- Political communication, Political Rhetoric, Political Advertising, Visual Rhetoric, Argumentation Theory, Visual Argumentation, and 13 moreCommunication, Color Theory, Word and Image Studies, Visual Semiotics, Colour Theory, Color Perception, Color, Color symbolism, Thematic Analysis, Magritte, Rene Magritte, Jacques Derrida, and Historia del Arteedit
The study of multimodal argumentation and rhetoric raises difficult issues due to the hegemony of the verbal in argumentation and rhetoric. From this point of view, it is not sufficient to say that such study implies the analysis of the... more
The study of multimodal argumentation and rhetoric raises difficult issues due to the hegemony of the verbal in argumentation and rhetoric. From this point of view, it is not sufficient to say that such study implies the analysis of the “interactions” between verbal and iconic elements, since their contribution to multimodality is hardly balanced given the privileged position of the verbal. This chapter addresses two issues: First, the relationship between rhetoric and argumentation. Based upon a discussion of authors who have tried to fill the gap between rhetoric and argumentation, it would seem that rhetoric could be useful for argumentation thanks to the persuasiveness that it provides. However, if images are persuasive, can they also be argumentative? This is the first topic that will be developed. Second, the relationship between verbal and visual rhetoric will be discussed from the debate in French-speaking countries between “transpositionists” and “antitranspositionists”. This debate can be resolved if we consider that rhetoric is not intrinsically linguistic, but that it consists rather of cognitive operations that can be used both verbally and visually.
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This paper is a reappraisal of color symbolism, as it examines its formation, the issues of whether or not it is arbitrary and its meaning universal. It also discusses the relevance of the concept of color symbol when analyzing chromatic... more
This paper is a reappraisal of color symbolism, as it examines its formation, the issues of whether or not it is arbitrary and its meaning universal. It also discusses the relevance of the concept of color symbol when analyzing chromatic meanings in paintings.
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This paper aims at nuancing the commonplace according to which Bonnard changed his way of painting when he discovered the light of the South of France. I defend the idea light and color in his works are very similar when painted in... more
This paper aims at nuancing the commonplace according to which Bonnard changed his way of painting when he discovered the light of the South of France. I defend the idea light and color in his works are very similar when painted in Normandy or in the South, as his chromatic system was more important than local light and colors.
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Colour theory" is a widespread expression, but its meaning remains unclear due to a lack of discussion on its definition, as it is often interchangeable with "text on colour". In this paper, I will a) propose a definition of colour... more
Colour theory" is a widespread expression, but its meaning remains unclear due to a lack of discussion on its definition, as it is often interchangeable with "text on colour". In this paper, I will a) propose a definition of colour theory, b) describe three of the main fields where it is used (philosophical, scientific, artistic) and c) discuss how they interact with each other, stressing what they can share but also their own specificity.
Research Interests: Color and Color Theory
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Cet article montre qu'entre l'argumentation et la persuasion, il existe un domaine mixte d'intersection, appelé ici « argumentation persuasive », qui emprunte des caractéristiques à l'un comme à l'autre. Quatre cas... more
Cet article montre qu'entre l'argumentation et la persuasion, il existe un domaine mixte d'intersection, appelé ici « argumentation persuasive », qui emprunte des caractéristiques à l'un comme à l'autre. Quatre cas d'argumentation persuasive sont examinés : l'enthymème, certaines figures de rhétorique, la narration et l'argumentation visuelle.
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This article deals with the relationship between argumentation and persuasion. It defends the idea that these two concepts are not as opposed as all too often said. If it is important to recognize their differences (there are... more
This article deals with the relationship between argumentation and persuasion. It defends the idea that these two concepts are not as opposed as all too often said. If it is important to recognize their differences (there are argumentative discourses without persuasion and persuasive discourses without argumentation), there is nevertheless an overlap, in which characteristics are taken from both. We propose to call this overlap “persuasive argumentation”. In order to bridge argumentation and persuasion, we will first distinguish the latter from manipulation. In the second part of this article, we will analyze four cases of persuasive argumentation: the enthymeme, a few rhetorical figures, narration and visual argumentation.
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This paper analyzes the relationship between the linguistic concept of presupposition and visual images. First, it gives examples of multimodal cases, when a linguistic presupposition is associated to visual images. In the second part are... more
This paper analyzes the relationship between the linguistic concept of presupposition and visual images. First, it gives examples of multimodal cases, when a linguistic presupposition is associated to visual images. In the second part are examined ways of visually suggesting the idea of presupposition.
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Touch plays an important part in pictorial technique. At the same time, it is one of the criteria of aesthetic appreciation. Indeed, artists as well as theoreticians have insisted in their writings on the importance of touch. However, two... more
Touch plays an important part in pictorial technique. At the same time, it is one of the criteria of aesthetic appreciation. Indeed, artists as well as theoreticians have insisted in their writings on the importance of touch. However, two completely opposed positions have been taken, as some consider that touch must be as discrete as possible, while others hold that it must be apparent.
In this paper, I propose to deal with this issue of touch perception and appreciation in the case of Neo-Impressionism. I will first give a general overview of Neo-Impressionism focused on the special technique adopted by the painters belonging to this movement, pointillism.The second part of the chapter is focused on the touch, as seen by Paul Signac in his book From Eugène Delacroix to Neo-Impressionism. The conclusion stresses the consequences of the independence of the touch for the subject matter of the painting, as it is an important feature of Neo-Impressionist aesthetic and arguably the main reason for the interest many artists had on Signac’s writings at the beginning of Abstract painting.
In this paper, I propose to deal with this issue of touch perception and appreciation in the case of Neo-Impressionism. I will first give a general overview of Neo-Impressionism focused on the special technique adopted by the painters belonging to this movement, pointillism.The second part of the chapter is focused on the touch, as seen by Paul Signac in his book From Eugène Delacroix to Neo-Impressionism. The conclusion stresses the consequences of the independence of the touch for the subject matter of the painting, as it is an important feature of Neo-Impressionist aesthetic and arguably the main reason for the interest many artists had on Signac’s writings at the beginning of Abstract painting.
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This article deals with the relationship between argumentation and persuasion. It defends the idea that these two concepts are not as opposed as all too often said. If it is important to recognize their differences (there are... more
This article deals with the relationship between argumentation and persuasion. It defends the idea that these two concepts are not as opposed as all too often said. If it is important to recognize their differences (there are argumentative discourses without persuasion and persuasive discourses without argumentation), there is nevertheless an overlap, in which characteristics are taken from both. We propose to call this overlap “persuasive argumentation”. In order to bridge argumentation and persuasion, we will first distinguish the latter from manipulation. In the second part of this article, we will analyze four cases of persuasive argumentation: the enthymeme, a few rhetorical figures, narration and visual argumentation.
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Cet article porte sur les relations entre argumentation et persuasion; il défend l'idée selon laquelle ces deux concepts ne sont pas aussi opposés qu'on le dit généralement. S'il est important de reconnaître leurs différences, il existe... more
Cet article porte sur les relations entre argumentation et persuasion; il défend l'idée selon laquelle ces deux concepts ne sont pas aussi opposés qu'on le dit généralement. S'il est important de reconnaître leurs différences, il existe cependant un domaine intermédiaire où ils se chevauchent partiellement, que nous proposons d'appeler argumentation persuasive et que nous distinguons de la manipulation; nous en donnerons quelques exemples: l'enthymème, la narration et l'argumentation visuelle.
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The motif of the representation of woman's body in Magritte's work is dynamic as it evolved over the years. This paper analyzes this evolution whose aim was to disturb the usual reading of iconic signs through rhetorical mechanisms .
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This paper explores the aesthetic relationship between color and South of France; it questions the commonplace that the idea that South of France is more colorful (held by van Gogh among others), contrasting if with an older theory... more
This paper explores the aesthetic relationship between color and South of France; it questions the commonplace that the idea that South of France is more colorful (held by van Gogh among others), contrasting if with an older theory according to which the North is more colorful. I suggest an explanation in order to understand the shift from the old theory to the one starting in the 1880s.
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This paper examines the theme of hunting in some painters of the twentieth century, belonging to different movements (Surrealism, Abstract Expressionism) and working during the eighties. It tries to understand the meaning of these... more
This paper examines the theme of hunting in some painters of the twentieth century, belonging to different movements (Surrealism, Abstract Expressionism) and working during the eighties. It tries to understand the meaning of these representations, that are not directly related to the practice of hunting.
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In this paper I propose de follow the theory of vibrations and in particular the analogy between sound and color vibrations as a source for understanding the beginning of abstract art in several artists: Kupka, Kandinshy, Balla, Larionov... more
In this paper I propose de follow the theory of vibrations and in particular the analogy between sound and color vibrations as a source for understanding the beginning of abstract art in several artists: Kupka, Kandinshy, Balla, Larionov and Vantongerloo.
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My point in this paper is that Mondrian was very uncomfortable with the use of the three primaries; it took him a long time to dare using them pure. I try to explain why.
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This short paper discusses some commonplaces about Kandinsky's early relationship to abstract art: the first abstract watercolor, supposedly made and signed in 1910, as well as the idea according to which Concerning the Spiritual in Art... more
This short paper discusses some commonplaces about Kandinsky's early relationship to abstract art: the first abstract watercolor, supposedly made and signed in 1910, as well as the idea according to which Concerning the Spiritual in Art would have been a defense of abstract art.
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This paper analyzes the importance of the idea of rhythm as seen from the texts of the pioneers of abstract art: Survage, Kupka, Kandinsky, Mondrian
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As strange as it may seem, color remains a minor topic in art history: it is striking to see that a very limited number of papers have been devoted exclusively to color systems, even for painters praised as colorists. This situation is... more
As strange as it may seem, color remains a minor topic in art history: it is striking to see that a very limited number of papers have been devoted exclusively to color systems, even for painters praised as colorists. This situation is above all due to the fact that the function of colors in figurative paintings is supposed to be reinforcing the referencial illusion provided by forms. As long as colors are only considered from that point of view, is ti useless to analyze them, except to examine whether or not they are true-to-life. Therefore, in order to sketch a metholology; it is necessary to develop the idea that colors constitue signs. Such is the topic of this paper, proposing a semiotic approach to chromatic signs, including a typology.
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The topic of this paper is the relationship between words and images as seen from the most frequent case, i.e. combined in mixed verbal-iconic statements. Their interactions are analyzed from a semantic standpoint, in order to understand... more
The topic of this paper is the relationship between words and images as seen from the most frequent case, i.e. combined in mixed verbal-iconic statements. Their interactions are analyzed from a semantic standpoint, in order to understand how each of the two elements contributes to the production of meaning. They are examined from the reduced perspective of their rhetorical relationship. The reason for this approach is two-folded: fist giving account of the way words and images intereact in some verbal-iconic statements, and second being careful to show that in these interactions words don't necessarily have the most important part that is still too often attributed to them.
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This paper suggests a strong link between color harmony and social harmony in most Neoimpressionists painters. If their interest for anarchism is well-known, the relationship between their use of color and political purpose had not yet... more
This paper suggests a strong link between color harmony and social harmony in most Neoimpressionists painters. If their interest for anarchism is well-known, the relationship between their use of color and political purpose had not yet been explored.
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This paper is a quick overview of Neo-Impressionism, focused on the the importance of color for the artists belonging to the movement
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Chronological analysis of the evolution of color in Bonnard, through a choice of some important paintings, dated from 1900 to 1946.
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At first view, it may seem paradoxical to trace some correspondence between Surrealism and the world of commodities and publicity. It is indeed generally acknowledged that Surrealism and advertising have little in common. Surrealism... more
At first view, it may seem paradoxical to trace some correspondence between Surrealism and the world of commodities and publicity. It is indeed generally acknowledged that Surrealism and advertising have little in common. Surrealism preached revolt and freedom, in politics as well as in art, so that its purpose should be completely contradictory to that of advertising, which aims at a deeper participation to the consumption society, encouraging people to buy the goods praised by the ads. However, as it often happens, things are more complex. So the purpose of this paper is first to provide us with a general frame of the relationships between Surrealism and publicity, and second to analyze more in detail some advertisements made by Magritte.
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This paper is a contribution to a conference on Latin American Art. It takes as its starting point abstract art as a way of understanding better (and at the same time questioning) the idea of Latin American Art. From a theoretical and... more
This paper is a contribution to a conference on Latin American Art. It takes as its starting point abstract art as a way of understanding better (and at the same time questioning) the idea of Latin American Art. From a theoretical and methodological perspective, it examines the relationship between Latin American Art and Latin American artists; the issue of universalism; the anthological temptation; the relationship between Latin American abstract art and European hegemony; the prehispanical roots of abstract art; the relationship between Latin American art and United States art; the issue of cultural hybridization.
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This paper explores one aspect of the imaginary world of color: the relationship between color and body or flesh. Its starting point is the debate between color and drawing in sevententh century France and in particular the association of... more
This paper explores one aspect of the imaginary world of color: the relationship between color and body or flesh. Its starting point is the debate between color and drawing in sevententh century France and in particular the association of color to body and drawing to mind. I roughly trace the evolution of this opposition up to the twentieth century, and stress the changes that occur regarding the issue of morality: while in the seventeenth century color is condemned as immoral, in the nineteenth century, however, painters and critics try to moralize it. I suggest that this moralization of color is a way of considering that it has a meaning, and therefore that the opposition body/mind can be related to the linguistic one signifiant/signifier.
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The topic of this paper is the relationship between words and images considered from the most frequent cases, i.e. when they are combined in mixed verbal-iconic statements. Their interactions are analyzed from a semantic standpoint, in... more
The topic of this paper is the relationship between words and images considered from the most frequent cases, i.e. when they are combined in mixed verbal-iconic statements. Their interactions are analyzed from a semantic standpoint, in order to understand how each of the two elements contributes to the production of meaning. They are examined from the reduced perspective of their rhetoric relationship. The reason for this approach is two-folded: first taking into account the way words and images interact in some verbal-iconic statements, and second being careful to show that in these interactions words don't necessarily have the most important part that is still too often attributed to them.
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This paper is a contribution to the catalogue of the exhibition El color de los dioses. Policromía en la Antigüedad clásica y Mesoamerica. Its aim is to understand a difference in the perception of polychromy in both cases: while the... more
This paper is a contribution to the catalogue of the exhibition El color de los dioses. Policromía en la Antigüedad clásica y Mesoamerica. Its aim is to understand a difference in the perception of polychromy in both cases: while the discovery of the fact that architecture and sculpture were colored in old Greece was a scandal, the discovery of polycromy in Mesoamerica didn't produce the same reaction.
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This text is a contribution to the catalogue of a retrospective of Mathias Goeritz. It examines the artist's fascinatation for gold (and Middle Age) throughout his work.
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The purpose of this article is to throw bridges between two overtly cloistered fields: the technical analysis of pigments and the study of the meaning of colour in works of art. The starting point is an investigation into the choice of... more
The purpose of this article is to throw bridges between two overtly cloistered fields: the technical analysis of pigments and the study of the meaning of colour in works of art. The starting point is an investigation into the choice of hue as a unit in the analysis of colour: if one focuses on hue (red as opposed to blue, yellow or green), the way in which it has been obtained matters little and the attention that should be given to the meaningful qualities of pigments is not paid. The limit of an analogy with linguistics will be shown; a broad outline of a semiotics of pigments will be proposed.
Research Interests: Colour Theory and Color
Brief summary of the relationship between advertising and image. Three logical stages of their evolution are sketched.
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This paper is not about the analysis of a particular chromatic symbol. It is rather about the manner such symbols are formed, how they mean and how they are organized into semiotic systems. I first discuss issues of arbitrariness and... more
This paper is not about the analysis of a particular chromatic symbol. It is rather about the manner such symbols are formed, how they mean and how they are organized into semiotic systems. I first discuss issues of arbitrariness and motivation, and then focus on the way most chromatic symbols have an iconic motivation. Finally, I analyze chromatic systems composed of two, three and four elements.
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This paper raises one issue of the complex relationship between light and color. Its objective is qualifiyng the widespread idea acording to which the advent of color in painting at the end of the nineteenth century would have been... more
This paper raises one issue of the complex relationship between light and color. Its objective is qualifiyng the widespread idea acording to which the advent of color in painting at the end of the nineteenth century would have been possible through the elimination of black from the palette. It contains a brief discussion of some works of Manet, Renoir, Seurat, Signac, van Gogh and Emile Bernard.
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Short synthesis of some aspects of the iconographic topic of water representations in painting (water as mirror, reflections, etc.)
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Short interview in which I answer a few questions about the influence of scientific theories of color (and mainly that of Chevreul) upon artistic practice
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This paper analyzes the old association of color and woman; it takes as its starting point a famous statement of Charles Blanc in his Grammaire des arts du dessin (1863): "drawing is the male sex of art, while color is its female sex".... more
This paper analyzes the old association of color and woman; it takes as its starting point a famous statement of Charles Blanc in his Grammaire des arts du dessin (1863): "drawing is the male sex of art, while color is its female sex".
Published in Art & Fact n°10 (University of Liège), special issue on Eros et Thanatos, 1991, p. 4-11.
Published in Art & Fact n°10 (University of Liège), special issue on Eros et Thanatos, 1991, p. 4-11.
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This short paper for an art magazine deals with a complex issue: is there a French palette?The answer is positive and explores two lines a) the quality of light, especially that of Ile-de-France and south of France and b) the cultural... more
This short paper for an art magazine deals with a complex issue: is there a French palette?The answer is positive and explores two lines a) the quality of light, especially that of Ile-de-France and south of France and b) the cultural tradition that imposes chromatic models, as those of the French flag.
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After quickly reviewing Matisse's color system, this paper examines the complex relationship between color and black and white in his work, and in particular in his cut-outs.
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This paper examines how Bonnard patiently and systematically constructs the surface of his paintings, through the scrutiny of some of his canvases
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This paper discusses Bonnard's work in relation to modernism and feminism. It suggests that if Bonnard was not accepted amongst the most important modernist painters, it is partly due to the fact he didn't fit the dominant canon of... more
This paper discusses Bonnard's work in relation to modernism and feminism. It suggests that if Bonnard was not accepted amongst the most important modernist painters, it is partly due to the fact he didn't fit the dominant canon of masculinity.
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This paper examines the parameter of distance and suggests that the idea of "critical distance" is not a metaphor but depends on our physical proximity or distance from a given object, in this case, paintings
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Introduction to the the special issue of a journal devoted to recycled images. After introducing the different papers, it proposes a classification of the different functions of reusing an existing image: dialogical, legitimation, removal... more
Introduction to the the special issue of a journal devoted to recycled images. After introducing the different papers, it proposes a classification of the different functions of reusing an existing image: dialogical, legitimation, removal of the sacred aura, etc.
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This paper first discusses the terms used to refer to the fact of reusing an existing image, and then proposes a classification of the ways of recycling images: when used partially or totally; when used as such or transformed; and when... more
This paper first discusses the terms used to refer to the fact of reusing an existing image, and then proposes a classification of the ways of recycling images: when used partially or totally; when used as such or transformed; and when transformed, according to which operations. It finally suggests a classification of the modes of recycling.
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Ce texte a pour objectif de mettre en question la plupart des oppositions binaires qui servent caractériser les différences entre les mots et les images: artificiel/naturel, arbitraire/ressemblant, temps/espace, successif/simultané,... more
Ce texte a pour objectif de mettre en question la plupart des oppositions binaires qui servent caractériser les différences entre les mots et les images: artificiel/naturel, arbitraire/ressemblant, temps/espace, successif/simultané, alphabet/idéogrammes
