Order from us for quality, customized work in due time of your choice.
Objectives: Explore the permanent collection of works at the MoMA; analyse and w
Objectives: Explore the permanent collection of works at the MoMA; analyse and write on a work of your choice, using key concepts and terminology, and demonstrate your strengths in visual analysis, interpretation; conduct and incorporate research on the artwork.
MoMA – 5th floor galleries only! Best to view the whole suite of galleries before choosing what to write about .
At the museum: Find a work you are drawn to, but are not familiar with. It must have been made between 1900 and 1940. (I won’t grade papers about paintings from the 1890s, or 1950s, etc.)
Papers should be 750-950 words (3-4 pp. double-spaced)
I AM DOING Pablo Picasso. Guitar. Paris, January–February 1914
Curator, Anne Umland: We’re looking at a sheet metal version of a sculpture that existed in its original form as a cardboard model made in 1912. And up until that point, sculpture was very much an art of carving or modeling of solid forms and of noble materials, like bronze, or marble. Because this guitar is an object that’s intended to hang on the wall, it relates as much to the world of painting as to that of sculpture.
But then you go further, and you see that rather than being an object composed of solid planes, Picasso has cut into the surface of the guitar. He’s revealing its core, or its interior. Probably nowhere more surprisingly or audaciously than in the way that he’s treated the sound hole, which when you look at a guitar is, of course, a void. And by taking away the frontal plane and creating a cylinder that traces the contour of this void. Picasso creates a positive out of what has always been a negative.
You actually can see the irregularity in edge caused by the clipping shears that Picasso used when he shaped the different pieces of metal that composed this work. You can see sort of these mundane humble wires. Actually the sound hole—it’s just a humdrum every day metal cylinder that Picasso could have found at a hardware store easily anywhere in Paris.
This paper assignment has THREE main components.
Careful inspection and analysis of formal elements, presented in a compare/contrast format. Here stick to basics–subject and form– of the artwork, with no other info.
Your “first take” on it is an “uninformed” (unresearched) interpretation of what you see take notes on. Here you are basing your interpretation solely on the visual evidence that was just collected. You must be bold and infer meaning. Your inferences might be “wrong,” but they are uninformed, so they are still valid. It’s all part of the process.
Your “second take” on the artwork is based on light research, and includes a re-evaluation/correction (if necessary) of your first take (“uninformed” interpretation) as well as other interesting information you wish to include.
Guidelines for above: Roughly 2 pages for the introduction and your formal analysis; ½ to 1 page devoted to your initial interpretation; and roughly 1 page on the “light research” findings, which is your second take and conclusion.
I At the museum: Find a work you are drawn to, but are not familiar with. It must have been made between 1900 and 1940.
Take a selfie of you and your artwork
Photograph your artwork
Take pictures of but do not read any other commentary on the wall label accompaningy your artwork (not yet); your “first take” on the piece must be uniformed by the history or scholarly interpretation.
Take thorough notes in front of the artwork for the uninformed part. There is no substitute for this. Your paper will suck if you don’t take this step and take the time to write in front of the artwork. The more you write, the more you will see.
II: Suggested check- off items on the list list as you take notes for your “uninformed” analysis:
What you were drawn to first.
The overall scale of work in relation to your own body and how that feels.
Subject matter, and the genre of the works (If fully abstract, say it is abstract. A title can help with determining subject matter)
What is the medium? (wil be on the label), and how is it technically handled?
The overall color palette–colors that are used a lot. Be specific and use correct terminology
Composition: depiction of space, if any; placement of specific colors, light/dark effects, forms, shapes, and use of line, and positive/ negative space, etc.
Description of details that seem particularly significant w/ in the picture
Repetition of form, color, rhythm, harmonies of parts, etc., through any line, or color, motif, figure or form.
Play of relationships, such as positive/negative space, mass/volume (esp. for sculptures)
Be sure to explain how your eye is guided through the composition by some of these things. Usually what your eye returns to are the key elements of the picture.
III: At home research: For the last part, start with wall labels you took pictures of at the museum, but move on from there. You must also use 2 good (non label) sources on the artist, artwork, or movement. You may consult the museum website, other websites like Smarthistory, The Art Story, the Met museum’s TOAH (Timeline of Art History), are all useful. Ask a librarian for help–they love that! The FIT library’s online database grants access to JSTOR and Art Full Text. From JSTOR you can download/print many good scholarly articles in PDF format.
This last part should be focused on whether your initial thoughts were confirmed by research, or not. It should include the movement the artist was associated with; how the work or works have been interpreted, if known; what the artists’ objectives were; historical/contextual factors that influenced the artist to make the artwork look like it does.
Finalizing the paper: Your introduction should inform the reader about the parameters of the paper and the works (Name of artist, name of work italicized, and its date). Your intro should include a strong thesis, which hints at your findings. For instance, certain elements at first led you to make certain assumptions about the artist and/or work, but which research might have proved false.
Your conclusion should be a summation, and should honestly say whether your first hunches or interpretations were correct, and why. You should also use this as an opportunity to raise any unanswered questions that came to mind as a result of looking and reading lightly about the artwork.
Citations: ALL quotes and paraphrased info–from a text, wall label, website, that is anything that does not come from your brain alone–must be properly cited in your paper. Add an extension for citing sources to Chrome (like Cite This For Me) to do this, or use a website and follow their model. Sources must be cited EACH TIME they are used (directly following directly after each quote; or at the end of end of a paraphrased source, or at the end of a paragraph where a bunch of historical info is drawn from one source. Use Chicago style formatting (not MLA, that’s not what art history uses.) Don’t use too many quotes.
Grading criteria:
Following instructions in style and formatting good effective writing, use of correct and sophisticated vocabulary, paper structures, format, and length as instructed; content: thoughtful analysis and interpretation and incorporation of relevant research); academic integrity: honestly uninformed interpretation, use of citations of sources correctly and everywhere they are needed–in other words, no plagiarism–and devoid of “fluff” info that is not directly related to the assignment. You will submit it as a document through SafeAssign.
Order from us for quality, customized work in due time of your choice.