Analogous refers to the similarities between two things that are otherwise different. In art, analogous refers to using similar design elements, principles, or concepts between two otherwise different pieces. The similarities evoke a connection in the viewer’s mind while still allowing each piece to maintain its own identity. Using analogy in art can help communicate meaning, emphasize relationships, and allow the viewer to make connections between different ideas. Some common examples of analogy in visual art include using similar colors, shapes, textures, spatial relationships, subject matter, or mood. Identifying and understanding analogous relationships in art encourages critical thinking and allows the viewer to see connections across different styles, movements, time periods, and cultures.
Examples of Analogous Concepts
Here are some examples of analogous concepts or relationships in different works of art:
| Artworks Being Compared | Analogous Relationship |
| Claude Monet’s Impression, Sunrise and Vincent Van Gogh’s The Starry Night | Both use short, thick brushstrokes and vivid color to capture a scene and evoke a mood |
| Pablo Picasso’s Guernica and Francisco Goya’s The Third of May 1808 | Both depict acts of wartime violence and human suffering in distorted, emotionally expressive ways |
| Auguste Rodin’s The Thinker and Michelangelo’s David | Both show pensive, meditative poses in solid, sculpted male figures |
| Georgia O’Keeffe’s Black Iris III and Zaria Forman’s Greenland 1 | Both zoom in closely to examine the details of nature (flower petals and ice shards) in an abstracted way |
Even though these artworks are aesthetically different and were created in different styles, time periods, and cultural contexts, they share conceptual and visual similarities that the viewer can identify as analogous.
Using Shapes and Spatial Relationships
Analogies in visual art often focus on using similar shapes and spatial relationships. The visual rhythm created by repeating or echoing shapes helps unify a composition and create connections.
For example, Wassily Kandinsky’s abstract compositions like Several Circles often feature curving biomorphic shapes that dance across the canvas. Other artists like Joan Miro also used free-flowing, organic lines and shapes in an analogous way in their abstract works. The curves mimic the energy of nature and music.
Spatial relationships also forge visual analogies. An example is the way Claude Monet and other Impressionist painters explored light and shadow. Monet’s Cathedral paintings captured the façade of Rouen Cathedral at different times of day. The analogous handling of light and shadow helped convey the passage of time.
Using Color for Analogy
Analogous colors are groups of colors that are next to each other on the color wheel, sharing similar hue and temperature. When used together, they create color harmony and visual cohesion. For example, Vincent van Gogh’s paintings often stuck to shades of yellow, green, and blue. The analogous tones create a vibrant, intense color experience.
Artists can also connect works through using analogous themes or symbolic colors. For instance, Picasso’s Blue Period works like The Old Guitarist all used shades of blue to evoke melancholy and sadness. The conceptual analogy binds the works together.
Analogous colors don’t have to match exactly. Brushstrokes of slightly varied hues layered together optically mix into a cohesive tone. Pointillist painters like Georges Seurat harnessed this effect, using dots of contrasting colors that analogously combine into a single tone when viewed from afar.
Using Similar Textures
Texture adds tactile variety and visual interest to art. Repeating certain textures can draw analogies between different pieces.
For example, Anselm Kiefer incorporated materials like sand, clay, and straw into his paintings to add texture and gravity to his subject matter. Other artists working in a similar expressionist vein like Antoni Tapies built up heavy textures with thick impasto paint, sand, and paper. The textural quality connects their styles.
Some additional examples of texture creating analogy include:
– Impressionist dots building up forms through analogous brushwork
– Rough, energetic brushstrokes expressing emotion in Van Gogh’s work
– Smooth, harmonic color gradients in James Turrell’s light installations
– The visual rhythm of dignified marks in Chinese calligraphy
When textures feel congruous between works of art, they can deepen the viewer’s understanding and appreciation of artistic connections.
Using Subject Matter and Meaning
Subject matter refers to the narrative, objects, scenes, or concepts depicted in a work of art. When two pieces share similar subjects but are executed in different styles, the analogy in their content creates an interesting study in contrasts.
For example, 20th century Pop artists like Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein, and Claes Oldenburg portrayed everyday consumer objects and ideas from commercial culture. Their work has conceptual analogies with the still life paintings the Dutch Masters like Vermeer created centuries earlier. Both aimed to capture mundane objects, but they did so in very different visual ways.
Some additional examples of subject matter analogy include:
– Pieter Bruegel the Elder’s lively genre scenes of peasants analogous to East Asian scroll paintings capturing scenes of daily life
– Religious imagery like the Pieta sculpture across Renaissance and Northern European art
– Nature studies like Monet’s Water Lilies compared to Chinese landscape scroll paintings
– Portraits of rulers capturing personality and power across court painting traditions
By identifying subject matter connections, we can better spot universal human experiences and ideas that span different eras and cultures in art.
Conclusion
In summary, analogy is an important artistic device for creating visual connections between different works of art. Though separated by time, place, and style, shared use of color, texture, shape, composition, or meaning links these pieces together in the viewer’s mind. Analogies encourage us to look past surface differences to understand underlying similarities in artistic visions and human experience. Examining analogous relationships deepens our appreciation of art across all ages by revealing timeless aesthetic principles and concepts.
