Goodspeed Opera House:
The Goodspeed Opera House is located in Connecticut.
Museum-Visit Paper Banner
Museum pic
Please read carefully. You are required to visit a major museum or a reputable art museum in your area, select a work of art to discuss and critique in an analytical and historical context.
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 1200 words minimum and should include 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 reputable Internet sources for your paper.
Submit your papers: Papers will be submitted through the course Drop box located in D2L. Each paper will be submitted through Turn It In, a Plagiarism detection site.
Getting Started:
First, Select a Museum.
First, select a major Museum in your area. If you live in a more rural area, a museum may be an inconvenient choice. Instead look for public buildings and public sculpture and contact me with your choice. The experience of viewing a work of art in person cannot be duplicated in the viewing of art online. You will need to let me know the museum you have selected for instructor approval.
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.