This outline will help guide your discussion of the 5 artworks that you choose to write about. Your paper should demonstrate what you learned about the artists, art movements, vocabulary and terms we discuss in the class.

Posted: April 11th, 2022

The research-based term paper will be developed through a central thesis topic or theme demonstrated by a discussion of the content and composition of 4-5 artworks or objects that you choose from the art movements, artists covered in the course. Your thesis will explore the work of a single artist or several artists within a specific art movement.

Select an artist from Early Renaissance to the Contemporary period. Introduce the artist, the art movement, and the 4-5 artworks that you will discuss.
Interpret the content and analyze the composition of the artworks including brief biographical information, the artist’s intentions, process, artistic practice, technique and materials.
Discuss how the artist and the works you selected demonstrate the movement and style in which they work and their legacy in the context of art history.

The paper will be a MINIMUM of 5-7 pages in length and include a numbered and alphabetized MLA style bibliography citing sources beyond your own interpretations or class notes. This includes information from the textbook and museum labels or websites from which you have paraphrased ideas written by others. Numbered sources are to be noted using parentheses after the sentence or paragraph in which they are referenced. Direct quotes may be used minimally to support your interpretations, but cannot be longer than two sentences or represent a majority of the text. Visual analysis of the composition of an artwork should be made from your own observations.

The paper will be stapled together, double-spaced, typed in Times New Roman 12-point font with 1” margins and include a cover page as well as the bibliography and captioned reference images of the works you are discussing at the END of the paper. The image captions will include the artwork information and the gallery names or numbers in which each work is located.

The first page of text should simply begin with the title of your paper centered at the top in bold, then a double space, and then your introduction paragraph. At this point, each text page should have your last name with the page number at the upper right corner. Only text pages are numbered.

The paper must be complete and written in the required format. You are required to submit a digital file as an e-mail word.doc attachment. Papers that are late or do not follow these guidelines will be graded with deductions (-5). Term papers will also be submitted through the FSC Blackboard SafeAssign (see full notice on p.5 of the course syllabus) Submissions must be original and written within the context of this course.

This outline will help guide your discussion of the 5 artworks that you choose to write about. Your paper should demonstrate what you learned about the artists, art movements, vocabulary and terms we discuss in the class.

Part I. Introduction
a. Develop a title and thesis or connective theme.
b. Name the title (in italics), date, and artist of each of the works that you will discuss in the paper.
c. Compose an introductory statement that briefly describes how these works demonstrate your thesis.

Part II. Content and Visual Analysis – refer to page 1 for options 1-3
a. Name the Title (in italics), date, artist, medium/material, and the period, movement or style of the artworks you are discussing.
b. Tell me why you chose the work and describe and or explain the content in terms of the narrative, subject, concept, or intention of the artist and how it demonstrates your thesis.
c. Visually analyze the composition of the artwork by discussing relevant formal elements, principles of design, and vocabulary terms that we discussed in class.
d. Compare and contrast the artwork with the next object that you are discussing or relate the work to an artwork or concept that we discussed in class.

Apply Part II to each artwork

Part III. Conclusion
a. Re-introduce your thesis statement or topic.
b. Concluding thoughts or realizations that you may have had about the artwork, artists, or your overall impressions of the paper.
c. Discuss new ideas do you may have about the art and artists you examined and consider which types of artwork would you like to view in person and how that experience may enhance your understanding of the artworks overall.

Online Resources

Metropolitan Museum of Art Homepage
https://www.metmuseum.org/

Metropolitan Museum of Art Collection Search
https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection

Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History
The Met’s Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History pairs essays and works of art with chronologies, telling the story of art and global culture through the Museum’s collection.
https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/

The Met Breuer
https://www.metmuseum.org/exhibitions/current-exhibitions#!?page=1&location=breuer

MoMA
https://www.moma.org/

https://www.moma.org/calendar/exhibitions

MoMA Free Online Courses
https://www.coursera.org/moma

The Frick Collection
https://www.frick.org/art

Whitney Museum of American Art
https://whitney.org/