Museum-Visit Paper
Please read carefully. You are required to visit a major museum or a reputable art museum in your area, or go to a virtual, online museum. You will select a work of art to discuss and critique in an analytical and historical context.
Points: Worth 100 points.
Art Criticism
The process of art criticism involves description, formal analysis, interpretation, and value judgment. The first step is to put into words a description of what you see, then formally analyzing the visual elements and principles of design. Next, subjectively interpret (hopefully with new insight) what the content is, taking into account style. Finally, judging, and going beyond prejudging to discernment, the work of art being studied; what do you think the artist’s intentions were? Was this communicated? Does it have value? Can you recognize the aesthetic quality in the work? Additionally, biographical or historical information should be offered. Therefore, education and evaluation help to creatively critique a work of art.
Responses to artworks based on value judgment alone are not necessarily based on comprehension but simple subjectivity. As it states in the book Artforms (2009), “If we close our eyes and minds to new work that is hard to understand, we will miss the opportunity to learn from fresh insights.”
General Requirements
Your paper should be at least 4 pages long, double-spaced, with 1” margins. These pages do not include photos, title page, bibliography, etc. Type size should not exceed 12 points. Your paper should be about 1200 words minimum. Your paper should have an introduction and a conclusion. Include the title information in a separate paragraph preceding your discussion of the piece. Proofread your paper, grammar and spelling count, spell check doesn’t catch everything!
You must use at least four sources. Research can come from the Internet and from books on art history, religion, and mythology. Please use at least two Internet sources for your paper.
**I encourage you to work on your Museum Paper during Module 3 and 4. Do not try to complete all of it during the last week; it will be too much work.
Getting Started
First, Select a Museum
First, select a major Museum in your area. If you live in a more rural area, choose to do an on-line museum visit. However, I prefer you visit a museum in person. The experience of viewing a work of art in person cannot be duplicated in the viewing of art on-line.
Then — Select a work of art and get started
1. IDENTIFICATION: At the museum or museum site, you are to select a work of art. You may select a piece that you like or dislike. Copy down all the information provided; Artist, title, medium, year, etc. Write down your initial responses. How do you respond to the work? Does it invoke an emotional response? What do you think the artist was trying to communicate? It is helpful to bring a notebook to record your responses.
2. DESCRIBE the piece. Look at it CAREFULLY. What do you see? Note all the details about the work. How would you describe it to a blind person, or to someone you were talking to on the phone, who can’t see it?
3. ANALYZE the visual elements and design principles as you did in the short paper. Think about the relationship between form, content and subject matter in your analysis. This will be helpful in your ‘interpretation’ of the work. Use the terminology you have learned in class, particularly terms in Chapters 2 -5. Your analysis should be based your own observations while viewing the work.
4. INTERPRETATION Follow your analysis with a subjective interpretation of the meaning of the work. How does the work make you feel? What do you think the content is? Go beyond “I like it” or “I don’t like it.”
5. RESEARCH the artist. Historical and biographical information on the artist often provides clues into a works context and its intended meaning.
6. VALUE JUDGEMENT. What do you think the artist’s intentions were? Was this communicated? Does it have value? Can you recognize the aesthetic quality in the work?
The following steps will help you write your paper.
Here is more of a guideline for approaching your paper. This is very similar to the process used by art critics. This is not an outline of your paper but you can use it if it helps. I hope it will help you think about the works of art you have selected in a more in-depth way.
A. Identification:
Note the title of the work, the date, the artist (if known), medium, and size.
B. Description: What do you see? As fully as possible, describe what you see.
– What medium is used? What is it made of?
– How big is it?
– Go into detail about what you see. Describe it as if you were helping a blind person “see” it.
How would you describe it to someone who had never seen it?
– What subjects are represented?
– It can be helpful to begin looking at a work of art from the middle and work your way out.
C. Analysis: Describe the form of the work
Explain how visual elements and principles of design are used in the work. The terms in chapters 2, 3 & 4 will be very helpful. Go back and look at the chapter outlines or Short Paper assignment. Use them to:
– Describe the use of visual elements such as line, shape, color & space used in the pieces.
For example: In what way is it balanced? Is it asymmetrical or symmetrical? What is emphasized? What seems to be the dominating visual element? Is it realistic or abstract?
D. Interpretation: What is the content of the work? What does it mean?
What do you think the artist was trying to communicate? How does the artist accomplish this through the use of form? This is an important part of analyzing a work of art, how form and content work together.
E. Research: Include historical information about the artist. Knowing about the artist’s history can provide interesting insights into his/her work and how the work reflects the time and culture.
F. Value Judgment: Does the piece have any value or worth?
What did you like about the work? Was it the form, content, or subject matter? Did it remind you of something that you have seen or experienced?
– How does it make you feel?
– How or why does it evoke these feelings?
– Rethink first description and go beyond “I like it” or “I don’t like it”
– What did the artist have in mind? Can you tell?
– Does the piece seem to have a certain level of insight into a subject matter?
– Does it seem inexhaustible? Is there enough interest to hold your attention? When something is inexhaustible it calls us back again and again. Can you tell? Did the artist succeed?
Grade Criteria
Point distribution:
Description – 20 points possible
Analysis – 20 points possible
Interpretation – 25 points possible
Research – 25 points possible
Value Judgment – 10 points possible
Final Grade – 100 possible points
*Each page of the paper is equal to 25 points, so if your paper is short I will have to deduct the appropriate number of points.
*Failure to include your bibliography will result in a deduction of 10 points.