Peter Paul Rubens (1577–1640)Descent from the Cross, 1611–14, Oil on panel, 165 5/8 × 126 in (420.6 × 320 cm)
THE ARTIST PLANS AN OUTCOME AND PROCEEDS ACCORDINGLY
Intentionality is the idea that works of art are an expression of an intention on the part of artists to achieve specific results. For instance, artists may be seeking to create works that impart a sense of mystery, present an entirely satisfying experience of color harmony, or deliver a highly resolved experience of a set of forms. Whatever their intentions, artists will employ the formal means at their disposal in order to achieve them. Choices about composition, color organization, simplification, visual language, and other tools will be aligned in service of the overall intention. Central to this idea is the notion that art can be used to communicate and persuade and that formal means can be marshaled and content edited to achieve this.
The antithesis to this point of view is one that holds that artists undergo a process of discovery or exploration in making a work of art and that the resulting artwork emerges with its own authority. In a more extreme case, we might argue that some artists undertake an activity by which something is completed that they didn’t necessarily intend to be a work of art but which is, nonetheless, regarded by others as a work of art.
Many artists report a sense of distancing from the creative process. The poet T. S. Elliot (1888–1965) said he felt that he was merely present at the creation of a poem. The Swiss French painter and sculptor Alberto Giacometti (1901–66) maintained that the works he created were merely the by-products of an unsuccessful attempt to achieve something else—namely a resolved and coherent vision of the space around him. This point of view acknowledges that artistic insights are rarely linear developments of straightforward ideas and that the creative act is more usually governed by intuitive processes. For this reason, many artists adopt procedures that allow for serendipitous events in the hopes of avoiding the lure of straightforward, intentional achievements.
Peter Paul Rubens (1577–1640)
Descent from the Cross, 1611–14, Oil on panel, 165 5/8 × 126 in (420.6 × 320 cm)
The intentions of the artist are fairly clear in this large-scale Baroque work. The central panel of an altarpiece, the painting is designed to elicit a strong emotional response and close association with the subject on the part of the viewer. As part of the campaign of the Counter-Reformation, the picture seeks to use theatrical effect and luxurious presentation to retain allegiance to the Roman Catholic faith. To realize his intentions, the artist uses a powerful composition with a descending arc that reinforces the downward carriage of the body of the dead Christ. High contrast lighting creates drama. He has deployed acidic color to emphasize the lifelessness of the corpse. Meanwhile, the facial expressions and postures of the figures are carefully observed in order to convey the emotional nature of the scene.
