Drawing Studio

Assignment: RISD Museum Visit, Formal Analysis

This paper is intended to be a "looking and analyzing exercise", done with consulting books or other sources to complete Parts II and III.

Notations and a Bibliography must be included if written sources are consulted, even if the source is a museum wall label. Notations must be used not only in relation to quoted material, but information borrowed by you from a written source and put in your own words.

You must use either MLA (Modern Language Association) or Chicago Manual of Style format (consult Barnet's chapter on Manuscript Form, or visit https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/717/02/).

Quotations are to be used only when your own words will not suffice. Borrowed information must otherwise be summarized, with a notation at the end of the material, indicating its source.

Topic: Art institutions such as commercial galleries, exhibition spaces and museums create public meanings for visual culture. You can find many examples of the themes, styles, and periods of art history, and have a first-hand experience in viewing and analyzing them.

For this paper you will need to read this outline very carefully before you visit the museum:

• Spend at least 45 minutes in the museum. You have Free admission with your Braynt ID. For hours, directions, etc.: visit venue's website.

• Bring a notebook and pencils. Take notes while there. You must check your coat and backpack. No texting or use of cell phones apart from taking digital pictures. Be present.

• Write an essay (3 pages), using provided outline (see Formal Analysis below). You should choose one artwork within any era. This one work should strike and engage you.

• Include image/images. Take your own (best quality possible). Do not work from an image on the web and pretend that you visited the museum. This will cause your paper to fail. The image is not a part of your 3 written pages.

• Citation of a Museum label/plaque: In your text, paraphrase or quote and include "(wall text, RISD)". Museum label for Artist, Title of Artwork. City, Date viewed.

Example: Museum of Fine Arts. Museum label for J. M. W. Turner, Slave Ship. Boston, 15 October 2014.

• If you need help with your paper, you should call The Writing Center at 232-6567 or stop by to schedule an appointment or to find out if there is a walk-in appointment available. They are there to work with you.

Formal Analysis

Knowing how to write a formal analysis of a work of art is a fundamental skill learned in an art - appreciation level class. Students in art history survey and upper-level classes further develop this skill. Use this sheet as a guide when writing a formal analysis paper.

Consider the following when analyzing a work of art. Not everything applies to every work of art, nor is it always useful to consider things in the order given. In any analysis, keep in mind the following: HOW and WHY is this a significant work of art?

Part I - General Information

In many cases, this information can be found on a label (you might have to research it):

• Artist (artists)
• Date (When was it made? Is it a copy of something older?)
• Provenance (Where was it made? For whom? Is it typical of the art of a geographical area?)
• Location (Where is the work located? Name of the museum/gallery. Describe its position on the wall [pedestal, floor, etc.] Can it be seen on all sides, or just one? What color the walls around it? Is it brightly or softly lit? Does the viewer see it as the artist intended?)
• Technique and Medium (What materials is it made of? How was it executed? How big or small is it?)
• Dimensions

Part II - Brief Description

In a few sentences describe the work. What does it look like? Is it a representation of something? Tell what is shown. Is it an abstraction of something? Is it a non-objective work?

Tell what elements are dominant. This section is not an analysis of the work, though some terms used in Parts III and IV might be used here. This section is primarily a few sentences to give the reader a sense of what the work looks like.

Part III - Natural subject matter, Iconography, Iconology

Tell what the subject matter is. Describe a specific action or moment in time. What is the specific narrative represented, if any? What is the emotional tone or mood? What are the ways in which the subject and style complement each other? For example, does the color choice underscore the mood, or the specific moment in a narrative? Do other elements of style (space, texture, etc.) emphasize the subject type?
How does the work of art relate in subject and style to the general artistic style or ideas of the era to which the work belongs? For example, do the style and subject fit into a specific values evident in the Late Classical period?

What is the social function of the image (sculpture, vessel, etc.), does it promote dogma, political power, gender or other social roles, or flatter the person in a work of art?

Part IV - Form

This is the key part of your paper, and thus should be the longest section. Be sure and think about whether the work of art selected is a two-dimensional or three-dimensional work.

Art Elements: (refer to Starter Kit of your textbook)

• Line (straight, curved, angular flowing, horizontal, vertical. Diagonal, contour, thick, thin, implied, etc.)
• Shape (what shape are created and how)
• Light and Value (source, flat, strong, contrasting, even, values, emphasis, shadows)
• Color (primary, secondary, mixed, complimentary, warm, cool, decorative, values)
• Texture and Pattern (real, implied, repeating)
• Space (depth, overlapping, kinds of perspective)
• Time and Motion

Principles of Design:

• Unity and Variety
• Balance (symmetry, asymmetry)
• Emphasis and Subordination
• Scale and Proportion (weight, how objects or figures relate to each other and the setting)
• Mass/Volume (three-dimensional art)
• Rhythm

• Function/Setting (architecture)
• Interior/Exterior Relationship (architecture)

Part V - Opinions and Conclusions

This is the part of the paper where you go beyond description and offer a conclusion and your own informed opinion about the work. Any statements you make about the work should be based on the analysis in Parts II, III, and IV above.

• In this section, discuss how and why the key elements and principles of art used by the artist create meaning.
• Support your discussion of content with facts about the work.