University of Missouri Columbia Harrschs Inverted Sky Painting Critical Analysis

I’m studying for my Art & Design class and need an explanation.

IMPORTANT: THIS IS NOT A RESEARCH PAPER. This is about your observations of the visual composition of an artwork and what you’ve learned so far in this class. This homework is about slow looking.

It’s about being able to look at a composition and see where the
lines are, how they function, how space is used, color palette, balance,
focal point….ETC. It’s about observing choices by the artist you
select and coming to some decision about why they’ve made those choices in a work of art. The decisions about creating the artwork are formal decisions (decisions about the form). Now, how are formal decisions related to meaning?

ASSIGNMENT: Write a critical analysis paper on ONE of the five artworks below. After
reading the Lectures on the Critical Process and analyzing works, your
assignment is to critically analyze one work of art using the method
that is modeled for you in the SAMPLE PAPERS. A paper is a formally written composition.

TO START and BEFORE you write: Note the title, artist, medium, and date of the work. Do a careful visual inventory and write down what you see. Make a ‘grocery list’ of details and observations.

Find the lines, what kind of lines and how they function in
the composition. What kind of colors are being used? Is the artist
attempting to set up a psychological state of mind with the choice of
color palette? What is the relationship between the objects/figures in
the works? Space? Is texture important? Is there a single focal point?
What is the point of the focal point(s)? How are the focal points
established?

Go back to the Elements of Art and Principles of
Design lectures and make sure you think about all the visual tools an
artist can choose from. I’m talking about lines, framing devices, directionals, balance…etc., the tools of creating visual form ( FORMAL ANALYSIS).
Remember, the artist is trying to get the viewer into the composition
and make them move their eyes around the artwork to find areas of visual
interest and perhaps focal point(s) that may somehow illuminate a
meaning if there is one.

Come to a decision about meaning, possible meaning—what the artist is trying to convey—then start writing.

FYI: this grocery list DOES NOT COMPRISE YOUR PAPER. You are using it to brainstorm.

IMPORTANT!! If you do not talk about the elements of art & principles of design, you will not receive full credit. That is the whole point of this exercise.

When deciding what an artwork is about, think in terms of what the
artist is attempting to communicate to you the viewer. It may or may not
be a narrative, a story. It might be a message that is simpler or more
complex in nature. But remember this: your claims regarding the artwork
and the artist’s message/content MUST be supported with visual details.

I will give you a choice of works to write on. And remember, good
form in writing always includes starting out saying what you will do,
and in this case, states the work of art completely (full title, artist
name, medium, date) that you’ve chosen to write on. Please note that
titles of artworks are always shown in italics. AND MAY I SAY: Work on
your own. Do not consult the Web or any other online help. REALLY: YOU can do this!

**AND THE REMINDER: Canvas uses Turnitin
to check everything you turn in for plagiarism & copying against
ONLINE WEB SOURCES, past/current MU students as well as the National
database of colleges, universities and high schools (yes, high schools).
I have to put this here because there has been abuse in the recent past
by your fellow MU students. I HAVE FAITH that you can do this. Observe,
reflect, write!

Again, this is NOT
a research paper! Do not scour the web for info to use! You’re
selecting an image to look at closely, ponder, and decide what meaning
is there, if there is a meaning! What could it mean?

IF YOU CANNOT THINK OF ENOUGH TO WRITE, then please choose something else!! (simple solution!).

LENGTH: To understand what is expected, see the MODEL PAPER
done on Hopper’s painting in the next entry in this Module (900-1000
words)

DUE: no later than WEDNESDAY, 7 October, by midnight! (40 points).

FIVE CHOICES (choose ONE to analyze)

CHOICE #1: Audrey Flack, Marilyn (Vanitas)
, 1977, oil over acrylic paint. (note: this painting has a subtitle in
parentheses; this may hold a key to the work.) ARTWORK BELOW:

CHOICE #2: Kerry James Marshall, School of Beauty, School of Culture (2012); oil paint. ARTWORK BELOW:

CHOICE #3. Erika Harrsch, Inverted Sky (2012), acrylic paint, ink, collage.

ARTWORK BELOW:

CHOICE #4. Robert Frank, Trolley: New Orleans, (1955), from the series The Americans; photograph. ARTWORK BELOW:

CHOICE #5. Lee Friedlander, Cincinnati, Ohio, 1963; silver gelatin photograph (11×14 inches) ARTWORK BELOW:

.

student checklist:

• I fully identified the artwork I selected to write about.
• I did NOT include my grocery list of observations (the grocery list is for your use only).
• I talked about the Elements of Art AND the Principles of Design that are used by the artist in the artwork I selected.
• I addressed possible meanings or messages in my paper.
• I turned it in by Wednesday, 7 October, using doc, docx, or pdf