From the Fort Wayne Museum of Art
Looking at, Talking about, and Appreciating Art
Visiting #fwmoa for the first time and not sure where your eyes should start looking? We're here to help! See how understanding the parts of the composition-foreground, middle ground, and background-can make it easier.
How does an artist ensure their message is conveyed to their viewers? One way is by creating an impactful composition. This week's "Art Term Tuesday" explores the different ways artists' use composition to tell their story.
I first encountered the Latin-derived term horror vacui several years ago while researching outsider art from the first half of the twentieth century. Simply put, horror vacui is the fear, or abhorrence, of empty space. In the past hundred years, this term has been used in discussions of interior design (for instance, Mario Praz's critique of Victorian-era design) and artwork in which a two- or three-dimensional space is filled with detail or objects. The presence of horror vacui in visual art can stem from an artist's overwhelming compulsion (perhaps related to mental illness) to leave no space vacant or from a conscious aesthetic decision to forgo negative space.