Jacques-Louis David's Oath Of The Horatii

If someone were to ask you to describe a particular painting or another kind of work of art to him or her, how would you depict it for this individual? Perhaps you would talk about the aesthetic effects created by the parts of its design such as, there is large amount of red throughout the piece or the contrast is great due to major shifts in values. Or would you describe it in a symbolic way, focusing more on the artwork’s content than context such as, a raven in a painting may be a representation for death. These ways of describing an art piece are what are called methodologies. A methodology by definition is a system of methods used in a particular area of study or activity. In the study of art we use methodologies as a way to translate
Formalism is an approach to art that stresses the significance of form over content as the source of a work’s subjective appeal. (21) It puts emphasis on compositional or formal elements such as line, shape, space, color, light, and dark. Within these components are further elements that are used to achieve an even broader range of possibilities within the spectrum of design. These include balance, order and proportion, and pattern and rhythm. With all these formal elements at hand, an artist can use them to their advantage to evoke certain responses in viewers. For example, if one were to describe Jacques-Louis David’s neoclassical painting Oath of the Horatii, using formalism one would to be able to say that David uses the linearity of the Roman arches in the background to separate the foreground into three individual areas and create visual stability. One would also be able to point out the strong use of diagonals that lead the viewer’s eye around the piece, or the fact that many of these diagonals converge at a vanishing point that is placed at the center man’s hands. In relation to these diagonals, David emphasizes triangles as well, the most prominent triangles being the ones created with the men’s legs.