Essay Directions:
Your essay should follow the guidelines stated under the Written Assignments section of your syllabus.
Your paper must be typed in a 10 – 12-point font, double-spaced with margins that are no more than 1
inch.
- If you don’t have Microsoft Word, save your file as a .txt, .pdf, or .rtf file. Title your document.
- Your report must be at least 700 words.
Step One: Watch both of these videos on analyzing art: Formal Analysis and Contextual Analysis. Also, view
these questions.
Step Two: Visit any or all of the online museums listed here.
• Guggenheim-Bilbao
• Guggenheim Museum Online Collection
• Louvre Museum
• Getty Museum
• Musee D’Orsay
• Tate Modern Museum
• Vatican Museum
• If you would like to use a different museum, please send the link to the museum for approval to your
professor at least a week before the paper is due.
Step Three: Choose works of art that represent (4) four of the categories below, one work of art per category.
The works of art can come from different museums. Do NOT choose images that are listed in our textbook.
One image of war/violence
One image of love
One image of mythology
One sculpture or art installation
One image of nature
One image of food
One image of happiness
One image of loneliness
One image of friendship
One image of a religious nature
One image of a domestic scene
One images of commerce
One piece of environmental art
Step Four: Write a (5) five paragraph essay on the works you have chosen. - In the first (4) four paragraphs:
First, list the title of the work, artist’s name, year, genre, the museum’s name where the work is
located, and a hyperlink to the work you are describing. Follow this with a detailed paragraph that
analyzes the work of art both formally and contextually: one paragraph per work of art/category. You
may have to do more research online to describe the work contextually. - In the fifth paragraph:
Discuss your favorite work out of the four and why it is meaning
Sample Solution
