Overview
For this assignment, you are to choose a local museum (see the list on the second page) to visit on your own time. While you are there, you will need to choose one artwork dated between the years 1400 and 2021 that you are interested in and answer these questions in proper essay form (introduction, body, and conclusion). You must choose artwork that is European or American in origin.
What attracted you to this particular artwork? Remember to state the name of the artist, title, and date. Please italicize art titles.
Give a contextual analysis by answering the following questions:
What period and culture is it from?
Why was the artwork originally made?
Is there an obvious message (i.e. political, social, religious, personal, etc.)?
You may include brief biographical information about the artist if it adds to the contextual analysis, but this is not a biographical paper.
Analyze it compositionally:
How is the composition structured and arranged?
What terms can be used to describe the style or appearance of the artwork (i.e. abstract, naturalistic, idealized, etc.)?
- Please note the medium and technique used in the artwork as well. This is where the check-in assignment will be helpful since there are terms you can use from there.