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This is the "FUN" section of the Art Critiquing Process. It is here that you will ask yourself "What does this work say to me?" You can make guesses and inferences. However, these should be educated guesses and not just random guesses. You must be able to articulate, or express yourself intelligently using words, and provide insightful comments as to why you feel the mood or the meaning of the work is...? Interpretation is very personal. Understand that your interpretation of a work may differ greatly from someone else's. Just as people are different, so are our interpretations. Let's take a look at some interpretations of these works of art.


Jacob Lawrence (American) 1917-2000, Paper Boats, 1949 ) Tempera on
gessoed panel, 17 7/8 by 23 7/8 in., Sheldon Memorial Art Gallery and
Sculpture Garden, University of Nebraska-Lincoln,
Let's take a look at this painting entitled Paper Boats. What was the artist trying to say to us? Which Elements of Art and Principles of Design does he use to express his meaning?
  • Notice that the boys' three bodies form a triangle. A triangle represents stability and solidness. These boys appear to be very comfortable playing next to each other. The bodies form a balanced composition.
  • Lawrence uses Primary Colors to create a sense of simplicity. This adds to the fact that these boys are doing what boys everywhere do: They are playing together building paper boats.
  • The ideas of the simple activity of playing is emphasized by Lawrence's treatment of the background. There are areas or shapes of pure color. Very little detail has been painted in the background.
  • Notice the use of strong horizontal and vertical lines. He uses these lines to create a sense of space in the picture.
  • The boys are obviously very involved in the boats. All of the boys are looking down at the boats. It appears as if they are going to race them for fun.
  • I think this is a picture of an urban environment because of the fire escape in the
    background. Often city children would build paper boats and race them in the street gutters after a rain.
This is a photograph taken by Dorothea Lange. There are many critics who feel that Photography is not a "real" art form. Others feel that the camera can see things in a way that the human eye cannot. There is much debate about the acceptance of Photography as "TRUE ART".

Dorothea Lange (American) 1895- 1965) Migrant Mother, 1936, Photograph
  • This is a photograph of a mother with two children. She does not look happy. She is very thin. Her family is poor and she looks very tired The children huddle around the mother, perhaps hiding from the camera.
  • Because of the title "Migrant Mother" and the year it was taken coinciding with the Great Depression, this family struggles to survive. Maybe the father has left them. The mother appears to be oblivious to her children as she thinks about what she is going to do next.

Why is this photograph artistic? What makes a photograph different from a painting or drawing?

If you had lived through the Dust Bowl and the Great Depression, would you have a better understanding of the emotionalism of this photograph?
In 1960, Lange gave this account of the experience:
I saw and approached the hungry and desperate mother, as if drawn by a magnet. I do not remember how I explained my presence or my camera to her, but I do remember she asked me no questions. I made five exposures, working closer and closer from the same direction. I did not ask her name or her history. She told me her age, that she was thirty-two. She said that they had been living on frozen vegetables
from the surrounding fields, and birds that the children killed. She had just sold the tires from her car to buy food. There she sat in that lean- to tent with her children huddled around her, and seemed to know that my pictures might help her, and so she helped me. There was a sort of equality about it. (From: Popular Photography, Feb. 1960).

Edward Hopper (American)1882-1967 Nighthawks, 1942, Oil on canvas 84.1 x 152.4 cm, The Art Institute
of Chicago

We looked at this painting in the previous Analysis section. Now look at this work and tell us what you think the artist was trying to say to us. Keep in mind that all people have different experiences in life. Each person will bring that unique perspective to the Interpretation process. This makes for a great variation of explanations...as unique as the feelings of the individuals.
In this popular American scene, we look at four people in an all night diner. Think of the Elements Of Art and the Principles of Design. How did Hopper use these in this painting? Why did he use the ones he did? Did you pick up on the use of red and green complementary colors? This creates some visual tension.
Four people are sitting in a diner, yet there is a sense of loneliness. How does Hopper create that sense? Notice that the four people seem to be in their own little world. They are not interacting. Each is sitting there oblivious to the others. This creates a sense of loneliness. The figures are placed to the right of the painting. Where are the other people? It must be very late at night. Do you see a way in or a way out of the diner? How does this make you feel?
Notice the bright, garish illumination of the inside of the diner. How does this light affect the mood of the painting? It looks like a stage setting. The outside world can look in, like visitors to a zoo. This image appears even more so when you look at the giant plate glass windows, very similar to zoos and aquariums today.


Georgia O'Keefe (American)1887-1986 ,Blue and Green Music, 1919,Oil on Canvas

Sometimes interpreting realistic works of art is easier than interpreting abstract works or non-objective works. Look at this unique painting. What do you notice first?
If you said the colors or the rhythmic waves, you would probably be correct. O'Keefe made decisions when she was creating this seemingly abstract work. By using Cool Colors, she creates a harmonious picture. Look at the title? She compares her painting to music. Can you see the similarities?
Like music flowing forth from instruments, the waves of colors and rhythms create a visual music of their own. What comes to mind would be classical music; soft, melodious and soothing. The patterns of the lines repeat throughout the picture. When you listen to music, you will hear certain sections repeated throughout the piece like the refrain or theme.

Katshishika Hokusai (Japanese) 1760-1849 Great Wave Off Kanagawa, 1823-29 Color woodcut, 10 x 15 in. , Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York		 This print is one of many prints dealing with the theme of water and Mount Fuji. Knowing that the artist is Japanese, why is this such an important theme?
Japan is a small country in the Pacific made up of many islands. Japan is surrounded by water. Mount Fuji is a volcano that even though it is beautiful with its snow covered peaks and graceful lines, it is capable of devastating destruction.
If you look carefully, you will see fishing boats out on the waves. Here the artist is creating a sense of the smallness of man compared to the natural elements. Japan is often hit by typhoons that wreak havoc and destruction all along the islands of Japan. In one single work Hokusai presents to the viewers his philosophy of life. Man does not rule the world as he may think. He is not master over all he sees. Nature is still in control. It allows man to live.
Do you agree?

A Picture's Worth A Thousand Words (Print and Complete)
Missing Pieces (Studio Activity)
Why Did They Do That? (Print and Complete)