HUMANITIES ART MUSEUM VISIT REPORT NOT PLAGIARISM-HUM
HUMANITIES
ART MUSEUM VISIT REPORT NOT PLAGIARISM
Paint to write the
report:
Author: Michiel Daniel
Name of the Paint: Four Gods
Dispossessed
Year of the Paint: 1985
Watercolor on Paper
This report is not a research paper. You are to put your own observations and
thoughts in your own words to evaluate a work of art. If you do use statements or ideas from any
other source, including the museum’s notes about the work, you MUST tell (document) where the
information is from in a properly-formatted MLA citation.
In the first
paragraph, provide, in sentence form, the facts: the name of the work, the artist, the date
(or period if date is not specific), the medium in which it is done, and
approximate size. What style is it?
The second paragraph
is to be a detailed description of the work.
Present in words exactly what
you see. Include significant aspects of
the painting. What is the subject? How is it composed (arranged)? Describe characters, setting (surroundings,
location, background, etc.), objects, colors, light/shadow. All these contribute to meaning.
Here is where the material from the text's Introduction will
be useful. In the third paragraph, go into the content (meaning). That is, what is the artist saying? Determine the theme. Look for iconography and symbolism. What is the mood (feeling) it projects? Are there social, political, moral, and/or
religious implications? (All of these
may not be present in the work.) What
might be its relation to the time and place of its making? What do you believe was the purpose of the
work? These are very important points
because they are the reason for the painting's creation. Think carefully.
The fourth paragraph
will be comparative in nature. Choose a
work in your textbook (from any chapter) which you see as sharing similarities
with the one you have been analyzing.
Again, provide the name of it and the artist, its date, and the page
number it is on so the reader can find it easily. Apply the same evaluation criteria here. (There is no need to go into a lengthy
description of it since it is available to the reader.) Tell how they are alike. What reminds you of the museum work? There may be several things: the subject, the
theme, the period from which it comes, the artistic style, how the work is
composed (arranged), iconography, symbolism, meanings, purposes, and so
on. Whatever the relationships you see,
explain them in detail.
The fifth paragraph
is your personal response to the museum work.
Art engages not only the eye, but feelings and emotions and intellect as
well. Your task here is to show in words
how this piece affected you. Why did you
choose it in the first place? What did
you like about it? What was your
aesthetic response to it? (Look up the
term aesthetics so you know
exactly what you are describing.) What
specifically stimulated your feelings about it?
Maybe the story it tells, or artistic style, or symbolic images, or
meaning, just to suggest a few possibilities.
Perhaps your own life experiences or associations brought memories that
made you relate to it. Or does it speak
to your life now, or does it take you out of the here and now to another time
and place? Whatever motivated your
selection, now is the chance to be subjective in your appraisal of the work.