Order 1186316: Gallery Critique

Art 103

Art Appreciation

Fall 2018

Gallery Critique

Due 10/11 (before the beginning of class on Blackboard)

For this project, you will write a critical analysis of a specific work of art seen on the class field trip.

Your paper must engage in the four major activities of critical analysis: describing, analyzing, interpreting and evaluating. Your essay needs to have an introduction, a thesis, body paragraphs (for each step of the critical analysis), and a conclusion. Your thesis should make an argument about the work of art you are analyzing and summarize your overall analysis.

This paper is a visual analysis, not a research paper. It should be made up of your own observations and theories about the image, not other people’s theories. The majority of your critique will come from your close observations and analysis of the artwork you have chosen, not others’ theories or writings. You are allowed to research external information about the artwork and artist (only as part of your Description and Analysis as stated in the Critical Analysis handout), but it is not required and should not become the focus of your paper. If you do include external information about the artwork, the paper should still be predominately your own words and ideas, and all external information needs to be cited and provided in a bibliography.

The Four Steps of Critical Analysis: (refer to the Formal Analysis handout, posted on Blackboard)

1. Description

2. Analysis

3. Interpretation

4. Judgment / Evaluation

Formatting Requirements:

12pt., Times New Roman. Double-spaced. 3-4 pages of writing, 1 inch margins

You must include an image of the work of art you have selected, at the end of your paper. Use figure numbers to reference your images (example: (Fig. 1)).

The order of your final paper should be:

1. Title page

2. Essay (3-4 pages)

3. Bibliography (if you include external information)

4. Image(s)

A Note on Using External Information:

If you do include external information in your critique, Wikipedia, random websites, youtube are not acceptable sources. You may use online websites as sources only if they are affiliated with a museum or university. Otherwise, the rest of your sources should be from books, academic databases (try JSTOR on the library’s website), and scholarly articles. If you include research, you must also use proper citations and a bibliography/works cited page (Chicago Style or MLA.)