Museum Report Assignment | Online Assignment

Museum Report
Guidelines
Use a work of art that
you find on the website
of a major museum
like the Metropolitan
Museum, The MOMA,
The Guggenheim, etc.
Museum Critique
Guidelines
To criticize a work of art does not mean to say that you dislike it, rather, that you
are
judging its success on a number of aesthetic and technical points. Your personal
response is important, and will be uniquely your own. What you see in the work and
what you think will be different from what anyone else sees or thinks. The experience of
the world which you bring to the task will differ from that of anyone else. Your response
may be something entirely outside the range of reactions which the artist anticipated
when the work was created. This will be true for any work of art, and will most certainly
be the case when the artist lived in a previous time and place. One of the standards by
which art is judged to be great, or by which a work is considered to be a masterpiece, is
its ongoing power to stimulate the responses of viewers over time, and across
cultures.
When you learn to criticize art, whether you like it or not, you will gain skills in
organizing your thoughts, and will become more objective and accountable for your likes
and dislikes in visual experiences. This can make your aesthetic experiences more
meaningful and more memorable, and will carry over to your understanding of
your
thoughts and reactions to all visual objects.
You will need to be a bit of a detective in the process of learning art criticism.
Approach the task of viewing the work of art with the idea that the artist has put some
hidden messages into the work, as well as its more obvious effects, to which you might
first respond. You need to start on a systematic program to analyze the work thoroughly
and well.
There are four steps to this approach:
DESCRIPTION, ANALYSIS, INTERPRETATION,
JUDGEMENT.
They need to be taken in order, and broken down into useful components.
DESCRIPTION: What do I see?
Make an objective list of what you see in the work. Use only facts. Note the size, the
medium, the artist’s name, the title of the work, the date, the country.
ANALYSIS: How is the work organized and
achieved?
How has the artist used the formal elements at his disposal? Talk about line, color,
shape/form, value.
Has the artist create an illusion of space? How? Is there an emphasis on texture? Is it
implied or actual?
How are the elements of design used? Talk about composition, rhythm,
movement,
balance, proportion. Variety or unity? Emphasis or focus?
Please refer to the handouts on analyzing art as well as the “Short Guide to Writing
About Art” for assistance with this task.
**** At this point you are still collecting facts – not ready to make your judgment
yet
.
INTERPRETATION: What was the artist trying to say here? What is happening in this
work of
art?
Try to explain what the artist seems to have meant to say in the work. Is it narrative –
telling a story? Does there seem to be a viewpoint taken? Does the artist seem to
endorse the activity or make a statement in opposition? If it is non-narrative, is the work
about observation of the material world or perhaps about the formal elements of art?
Obviously, you must make some guesses here.
JUDGMENT: What do I think of the work? How do I respond to it, personally?
Be honest with yourself. Critically evaluate your feelings and the reasons why they
emerge in response to the work of art.
As appropriate, consider these three theories for judgment which are used by art critics:
1.) Imitationalism: It may be important that the work of art imitates what we see in
real life, in some manner. This is not necessarily a copying of an exterior visual
appearance but may rather include the responses that one might have given to a
visual experience. For example, the reddish glow of a sunset cast over a
landscape may not seem entirely naturalistic, but may have a strong
emotional
appeal to you, or not.
2.) Formalism: The work might seem successful because of careful or innovative
use of formal elements or design principles – in ways which elicit your
strong
response. Such treatment by the artist may or may not be made in relationship to
a narrative basis for the
work.
3.) Emotionalism: The work may derive its impact primarily from the visceral,
emotional response of the viewer, in what may be a communication of narrative
content, or may rely entirely upon the effects of more or less pure formal
elements.
You might apply one or two of these theories of judgment to a greater extent than the
others, but it is necessary to consider the work in light of all three. Then you will be
able to discover the most possible information about the work and your responses
to
it.
Format for the Research
Paper
The research paper must have the following parts completed:
1. Title page (name, date, title of paper, class, and professor’s name)
2. Full length double spaced pages of manuscript with 1” margins and page
number
s
3. Footnotes (in context footnotes may be used)
4. Five research sources (textbook, research sources, The Grove Dictionary of Art
Online and the Metropolitan Museum Website; NO OTHER INTERNET
SOURCES ARE ALLOWED!! )
5. One illustration of each of the art works discussed
6. Bibliography (Works Cited List) of research sources