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*Themes and purposes may differ within a work of art.

*A work of art may reflect more than one theme.

Installation: a space is presented as a work of art that can be entered, explored, experienced, and reflected upon

Triptych: a painting in three sections

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Chapter Three

Themes of Art

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Figure 3.4 Cimabue, Madonna Enthroned, c. 1280-90.

Figure 3.3 Rathnasambhava,Tibet, 13th century C.E.

Themes of ArtThe Sacred Realm

Based on a world that we cannot see, except through faith

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Figure 3.1 Sainte-Chapelle, Paris, 1243-48.

Figure 3.2 Great Mosque,Córdoba, Spain, begun 786 C.E.

Themes of ArtThe Sacred Realm

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Figure 3.5 The Great Pyramids, Giza, Egypt, c. 2500 B.C.E.

Themes of ArtPolitics and the Social Order

Encompasses the issues dealt with within a society (rulers, politics, historical events,

etc.)

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Figure 3.7 Delacroix, Liberty Leading the People, 1830.

Figure 3.6 Equestrian statue of Marcus Aurelius, 164-166 C.E.

Themes of ArtPolitics and the Social Order

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Figure 3.8 Pablo Picasso, Guernica, 1937.

Themes of ArtPolitics and the Social Order

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Figure 3.11 Christian Boltanski, Altar to the Chases High School, 1987.

Themes of ArtStories and Histories

Shared stories that bind a culture together

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Figure 3.10 Sahibdin and workshop, Rama and Lakshmana Bound by Arrow-snakes, from the Ramayana, c. 1650-52.

Figure 3.9 Sassetta, St. Francis Giving His Mantle to a Poor Man and the Vision of the Heavenly City, c. 1437-44.

Themes of ArtStories and Histories

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Figure 3.13 Detail, Court Ladies reparing Newly Woven Silk, 1082-1135.

The Here and Now

Themes of Art

Art that is just about our daily life

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Themes of ArtThe Here and Now

Figure 3.14 Edward Hopper. Gas, 1940.

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Figure 3.15 Robert Rauschenberg, Windward, 1963.

Themes of ArtThe Here and Now

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Figure 3.16 Meta Warrick Fuller, Talking Skull, 1937.

Figure 3.19 Frida Kahlo, Self-Portrait with Monkeys, 1943.

Themes of ArtThe Human Experience

Common to this theme is the subject of life and/or death

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Figure 3.18 Vermeer, Woman Holding a Balance, c. 1664.

Themes of ArtThe Human Experience

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Figure 3.19 Bosch, The Garden of Earthly Delights, c. 1505-10.

Themes of ArtInvention and Fantasy

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Figure 3.22 Thomas Cole, The Oxbow, 1836.

Figure 3.23 Wang Jian, White Clouds over Xiao and Xiang, 1668.

Themes of ArtThe Natural World

Deals with nature and human’s relationship to it

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Figure 3.25 Robert Smithson, Spiral Jetty, 1970.

Themes of Art

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Figure 3.26 Hokusai, Ejira in Suruga Province, c.1831. Figure 3.27 Jeff Wall, A Sudden Gust

of Wind (after Hokusai), 1993.

Themes of ArtArt and Art

Art can serve no other purpose than to just provide visual pleasure

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Figure 3.28 Pat Steir, Summer Moon, 2005.

Art and Art

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Themes of ArtArt and Art

3.28 John Baldessari. Six Colorful Inside Jobs. 1977. 16mm film transferred to video (color, silent), 32.53 min. The Museum of Modern Art, New York.