Letters in Art
One little-known artistic method is letter-based, an artist’s use of their own name or initials to indicate subjectivity. A signature is conventionally considered a sign of authorship and nothing more but, as a number of scholars have pointed out within their own specialty, the careful placement of a signature adds meaning too.{ref1} This ought to be better known and considered in the interpretation of any work of art. What you need to know, though, is something even more fascinating and rarely seen by those who are not artists themselves: the hidden presence of an artist’s initials or the letters of their name. By disguising the letters as objects in nature, the viewer “reads” them as images of something else and thus misses the artists’ meaning. Study the examples here and you will see the same method in other art because, as we always emphasize, if you do not know that artists do such things, you cannot see them.
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All Articles (Alphabetical by Artist, then Title)
Sometimes objects with meaning are so prominent and so large, viewers miss them
Aertsen’s Peasants by the Hearth (1556)
Remember a few general principles and you will find that the art of understanding art is much easier than you might magine
Andrea Del Sarto’s Madonna in Gloria (1530)
Make sure you always know an artist's real name, the one the artist actually used. It's a very useful tool for interpretation.
Andrea Del Sarto’s St John the Baptist (c.1523)
Why would a German pacifist like Anselm Kiefer use a Nazi salute as one of his signature gestures?
Anselm Kiefer’s Everyone Stands Under His Own Dome of Heaven (1970)
If you keep an eye out for underlying shapes, you might even be able to guess the artist's name
Antonio da Fabriano’s St Jerome in His Study (1451)
If it looks odd, there must be a reason. See Balthus horsing around.
Balthus’ The Moroccan Rider with His Horse (1935)
An artist's identification with God was as common in the 20th century as in the Renaissance
Barlach’s The First Day (1922)
See how Basquiat's Boone turns facial resemblance on its head and becomes Basquiat.
Basquiat’s Boone (1983)
How Bonnard turned his creative process into a scene in modern Paris
Bonnard’s The Pushcart (c.1897)
This masterpiece, like many before and since, must have been the source of inspiration for Picasso's Cubism. As unlikely as that may sound, it all depends on what you can see in The Birth of Venus that experts never have. You'll be one of the first...
Botticelli’s Birth of Venus (1484-6): Part Two
This a reminder of how close the association was between writing and painting in the Middle Ages
Brother Rufillus’ Self-Portrait (c. 1170-1200)
Even a minor sketch does not escape a great artist's need to identify
Courbet’s Portrait of a Young Boy
Michael Fried read this painting exactly as we would 20 years ago
Courbet’s The Wheat Sifters (1854-5)
See how a self-portrait viewed through a different perspective changes everything
Courbet’s The Wounded Man (1844-54)
Find out how the colloquial term for a female rider inspired an artist
Courbet’s Woman in a Riding Habit or The Amazon (1856)
On the surface this drawing by Albrecht Durer appears to be a simple portrait of Saint Dominic.
Dürer’s St. Dominic (1506)
Learn how artists identified with other animals, even in the Renaissance.
Dürer’s St. Jerome in his Study (1514)
See how Durer shaped the Virgin and Child into the form of his own monogram
Dürer’s Virgin and Child (c.1491)
One of the easiest ways to find unseen features in paintings is to look for the artist's initials. Daumier included them more than most.
Daumier’s Ecce Homo (c.1849-52)
An early caricature reveals the same elements as previously shown in Daumier's mature work
Daumier’s Sire, Lisbon is Taken… (1833)
How Daumier turned a kettle-drum into symbols...
Daumier’s The Orchestra.. ..During A Tragedy (1852)
Find out how to enter an artist's imagination with a bit of your own
Delacroix’s Arab with His Steed or Turk Leading His Horse (c. 1832-3)
Another example of St. Irene "painting" St. Sebastian
Delacroix’s St. Sebastian Helped by the Holy Women (1836)
Sometimes the features which have not been seen are the most obvious
El Greco’s Knight Taking an Oath (1578-80)
For artists St Veronica is a very significant saint. She "painted" Christ.
El Greco’s Saint Veronica (c.1580)
Find out how Gauguin's Vision after the Sermon is the Artist's
Gauguin’s Vision after the Sermon (1888)
Narrative paintings are meant to make sense. Take note of anything odd.
Ghirlandaio’s Birth of St John the Baptist (1486-90)
Even at 17, Giacometti understood the hidden meaning of art
Giacometti’s Self-portrait with Brush (1918)
With Mercury outfitted as a painter, the viewer can interpret this image confident that the subject is art
Goltzius’ Mercury (1611-13)
Don't get misled by a charming scene. There's always more to see in the work of a real artist.
Homer’s The Boat Builders (1873)
What contemporary artists like Jasper Johns does is what great artists have always done. Those that do not will not last. A century from now they will be forgotten by all but historians.
Jasper Johns’ Fool’s House (1964)
Michael Lobel explains how several of Sloan's paintings of New York street scenes are really allegories on painting
John Sloan’s Hairdresser’s Window (1907)
See how the patron became the artist and Lavinia became Laudomia
Lavinia Fontana’s Gozzadini Family (1584)
The many examples of weapons being used as paintbrushes in action on this site may attract skeptics. Lichtenstein, though, would not have been one of them.
Lichtenstein’s Hand Loading Gun (1961)
A pipe may be a pipe for René Magritte but a piano is not a piano for Roy Lichtenstein
Lichtenstein’s Piano (c.1961)
Ordinary subjects produce extraordinary content
Lichtenstein’s Untitled or Man with Chest Expander (c.1961)
Once again, see how the hilt of a sword signs the artist's name
Lotto’s Judith with the Head of Holfernes (1512)
How the observations of others can lead to original insights from you
Lotto’s Portrait of Andrea Odoni (1527) Addendum
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