Choose a work from the Nelson-Atkins as the subject for your paper (see below and in the powerpoint). In this 2-3 page visual analysis, combine your own careful, first-hand observation of the work with what you have learned in the lectures and textbook. Consider the elements that make up the art work: 1) materials (media) and techniques, 2) composition, and 3) subject matter. Remember that the first two components, materials and composition, shape our response to the subject matter.
Discuss the characteristics of the materials used and how they are handled. For composition, look at spatial relationships, size and arrangements of figures, color schemes, light-dark contrasts, and so on. What draws your attention first? Are there visual relationships between parts of the composition? Finally, consider the subject matter. Read the general description of the work on the museum placard beside it. Using this information (and not your own personal information or outside source material), consider how the overall visual presentation by the artist conveys the subject matter. What is given importance and what is diminished? Is it a dramatic narrative or more symbolic? Do you think that the artist is trying to elicit a certain response from the viewer concerning the subject matter? You may find it helpful to compare and contrast your chosen work to another we have discussed in class, but this is only a suggestion.
This is not intended to be a research paper. It is a visual analysis based on what you can see with careful observation of the work. It is not a biography of the artist or a discussion of a particular historical period. Please note that any paper that cites (or fails to cite) outside sources will automatically receive a zero. The purpose of the assignment is to observe a specific work of art and explain to me what it is that you see. You have learned many new terms over the semester, use those new terms to describe your selected work of art.
The grade for the paper will be based on the depth and clarity of your visual analysis, including the ability to use concepts and terminology discussed in class (75%), and composition and grammar (25%).
Papers should be 2-3 pages in length, double-spaced, 12-point type. NO LATE PAPERS ACCEPTED.
CHOOSE ONE:
Winged Genie Fertilizing a Date Tree, Assyrian relief (Ancient Wing P3)
Adoration of the Magi, c. 1405 by Gherardo di Jacopa Starna, Gothic (Gallery P5)
Saint Cecelia, Bernardo Strozzi, 1620-25(P15)
The Green Domino, Albert Bloch, 1913 (217)
The Sun Porch, Richard Edward Miller, 1922(217)
Please find the art placard for The Green Domino. This is the piece I’d like to have the paper over. This art is from The Nelson Atkinson Museum in Kansas City, MO. Please reach out if unsure of anything.
