A common assignment on Art History is as follows:
-Go to a museum in your area that has paintings from the time period we are studying and select a painting from that time period (1400-1850 AD) through the Modern Art period. Modern Art is any thing created after 1850.
-Your analysis of the painting must prove that you actually went to the museum.
-Paintings you may choose from include:
- Early Renaissance paintings
- Lise Sewing by Renoir
- Paintings by Diego velazquez
- Paintings by Claude Monet
- Starry Night
- Watson the Shark
- Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel
- Paintings by Leonardo Da Vinci
Guidelines:
After you choose a painting, carefully examine the content, the formal elements, and the principles of composition.
After you have carefully observed the art work, write an objective analysis of the painting. In this analysis, BRIEFLY describe the painting and content to include: Historical, Iconographic, Moral, Culture.
If you would like, you can pretend that you are describing the painting to someone. In your description be sure that you emphasize the principles of composition and the formal elements. Avoid spending too much time discussing the content of the painting.
In the first paragraph of your paper, be sure to indicate the name of the artist, title of the piece, date of completion, and the medium used. If you viewed the work at a museum other than the Columbus Museum of Art, indicate the museum.
Use the following outline to organize your discussion (this should be the MAJORITY of your paper).
Media: Oils, Fresco, Watercolor, Encaustic, Tempera, and Acrylics
The Formal Elements:
1.Line: What type of line was used?
2.Form: What are the predominate shapes used? How did the artist create an illusion of three dimensional form?
Chiaroscuro- subtle gradation from light to dark (a method of modeling form)
3.Color
Primary, Secondary and Tertiary Colors
Complimentary Colors
Saturated hue – pure color
Value : Tinting and Shading
4. Texture – What is the texture of the work? (DO NOT TOUCH THE WORK…EVER.) Is the canvas rough or smooth? Is there evidence of brushstrokes? Impasto?
5. Space – Overlapping , Foreshortening, Atmospheric Perspective, Linear Perspective
Principles of Composition: Unity Balance, Focal area(s),
1. Take a pencil to the museum. The staff does not permit people to use pens in the museum.
Custom Art History Research Papers from Paper Masters
A Art History research paper is an in-depth examination of Art History, a popular topic in art education. More than just an overview of what was learned on Art History, like a term paper is, a research paper contains analysis of Art History along the lines of organizational theory and relevant published material. Research papers are highly analytical and can often be more than 8 to 10 pages. The key to a good research project is the examination of recently published journal articles and peer-reviewed material on the Art History chosen. Like the name implies, research papers are exactly that, a paper that examines the information that can be found on Art History.
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