What is this essay all about? For this paper, you will visit a museum (either in person locally or if you are unable because of Covid or transportation issues
you can peruse a museum’s website) and you will pick one artwork to write about. Since this is a class all about “Western Art” innovation, the geographic
location of your artwork must also fit into the Western world.
Next, once you have your artwork you will write about it! You will provide both a visual analysis (what does it look like in as much detail as possible!) and a
contextual analysis.
(requires research into your artwork!).
Visual Analysis:
For this portion, you will describe in as much detail as possible exactly what your artwork looks like. How big is it? What is the medium (painting, sculpture,
photograph, etc.)? What visual elements do you see present (line, color, composition, symmetry, etc.) What is the main focal point? What path do your eyes
take around the artwork? What do you think the artist is trying to say?
Contextual Analysis:
For this portion of your paper, you will need to do some digging into what your artwork is all about. Some great places to begin are the museum’s website
itself! There is always information posted online for any artwork a museum has in its collection.
Remember, context is all about what is happening during the creation of the artwork and can include details about the life of the artist, the subject matter of
the artwork, why the artwork was made, or perhaps who the artwork was made for!
Research should be cited in either MLA or APA format.
Museums to visit:
This is only a preliminary list of museums that can be visited for this paper, here is a list of some
of the most popular museums in the greater Los Angeles area:
Getty Museum: https://www.getty.edu/museum/
LACMA: https://www.lacma.org
The Broad: https://www.thebroad.org
The Norton Simon: https://www.nortonsimon.org
Museum of Contemporary Art: https://www.moca.org
California African American Museum: https://caamuseum.org
Craft Contemporary: https://www.craftcontemporary.org
