Visual Languages and Analysis

Visual Languages and Analysis

By Kat Bayliss

Introduction

This essay will explore some examples of work by James Gillray, Arthur Rackham, Helen Ward, Iginio Straffi, Andy Warhol, Hazen, Sidney Paget and the Columban monks of Iona and discuss the roots of the symbolism portrayed within them and whether they successfully conveyed intended narratives and situations.

1. Using caricature and satire to represent cultural and political viewpoints

Image 01 -  Barbarities in the West Indies – James Gillray 1792

Gillray’s swiftly drawn, immoral and witty satiric works soon found him recognised as one of the most important and competent artists in his field, his only adversary being, the etcher, James Sayers.

“The purpose of satiric illustration is to inform and persuade – though some satiric works clearly entertain as well.”(1) 

Did Gillray succeed in portraying his intended point of view?

Satirists, such as Gillray and Cruikshank, although successful in their careers and their works very popular, regularly portrayed vague messages, leaving the illustrations open to misinterpretation.

 “...by focusing on barbarities in the West Indies, on sensational incidents...artists like Gillray...frequently tended to blur the distinction between slavery and the Slave Trade, thus making the task of abolitionists that much more difficult.”(2)

“Often only an exaggerated gesture, an ironic title or a carefully worded caption offered the viewer a clue as to the artist’s moral and political viewpoint.”(3)

However, this disturbing image does succeed in portraying a terrible and true story that William Wilberforce used to support his argument for the abolition of the slave trade in 1792, when he told of how a young negro slave, who was too poorly to work, was thrown into a giant pot of sugar juice and boiled for forty-five minutes, and then thrashed severely.(4)

James Gillray’s original vocation was to be an artist, in the traditional sense of the word. However, 

“From about 1775 a small number of etched caricatures began to appear, unsigned, like all his early prints…”(5)

At this time engravers at the Royal Academy were not appreciated as real artists and caricaturists were bottom ranking. But, try as he might, Gillray’s fate was set. Unlike William Hogarth, who,

“…composed in a rational, balanced manner…Hogarth was a moralist who believed that his art could improve the condition of mankind.”(6)

2. Arthur Rackham and Anthropomorphism

Image 02 - The Old Woman in the Forest – Arthur Rackham 1909

Anthropomorphism is the humanising and/or the personification of gods, animals or objects.

Arthur Rackham produced a myriad of beautiful, grotesque and imaginative illustrations to accompany many classic texts, from the plays of Shakespeare and the moralistic fables of Aesop to the poetry of Christina Rossetti. Many of them featured anthropomorphic characters. Rackham took his anthropomorphism seriously. He had an interest in phrenology and physiognomy, controversial pseudosciences; which were based on judging by appearances; during the Victorian era, although,

“The earliest-known systematic treatise on physiognomy is attributed to Aristotle.”(7)

“Rackham’s illustrations depict physical types similar to those designated in phrenological charts and descriptions. His scenes are full of characters—amalgams of trees, animals, and humans— displaying various dispositions….”(8) 

Human beings are judged by their appearance, so this is an effective means of portraying character in an illustration.

“…people assess your competence and trustworthiness in a quarter of a second (250 milliseconds)-based solely on how you look.”(9) 

In Rackham’s illustration The Old Woman of the Forest, the tree is actually in the process of morphing into a handsome prince, who had been under the spell of a wicked old woman.(10) In this sense, it is an unusual anthropomorphic image, in that the tree character will not be suspended in the form depicted at this captured moment in time. The tree is no longer inanimate, but was it anyway? It is after all a living organism. It is acquiring some anatomical features, arms and hands, a face and a leg is just beginning to uproot; even some of his clothing is appearing behind him resembling ragged fairy wings. Unlike most of Rackham’s tree morphs, he is elegant and beguiling.

“Trees whose branches are arms and whose roots are clawed feet, whose heads sprout a bristling crown of twigs. Trees with knots that might be eyes and gashes that seem to leer, trees that dance and point and gesticulate and generally mock the absurd pretensions of men.”(11)

3. Cross Cultural – The Fusion of East and West

Image 03 – Winx Club fairy ‘Aisha’ - Iginio Straffi 2004

The booming Japanese comic industry thought it pointless to export its manga publications, already being worth a fortune larger than the same industry in the whole of Europe.(12) Not only that, but the complications of converting the panels, text and reversing the reading direction for the western reader meant almost producing from scratch.

However this has not stopped the manga ‘style’ permeating into western culture. With the hugely successful Italian ‘anime’ Winx Club fairies, developed by Iginio Straffi and broadcast in over 150 countries,(13) to the BBC’s designs, by Paul Hancock(14), for the 2002 World Cup.(15)

Although the trend for manga style has been cropping up more in the last decade in Europe and the U.S. it is not the first time Japanese ‘comic’ style has appeared in English; there was 

“Astro Boy, Gigantor and Speed Racer cartoons in the 1960s”(16) 

And World War II saw

“…bilingual colour comic strip leaflets…issued by the Japanese Military”(17) 

 intended as, “…psychological warfare…”(18) 

In Italy,

“83 different anime series were broadcast between 1978-1983”(19) 

on private TV stations, following their popularity, actual translated manga comics also became prevalent. Following decades of copying and translating, a demand for non-translated genuine Manga began to grow in the West, baffling parents and retailers alike.

“Westerners now consume Manga…how Japanese artists and publishers wanted them to…reading them from left to right.”(20)

A cinematic approach dominates the Manga style. The Godfather of Manga, Dr Osamu Tezuka (1928-89), pioneered this cinematic look,

“…Tezuka’s prime storytelling influence came from the cinema.”(21) 

In an email to Fumio Obata, Japanese Artist, Writer and Lecturer, living and working in the UK, I asked him,

Paul Gravett says in Manga Sixty years of Japanese Comics that comic art influences have been travelling back and forth over the seas for decades.  Bande Dessiner and Manga have merged successfully, for example in the work of Taiyo Matsumoto’s comic Go-Go Monster. What do you predict could be the next episode of fusion between Eastern and Western illustration?

He said that most of the fusion happens in the comic book genre. Western children grow up reading the Manga comics then creating and drawing their own, not necessarily in the manga style though, then they start to read American comic books in their teens.

“However there are definite influences still left from Manga…It is very gradual and discreet but that's what I think the next fusion is. A very gradual adaptation of these [Manga] codes - describing movements, various emotions, dramatic effects, rather than in styles of Illustration. And it will be led by many average creators rather than few exceptional.” (Fumio Obata, University of Gloucestershire - March 2014)

4. Formal qualities

Image 04 – From The Cockerel and The Fox – Helen Ward 2002

Some of the finest examples of layout are by the children’s book author and illustrator Helen Ward.

Helen Ward uses her configuration expertly to add to the sense of drama and accommodate text panels. Often using the entire double-page spread and playing with scale to create a cinematic effect, her illustrations are dynamic and exciting.

The colours are particularly vibrant in this example, although she does use a muted sensitivity, when nature demands it, as in the earthier toned, but no less beautifully created animal characters in her retelling of The Tortoise and The Hare.(22) 

“It is unusual to see such a fundamentally traditional or realist approach to illustration combined with an essentially graphic approach to the page.”(23) 

Martin Salisbury says in his book, Illustrating Children’s Books, that Helen is acutely aware of the importance of the design aspect of her drawings and plans them “meticulously”(24).

The white spaces, which her characters inhabit, are bold and wisely used, giving the images,

“…an uncluttered clarity.”(25)

The farm animals are leading us diagonally across the page following the fox, only visible by his tail and hind foot, from a bird’s perspective in the blossom filled tree above, to the bottom right corner of the page enticing us to turn it. Helen has used watercolour and Radiograph pens for the fine lines(26). The animals are realistically portrayed, yet stylised. A significant influence on her work were the natural history paintings by Mughal-trained artists of India who were commissioned by Lady Impey in 1780s to portray the animals in the Calcutta menagerie at the home she shared with her husband.(27)

"I was struck by the crispness of the execution, and the fact that the drawing, though objective, is not entirely realistic. I loved the way those burnished images sat on the page...” Helen Ward(28) 

5. Text Panels and Lettering

Image 05 – Chi Rho, the Book of Kells – Colomban Monks around 800

The Chi Rho page of The Book of Kells is said to be its most famous. The intricate patterns have been expertly executed. Here I am going to discuss the incorporated lettering and the interesting use of abbreviation within this colorful illustration. Completed around 800, by Columban Monks on the island of Iona, the Book of Kells is a prime and exceptionally early example of decorative text.

This “Christmas page”(29) depicts the birth of Christ. All the text in the book is Latin, except for the abbreviation on this page, ‘XPI’, which is in Greek. These letters have been highly stylised,

“…abstracted to form the dominant graphic elements of the image.”(30) 

There is a head motif inside the ‘P’, thought to be a young Christ. Birds, animals and people feature throughout the design, including the peacock, an ancient symbol of immortality in Christianity.(31) There are an otter with the fish in its mouth and amicable cats playing with mice, the pointy noses and the shape of the ears suggests a creature of rodent genus; although the affable nature portrayed could be because they are cats and stylised kittens, not mice at all.(32) In the top left hand corner of the ‘X’ there are two delicate tiny moths.

“Many capital letters in the Book of Kells spring to life in this way.”(33)

The two other words, in the bottom right-hand corner of the page ‘h generatio’ translate to, “now the birth”.(34)

The text and design has rhythm and grace discernible in the use of calligraphy and the repetitive decorative swirls, curls and intertwining tendril patterns.

"Both in writing and in music, rhythm is the most outstanding element. It is rhythm which lends calligraphy the breath of the individual."(35)

The illumination of text in this fashion was on practical grounds, facilitating orientation of the book. This type of, indisputably, magnificent book was used to dazzle and wow,

“…often primitive and usually illiterate congregations.”(36) 

6. Graphic Symbolism

Image 06 – From Darkness to Light – Hazen 1908

During a recent visit to the United Grand Lodge of England, founded in 1717, it was particularly interesting to notice the abundant use of sunrays. Although the use of symbolism is prevalent in Masonic decoration and illustration, the use of the rays of sunshine is equally graphic. Light is often depicted in this way. It is used in religious paintings for halos and bright stars, lines around a lit bulb for an idea in a cartoon strip, yellow lines emanating from a shining sun in a child’s painting.

Fumio Obata of University of Gloucestershire says that “Manga comics have a set of visual codes, which makes communication smoother…” 

Graphics symbols such as lines to indicate movement; like the wagging of a dog’s tail, or a moving car, punctuation marks; such as question or exclamation marks to enhance puzzled or surprised facial expressions without using words are commonly seen.

Graphic symbols are used in comic art,

“Cartooning, as Art Spiegelman has observed, is as much diagrammatic as it is illustrative”(37)

and in education, particularly with special educational needs children,

“Graphic symbols are used with a wide range of children for a diverse range of purposes.”(38) 

James Gillray frequently added graphic symbols into his etchings, the sun’s rays in Phaeton alarm’d! even including text within them, as in the sea-sick man in Charon’s-Boat; or the Ghost’s of ‘all the Talents’ taking their last Voyage, and the farting bird!

7. Cliché

Image 07 – Che Guevara – Andy Warhol 1962

Image 08 – Cliché Guevara T-Shirt Design - RedMolotov

Cliché is not limited to language alone, it is a result of,

“mechanical reproduction”(39)

The word cliché is derived from the French onomatopoeia, Clicher, a printing technique, whereby frequently used words, phrases and pictures were maintained for ease of repetitive use when typesetting. Cliché is used today to mean the overuse of a once interesting phrase or image.(40)

“The cliché is a cultural product of a technological change…”(41)

Is it a good thing or a bad thing?

Walter Ong said in Orality and Literacy (1982) that ancient Greeks relied heavily on the use of cliché and repetition, being an oral culture. However,  John Paul Satre thought clichés were “Hell”.(42)

A photograph of Che Guevara, “Guerillo Heroico”, taken on March 5^th 1960(43) by Alberto Korda, used in 1962 for a silkscreen design by Andy Warhol, has become so popular an image that it has been reproduced time and time again on ‘art’ posters for your home to T-shirts, lighters, tea and beach towels.

Andy Warhol’s colourful silkscreen ‘style’, iconic in the 1960s is now available to everyone in photo editing software in your own home.

8. Character and Archetype

Image 09 - Holmes and Moriarty in Mortal Combat at the Edge of the Reichenbach Falls – Sidney Paget 1894

                                                                                                                                                                 

Archetypal characters have been part of all cultures worldwide, present in art and narratives, myths and fables, since the beginning of civilization. These legendary personalities are deeply imbedded in societies; indeed they play an important role, and follow similar traits cross-culturally. They are used to teach and shape behaviour in the audience who hear or view them.

“People in the world share practices like myths, legends and certain ritualistic patterns. The fundamental belief in myth criticism is that these practices have survived for a long period of time and are deeply rooted in the mental and emotional lives of the people. They are projected in artistic and literary works as recurring symbols, motifs and images.”(44) 

Here is an illustration of Sherlock Holmes, one of the greatest and most famous hero’s of literature. Unconventional, he is a drug addicted, narcissistic, genius. A romantic example of a hero, reminiscent of the hero’s in Byron’s poetry. A hero trapped by weaknesses; more human, imperfect and accessible.

“…why, in the work of the most famous Romantic champion of liberty [Byron] – and most famous Romantic libertine – do so few characters achieve any kind of freedom?”(45)

“[Byron’s] rebellion against conventional morality and the passion expressed in his works and life were perceived as the token of ‘authenticity’…(46) 

Conclusion

During the research for this essay, I discovered and began devouring the essays of Susan Sontag. Marshall McLuhan’s forward thinking of The Medium is the Massage astounded me. I learned about the importance of artisans in ancient civilization from Kenneth Clark. I am the proud owner of a big stack of books by Herbert Read, now in prime position for bedtime reading. I agree with Dolores Phelps that John Berger’s Ways of Seeing has many unreferenced points from Walter Benjamin’s The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction. I found that Sharon Kinsella is an informative and easier read than Rudolf Arnheim (who I am intrigued to tackle further, due to the cognitive versus visual, psychology angle). And I would like to thank Paul Gravett and Fumio Obata for finally fulfilling my curiosity about Manga.

I decided to choose one image for each of these eight topics in order to understand better the use of “visual codes and sign systems to communicate complex narratives and situations.”(43) The complex task of research of cross referencing was particularly interesting; having access to libraries at the University of Gloucestershire and international university libraries, museum and gallery websites and databases all at my fingertips was advantageous and a desirable skill gained that I will treasure and develop further.

The research for this essay has also sparked an interest in the psychology of visual language, which I will consider when embarking on my own illustrations.

 Footnotes

1. Heller, Steven & Chwast, Seymour, (2008) pg.225
2. Oldfield, John R, Popular Politics and British Antislavery: the Mobilisation of Public… (1998) pg.177
3. Oldfield, John R, Popular Politics and British Antislavery: the Mobilisation of Public… (1998) pg.177
4. The National Portrait Gallery Website: http://www.npg.org.uk/collections/search/portrait/mw61443/Barbarities-in-the-West-Indies
5. Godfrey, Richard, James Gillray The Art of Caricature (2001) Tate Gallery Publishing Limited pg.12
6. Godfrey, Richard, James Gillray The Art of Caricature (2001) Tate Gallery Publishing Limited pg.14
7. Encyclopedia Britannica online: http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/458823/physiognomy
8. Atzmon, Leslie, Arthur Rackham's Phrenological Landscape: In-betweens, Goblins, and Femmes Fatales. Design Issues. Fall 2002, Vol. 18 Issue 4, p64-83
9. Goudreau, Jenna, Forbes Woman: The Seven Ways Your Boss Is Judging Your Appearance. 11/30/2012
10. Grimm, Brothers (translated by Zipes, Jack), The Complete Fairy Tales (2007) Vintage Books pg.540
11. Denny, Ned, Tree Spirits - New Statesman 13 January 2003 pg.42
12. Gravett, Paul, Manga Sixty years of Japanese Comics (2004) Laurence King Publishing Ltd. Pg.152
13. http://www.iginiostraffi.com/en/about-me/
14. http://www.paulhancock.co.uk/content_bbc_worldcup.html
15. Gravett, Paul, Manga Sixty years of Japanese Comics (2004) Laurence King Publishing Ltd. Pg.152
16. Gravett, Paul, Manga Sixty years of Japanese Comics (2004) Laurence King Publishing Ltd. Pg.154
17. Gravett, Paul, Manga Sixty years of Japanese Comics (2004) Laurence King Publishing Ltd. Pg.154
18. Gravett, Paul, Manga Sixty years of Japanese Comics (2004) Laurence King Publishing Ltd. Pg.154
19. Gravett, Paul, Manga Sixty years of Japanese Comics (2004) Laurence King Publishing Ltd. Pg.155
20. Gravett, Paul, Manga Sixty years of Japanese Comics (2004) Laurence King Publishing Ltd. Pg.156
21. Gravett, Paul, Manga Sixty years of Japanese Comics (2004) Laurence King Publishing Ltd. Pg.026
22. Carey, Joanna, Animal Magic – The Guardian, Saturday 29 March 2008 para.6
23. Salisbury, Martin, Illustrating Children’s Books Creating Pictures for Publication (2006), A & C Black Publishers/Piers Spence pg.121
24. Salisbury, Martin, Illustrating Children’s Books Creating Pictures for Publication (2006), A & C Black Publishers/Piers Spence pg.120
25. Carey, Joanna, Animal Magic – The Guardian, Saturday 29 March 2008 para.9
26. Carey, Joanna, Animal Magic – The Guardian, Saturday 29 March 2008
27. Ashmolean Oxford-Online: http://jameelcentre.ashmolean.org/collection/6980/10198
28. Carey, Joanna, Animal Magic – The Guardian, Saturday 29 March 2008
29. Simms, George Otto, Exploring the Book of Kells (1988), The O’Brien Press, Dublin pg.36
30. Under “Featured Pages - Chi Rho Page” in The Book of Kells App for iPad: with material from a book originally by Meehan, Bernard, The Book of Kells: An illustrated Introduction to the manuscript in Trinity College Dublin (1994), Thames & Hudson
31. Under “Featured Pages - Chi Rho Page” in The Book of Kells App for iPad: with material from a book originally by Meehan, Bernard, The Book of Kells: An illustrated Introduction to the manuscript in Trinity College Dublin (1994), Thames & Hudson - Cross-referenced: http://www.religionfacts.com/christianity/symbols/peacock.htm
32. Simms, George Otto, Exploring the Book of Kells (1988), The O’Brien Press, Dublin pg.49
33. Simms, George Otto, Exploring the Book of Kells (1988), The O’Brien Press, Dublin pg.49
34. Under “Featured Pages - Chi Rho Page” in The Book of Kells App for iPad: with material from a book originally by Meehan, Bernard, The Book of Kells: An illustrated Introduction to the manuscript in Trinity College Dublin (1994), Thames & Hudson
35. Pott, G in Harris, D, Calligraphy: Modern Masters – Art, Inspiration, and Technique (1991)NY: Crescent Books p.60
36. Under “Manuscripts” in The Book of Kells App for iPad: with material from a book originally by Meehan, Bernard, The Book of Kells: An illustrated Introduction to the manuscript in Trinity College Dublin (1994), Thames & Hudson
37. English Language Notes. Fall/Winter2008, Vol. 46 Issue 2, Cartoon or Caricatures pg.134
38. Greenstock, Louise, Child Language Teaching and Therapy, Vol 27(3), Oct, 2011. Pg.331
39. Berger, Lynn, Photographies Vol. 4, No. 2, September 2011, pg.176
40. Berger, Lynn, Photographies Vol. 4, No. 2, September 2011, pg.176
41. Berger, Lynn, Photographies Vol. 4, No. 2, September 2011, pg.178
42. Berger, Lynn, Photographies Vol. 4, No. 2, September 2011, pg.182
43. Photography of Alberto Korda: http://jsma.uoregon.edu/new-exhibition-jordan-schnitzer-museum-art-explores-photography-alberto-korda
44. Yazdani, Saeed & Farivar, Zahra, International Journal of the Humanities. 2011, Vol. 9 Issue 10, pg.278
45. Rawes, Alan, Byron Journal. 2012, Vol. 40 Issue 2, pg.129
46. Rawes, Alan, Byron Journal. 2012, Vol. 40 Issue 2, pg.130

Bibliography

Arnheim, Rudolf, Visual Thinking (1997), University of California Press

Atzmon, Leslie, Arthur Rackham's Phrenological Landscape: In-betweens, Goblins, and Femmes Fatales. Design Issues. Fall 2002, Vol. 18 Issue 4

Benjamin, Walter, The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction (2008) Penguin Books

Berger, Lynn, Photographies Vol. 4, No. 2, September 2011

Carey, Joanna, Animal Magic – The Guardian, Saturday 29 March 2008

Denny, Ned, Tree Spirits - New Statesman 13 January 2003

Gravett, Paul, Manga Sixty years of Japanese Comics (2004) Laurence King Publishing Ltd.

Greenstock, Louise, Child Language Teaching and Therapy, Vol 27(3), Oct, 2011

Grimm, Brothers (translated by Zipes, Jack), The Complete Fairy Tales (2007) Vintage Books

Godfrey, Richard, James Gillray The Art of Caricature (2001) Tate Gallery Publishing Limited

Goudreau, Jenna, Forbes Woman: The Seven Ways Your Boss Is Judging Your Appearance. 11/30/2012

Heller, Steven & Chwast, Seymour (2008)

McLuhan, Marshall, Fiore, Quentin, The Medium is the Massage (1996) Penguin Books

Oldfield, John R, Popular Politics and British Antislavery: the Mobilisation of Public… (1998)

Pott, G in Harris, D, Calligraphy: Modern Masters – Art, Inspiration, and Technique (1991)NY: Crescent Books

Rawes, Alan, Byron Journal. 2012, Vol. 40 Issue

Read, Herbert, To Hell with Culture (2002) Routledge

Salisbury, Martin, Illustrating Children’s Books Creating Pictures for Publication (2006), A & C Black Publishers/Piers Spence

Simms, George Otto, Exploring the Book of Kells (1988), The O’Brien Press, Dublin

Sontag, Susan, Against Interpretation (1994) Vintage Books

Ashmolean Oxford-Online: http://jameelcentre.ashmolean.org/collection/6980/10198

Encyclopedia Britannica online: http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/458823/physiognomy

English Language Notes. Fall/Winter2008, Vol. 46 Issue 2, Cartoon or Caricatures

http://www.iginiostraffi.com/en/about-me/

http://www.paulhancock.co.uk/content_bbc_worldcup.html

Photography of Alberto Korda: http://jsma.uoregon.edu/new-exhibition-jordan-schnitzer-museum-art-explores-photography-alberto-korda

http://www.religionfacts.com/christianity/symbols/peacock.htm

The Book of Kells App for iPad: with material from a book originally by Meehan, Bernard, The Book of Kells: An illustrated Introduction to the manuscript in Trinity College Dublin (1994), Thames & Hudson

The National Portrait Gallery Website: http://www.npg.org.uk/collections/search/portrait/mw61443/Barbarities-in-the-West-Indies

Yazdani, Saeed & Farivar, Zahra, International Journal of the Humanities. 2011, Vol. 9 Issue 10