingratiating theater”?

Fried’s dismissal of Minimalism as “ingratiating theater”—in effect what Greenberg called “novelty art”—and as such not true art, extends Greenberg’s dismissal of “literary” art as beside the aesthetic point.

Why did Greenberg repudiate her formalism?

Despite her adoption of Greenberg’s focus on the object and its material qualities, she repudiated Greenberg’s formalism for its lack of “method,” in contrast to her own use of theoretical models such as that of Jacques Lacan.

What did Rosalind Krauss write about David Smith?

In Terminal Iron Works (1971), she wrote about sculptor David Smith in broadly formalist terms, getting “beyond an historical context, ” as she said, and attempting to offer what New [literary] Criticism and theorist Roland Barthes called an “immanent analysis,” which focused on the structure and themes of Smith’s sculpture and, to some extent, explicated them. But she also had a certain interest in psychoanalysis, if initially only a scholarly interest, as her brief mention of Sigmund Freud in her discussion of the totemic aspect of Smith’s works indicates. Later in her career she used Lacanian psychoanalysis to explicate “the counterhistory” of Modernism. She wrote that it was the “optical unconscious” that mattered, not the self-conscious “opticality”—emphasis on pure aesthetic perception—that Greenberg and Fried celebrated in Modernist painting. Despite her adoption of Greenberg’s focus on the object and its material qualities, she repudiated Greenberg’s formalism for its lack of “method,” in contrast to her own use of theoretical models such as that of Jacques Lacan.

What did Lacanian psychoanalysis do to modernism?

Later in her career she used Lacanian psychoanalysis to explicate “the counterhistory” of Modernism. She wrote that it was the “optical unconscious” that mattered, not the self-conscious “opticality”—emphasis on pure aesthetic perception—that Greenberg and Fried celebrated in Modernist painting.

What is the irony of avant-garde art?

The irony of avant-garde art, therefore, is that its professed leftism and ostensibly radical difference made it highly marketable as a capitalist trophy, Picasso’s ever-changing art being the example par excellence. Avant-garde art, which once seemed illegitimate, became as legitimate as gold in the bank.

Who were the French cultural theorists?

In particular, such French cultural theorists as Jean Baudrillard, Michel Foucault, and Jean-François Lyotard were used by artists to rationalize and justify—and give an intellectual mystique and cachet to—their art, and by critics to explicate art in terms of the post-structuralist understanding of contemporary culture.

Who was the French theorist who appropriated the ideas of the French?

Her appropriation of the ideas and terminology of various French theorists— Jacques Derrida as well as Barthes and Lacan—became fashionable among postmodern artists and critics from the 1970s onward.

What is formalist literature?

In literature, formalist view was more scientific (and perhaps, logical) in nature, putting emphasis on how writing could express language, and discounted how a reader would react to the subject of the writing. Further, a piece of literature would prove successful no matter the cultural context; it would stand the test of time in a changing world.

What is the basis of formalism?

Much of the basis of formalism as an evaluation theory is founded on Plato’s Theory of Forms, developed on the idea that everything, whether tangible or not, has a form. Modeled after his “Allegory of the Cave,” in which characters viewed shadows as the reality instead of as outlines or doubles of the true forms. Plato explained that—to the characters in Allegory, those WERE the forms in their perception.

What is formalism in music?

In music, the theory was used to explain that music is judged based on the basic composition of the notes, and only intellectual understanding is of value when assessing musical pieces. The listener’s emotional reaction provides no additional value to the music’s worth.

What is formalistic approach?

The formalistic approach directs that art be analyzed by reviewing form and style. Elements like color, shapes, textures, and line are emphasized, while the context of the work is de-emphasized, and made a secondary characteristic—at times taken completely out of consequence. The assessment of a piece of artwork is based purely on the artist’s skill and not on the choice of subject matter, with the value based primarily on the use of elements with little regard for the viewer’s perception of the context.

What was the growth of expressionistic art in the early 20th century?

The growth of expressionistic, and later, surrealistic art, in the early 20 th century, supported the line of thinking which indicated that a skilled artist could prove his or her artistic abilities in color, medium, and the combinations found in the work (namely, paintings) beyond whatever the subject matter was. Viewers would be drawn to the work no matter the context.

Who was the most influential proponent of formalism?

One of the most well-known proponents of formalism in more modern times was American writer Clement Greenburg, supporter of Abstract Expressionism. He believed fully in the detachment of context and subject matter from the form of art, and disallowed the idea that there were other considerations (i.e., popular culture, political sentiment, or media influence). He firmly believed that Abstract Art was the truest expression of art, as the observer would not understand the subject matter of the art itself, and only the artist’s true use of color, medium, and space showed through.

Who is the most famous artist who exemplified the avant-garde and radical art of the time?

His famous work, Convergence (1952), exemplified the avant-garde and radical artwork of the time, where artists created freely, outside of established guidelines and emphases. His unusual methods, oversized canvases and use of non-traditional materials (using knives and sticks in place of brushes), was welcomed in a growing taste for abstract art.

What is formalism in art?

Formalism is a critical and creative position which holds that an artwork's value lies in the relationships it establishes between different compositional elements such as color, line, and texture, which ought to be considered apart from all notions of subject-matter or context . Although the term primarily indicates a way of interpreting rather than making art, certain painters and sculptors, from Paul Cézanne to Jackson Pollock, have been associated with a Formalist approach. Originating in the mid-19 th century, the ideas of formalism gained currency across the late nineteenth century with the rise of abstraction in painting, reaching new heights in the early 20 th century with movements such as Cubism. During the mid-20 th century, the North American critic Clement Greenberg defined a Formalist approach with unprecedented levels of detail and rigor. Since then, the term has been associated primarily with him, and with the artists he championed, such as the Abstract Expressionists.

Why is formalism implicit in art?

Formalism, in spite of its history as a specific school of thought, is implicit in all engagement with art or literature, because what sets apart artistic expression from non-artistic is attention to the way that a subject is represented, whether in paint, sculpture, language, etcetera.

What is the formalism of Jackson Pollock's mural?

A pioneering work of Abstract Expressionism, Jackson Pollock's Mural (1943) exemplifies Formalism as defined by the critic Clement Greenberg, emphasizing formal elements such as color, line, and composition over and above subject matter. Formalism dominated the post-World War Two art world, but the idea has a longer history, and can still be sensed in contemporary artistic schools and styles.

What did Whistler say about the idea of abstract art?

In a Victorian court of law, he nonchalantly explained his idea of abstract art: 'Asked about the meaning of the word "Nocturne," reported the Times, "Mr. Whistler said that a picture was to him throughout a problem, which he attempted to solve ...

What was Whistler's defense of the painting?

Whistler's defense of the artwork became a de facto defense of modern art. As art critic James Jones writes, "Whistler performed brilliantly.

What is the rise of formalism?

The rise of Formalism as a critical approach is inseparable from the rise of abstraction in painting across the 19 th century. As naturalistic detail receded from the canvas, so elementary compositional elements such as color relationship, shapes, and textures rose to prominence in the viewer's perception. This both paved the way for, and was heralded by, the emergence of critical approaches which championed "Formal" effects over and above figurative detail as key to artistic value.

What was the New York painting movement?

The movement embraced the gestural abstraction of Willem de Kooning and Jackson Pollock, and the color field painting of Mark Rothko and others.

Formalism Theory

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History of Formalism

L ’Art Pour L ‘Art

Clement Greenberg—Staunch Advocate of Formalism

Jackson Pollack—Abstract Expressionist

Formalism in Other Arts

Post-Formalism Today–Driven Out by Context