Aesthetic communication On the possibility of combining semiotics and aesthetics: analysis of ‘Delftsche Slaolie’ by Jan Toorop

Abstract

In this essay I address the question whether semiotics and aesthetics are as difficult to combine within an analysis of a visual object as is often assumed. I focus on a discipline that, in my opinion, serves as an example of a field that cannot be understood without taking both communication and art into account: the applied art of graphic design and in particular the poster 'Delftsche Slaolie' by Jan Toorop.