Visual Analysis

Paper #1Visual AnalysisDue Tuesday, October 26 at 11am via email: This 2-3-page paper will teach you the most fundamental skill of art history: formal analysis. The formal qualities of a work, how it looks, fundamentally determines how the viewer receives work. A formal analysis describes the whole of an artwork and gives the reader, who may not have seen the work before, a strong sense of what it feels like to be in front of it. Through your observations, you will convince your reader of a fundamental thesis statement or argument about the work. The most successful students will follow the following guidelines:

1. Pick a work of art in either the Metropolitan Museum of Art or Brooklyn Museums collection that was made between 2000 BCE and 1800 CE. If you feel comfortable, visit one of the museums in person to choose the work. It can be any painting or sculpture. (please do not pick a photograph, an installation, architecture, or a video, if this is confusing, please talk to me about which work to choose). 
2. Draw the work twice. Your first drawing will be sloppy and fast. You will just get the most fundamental elements of the work. Get a basic idea of the composition or shape of the work. Your second drawing will be much more careful, try to spend a full 40 minutes drawing. Get every detail you can. While you are drawing, notice what it is that you are looking at and how each element of the work relates to each other. Your sloppy drawing will give you a basic sense of the structure. When you do your detailed drawing, notice what the hardest parts are. Try to answer,    why is it difficult?

3. What is the subject of the artwork?

     Composition: How are the parts of the work arranged? Is there a stable or unstable composition? Is it dynamic? Full of movement? Or is it static?

   Pose: If the work has figures, are the proportions believable? Realistic? Describe the pose(s).  Is the figure active, calm, graceful, stiff, tense, or relaxed?  Does the figure convey a mood? If there are several figures, how do they relate to each other (do they interact? not?)?

   Proportions:  Does the whole or even individual parts of the figure(s) or natural objects in the work look natural? Why did you come to this conclusion?

   Line: Are the outlines (whether perceived or actual) smooth, fuzzy, clear?  Are the main lines vertical, horizontal, diagonal, or curved, or a combination of any of these? Are the lines jagged and full of energy? Sketchy? Geometric? Curvilinear? Bold? Subtle?

   Space: If the artist conveys space, what type of space is used? What is the relation of the main figure to the space around it?  Are the main figures entirely within the space (if the artwork is a painting), or are parts of the bodies cut off by the edge of the artwork? Is the setting illusionistic, as if one could enter the space of the painting, or is it flat and two-dimensional, a space that one could not possibly enter?

   Texture: If a sculpture, is the surface smooth and polished or rough? Are there several textures conveyed? Where and How? If a painting, is there any texture to the paint surface? Are the brushstrokes invisible? Brushy? Sketchy? Loose and flowing? Or tight and controlled?

   Light and Shadow: Are shadows visible?  Where?  Are there dark shadows, light shadows, or both? How do the shadows affect the work?

   Size: How big is the artwork?  Are the figures or objects in the work life-sized, larger or smaller than life? How does the size affect the work?

   Color: What type of colors are used in the work? Bright? Dull? Complimentary? Does the artist use colors to draw your attention to specific areas of the work? How? If a sculpture, examine the color(s) of the medium and how it affects the work.

   Mood: Do you sense an overall mood in the artwork? Perhaps several different moods? If so, describe them. How does the mood interpret how you view the work?

   4. Once you have spent some time analyzing your work, notice if your first impression of the work has changed, now that you have taken a closer look? How? If you came up with a thesis statement before doing this in-depth analysis, you may want to change it if your impression of the work has changed. 
   5. Determine your own, original conclusion about the work. This will help you develop your thesis statement which could answer a question like: What is the meaning of this work? What message does the artist want to send to the viewer? Your thesis statement should reflect your view of the object and should be something that could be reasonably argued.
   6. Write your introduction (the first paragraph) and include:

   the name of the artist (if known), title (which is or italicized every time you use the title in your paper), date, and medium (if known)

   what you think is the subject 

   a very brief description of the work 

   thesis statement – usually the last line or so of your first paragraph. Please underline your thesis statement.

   7. From that point, the rest of the formal analysis should include not only a description of the piece, but especially those details of the work that have led you to come to your thesis. Yet, your paper should not be a random flow of ideas about the work (i.e. stream of consciousness writing). Rather, your paper should have a sense of order, moving purposefully through your description with regard to specific elements (ex: one paragraph may deal with composition, another with a description of the figures, another with the background, another about line, etc.). Finally, in your conclusion (the final paragraph) you should end your paper with a restatement of your thesis.