Art History and Art Criticism

Module 1 – Case
Case Assignment
Image of Mona Lisa: It is important to note that this assignment is meant to introduce you to Art History and Art Criticism, so it is imperative that you begin exercising your ability to visually analyze. The required course materials, under “How To Write About Art: Art Criticism and Formal Analysis,” will get you started.
Assignment Expectations
Here are five keys to writing a great Case Assignment! For each Case in this course, please:
1. Make sure you fully address the case assignment prompt- don’t just describe the painting and don’t forget to ‘really look’ at the painting. Be sure to respond to the expectations stated under “Learning Outcomes” in the Syllabus.
2. Apply ideas from the background readings to your analysis and discussion of the case assignment prompt.
3. Write, at minimum, three to four pages, not including images or references.
4. Include a separate cover page that includes your name, the course name, the module, and assignment name.
5. Set your format to 1″ margins on all four sides, 12-point font, double-spaced.
Include a separate cover AND reference page at the end that includes every website and article on which you base your information and analysis. In the reference list, please note that a URL with no additional information is not a complete reference. Over time, link root will make any URL useless. Each reference should contain all the information a reader would need to find the source.
In this Case Assignment, you will:
• Give an explanation of the values—influences, themes, techniques, subjects—characteristic of the period or style under study.
• Give some information about how the social, political, or religious history of the period influenced its art and artists.
•Module 1
Required Materials (make sure to navigate the entire Smarthistory.org website; there are multitude of videos, educational materials, and links to other Art History websites to give you a wider context of the historical period and how to think and write about art; provides you with other artists and artworks to write your SLP)
Brief History of Art
Module 1 – SLP
INTRODUCTION TO VISUAL ANALYSIS AND RENAISSANCE ART
Select a work of art from the Renaissance era that catches your eye, other than the one reviewed in the Case Assignment. It can be one that reminds you of an event from your own life or otherwise elicits some kind of emotional reaction. It is not necessary to include an image of the artwork.
SLP Assignment Expectations
• Write a two to three page essay discussing how the artwork of your choice reflects the typical values and characteristics of Renaissance art.
• Provide a brief background on the artist as well as a description of the work.
• Include observations of a few stylistic elements to produce a convincing argument.
Module 2 – Case
BAROQUE ART
Case Assignment
Image of Bernini’s Ecstasy of St.Teresa: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/3e/
Estasi_di_Santa_Teresa.jpg/250px-Estasi_di_Santa_Teresa.jpg
Image of Caravaggio’s Crucifixion of St. Peter: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f7/Caravaggio_-_Martirio_di_San_Pietro.jpg/300px-Caravaggio_-_Martirio_di_San_Pietro.jpg
The Protestant Reformation and the Roman Catholic Counter-Reformation had major influences on the Western art world, out of which Baroque art would emerge. Artists and artworks became an essential arm of the church, needed to inspire faith and commitment within an institution that found itself destabilized by this schism. Though Baroque artists continued to use the vocabulary of ancient Greeks and Romans, as had Renaissance artists, there were major shifts in how religious imagery would be depicted. Compare two Baroque artworks, Gian Lorenzo Bernini’s sculpture Ecstasy of St. Teresa with Caravaggio’s painting, Crucifixion of St. Peter, in order to identify and discuss this shift in religious imagery. Again, give a formal analysis of each painting in order to distinguish the different approaches of these two artists, but this time pay close attention to light, movement, and theatricality. Make a brief comparison to Renaissance art in order to illustrate the shift in art periods. Use the required course materials to help you discuss, briefly, (1) the history of Baroque art and these two artists in particular, (2) the role of the church, and (3) how Bernini and Caravaggio differently conveyed faith and commitment to the church.It is important to note that this assignment is your second introduction to Art History and Art Criticism, so it is imperative that you continue to exercise your ability to visually analyze. The required course materials, under “How To Write About Art: Art Criticism and Formal Analysis,” will continue to aid you in developing these skills.Assignment Expectations Here are five keys to writing a great Case Assignment! For each Case in this course, please:
1. Make sure you fully address the case assignment prompt- don’t just describe the painting and don’t forget to ‘really look’ at the painting. Be sure to respond to the expectations stated under “Learning Outcomes” in the Syllabus.
2. Apply ideas from the background readings to your analysis and discussion of the case assignment prompt.
3. Write, at minimum, three to four pages, not including images or references.
4. Include a separate cover page that includes your name, the course name, the module, and assignment name.
5. Set your format to 1″ margins on all four sides, 12-point font, double-spaced.
Include a separate cover AND reference page at the end that includes every website and article on which you base your information and analysis. In the reference list, please note that a URL with no additional information is not a complete reference. Over time, link root will make any URL useless. Each reference should contain all the information a reader would need to find the source.
In this Case Assignment, you will:
• Give an explanation of the values—influences, themes, techniques, subjects—characteristic of the period or style under study.
• Give some information about how the social, political, or religious history of the period influenced its art and artists.
• Provide biographical information about the artist whose work is assigned or (in SLP assignments) chosen for reflection
Module 2-Required Materials (make sure to navigate the entire Smarthistory.org website; there are multitude of videos, educational materials, and links to other Art History websites to give you a wider context of the historical period and how to think and write about Module 2 – SLP-BAROQUE ART
Select a work of art from the Baroque era that catches your eye, other than the one reviewed in the Case Assignment. It can be one that reminds you of an event from your own life or otherwise elicits some kind of emotional reaction. It is not necessary to include an image of the artwork.
SLP Assignment Expectations
• Write a two to three page essay discussing how the artwork of your choice reflects the typical values and characteristics of Baroque art.
• Provide a brief background on the artist as well as a description of the work.
• Include observations of a few stylistic elements to produce a convincing argument.
Module 3: Neo-Classical Art and Romanticism
Image of Eugène Delacroix, Liberty Leading the People:
http://www.louvre.fr/en/oeuvre-notices/july-28-liberty-leading-people
The Age of Enlightenment was followed by the Romantic period, an expanse of time that saw the French Revolution, the American Revolution, the rise and fall of Napoleon, major scientific advances, major loss of human life, devout faith in the doctrine of human reason, and the loss of faith in human reason and a return to the sublime right of nature and spirituality. In short, a span of time defined by massive change and inconsistency. In this case assignment, compare the Neo-Classicist painter Jacque-Louis David’s Oath of Horatti and Romanticist painter Eugène Delacroix, Liberty Leading the People, in order to examine how these artists represented these tumultuous years. Again, use the formal language of visual analysis to explore their artistic approaches. Briefly reference the two previous art styles we have studied (Renaissance and Baroque) in order to trace how these two new art styles (Neo-Classicism and Romanticism) differ or carry on the earlier traditions. Use the required course materials to help you discuss, briefly, (1) the history of Neo-Classical and Romanticist art and these two artists in particular, (2) the different approaches and beliefs in human reason and rationality, and (3) how David and Delacroix chose to convey revolution.
It is important to note that this assignment is your third encounter with Art History and Art Criticism, and it is equally important that you continue to exercise your ability to visually analyze. The required course materials under “How To Write About Art: Art Criticism and Formal Analysis” will continue to aid you in developing these skills.
Assignment Expectations
Here are five keys to writing a great Case Assignment! For each Case in this course, please:
Module 3 – SLP
NEO-CLASSICAL ART AND ROMANTICISM
Select a work of art from the Romantic or Neo-Classical era that catches your eye, other than the one reviewed in the Case Assignment. It can be one that reminds you of an event from your own life or otherwise elicits some kind of emotional reaction. It is not necessary to include an image of the artwork.
SLP Assignment Expectations
• Write a two to three page essay discussing how the artwork of your choice reflects the typical values and characteristics of Romantic or Neo-Classical art.
• Provide a brief background on the artist as well as a description of the work.
• Include observations of a few stylistic elements to produce a convincing argument.
Module 4 – Case 20th Century Modern Art
20TH CENTURY MODERN ART
Case Assignment
Image of Pollock’s One: Number 31:
http://www.moma.org/collection_images/resized/805/w500h420/CRI_223805.jpg
Image of Warhol’s Campbell’s Soup Cans:
http://www.moma.org/learn/moma_learning/andy-warhol-campbells-soup-cans-1962
Moving toward the present day in our Art History timeline, the ability to ‘name’ the art period becomes more difficult; however, art historians have come to settle on the term Modernism. Not only is the period difficult to categorize, the artworks from roughly 1907-present day are so wide ranging, it is impossible to pinpoint how different art genres exactly relate to one another. Yet, they are connected by the social conditions in which they exist and are responses to those conditions—though they respond in very different ways. In postwar America (WWII), New York City becomes the art capital of the world and two artistic genres emerged: first Abstract Expressionism and second Pop Art. Both art genres were grappling with the question of ‘what is art’ and how to represent a world shaped by global capitalism, consumer culture, and mass media. In this Case Assignment, you will be comparing Abstract Expressionist Jackson Pollock’s One: Number 31 with Pop Artist Andy Warhol’s Campbell’s Soup Cans. Pollock can be read as championing ‘the role of the artist’ as his art seems a pure abstraction of his body movements and his handling of the paintbrush; whereas Warhol seems to not have any real connection to the making of his art, as he upholds the everyday, mass-produced object as subject matter for high art. Use the required course materials to help you discuss, briefly, (1) the history of Abstract Expressionism and Pop Art and these two artists in particular, (2) the ways these artists represent the tension between individualism and mass production (a tension that defines American capitalist society), and (3) how the artworks approach questions as to the role of the artist and the role of art in society.It is important to note that this assignment is your last encounter in thinking and writing about Art History and Art Criticism, so this is your chance to let your visual literacy shine; you will need it in order to analyze pure abstraction. The required course materials under “How To Write About Art: Art Criticism and Formal Analysis” will continue to be an essential reference here.
Assignment Expectations
Here are five keys to writing a great Case Assignment! For each Case in this course, please:1. Make sure you fully address the case assignment prompt- don’t just describe the painting and don’t forget to ‘really look’ at the painting. Be sure to respond to the expectations stated under “Learning Outcomes” in the Syllabus.
2. Apply ideas from the background readings to your analysis and discussion of the case assignment prompt.
3. Write, at minimum, three to four pages, not including images or references.
4. Include a separate cover page that includes your name, the course name, the module, and assignment name.
5. Set your format to 1″ margins on all four sides, 12-point font, double-spaced.
Include a separate cover AND reference page at the end that includes every website and article on which you base your information and analysis. In the reference list, please note that a URL with no additional information is not a complete reference. Over time, link root will make any URL useless. Each reference should contain all the information a reader would need to find the source.
In this Case Assignment, you will:
• Give an explanation of the values—influences, themes, techniques, subjects—characteristic of the period or style under study.
• Give some information about how the social, political, or religious history of the period influenced its art and artists.
• Provide biographical information about the artist whose work is assigned or (in SLP assignments) chosen for reflection.
Module 4 – SLP
20TH CENTURY MODERN ART
Select a work of art created after WWII that catches your eye, other than the one reviewed in the Case Assignment. It can be one that reminds you of an event from your own life or otherwise elicits some kind of emotional reaction. It is not necessary to include an image of the artwork.
SLP Assignment Expectations
• Write a two to three page essay discussing how the artwork of your choice reflects the typical values and characteristics of Post-Modernism and/or Modernism.
• Provide a brief background on the artist as well as a description of the work.
• Include observations of a few stylistic elements to produce a convincing argument.