art7

ApplyingArtHistoryMethodologies.docx

Goal

The goal of this assignment is for you to learn that what you learn about an artwork will depend on the method you use you analyze it. The goal is not to do the analysis, but to identify aspects about the artwork that you would need to consider in such an analysis.

Background and Instructions

In this week's assignment, choose one work of art from readings and videos about West Africa (either from this week or last week). Then choose two art historical methodologies that you could use to analyze the artwork. Identify aspects of the artwork that you would need to know to analyze it through that lens.

Requirements

1. Include an image of the work and caption .

2. Pick one methodology and explain what about the art work makes it suitable for analysis with this method.

3. Pick a second method and explain what about the art work makes it suitable for analysis with this methodology.

Format

1. Written (100-200 words)

You don't need to do a lot of outside research, and your analysis can be minimal. This is not a research project. Rather, I want to check that you understand the different ways we can understand an artwork depending on what method we use to analyze it. Again, you don't have to write a full analysis. You only need to identify aspects of the artwork that you would analyze with that method. To complete this part, you will need to have read/watched the materials. The authors or narrators may not identify the method they are using, but they are using one.

art historical methodologies

Every academic discipline has specific methodologies. A methodology is a set of methods, principles and rules that can be used to analyze a topic, or in the case of art history, an art work. Three of the most useful and common methodologies that art historians use are formal analysis (sometimes called formalism, visual analysis, stylistic analysis... you get the idea), historical context, and iconography. Through time, art historians have developed new methodologies in response to changes in society and a desire for greater equity and understanding. Below, you will find brief introductions to formalism (often called "formal analysis"), historical context, and iconography. You'll also find a brief introduction to several other methods.

Formal analysis (sometimes called formalism, visual analysis or stylistic analysis)

Formalism is the first method we employ when we try to understand artworks. It involves the description and analysis of the elements of art and principles of composition. Formal Elements include line, shape and form, space, color, value, hue, texture, surface and depth, light and shadow. Principles and Considerations of Design include balance and symmetry, rhythm, scale, variety and unity, focal point and movement.

Iconography

Iconography is the analysis of symbols as they were understood during the time the artwork was made. It is important to know when and where it was made because the same symbol could have different meanings across time. For example, a snake could symbolize wisdom in one context and evil in another context. ( An introduction to iconographic analysis)

Historical Context

When we consider historical context in our analysis of an artwork, we think about what was happening in the time and place that the artwork was created. Some topics and questions art historians explore include:

· The artist's life and training (sometimes we don't know who the artist was, however)

· Who paid for it, how, and why. This is called "patronage."

· Political, religious, and socio-economic circumstances when the artwork was made

· Philosophical movements of the time

· Other major forms of cultural expression from the same period

· Scientific and geographic knowledge of the time

· Original setting of the work (today, we often see artworks in museums and galleries, but in many cases, that was not the intended setting when it was originally made)

· Original use of the work

(Historical Context)

Biography

Biography considers the life of the artist, and/ or significant events in their lives to interpret meaning. As you might guess, it is an aspect of Historical Context. (Check out an example of the method of biography using Rembrandt)

Artwork

Memorial Head (Ntiri), 17th century (?), Ghana, Adanse traditional area, Fomena, Akan peoples, 31.3 x 19 x 14.5 cm (The Metropolitan Museum of Art (Links to an external site.) )

Since the late sixteenth century, Akan women potters have created ceramic heads and sometimes complete figures to commemorate deceased royals and individuals of high status. During the funeral, family members placed the terracotta portraits of the deceased in a sacred grove near the cemetery, sometimes with representations of other family members. These sculptures served as the focal point for funerary rites in which libations and food were offered to the ancestors.

This example has a rounded face with protruding elliptical eyes that tilt downward and a delicately shaped nose. These circular shapes are repeated by the eyebrows, ears, and open, oval-shaped mouth which projects from the smooth surface of the face. An incised line curves around the forehead, indicating the hairline. The surface of the sculpture has been covered with a clay slip tinted black, a color linked to the ancestral world and spiritual power in Akan thought.

Like other examples of African portraiture, these commemorative sculptures are idealized representations that convey individuality through specifics of scarification and hairstyle. The artist would typically be summoned to the deathbed of the deceased in order to observe his or her distinguishing characteristics, which she would depict later, working from memory to capture the individual’s essence. The figural terracotta sculptures vary enormously in style, ranging from fairly naturalistic and sculpturally rounded forms to examples that are solid, flat, and more dramatically stylized.