Researching Artifact Mediums
Part of the work for the course projects in HUM 200, is to understand your artifact's medium or what the source is or is made from. Mediums can be things like:
- Literature, a book or haiku poem...focus on the use of language and literary devices This link opens in a new window
- Painting, created in oils, watercolors, or other mediums/techniques This link opens in a new window
- Music, a rap song This link opens in a new window lyrics and/or accompanying music, sound effects, talkboxingThis link opens in a new window, or an opera This link opens in a new window including the libretto and/or accompanying music of orchestra and aria
- Sculpture, made out of bronze or marble...how was it constructed This link opens in a new window such as carved, modeled and then cast, welded and what is its condition
What can we understand about these artifacts and how they are made? Is there a specific special technique that was used? What does that say about the time period or the artist that created it?
Using the example from before, the painting Ophelia by Sir John Everett Millais This link opens in a new window is an example of a Pre-Raphaelite work. According to the Tate Museum, Millais began by sketching the landscape and the model of Ophelia before he began to paint. He spent as much time detailing the landscape and nature backgrounds as he did Ophelia herself. He purchased two pieces of canvas to create a double canvas and used lead white paint as a ground. The tubes of colored paint that he used were mixed by specific art material dealers and had an array of colors/pigments from minerals, precious stones, rocks, vegetables, insects, and plants.
What do these things about this medium of painting/art, tell us? The fact that Millais spent as much time on the landscape as in the main feature which is Ophelia, tells us that he valued the landscape scene and how it was represented in the work. Many artists at the time may have spent more time on Ophelia, but not Millias. How representative is this of the Pre-Raphaelite artists?
If we need to learn more about the medium and techniques used, we can certainly find more information. Try looking for secondary sources from books, encyclopedias, and scholarly articles on the specific artist and their techniques (if they are famous enough), or perhaps look at the greater type of art and any movements that are associated. For example, we could search for Millais and his painting techniques, Millais and how he is a representation of the Pre-Raphaelite artists, and so forth.
References
Tate Museum. (n.d). The Story of Ophelia. Retrieved from https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/millais-ophelia-n01506/story-ophelia
- Philosophy of Art-Encyclopedia Britannica This link opens in a new windowIncludes helpful insights into the characteristics of art, how to interpret art, its mediums and additional helpful tips. Reading through The Mediums of Art section could be very useful to this area of your project.
- The Story of Ophelia This link opens in a new windowExplore Millais's iconic painting, Ophelia, looking at the subject, materials, techniques and conservation.
- PRE-Raphaelite from Tate Museum This link opens in a new windowThe Pre-Raphaelites were a secret society of young artists (and one writer), founded in London in 1848. They were opposed to the Royal Academy’s promotion of the ideal as exemplified in the work of Raphael.
- Methods and materials of the Pre-Raphaelite circle in the 1850s This link opens in a new windowThis paper combines the results of technical analysis on four paintings by English Pre-Raphaelite painters, executed between 1852 and 1857, with documentary evidence concerning the working lives and methods of the artists. It examines their manner of handling materials, which was designed both to imitate past painters and to be innovative. Looking at Millais and his followers in particular, this account focuses on their distinctive use of grounds and pigments, discusses the interpretation of technical data, and explores the circumstances which inspired these techniques.
