critical analisis for art works

Sample Outline: The Romantic Sublime

Note: This is only an outline. Your papers are to be written in paragraph form and with complete sentences, though you may break up the paper by section (e.g. “Introduction,” “Checklist,” etc.). Because I use it in this outline, the topic of the Romantic Sublime may not be used.

Title

1. Introduction: Provide an overview of your topic and state your thesis.

a. Overview of Romantic Landscapes: What do they generally look like?

b. Definition of “the sublime.”

c. Thesis: In the Romantic period, landscapes assumed new prominence, as artists began to see nature as the source of powerful forces that spoke directly to the human condition.

2. Checklist: A list of 4 works that support your thesis. Provide some general background information about each work and a short formal analysis that addresses how it relates to your thesis. Give some thought how the sequencing of the works affects our understanding of your topic.

a. Work #1: J.M.W. Turner’s, The Slave Ship

i. One paragraph of background information about Turner (his training, interest in landscape, etc.) and the story depicted in this painting.

ii. One paragraph of formal analysis about the painting. Describe the painting. How does it reflect the concept of the sublime?

b. Repeat the above two steps for works 2-4.

3. Conclusion: What have we learned from seeing your exhibition? What questions does it raise? How does it relate to subsequent developments in art history?

a. Possible conclusion #1: Comment on the variety of works included. Do we see different versions of the sublime in the hands of different artists?

b. Possible conclusion #2: Landscape would continue to grow in importance through the 19th century. While later artists turned away from the fantastical themes of the Romantics, they nonetheless built on this generation’s insights on how the land reflects human experience.

4. Images: Insert jpegs of your four works of art into your Word document. Caption them as follows: Artist, Title, date, medium.

5. Bibliography

Useful Sources:

1) Smarthistory.org: Short instructional videos about major works of art geared to a general audience.

2) Artstor (access through the Databases section of the library website): Database of high quality images that can be saved as jpegs and inserted into your papers. Also very useful for seeing details of works of art that can inform your formal analyses.

3) Oxford Dictionary of Art (again, access through library databases): Short encyclopedia-length entries on major artists and movements.

4) Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History: http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/

Another online art history encyclopedia produced by the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

5) PSU’s Art History Research Guide: List of databases for finding articles, many with full text online. Go to libraries.psu.edu Research Research Guides Art History.

6) Citation Guide: Your papers should include a bibliography of works cited at the end. When you quote or paraphrase a source, you must cite it with an endnote. I would like you to use Chicago style formatting for your notes and bibliography. For further information, go to libraries.psu.edu Research Citation Guides Chicago Style Quick Citation Guide.

A comment on online research: This project requires you to consult academic sources. While many of these may be found online (e.g. e-books, full text articles), there is also a lot of online material that is not scholarly in nature. Wikipedia, blogs, individual websites, etc. are not to be used for this assignment.

Rubric : 15 points total

Paper is submitted on time and with proper formatting (including citations): 0-3

Paper incorporates substantive research using scholarly sources: 0-3 Paper is clearly written and is free of typos and grammatical errors: 0-3

Paper contains vivid and effective formal analyses: 0-3

Paper has a clear and compelling thesis: 0-3

*Bonus point for taking your paper to the Learning Resource Center.