Museum Visit Paper

You must write the paper in essay form and the art objects must be from the time period we study in this course. prehistory to early renaissance, 14th C.

Analysis of a Work of Art from a

Local Museum, Gallery or Private Art Studio

-You will be preparing a formal analysis of a work of art from a public museum or gallery of your choosing, convenient to your current location.

-Your formal analysis must be two FULL pages, double-spaced in a 12-point legible font (Times New Roman preferred), and in MLA format with a Works Cited page.

-Please follow MLA format in the construction of your paper and review the writing guides available from the Ivy Tech Virtual Library.

The first part of your assignment will require you to analyze the museum/gallery work in much the same way that you looked at the works from your first assignment. Use the sheet provided here to help you gather important information and to cite sources. In many cases, you will be dealing with living artists (many from the local area), so you may want to actually contact the artist directly to get this information. If you cannot contact your artist, you may want to use your knowledge of art history to speculate as to the artist's possible influences and subject matter depicted in the work. After you have the basic background information, try to describe the work using the elements of art.

You are encouraged to write about your personal experience of this art venue. Did you go alone? Did you like the building / space? What thoughts did you have during your experience? Did you interview the artist, a gallery guard, a curator?

The second stage of the assignment will include taking the information you have about the work (including your analysis of the elements of art, subject matter and artistic media), and presenting it in essay form.

The third and last stage of your analysis will be to refine your writing and to make any changes necessary before the next class. Check the calendar for when this finished paper is due.

PLEASE REMEMBER THAT:

• All sources should be cited and included in the Works Cited page. Citations should be in MLA format. Plagiarism will result in a zero (0) for the assignment and the responsibility for proof regarding the originality of a paper rests with you, not the instructor.

• If you are absent on the due date it is your responsibility to make sure the paper or project is still turned in on time.

• Late papers and projects may be accepted with late penalties:

Researching a Work of Art from a Local Museum or Gallery:

Gathering the Basics

Title of work:

Artist:

Where is the artist from?

Any influences or styles associated with this artist?

Additional background info on work:

Critical Analysis of the Work:

Tips for Visiting a Public Gallery or Museum or Private Studio

For those of you who have never visited an art museum or art gallery, there are a few things that you should keep in mind that will help you make the most of your visit:

DO NOT:

1. Touch any of the artwork unless you are specifically asked to do so. Touching works of art, even with clean hands, leaves behind a residue that leads eventually to the breakdown of the materials used to create the work. In many cases, you can get very close to the artwork, but stay far enough away from the work that you will not accidentally touch or damage it.

2. Raise your voice above a normal speaking level. Remember that other people are trying to concentrate on the works of art also, so speak as you would in a library setting.

3. Go outside areas designated for visitors. For your own safety, please stay within the areas that the gallery has designated for visitors' use.

4. Ignore the rules of the facility. ALWAYS abide by the rules of the facility that you are visiting. Remember that you are a guest here, and you can be asked to leave if you do anything that violates the rules regarding the artwork, staff, or the building itself.

DO:

1. Feel free to take notes and bring in your textbooks. You will be asked to write about what you see, so taking notes is definitely appropriate. You may also want to refer to your textbook to compare works of art in the facility to other works that you have studied, or to help you describe what you are seeing in terms that we have used in class.

2. Ask questions of the staff to better understand what you are seeing. If there is a staff member available, this person will be a good resource for you to find out more information about the work that you are studying. In many cases, this person may be able to tell you about the exhibit's installation, give information about the artist, and help you locate other works by the same artist. If the artist is available, you may also want to ask him/her about how they actually made the piece that interests you.

3. Explore what is available to visitors, and be sure to look around before you narrow in on one work of art. Although it is OK to focus in on one piece, be sure that you have had an opportunity to look around before you make your decision. Visually take in everything that you can in order to get a sense of why these works are here and what their connection is.

4. Look at the work of your choosing for as long as is needed. Within reasonable time limits set by the host facility, you may want to spend a great deal of time in front of one work, examining it and taking notes. Although we do not want to crowd out others who want to see the work, feel free to focus in on something that you find interesting, and get as much information about it as you can. You may even want to take another visit to see the work again.

Writing About a Work of Art from a Public Museum, Gallery or private studio. -i i The Formal Analysis

Your analysis will consist of two typewritten pages about the work of art of your choosing from the museum/gallery visit. This analysis will be in paragraph form, with an introductory paragraph, a conclusion paragraph, and at least three body paragraphs. Your formal analysis must be two full pages, double-spaced in a 12-point legible font (Times New Roman preferred), and in MLA format with a Works Cited page. Each paragraph should be composed of at least three sentences, with no sentence more than three lines long.

Some of the things that you should consider in this analysis are:

Subject matter -: : a a What is depicted in this work? Does the subject matter have any relationship with the background of the artist? How does this work relate to the topics we've studied in class? Does the use of certain subject matter remind you of anything else that you've seen from our textbook? If so, you may want to include a reference to that item in your description of the work.

Artistic media - m m How was this work made, and what is it made from? Observe other works by the same artist (if available) and compare their styles of execution. Does this artist tend to work in one medium over another? How does this work compare and contrast with other works found in the museum/gallery?

Elements of Art -: : a a Describe each one for your work; also consider the Principles of Design in your analysis. Try to incorporate as much descriptive language as you can into your analysis. This will help your reader gain a frame of reference, especially when dealing with a work of art that is not well known to the general public. You can also compare the style of the artist you are researching with a style that is already known to the art world, and explain why you have made this comparison.

Be sure to provide smooth transitions between all of your paragraphs, and summarize your supporting evidence in a conclusion paragraph. Please don't forget to check spelling and grammar on your work.