Saint Crispin (France, circa 1500)
Formal Analysis Paper Assignment:
Visual analysis is the foundation for the practice of art history. A visual analysis addresses the artwork’s formal elements—its form—by describing its attributes: line (contour), material, color, texture, shape, composition, and use of space.
The purpose of this assignment is to recognize and understand the choices made in the creation of the artwork. By observing and writing about these specifics, you will come to have a better understanding of not only how the object looks, but also how it works. A good formal analysis describes the effect of a work of art or architecture on the viewer, and how the work of art achieves that effect. It requires three steps:
1. GENERATE SOME NOTES: Choose your work of art from the list and stand in front of it for a long time, from several different vantage points. Ask yourself the questions on the worksheet and write down your answers.
2. DEVELOP A THESIS: After you have looked at the work and made some notes, step back and consider the effect of each of the qualities you have noted in the piece. Based upon your consideration, come up with an overall characterization of the visual impression the work makes on the viewer, and the main ways it achieves that impression. Boil it down to one sentence. This is your thesis.
3. PROVE YOUR THESIS: Put your thesis at the end of an introductory paragraph that includes the title, artist (if this information is known), and date of the work.
In the body of the paper, describe how the piece achieves the impression it makes, using observations from your notes. Don’t include all of your notes, only those that support your thesis most clearly. Similarly, you don’t need to describe every detail at length, only those that are relevant to your argument. Use unified paragraphs with clear statements at the beginning of each. You might have one paragraph on the effect of the materials, one on the use of line, one on the arrangement of shapes, etc.
This is not a research paper and no outside research is required. You may certainly use museum labels to augment your understanding, but your focus should be on the visual qualities of the piece. Do not quote from the labels. You are free to consider how the visual qualities may interact with the subject matter and help to generate meaning, but try not to dwell upon imagined details of the narrative. Your main point is the visual character of the work. Similarly, discussion of the historical style of the work is not necessary, and should not distract you from the workings of the piece you have chosen.
(The best place to mention style is in the conclusion.)
Formatting: your paper should be 2-3 double-spaced pages (stapled), 12-point font, with 1-inch margins. Put the name of your TA on the upper left corner, and remember to put your name and the date in the upper right corner. Affix some sort of proof that you did in fact go to the museum (museum ticket, parking stub, selfie of you at museum [if permitted at museum]),
Rubric checklist: we will be considering the following factors in the assessment of your paper; you may refer to this and to the attached rubric to guide you in the crafting of your own work.
Have I:
Described the work accurately?
Discussed all relevant formal elements in detail (see worksheet questions: flat/plastic; materials; use of line)?
Considered the effect of all formal elements on the meaning of the work? Have I written about them clearly?
Carefully proofread the paper for spelling, grammar, punctuation, usage and syntax errors?
Is the paper clean, neat and typewritten according to the format outlined in the assignment?
Does the paper have a clear thesis statement that is supported throughout the body of the paper?
Does each paragraph have a topic sentence?
Does the conclusion reiterate and reinforce the thesis (as it should)?
Have I attached proof of museum visit on the paper?