What is a Composition?

• In the visual arts, composition means, “the placement or arrangement of visual elements in a work of art”

• Confusing? Let’s look at the dictionary definition for help: “the act of combining parts or elements to form a whole”– Other examples: music (sounds arranged to make

a song) and bread (flour, salt, butter, and other ingredients make a loaf of bread)

Types of Composition

• Compositions may be symmetrical, asymmetrical, or radial in nature.

• Let’s take a look at these different types of balance.

• Now, let’s see if we can identify different types of balance in artwork.

Women of Tahiti by Paul Gauguin, 1891

Starry Night by Vincent Van Gogh, 1889

Mask, Benin, Africa, c. 1500-1600

Campbell’s Soup I by Andy Warhol, 1968

Mexico Salvate! by Judithe Hernandez

Islands, North of Greenland by Lawren Harris, 1930

Reclining Figure by Henry Moore, 1931