Art History
: Instructions for the Critical Paper ARTH 102 Dr. Gregory
Choose any artwork from the period under study (ca. 1400 - 1850)
from any fine arts collection (Philadelphia Museum is, of course,
the most accessible). I want you to analyze the chosen work to
determine what meaning(s) it may have had for its original
audience. You should proceed in the same manner as we do in class,
asking yourself all the same questions and providing answers based
upon both your observations and your research. First tell me who
created the image, and provide a brief biographical sketch. Include
his/her artistic education, other artists who may have influenced
him/her, and artistic groups or movements s/he belonged to. If
there is a movement, e.g., Mannerism, Rococo, etc., provide a
succinct description of its characteristics. What is the medium
used? How large is it and where is it housed? If it was
commissioned, who paid for it? Where was it to be cited? What was
the primary audience for the work? Then examine the work carefully
in order to determine what is shown (this includes the identities
of the things represented, including �setting,� and what actions or
events, poses, gestures or expressions, costumes, etc., seem to be
depicted). How is the image composed, i.e., how are it parts
arranged in relation to one another? Then address the issue of
subject matter. Is there a narrative context to which the image
belongs? Is there any use of symbolism? Is it a scene taken
directly from life? Is it an image that references earlier
artworks? Carefully observe and describe the formal properties of
the work (i.e., composition, the use of color, light and dark,
space, texture, line). Does the aesthetic form of the work (the
arrangement of formal properties) contribute to the expression of
the meaning of the work? How? As you put forward an interpretation
of the artwork, substantiate your ideas by means of
historical/contextual evidence. Most of this material is already
cited in the secondary art historical literature; you need to
research it and report it in your paper. The paper should be at
least 5 pages long (1250 words). Please provide me with a
reproduction (i.e., photo or xeroxed image of the work) and proof
that you actually attended a gallery or museum in order to examine
the chosen work (e.g., a receipt or admission button, or a �selfie�
at the museum). You should use some form of citation system
(footnotes, endnotes) and include a bibliography. You must consult
scholarly literature in your research (look on JSTOR, for instance,
and read books). At least 4 or 5 sources such as books and articles
will do. For this use an artwork from the Philadelphia Museum of
Art, more specifically and preferrably Prayer before the Meal by
Jan Steen.
Art
: Undergraduate
: Research Paper
: English (U.S.)
: 4 pages/1100 words
:MLA
4 sources
due 5 hours
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