When asked to define what constitutes art, many people will say that art is a creation that evokes emotion, conveys a more complex idea, or tells a story. The latter, achieved through narrative art, can accomplish all three by using visual storytelling to convey a narrative that communicates complex ideas and inspires an emotional response in the viewer.
Understanding Narrative Art
Understanding what narrative art is and how it works enables artists to apply narrative techniques to achieve improved visual communication that lends more depth to their creations.
What Is Narrative Art?
A narrative is a story, an account of real or imagined events. Narrative art is simply art that represents, depicts or tells a story. Narrative art can be found in literary, performance, musical and visual art. For this blog, we will focus on narrative art as a form of visual communication in visual art.
Narrative art appears in countless visual forms, including ancient examples like rock carvings, cave paintings and hieroglyphs, in addition to modern forms such as drawings, narrative painting, sequential art like comics, sculptures, photographs, murals, narrative illustration, magazines, film and digital media.
The Role of Storytelling in Visual Arts
In visual art, storytelling plays a critical role, supporting and facilitating emotional engagement, cultural transmission and communication that transcends language and experience. Everyone can relate to art that tells a story, and so narrative art is an excellent vehicle for engaging audiences and expanding the impact of artwork.
Additionally, narrative art connects our present to the past, as it records history and culture through depictions of myths, historical events and cultural narratives.
Historical Roots of Narrative Art
Narrative art has existed for as long as we know humans have been making art, and it has persisted throughout countless historical eras and art history movements.
The earliest examples from around the world date back tens of thousands of years. Examples include African rock art, the cave paintings at Lascaux, the Winnemucca Lake Petroglyphs and the oldest known example of storytelling in visual art, 51,200-year-old cave paintings from the Indonesian island of Sulawesi that depict a pig hunt.
Combing through tens of thousands of years of art history, countless famous narrative art examples stand out.
Ancient and Religious Storytelling
Examples of narrative art appear throughout ancient history, using visual storytelling techniques like symbolic imagery, sequential panels and recognizable figures to record and depict myths, deities, religious ceremonies, everyday moments and historical events.
A selection of famous examples of ancient art and storytelling includes:
- Painted vases, jars and flasks depicted scenes from everyday ancient Greek and Roman life.
- Painted pottery from modern-day central Iraq, dated to approximately 3,000 B.C.E., depicts scenes from a festival including musical ensembles, a banquet and chariots.
- Ancient Assyrian palace reliefs depict everything from royal lion hunts to deities and the everyday lives of royalty.
- Carved limestone panels from the Great Shrine of Amaravati depict various scenes from Buddha’s many lives.
- The Yaxachilan Lintels, a series of relief sculptures, depict the story of Lady Xook, a Mayan leader from the seventh or eighth century C.E.
- Carved ivory panels adorn a fifth-century C.E. casket and depict the Passion of Christ.
- Japanese handscrolls (emakimono) used illustrative storytelling to reveal narratives as they were unrolled. One of the earliest examples is “The Illustrated Sutra of Cause and Effect” from the Nara period (eighth century C.E.).
From Renaissance to Renaissance: Italy and Harlem
Born from ancient examples, artistic expression through visual storytelling has persisted throughout the ages. While the Italian Renaissance elevated narrative painting and sculpture across churches, palaces and civic spaces, later cultural renaissances, most notably the Harlem Renaissance, advanced narrative art through painting, printmaking, sculpture and photography that centered Black experiences.
Italian Renaissance narrative art focused on thematic works depicting religious, mythological and historical stories in paintings, sculptures, altarpieces, illuminated manuscripts and frescoes.
Examples of narrative art from the Italian Renaissance period include:
- Perhaps one of the most recognizable and important pieces of narrative art from the Renaissance period is “The Last Supper” by Leonardo da Vinci. The mural depicts the scene of the Passover meal that Jesus shared with his apostles before his crucifixion.
- The Medici Palace Chapel frescoes, painted by Benozzo Gozzoli, include a cycle of frescoes depicting the biblical journey of the Magi.
- A monumental work of narrative art, “The Wedding Feast at Canna,” painted by Paolo Veronese, tells the New Testament story of Jesus Christ’s first public miracle with 750 square feet of exceptional detail.
Harlem Renaissance narrative art expanded the tradition with stories of migration, community and modern life:
- James Van Der Zee’s photographic portraits (1910s–30s): studio narratives of identity, aspiration and everyday life in Harlem, composed through props, backdrop choices and pose.
- Aaron Douglas, “Aspects of Negro Life” murals (1934): layered silhouettes, radiating light and historical vignettes to visualize collective struggle, resilience and progress.
- Augusta Savage, “The Harp” (1939): a sculptural interpretation inspired by “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” transforming choir figures into a lyrical, metaphor-rich narrative form.
- Jacob Lawrence, “The Migration Series” (1940–41): sixty-panel paintings that chronicle the Great Migration, using distilled forms and captions to carry a cohesive narrative across the entire sequence.
Together, these renaissances show how narrative art adapts to time and community.
Global Currents: Impressionism, Muralism, and Beyond
Narrative art has endured beyond the Italian Renaissance across global movements into the modern and contemporary era. To broaden representation, this section highlights artists and movements from Europe, the Americas and beyond.
European & American Modernism (late 19th-mid 20th century):
- “The Dance Class” by Edgar Degas sets the scene of a ballet rehearsal room where a dancer performs an attitude for an examination.
- Pierre-Auguste Renoir’s “Luncheon of the Boating Party” depicts an everyday moment with the image of a group of friends enjoying lunch overlooking water.
- “Le Bonheur de Vivre” (The Joy of Life) by Henri Matisse captures an outdoor scene of music making and dancing, using a palette of joyful, stylized colors.
- Countless paintings, illustrations and Saturday Evening Post covers created by Norman Rockwell depict the culture and life in the United States. Some notable examples include “Rosie the Riveter,” “The Runaway,” “Saying Grace,” “Before the Shot” and “War News.”
Mexican Muralists (early 20th century):
- Diego Rivera, “Detroit Industry” (1932–33): panoramic factory narratives linking labor, technology and social history across 27 fresco panels.
- José Clemente Orozco, “The Epic of American Civilization” (1932–34): a sweeping campus mural cycle that contrasts myth, conquest and modernization.
- David Alfaro Siqueiros, works such as “Echo of a Scream” (1937): urgent, politically charged imagery that turns individual figures into symbols of collective struggle.
Across Perspectives: Diverse Narrative Voices
- Frida Kahlo: autobiographical paintings that merge personal history, national identity and symbolism into intimate narrative scenes.
- Faith Ringgold, “Tar Beach” and story quilts (1980s–90s): textile-based narratives that blend illustration, text and lived experience.
- Kenojuak Ashevak, Inuit prints such as “The Enchanted Owl” (1960): graphic storytelling rooted in Indigenous cosmology and oral tradition.
- Shirin Neshat, “Women of Allah” (1993–97) and later video works: photographic and filmic narratives exploring identity, gender and diaspora.
- Marjane Satrapi, “Persepolis” (2000): a graphic-memoir sequence that uses sequential art to narrate childhood, revolution and migration.
Together, these movements show how narrative art continually adapts—shifting mediums and perspectives to tell stories of community, identity and change.
Techniques Used to Tell Stories Visually
Different types of narrative art use different techniques and approaches to narrative planning to connect art and emotion in a way that tells a story. Some of these techniques include:
- Continuous Narrative – Depicts several scenes within a single visual field.
- Monoscenic Narrative – Depicts one, single, significant scene (without character repetition).
- Panoramic Narrative – Does not repeat characters but includes several actions and scenes.
- Progressive Narrative – Shows the passage of time by repeating characters with new actions.
- Simultaneous Narrative – Relies on abstract patterns, designs, composition and symbols to depict multiple scenes within a single frame.
All of these techniques rely on the following artistic tools and techniques to set scenes, create characters, depict events and convey meaning.
Composition and Focal Points
Artists use composition (the way a picture is organized and arranged) to create focal points and a visual hierarchy that moves the eye through the painting. Composition is especially important in simultaneous narratives where the artist must guide the audience through the sequence of depicted events.
Character, Setting and Gesture
Like in literary stories, the setting, characters and actions are vital elements of storytelling. Visual artists must depict these within their chosen medium. They can use techniques like figurative painting to create characters, gesture drawing to convey action and set the scene with landscapes, still life or interiors.
Contemporary Narrative Artists and Movements
With the rise of mass media and digital art, narrative art is proliferating. It encompasses a vast range of artistic expressions, from traditional storytelling to interactive digital experiences, reflecting a dynamic evolution in how stories are conceived and shared.
Artists Who Use Visual Storytelling Today
Some examples of contemporary narrative artists who use visual storytelling in their work today include:
- German artist Neo Rauch, whose paintings such as “The Hunt” and “Reactionary Situation” depict scenes from multiple viewpoints.
- Kara Walker is another prominent contemporary narrative artist. Primarily recognized for her works in silhouette, her artwork tells shadowy stories such as “The Means to an End…A Shadow Drama in Five Acts” and “Resurrection Story with Patrons.”
Media and Formats in Contemporary Narrative Art
Narrative art can be found in the real, physical, you-can-smell-it-with-your-own-nose world and in the digital world alike. It’s taken on new life through digital art, comic books, manga and even in modern street art.
Tips for Creating Your Own Narrative Art
Understanding how to tell stories through art requires a combination of artistic choices and narrative planning. To begin, consider the following.
Start With a Story
Before you start creating, work on developing your narrative. Consider the message you want to convey in addition to the concept and story you want to tell. Identify your setting and characters, and define the atmosphere and mood.
Visual Elements to Consider
Once you understand your story, you can begin working out the visual details. Decide the type of visual narrative you want to create. For instance, determine whether you want to depict a simultaneous scene or use panels to move through time.
Begin with rough sketches to identify the objects in your story and outline your overall image and composition. Consider color, texture, composition, perspective and spacing to support your narrative.
Engaging the Viewer
Depicting detailed facial expressions and deliberate gestures to convey movement, emotion and attention will help engage your audience so they can relate to your artwork and participate in the story.
You Don’t Have to Be a Writer to Be a Storyteller: Develop Your Narrative Art Skills at RMCAD
If you have a story to tell, a political opinion or a social commentary, then narrative art is a powerful format available to you.
To further develop your visual storytelling skills, we invite you to consider studying fine arts at the Rocky Mountain College of Art + Design. Our program explores a host of diverse skill sets and techniques such as drawing, painting, printmaking, ceramics, sculpture and photography, which you can use as the foundation for your visual stories. To learn more about our Bachelor of Fine Arts degree, we welcome you to request more information today.
