https://collections.dma.org/artwork/5344370
Three-dimensional artwork(1 page max). Identify three visual elements in the composition and add mention how each is being used in the artwork.
Guide:
Formal and stylistic analysis: For each artwork provide the artist name, title of the artwork, date, media, size (height always precedes length. If the work is three-dimensional, add depth). Is the work representational? (Does the work clearly depict objects or people as we would recognize them in the world around us)? Alternatively, is its subject matter completely unrecognizable (is it non-objective)? To what degree has the artist simplified, emphasized, or distorted aspects of forms in the work (or abstracted it)? Does this artwork have a unique style? Or can you identify characteristics that it shares with other artworks by the same artist, from the same period or place, or belonging to the same artistic group or movement?
Iconographic analysis: Are there things in the work that you can interpret as signs or symbols? For example, is there anything that suggests a religious meaning, or indicates the social status of somebody depicted in the work (hierarchical scale)? Labels often provide good information about iconography.
Biographical and psychological analysis: Would information about the life of the artist help you to interpret the work? Do you think the artist’s state of mind (happy, depressed, anxious) has affected the artwork? Again, labels are often a good source of biographical detail. In some museums volunteer docents are available to answer questions about an artist’s life and works.
Contextual analysis: Would you understand the work better if you knew something about the history of the era in which it was created, or about religious, political, economic, and social issues that influenced its creation? Identify three visual elements and three principles of design in each work of art, giving examples of how they function in the compositional aspect of the artwork. Give evidence to your claims. It is not enough to mention the vocabulary, you must back up your assertions with evidence. For example, if identifying colors in a painting, do not just mention yellow, blue, discuss the color harmony used and how the colors interact with one another to create a certain mood. Read about color in the textbook. Is it complementary, cool, warm? What kind of feeling does it evoke?
