7 Stereotypes About Semi Figurative Art That Aren't Always True
Semi figurative artwork is a style that lies somewhere between being figurative and being non-figurative. In other words, it's a bit abstract. While being non-figurative, semi figurative art often is a good deal more painterly than its figurative counterpart. As such, it often feels a lot more painterly than many other kinds of art.
One characteristic of semi figurative art that unites it with other kinds of representational imagery is the tendency to over reproduce the details of actual life. The scenes depicted in these works almost always take place in real or ideal worlds. They may be landscapes or people or objects. Usually, though not always, the people and objects portrayed in these works are those that are considered to be representative of the cultural currents represented by the medium in question. It's a genre all its own, but one that deserves study just the same.
Because of this rich and varied genre of figurative imagery, there has been much debate as to what exactly is and what is not figurative in nature. The consensus seems to be that there are two kinds: the representational and the abstract. While there may have been some sort of impurity, or even a mixture between the two in earlier periods, with more modern artists like Rothko and Newman, the boundaries between the two kinds of artwork have become more clearly defined.
While a semi figurative painting can contain a great deal of representational imagery, especially paintings done in the later nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, they are not strictly speaking necessarily non-representational. For example, a piece like El Greco's Les Demoiselles d'Avignon (1940) contains recognizable figures, but when it comes to the style of expression, and the way that figures are drawn and placed in the painting, the work becomes more clearly associated with real object sources than with figurational imagery. This is most apparent in the title. Les Demoiselles d'Avignon is obviously a figure (there's a foot, for instance), but the image is typically more focused on realistic rendering than on expressive expression. In other words, the figures in this work are not fully expressionist in the classic sense.
Another example of semi-fictional figurative painting occurs when a work such as Andy Warhol's Bagdad (1955) is seen. Here, Warhol uses a series of stills to imply a landscape beyond the stills used to indicate a foreground. The subject of the stills is a rather simple yet detailed building. The building is a flat expanse of brownish colored bricks. The bricks seem to be arranged in a logical manner and are placed in a fairly ordered pattern. Again, the work seems to be more oriented towards the use of real object sources to represent as authentic aspects of life, rather than toward expressive techniques in the painting.
Semi figurative Art also includes drawings. Sometimes the drawing is entirely in black and white, other times it may include color. More commonly, though, the medium is one that employs tones of various hues. Some examples of semi-fictional art figurative art would include Moet et Chandon's The Night Cafe (19ior, Vase with Glasses (also unframed), and Paul Gauguin's The Rocks (also unframed). These artists' works, though, clearly derive their works from real object sources, rather than from the abstract.
A third group that can be included in this discussion is that of impressionism paintings. Impressionist painting, as its name suggests, utilizes sharp, often distorted brush strokes to create impressionistic images. These images are very vividly colored, often with unusual shapes, and always quite simple in design. (The phrase “clear impression” refers to a painting in which the observer has a clear sense of the actual shape on the canvas, as opposed to an image where the exactness of the form has been exaggerated for effect). As a result, semi figurative artfigures such as the ones done by Picasso and Manet almost always have recognizable shapes, although the actual details are uncertain. In addition, the paintings usually do not fully tell the story behind them: they are self-contained entities, sometimes written in chalk or pencil.
There are a number of different techniques that artists commonly use when working on their paintings, but they all essentially come down to two main things: the mediums on which the work is done, and the effect that the painting has on the viewer. For instance, if you are looking at a portrait of a nude woman, the artist would probably work on a canvas with a canvas size of about 150cm x 100cm, using a medium that allows the paint to be absorbed completely into the medium, and allowing the colours to stand out and be well defined. Any area that is not smooth will be emphasized as being textured, and will therefore be useful as a background for the rest of the work. The effect will be one of deep, rich colours and a sense of realism.
One characteristic of semi figurative art that unites it with other kinds of representational imagery is the tendency to over reproduce the details of actual life. The scenes depicted in these works almost always take place in real or ideal worlds. They may be landscapes or people or objects. Usually, though not always, the people and objects portrayed in these works are those that are considered to be representative of the cultural currents represented by the medium in question. It's a genre all its own, but one that deserves study just the same.
Because of this rich and varied genre of figurative imagery, there has been much debate as to what exactly is and what is not figurative in nature. The consensus seems to be that there are two kinds: the representational and the abstract. While there may have been some sort of impurity, or even a mixture between the two in earlier periods, with more modern artists like Rothko and Newman, the boundaries between the two kinds of artwork have become more clearly defined.
While a semi figurative painting can contain a great deal of representational imagery, especially paintings done in the later nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, they are not strictly speaking necessarily non-representational. For example, a piece like El Greco's Les Demoiselles d'Avignon (1940) contains recognizable figures, but when it comes to the style of expression, and the way that figures are drawn and placed in the painting, the work becomes more clearly associated with real object sources than with figurational imagery. This is most apparent in the title. Les Demoiselles d'Avignon is obviously a figure (there's a foot, for instance), but the image is typically more focused on realistic rendering than on expressive expression. In other words, the figures in this work are not fully expressionist in the classic sense.
Another example of semi-fictional figurative painting occurs when a work such as Andy Warhol's Bagdad (1955) is seen. Here, Warhol uses a series of stills to imply a landscape beyond the stills used to indicate a foreground. The subject of the stills is a rather simple yet detailed building. The building is a flat expanse of brownish colored bricks. The bricks seem to be arranged in a logical manner and are placed in a fairly ordered pattern. Again, the work seems to be more oriented towards the use of real object sources to represent as authentic aspects of life, rather than toward expressive techniques in the painting.
Semi figurative Art also includes drawings. Sometimes the drawing is entirely in black and white, other times it may include color. More commonly, though, the medium is one that employs tones of various hues. Some examples of semi-fictional art figurative art would include Moet et Chandon's The Night Cafe (19ior, Vase with Glasses (also unframed), and Paul Gauguin's The Rocks (also unframed). These artists' works, though, clearly derive their works from real object sources, rather than from the abstract.
A third group that can be included in this discussion is that of impressionism paintings. Impressionist painting, as its name suggests, utilizes sharp, often distorted brush strokes to create impressionistic images. These images are very vividly colored, often with unusual shapes, and always quite simple in design. (The phrase “clear impression” refers to a painting in which the observer has a clear sense of the actual shape on the canvas, as opposed to an image where the exactness of the form has been exaggerated for effect). As a result, semi figurative artfigures such as the ones done by Picasso and Manet almost always have recognizable shapes, although the actual details are uncertain. In addition, the paintings usually do not fully tell the story behind them: they are self-contained entities, sometimes written in chalk or pencil.
There are a number of different techniques that artists commonly use when working on their paintings, but they all essentially come down to two main things: the mediums on which the work is done, and the effect that the painting has on the viewer. For instance, if you are looking at a portrait of a nude woman, the artist would probably work on a canvas with a canvas size of about 150cm x 100cm, using a medium that allows the paint to be absorbed completely into the medium, and allowing the colours to stand out and be well defined. Any area that is not smooth will be emphasized as being textured, and will therefore be useful as a background for the rest of the work. The effect will be one of deep, rich colours and a sense of realism.
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