Lesson3- Subject, Composition, Processes, and Function,

In a work of art, the subject could be a person, an object, a scene, or an event. Artworks with subject are called representational or objective arts while those without a subject are called nonrepresentational or nonobjective arts.

In modern art, the artists rebel against the earlier realistic styles of painting. They want to depict the inner world of emotion and imagination rather than sow realistic representation of objects. Expressionist painters use bold and distorted or exaggerated shapes and forms in their works.

Pablo Picasso painted “Guernica” shortly after Nazi planes destroyed the ancient Basque city of Guernica in 1937. Thousands of people were killed by the air attacks. Look at this painting, at the right, a mother cries over her dead child. At the center, a horse screams and a woman soldier lies dead.