Question 3

Artists often focus on developing visual codes and visual languages to express an opinion or
present a controversial idea through their artworks. This concerns the structural frame, as visual
languages refer to the basic components in an artwork, such as material, colour, composition,
body language of the figures, and symbolism, that is, incorporating inanimate objects with special
meaning. Artists carefully deliberate these elements for the audience to understand the subject
matter and the purpose of an artwork, and often reflect on a personal experience or comment on
the world around them.

Three prominent artists that demonstrate the power of communication through visual codes
and languages are Titian, Manet and Morimura. Venetian High Renaissance artist Tiziano Vecellio
(Titian) (1490-1576) painted Venus of Urbino(119 165 cm, oil on canvas) in 1538. The painting is
erotic with various symbols of fidelity, love and sacred marriage, and the idealized goddess, Venus
represented the expectations imposed on women back then. French pre-impressionist painter
douard Manets (1832-1883) Olympia(130.5 x190 cm, 1863, oil on canvas) presents a modern
version of the Venus of Urbino by cleverly embedding signs and symbols from the 19
th
-century.
This is recontextualisation, as it puts a pre-existing image into a new context to renew its meaning.
The result is an avant-garde and blatant statement about modern womens sexuality expressing a
highly controversial opinion about the purpose of art. In Japanese Post-modern performance artist
Yasumasa Morimuras(1951-) photograph Portrait(Futago)(210.19 cm x 299.72 cm, 1989,
multimedia), the artist cross-dresses as the prostitute in Olympia. He integrates representative
feminine articles and Japanese delicacies with the intention to explore gender issues, cultural
identity and challenge social values.

Titian was internationally known for both his innovative interpretations of mythological tales
and the academic depiction of the human body. He was one of the first artists to explore oil paint
as it was introduced in Venice. The medium allows him to create soft, blending brushstrokes.
Unlike traditional artists, Titian does not sketch the outlines of his works, but directly applies paint
to the canvas, preferring to achieve surface textures and builds up forms with thin, translucent
layers of oil paint on top of each other. This technique is particularly evident in his acclaimed
Venus of Urbino, painted during his trip to Bologna during the 1530s, as it not only creates drama
through spectacular colouring, the glazing also makes the human flesh seem soft, glowing and
gives the painting a hazy texture befitting the sensual theme. The artwork was a poesie painted
for Prince Philippe II of Spain. Veiling the erotic intentions with a myth, Titian portrays the
Goddess as a beautiful woman to be admired and valued for her faithfulness in marriage. In the
16
th
Century, women were viewed as obedient and subservient to the male, so the painting was a
guide for the princes new bride on how to behave. This painting showed the values and
expectations of women back then.

As a master of composition, Titian uses visual codes as well as symbolism to suggest marital
love and lust. Titian features Venus with a strong neck, small breasts, soft white skin and fair hair
lies composed and submissive on a bed with luxurious silk blankets and pillows, indicating her
availability to the viewer, who is typically male. The centre of attention is her head, which is coyly
tilted, and the eyes that gaze at the viewer meekly indicate she is aware of the audiences
presence. The curtain intentionally cuts the picture in half, leading the viewers eyes to her vulva
and the way her left hand covers her genitals are visual codes that reveal this paintings erotic
intentions. The symbols, background and colours further enhance the theme. The maids and the
marriage chest indicates a domestic setting and hints towards matrimony; a small dog curled by
her side symbolises fidelity; the clutch of red roses in her left hand and the myrtle tree on the
windowsill alludes to Hebrew emblems of marriage and undying love. To enforce the goddesss
female position, she is adorned with a bracelet and earrings. Titian uses deep red and dark green
to create harmony in colour, and the dramatically dark background brings out the radiant beauty
of the human skin. Instead of portraying the goddess sleeping in a calm, natural environment, like
most artists did before, Titian puts Venus in a contemporary setting and does not mask her
expression, making her real and even seemingly attainable, and thus emphasises on how a
marriage can be sensuous. Using these structural components, Titian highlights how important the
fidelity of a married woman is and insists that a woman in marriage can also be enticing. He
establishes a convention for depicting the nude that was well received by the audience, such as
Victorian Scholars, Crowe and Cavalcaselle, and that goes on to influence Baroque art and
Mannerism.

douard Manets Olympia recontextualises Titians Venus of Urbino with the intention to
confront the audiences sexual desires, question a modern womans position, broaden the
definition of art as well as directly challenge academic art imitating the Renaissance period. Manet
painted his lover Victorine as a courtesan looking nonchalantly at the viewer with her hand
covering herself assertively. The sensitive subject matter was seen as a threat to social order and
sparked outrage at the 1865 Salon. The audience was confronted with Paris corruption and many
were distressed about the realism and modernity of the "yellow-bellied odalisque". Manet chose
to use a limited palette, and the foreground and the dark background are so dramatically
contrasted that Olympia seems like shes under studio lighting. Her skin is sculptural-she is even
outlined in charcoal to suggest the contrasts in light. This makes her look flat and graphic, which is
probably reference to the invention of photography around 1829. Another technique Manet uses
is broad, patchy brushstrokes that are evident in the depiction of different textures: puffy pillows,
rumpled sheets, and thick velvet curtains; these serve to remind us that this is but a two-
dimensional painting, and art is more than technical skills.

Manet alters specific signs and symbols to convey his distinctive meaning in this painting. In
many ways, the painting Olympia is similar to Venus of Urbino: a clothed black servant in the
background emphasises the nudity of the mistress; Olympia also has a bracelet and some flowers
that enforce her femininity and high-class position; she lies on a bed with a similar pose; the
curtain separates the picture in half and leads the eyes to the hand covering the genital,
suggesting a similar theme of the two paintings. However, through the subtle changes in symbols,
colour contrasts and body language, Olympia is stripped of the mythological veil: her face is not
one idealised over a thousand times; she is Victorine, a unique and modern woman. At Olympias
feet there is a small black cat arching its back angrily, a sign of prostitution; The bouquet of flowers
held by the servant is just one of many tokens of appreciation from one of her admirers; and the
bracelet, earrings, slipper and Japanese prints are signs of wealth. There is much tension in the
picture from the body language we read. The thin woman in Manets painting picks her head off
the pillows as if her next customer has just come in, as suggested by the shadow beneath her
head; her direct, business-like gaze confronts the audience and her hand firmly covers herself,
giving the audience a sense that she is the one in control. Olympia is an avant-garde painting that
from composition to symbolism demonstrates clearly how art can be a visual language to
communicate ideas and values.

Morimura is an artist that explores gender issues and cultural identity is greatly influenced by
his own struggle with gender identity, technological advances and the consumer explosion in his
mother country - Japan. As a homosexual artist, Morimura struggles with his own identity, as he is
constantly labelled as female and a weak link in society. In the last 130 years, from establishment
of trade with the west in the Meiji Era(1868-1912), to economic boom and internationalism after
World War II, to the 21st Century, Japan has risen to become a powerful global partner and a
technologically modern country. Born and living in the digital age, Morimura tries to convey a
sense of the increasing reliance on technology through his medium-digital photography. He
creates colour photographs with surface varnish, and a clear material is scraped across the surface
of the photograph to mimics brushstrokes. This produces an illusion of a painting what is actually a
product of Photoshop . The art form suggests convenience of technology may overrun the old
masters beautiful techniques and painstaking efforts, and appropriation is the Morimuras belief
that all art that could be created has been created before and none is innovative.

Futago is a humorous digital montage of Manets notorious artwork Olympia that utilises
symbolism, juxtaposition to demonstrate the artists struggle with identity. The artist cross-dresses
as a European courtesan and also an African servant, juxtaposing Western and Asian cultures. The
Japanese figures strike a discord with the rich, colorful background and the artist disapproves of
the way some Japanese have embraced the western ideals wholeheartedly. Japanese symbols
such as the Japanese prints and a little porcelain black cat symbolizes trade and prostitution sits at
the end of the bed. Morimura nonchalantly lies on the bed, his left hand guarding his genitals and
attempting to portray a female and a bracelet, flowers, slippers, and a choker enforces feminism.
However, the fact that the lack of breasts and jagged lines of her body are signs of a man cannot
be ignored, and this questions the effeminate stereotypes of gay people, and also disagrees with
the western stereotypes about Asian men being effeminate.

Where art is the vehicle, the structural frame is the language artists use to convey a particular
meaning to the audience. Titian uses symbolism to illustrate a females position in marriage,
Manet recontextualises Venus of Urbino and challenges the art world to be less constraining and
Morimura appropriates Olympia to explore the theme of identity. Through the careful
development of meaningful visual codes and visual languages, each artist are able to expresses
their individual opinions and reflects upon their social values.

Bibliography

Classroom Handouts

Janeway, J. douard Manet. Class handout for Year 11 Art, Roseville College, Roseville. 11
May 2013.
Janeway, J. Yasumasa Morimura-Japanese Performance Artist. Class handout for Year 11 Art,
Roseville College, Roseville. 11 May 2013.
Janeway, J. Case Study-The Reclining Nude. Class handout for Year 11 Art, Roseville College,
Roseville. 11 May 2013.

Youtube Clip

Smarthistoryvideos. Manet, Olympia, 1865. 2011. Smarthistory.Youtube. 9 May 2013.
<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aaF8eILOyJE>


By Y11 Angela Lin No. 5100