Final Exam Museum Essay

Essay Assignment:  A descriptive analysis and comparison/contrast of two paintings at The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Visit The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s website. https://www.metmuseum.org/art/the-collection

Search for all works of art on list and then select one (1) pair to compare and contrast.  Using the art historical vocabulary developed in class and the Guide to Writing the Museum Paper posted on Blackboard, write a 600-750 word essay, double-spaced, 12 pt font, 1 inch margins to be turned in as part II of your final exam on Blackboard. Please note the numbers in parenthesis are the accession numbers of the paintings. Please check the numbers here to the numbers on the label of each painting as you search to ensure you have found the correct work.

Pair 1

Artemisia Gentileschi, Esther before Ahasuerus, 1628-1630 (69.281) Gallery 621

Jacques-Louis David, Death of Socrates, 1787 (31.45) Gallery 631

Pair 2

Titian and Workshop, Venus and the Lute Player, 1565-70 (36.29) Gallery 638

Henri Matisse, Odalisque with Gray Trousers, 1927 (1997.400) Gallery 823

Pair 3

Abraham van Beyeren, Still Life with Lobster and Fruit, 1650s, (1971.254) Gallery 964

Paul Gauguin, Still Life with Teapot and Fruit, 1896 (1997.391.2) Gallery 822

Pair 4

Jacob van Ruisdael, Wheatfields, 1670 (14.40.623) Gallery 965

Vincent van Gogh, Wheat Field with Cypresses, June, 1889 (1993.132) Gallery 822

Pair 5

Joseph Mallord William Turner, Whalers, 1845 (96.29) Gallery 808

Claude Monet, The Manneporte (Étretat), 1883 (51.30.5) Gallery 819

Instructions

1. Locate the works of art listed above by searching: https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection

• Be sure that the acquisition number matches those given.  Examine closely all of the works listed before you select one pair for your essay.

• Read the museum label text that corresponds with each work.

• Write down your first impressions.  Take detailed notes for the writing of the essay.  In making notes in front of the two works, begin STRUCTURING your observations and ideas around an organizing theme; do not just make a random list.  Try to take into consideration the following issues:

• Subject:  What does the image represent and what was its purpose (religious, historical, allegorical, portrait, scene from everyday life, etc.)? How does it reflect the culture that created it?
• Narrative:  What (if any) is the story conveyed and how does it reflect the culture that created it?
• Arrangement of Picture Plane: How does the artist arrange the figures in the two-dimensional picture plane? Is there a strong diagonal? Are they horizontally arranged?
• Light: How and to what degree does the painter use light in the picture plane? To light his/her subjects? Or to create drama?
• Color: What color palette does the artist chose to create his work? Is it more saturated or less saturated? What role does color play in your overall perception or assessment of the work?
• Brushstroke: Is the brushstroke more suppressed (i.e. invisible) or looser (i.e. visible)? How does the brushstroke affect your perception of the work or the aims of the artist when creating the work?

Make sure to think about the art historical period of each work you are comparing. Try and make connections not just regarding HOW each work is created, but think about the much larger and more interesting question of PURPOSE. What societal role did the work(s) play and how to they reflect the culture or art historical period from which they come?

(These are only some of the issues to consider; you will want to add many of your own observations. You must support all generalizations with specific observations).

Organizing and writing the paper:

1. Your essay should include at the very minimum, the following components: title, introduction, in which you state the organizing theme of your analysis; discussion of the first work of art; discussion of the second work of art and comparison of the two; contrast of the two; a conclusion that neatly ties the threads of your argument together.  Usually, it works best to first analyze one work and then to integrate the comparison and contrast of the two works into your discussion of the second one.

• Titles of works of art need to be underlined or in italics throughout the body of your paper. The first time (and only the first time) you mention the work of art you should put the date in parenthesis after the title: eg. Titian, Venus of Urbino, (1538).

• Your introduction should consist of a few sentences that sets up your argument or organizing theme of your essay.  Be specific. 

• When you describe each sculpture or painting imagine that you are explaining them to someone who cannot see them, and therefore always support your observations with specific examples, NOT vague generalizations.

• This is not a research paper.  However, if you do use information from a book, the museum label, website, etc., you must cite the source in full, including the page number.  Failure to do so is plagiarism.

• This assignment is about analyzing works of art, so it requires YOUR eyes and YOUR opinions. However, keep in mind that this is an academic essay.  Use of first-person should keep this to a minimum; opt instead for language and thought that applies to “the viewer” (i.e. third person).  If you can prove your subjective impressions with visual evidence, it is no longer an opinion but reasoned argument, and that is an essential component of an academic paper.  Therefore, reasoned arguments should be expressed in third person and not in first person.

• PROOFREAD your essay, as you will be marked down for miss-spellings, unclear organization, incomplete sentences, etc.

The best final essays I have read from students:

1. Composed a theme/thesis that is more compelling than merely repeating back the assignment. In other words, a thesis that does not fall back on the obvious “compare and contrast” or “similarities and differences.”

• Described in a sustained, specific and accurate manner what the artist has represented.

• Demonstrated close attention to the specifically artistic aspects of the work – contour, color, modeling, arrangement of elements within the pictorial space, brushwork, qualities of forms, methods used to achieve effects of reality, etc. – and their expressive effects.

• Concentrated on observations (made directly from looking at the works of art) and art historical information (learned in class) that relate directly to the theme, arranging this data to construct a clear argument.

• Suggested plausible interpretations of some of the artist’s aims as they relate to their culture, based on the observable facts, and again, relating directly to the organizing theme.

Essays will be graded on organization and logic; the thoroughness and sharpness of your observations; and the clarity, accuracy, and vividness of your writing.