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richard anuszkiewicz

May 13, 2025 2 Comments

The Best Examples of Emphasis in Art

Inside: A curated collection of artworks that exemplify emphasis in art—showcasing how artists draw attention to focal points through contrast, placement, color, and more. This resource is part of our comprehensive Elements and Principles of Art series, designed to support and inspire your art lessons.

Emphasis is a powerful principle that guides the viewer’s eye to the most important parts of an artwork. Whether it’s a bold color contrast, strategic placement, or unique texture, artists use emphasis to tell a story and convey meaning.

In this post, you’ll find a variety of artworks demonstrating different techniques of emphasis, perfect for sparking discussion and analysis in your classroom.

👉 Want a printable to accompany these examples? Grab the free Elements & Principles Pack below. Just click the yellow “Download” button.

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* Elements & Principles Printable Pack *

The Elements & Principles of Art are the foundation of every artwork, but teaching them can be a bore. Wake your students up and engage them with full color artworks, easy to understand definitions, and thought-provoking higher level thinking questions. This versatile resource can be hung in the classroom or used as an art manipulative.

Download

Free Resource!

* Elements & Principles Printable Pack *

The Elements & Principles of Art are the foundation of every artwork, but teaching them can be a bore. Wake your students up and engage them with full color artworks, easy to understand definitions, and thought-provoking higher level thinking questions. This versatile resource can be hung in the classroom or used as an art manipulative.

It was hard to break this one down to categories, because chances are if the artwork shows emphasis well, it usually used more than one element or principle to do so. So, I have put the elements and principles of art that the artist used to show emphasis in art in parenthesis next to the artwork.

Explore the full Elements of Art series for more resources and examples to enrich your curriculum.

For ready-to-use classroom activities, check out our printable art interpretation worksheets.

Download the Free Elements and Principles Printable Pack


This pack of printables was designed to work in a variety of ways in your classroom when teaching the elements and principles of art. You can print and hang in your classroom as posters/anchor charts or you can cut each element and principle of art in its own individual card to use as a lesson manipulative.

Emphasis in Art Examples

The Art Curator for Kids - Example Artworks that Show Emphasis in Art - The Elements and Principles of Art Series
  • Grant Wood, Parson Weems’ Fable, 1939 (Line, Shape)
  • Jonathan Borofsky, Walking to the Sky, 2004 (Line, Movement)
  • Francisco Goya, The Shootings of May Third 1808, 1814 (Value, Color, Line)
  • Jean-Honoré Fragonard, The Swing, 1767 (Complementary Color, Movement)
  • Leonardo da Vinci, The Last Supper, 1494-99 (Balance, Line, Space)
The Art Curator for Kids - Example Artworks that Show Emphasis in Art - The Elements and Principles of Art Series
  • Richard Anuszkiewicz, Deep Magenta Square, 1978 (Color, Line, Shape, Light)
  • Albert Bierstadt, Sunrise on the Matterhorn, after 1875 (Size, Space, Light, Contrast)
  • Georges de La Tour, St. Joseph the Carpenter, c. 1645 (Contrast, Value, Light)
  • Andrew Wyeth, Christina’s World, 1948 (Space)
The Art Curator for Kids - Example Artworks that Show Emphasis in Art - The Elements and Principles of Art Series
  • George C. Ault, Sullivan Street, Abstraction, 1924 (Contrast, Shape, Line, Color, Light)
  • Rembrandt van Rijn, Militia Company of District II under the Command of Captain Frans Banninck Cocq, known as the ‘Night Watch’, 1642 (Line, Value, Movement)
  • Edgar Degas, The Star, ca. 1878 (Shape, Balance, Line, Movement)
  • Andy Goldsworthy, Circles, Varied (Shape, Color, Value)
The Art Curator for Kids - Example Artworks that Show Emphasis in Art - The Elements and Principles of Art Series
  • Ancient Egypt, Nebamun Hunting in the Marshes, ca. 1350 B.C.E. (Scale/Size, Line)
  • Fra Bartolommeo, Savonarola, 16th century (Light, Contrast)
  • Jean Arp, Enak’s Tears (Terrestrial Forms), 1917 (Color, Shape)
  • Caravaggio, The Incredulity of Saint Thomas, 1601-02 (Composition, Line, Contrast, Light, Color)
  • Alexander Calder, Saucers Skirting a Planet, 1968 (Shape, Color)
  • Artemisia Gentileschi, Judith Slaying Holofernes, c.1620 (Line, Movement, Contrast, Value)
  • Gertrude Käsebier, Portrait of Alfred Steiglitz, 1902 (Texture, Value)
  • René Magritte, The Art of Living, 1967 (Shape, Space)

💡 Looking for more comprehensive art appreciation resources?

Join the Curated Connections Library to access a wealth of lessons, activities, and professional development materials tailored for art educators.
👉 Learn more here

Elements and Principles Teaching Bundle

This extraordinary bundle includes the best resources for teaching each of the elements and principles—37 worksheets/handouts, 15 lessons (with accompanying PowerPoints and Handouts), 3 ready-to-go art analysis activities, 3 art analysis videos, and 13 elements and principle PDF articles.

Buy Now

There you have it! The best emphasis in art examples for your elements and principles of art lessons. Want more elements and principles of art examples? Check out the below posts.

The Art Curator for Kids -Example Artworks that Show Space - The Elements and Principles of Art Series-300The Art Curator for Kids - Example Artworks that Show Line - The Elements and Principles of Art - 300The Art Curator for Kids - Example Artworks that Show Emphasis - The Elements and Principles of Art SeriesElements and Principles of Art - Artworks that Show Proportion in art and ScaleThe Art Curator for Kids - Elements and Principles of Art Series - Artworks that Show Shape - 300The Art Curator for Kids - Why I Hate the Elements and Principles But Teach Them Anyway - 300The Art Curator for Kids - How Artists Depict Space - Masterpiece Monday - John Sloan , South Beach Bathers, 1907-1908, Art Lessons for Kids - Elements of Art Lessons

Photo Credits:

  • Bernini’s Apollo and Daphne — Int3gr4te
  • Borofsky’s Walking to the Sky — doreen

Filed Under: Elements and Principles of Art
Tagged With: albert bierstadt, alexander calder, andrew wyeth, andy goldsworthy, artemisia gentileschi, caravaggio, edgar degas, fra bartolommeo, francisco goya, george ault, georges de la tour, gertrude käsebier, gian lorenzo bernini, grant wood, jean arp, jean-honore fragonard, jonathan borofsky, leonardo da vinci, michelangelo, rembrandt, rene magritte, richard anuszkiewicz

 

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Elements & Principles Printable Pack

The Elements & Principles of Art are the foundation of every artwork, but teaching them can be a bore. Wake your students up and engage them with full color artworks, easy to understand definitions, and thought-provoking higher level thinking questions. This versatile resource can be hung in the classroom or used as an art manipulative.

Download

Free Resource!

Elements & Principles Printable Pack

The Elements & Principles of Art are the foundation of every artwork, but teaching them can be a bore. Wake your students up and engage them with full color artworks, easy to understand definitions, and thought-provoking higher level thinking questions. This versatile resource can be hung in the classroom or used as an art manipulative.

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