Art Criticism: What Does It Mean?

" Critiquing an artwork is like playing detective. You must assume the artist has a secret message hidden within the work. Your job is to find the message and solve the mystery."

Rosalind Ragans

You can get a good idea of the secret message by simply asking and answering these four questions:

'The Famous Four'

Description: What are all the things I see in the work?

Analysis: How is the work organized? (How does the artist create the message or mood by the way he/she uses the elements and principles?)

Interpretation: What is the artist saying here? What does this artwork seem to be saying or mean to me?

Judgement: Is the work successful? Does the artist succeed in creating a clear message or mood by the way he/she uses the elements and principles? Is there anything that confuses or takes away from the clear expression of the message?

Read: "How to Criticize a Work of Art," (p. 27-30), Arttalk, to get a deeper understanding of the process of critiquing art. Check out the real examples.

This is worth learning. You will be using critiquing skills in each unit and may catch yourself using this simple method to break the code in advertising images you see in magazines, movie posters, art that catches your eye in restaurants or graffiti on the street.