Narrative

What is Narrative Art? Art that tells a story. This is either as a moment in an ongoing story or as a sequence of events unfolding over time. Some of the earliest evidence of human art suggests that people told stories with pictures. Example: Cave paintings discussed in our Symbolism unit.

Vocabulary Story: An account of events either real or imaginary Expressionism: A modernist movement, initially in poetry and painting, originating in Germany at the beginning of the 20th century. Primarily subjective art, using distorted imagery & color for various effects. Surrealism: An art movement that began in the early 1920s, and is best known for its visual artworks and writings. The intent was to distort the perception of dream & reality.

Relevance Narrative in art is a what grounds or guides many projects. The larger idea of Narrative pieces are to take a moment of an occurring event(or the moment right before or directly after an event). The single image should have visual cues that allow the viewer to piece together the story being told, without the use of words or sequential art (a comic strip/diptych/etc)

Differing styles Artists during the Surrealism & Expressionism movements were able to convey narrative ideas through their manipulation of the tools in their given movement (i.e., color, movement, etc). Many illustrators & painters will practice sequential art through the process of individual narrative pieces. They gain a stronger ability to tell stories and convey ideas with fewer images.

Norman Rockwell February 3, 1894 – November 8, 1978 Rockwell was one of the most widely recognized painters of the 20th Century, popularized by his works depicting Americana. He produced work between 1913 to 1976. Through his work, Rockwell is well known for depicting strong narratives. A majority of his images successfully tell a story through selective imagery.

Assignment Create an illustration that conveys some type of narrative. Your image must be relatively complex, and show one of the following: An event in the process of occurring A moment immediately before an event A moment immediately after an event Remember: Include visual clues to allow the viewer to piece together the story.