critical analisis for art works

Exhibition Proposal

Due Friday, December 6th

A museum exhibition consists of a carefully selected group of art objects that illuminates a specific artistic, cultural, or historical theme. It can explore the development of a single artist’s work (e.g. “The Prints of Albrecht Dürer”), reveal a range of artistic activity from a given time and place (e.g. “High Renaissance Artists in Rome under Pope Julius II”), or chart the depiction of a certain subject throughout history (e.g. “Images of War in the 20th Century”). Much like an academic paper, an effective exhibition makes an argument, using works of art as evidence for its thesis. Furthermore, an exhibition creates meaning through the arrangement of works of art in space. By sequencing works in a certain way, the exhibition’s organizer, or curator, structures the viewer’s understanding of the its subject.

This assignment asks you to create your own art exhibition devoted to a topic of your choosing, consisting of at least four works of art. Unlike your museum paper, this paper does require library research. Your final paper should have the following format:

I. Introductory paragraph: Introduce your reader to your exhibition’s topic. Describe its historical significance (in other words, why was this exhibition worth organizing? what can be learned from seeing it?) and state your thesis.

II. Checklist: Write at least two paragraphs for each work of art in your exhibition. Each entry in your checklist should contain a short formal analysis of the work and describe how it relates to your thesis. Consider how the sequencing of works in your exhibition affects the development of your argument.

III. Conclusion: This paragraph should not simply restate your thesis. What have we learned from your exhibition? What were the consequences of the works you have chosen? How do these works point to future art historical developments?

Requirements

1) Email me ([email protected]) with a potential topic by Wednesday, November 6th. You are not bound to this topic, but it is important to start thinking about this early, so that you can begin searching for sources during our library session.

2) Your research must make use of published sources (i.e. books and journals) and may also include appropriate online material. Best practices for internet research will be discussed in our library session.

3) Your paper must include color reproductions of the works included in your exhibition. Images should be captioned with the following information: artist, title (in italics), date, medium.

4) Your paper must include properly formatted citations and a bibliography. Details on formatting will be discussed either in class or in our library session.

Formatting: Papers are to be word processed, double-spaced, with standard margins. Titles of works of art are to be italicized. Your exhibition must have a title (“Research Paper” is not a title). Reproductions of your works of art should be included at the end of the paper.

Academic Integrity: Evidence of plagiarism will result in a failing grade and will be subject to appropriate disciplinary action. See the syllabus for a full discussion of plagiarism, and please ask me if you have any questions on this matter.

Extra Credit: If you consult a tutor from the Learning Resource Center with a draft of this paper, you will receive a bonus point at the end of the semester.

Due Date: Papers are to be submitted to turnitin.psu.edu by midnight on Friday, December 6th.