1. INTRODUCTORY CRITERIA FOR FORMAL ANALYSIS
The following considerations are appropriate in preparing a formal analysis of a work of art
and are a partial basis for the comprehension of the changes of style that are studied in art history.
It is recommended that from time to time you apply these questions to an artwork before writing
the papers and taking the exams. It is such qualities of form and expression that you need to know
in visually discerning individual, period and regional art styles. Use these criteria in conjunction with
“The Elements and Principles of Art” handout.
Formal Analysis
Frame and pictorial area
• What is the actual size?
• Proportion of height to width?
• What is the relation of shapes to frame (harmonious or discordant, “respected” by the
frame or cut by it)?
Technique
• What materials are used for support (wood, canvas, cardboard, paper, etc.)?
• What kind of colors (oil, tempera, watercolor, pastel, etc.)?
• How is paint applied (in strokes or layers, thickly or smoothly, with a fine or coarse
brush, or otherwise)?
• Are other materials used?
• Is it a woodcut, etching, engraving and, if so, what qualities does this technique
impart to the work?
Individual units (objects)
• Are there many or few?
• Are they large or small (both in relation to the outside world, and to the picture area)?
• What range of sizes?
• Regular or irregular shapes?
• What kind of pattern do they form?
• What proportion of solid and broken up areas?
• Is there emphasis on the center or on marginal areas?
• Are forms bulging or flat?
• What is the treatment of marginal areas?
• Are forms (refers to three-dimensional objects) solid, hollow, penetrated by space (open
forms), trapezoidal, cylindrical, or pyramidal?
Lines
• Are they clear or obscured?
• Wavy, swirling, horizontal, vertical, diagonal?
• Angular or curved? Subdued or assertive? If both, in what proportion and relationship?
• Are they implied by the juxtaposition of contrasting colors, values, textures?
• Are there lines at all?
• Do they have directionality or movement?

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Colors
• Are colors bright or subdued?
• Are they “plain” or “rare” or elaborately mixed?
• Are there many colors or few?
• Is any one dominant?
• Are the colors warm or cool, dark or light, pale or intense? Opaque or transparent?
• Harmonious or discordant? Are there moderate or extreme contrasts?
• Large areas or small patches of color?
• Are there repetitions or “echoes”?
Light
• Is there a consistent light source?
• Is the source inside or outside the picture or both?
• Strong or muted contrasts?
• Degree of clarity?
• How much shadow?
• What is the function of light and shadow: clarifying form, or space, or emphasizing mood,
etc.?
Space
• Is it shallow or deep?
• Open or screened off?
• Is there emphasis on solids or voids (intervals)?
• What kind of perspective (linear, aerial, other) is present?
• Are main interests near or far?
• Is space suggested by planes in depth or by recession or by overlapping?
• What degree of special illusion is there?
• Is the artist more interested in flat pattern than space?
Organization
• What is the combined effect of the way the artist has used the elements of art?
• Is it simple or complex?
• Geometrically ordered or free and seemingly accidental?
• Do some forms dominate over others?
• Is there symmetry or not?
• Crowdedness or spaciousness?
• Variety or repetition?
• What is the character of the rhythm and movement established by the arrangement of
elements?
• Is the composition harmonious? Balanced? Unified?
General Observations
• How consistent is the structure of the whole?
• Does the work seem spontaneous or calculated? Carefully planned or improvised?
• How meaningful are the various formal elements and their organization for the
interpretation of the theme, for the conveyance of mood, for the creation of a sustained
visual interest? Is the effect loud or opulent, quiescent, dramatic, elegant, etc.?

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From Description to Analysis
In your papers and exams it is imperative that you always justify your observations with
reference to specific features in the artwork. For example, if you have determined that the work
has a particular type of perspective, you must point out those features whereby it is constructed. If
you observe movement or directionality, always describe how this impression has been created.
When describing the rhythmic quality of a work, you must characterize that rhythm and describe by
what means it is established. To put it the terms of argumentation, observations are in essence
assertions, and it is required that your assertions be substantiated. Always give the reasons for
your observations. Only by so doing will your essays transcend mere description and become true
analyses.
Historical Placement and Analysis
Once you’ve studied the physical qualities, you can then begin to understand the choices that were made by the artist
and how they reflect larger cultural, political, religious, philosophical, military, or intellectual ideas.
1) WHO…
…physically made this piece?
…commissioned it to be made?
…lies inside it and is this the same as the person who made or commissioned it?
…was intended to view this?
…are the figures portrayed on it?
2) WHAT…
…is this object?
…was it used for?
…are the materials it is made with and are these precious or expensive?
…can the quality of the materials tell us about the object or the owner?
…tools were used?
…is special or unusual about it?
…is the story being told in the imagery (if there is one?)
3) WHERE…
…does it come from?
…was it originally located and does that contribute to its form or function?
…is it currently located and does that change tell us anything about the person who made it or the
city/culture it comes from?
…did the materials come from and what might that tell us about the work?
…do the figures and stories on it come from? History, religion, mythology?
4) WHEN…
…was it made?
…was it discovered and does that affect what we know about the piece?
5) WHY…
…was it made?

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…was the effort put into creating this work?
…did they use these materials?
…did they place it where it was originally placed?
…did they choose that color/shape/size and does that tell us anything about its use or its purpose?
…are we studying it? Is there something unusual, innovative, or unique about it?
6) Finally, other questions like…
Is this piece very typical of the time or the place it come from? Or is it very different for the time
and place?
Have the shape or imagery been altered in any way? If so, was this by accident or on purpose?
Application of Criteria to Sculpture
These criteria can be adopted to sculpture. In a three-dimensional object, the lines can consist of
incisions, the edges or outlines of the forms, individual masses such as arms, legs, torso, cloths, etc.
Other considerations might be the texture, the sense of weight, relationship of mass to void,
whether the form is open or closed, the visual impact of the material(s) used. If the sculpture is in
the round, it should be evaluated as a whole, not just from a single viewpoint.