ART 1: Prehistory – Gothic Art
Dr. Sarah Vure
PAPER ASSIGNMENT:
VISUAL AND CONTEXTUAL ANALYSIS
American artist Ad Reinhardt said, “Looking is not as simple as it looks.”
This assignment requires you to do a 3-5 page paper that is a visual and contextual analysis of a
work of art. The purpose of this assignment is to increase your ability to see, analyze, and
describe works of art. Do not base your analysis on the museum's website! If you have any
questions, please email or see me as soon as possible, not the day the paper is due.
Part I
A. Select and visit one of the museums listed below.
Bring the list of questions to use as a guide and take notes when viewing the object you select.
Pick a work of art from the cultures and time periods we are studying in class which means prior
to 1400.
1) The Getty Center, 1200 Getty Center Dr., Los Angeles
Illuminated Manuscripts or other art from 1000-1390, Admission is free, parking is $15.00.
Closed Monday
2) The Getty Villa, 17985 Pacific Coast Highway, Pacific Palisades
Ancient Greek and Roman art. Tickets are required, parking is $15.00, closed Tuesday
check online for ticket availability, www.getty.edu
3) Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 5905 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles
The permanent collection galleries of Ancient Art: Assyrian, Egyptian, Greek or Roman are
in the Ahmanson Building. Student admission is $10.00 and is free after 5:00 p.m. on
weekdays, and second Tuesday of the month for L.A. County residents. Closed Wednesday.
see: www.lacma.org
B. Visual analysis:
Meaning or content in a work of art is conveyed in the language of art. A visual or formal
analysis of a work of art is based on this language of art elements, as well as the media and
techniques used by the artist to produce the work. Carefully study the object. You are looking at
the style and form of the work, as well as the subject, to determine its meaning. Answer the list
of questions in your own words as you analyze the artwork paying close attention to the
following content. Describe what you see as fully as possible including:
1) Art elements: line, color, space, light, texture, etc.
2) Composition and Design Principles: How the elements relate to one another
3) Subject (if there is one) and mood or feeling of piece
4) Size, medium (or materials), and techniques
 Remember to keep your museum ticket or parking receipt so you can attach it to the paper.
 Copy the following information from the museum label to put on your cover page:
1) Artist’s name, 2) Birth and death dates, 3) Title, 4) Date created 5) Medium
 Include an image of your selected work with the paper. You can do a sketch, purchase a
postcard, take a snapshot (if allowed), or find a picture on the museum website or online.
For further description and examples of Visual Analysis refer to Look! The Fundamentals of Art
History or Sylvan Barnet, A Short Guide to Writing about Art on reserve in the library.
Part II:
A. Research
The secondary purpose of this assignment, beyond your own visual analysis, is also to become
familiar with different secondary sources about works of art and the basic methods of citing
these sources in footnotes and bibliography. You must use 3 different types of sources and 1
must be a non-internet source. Select from books, exhibition catalogues, newspaper reviews,
magazine articles, scholarly journals, and websites. Research should help you support your own
thoughts, not be a substitute for them. Read what others have written about your art work and its
culture and then choose the evidence that supports your own ideas.
 Your textbook is not acceptable as the non-internet source.
 Wikipedia is not an acceptable scholarly source.
B. Contextual analysis:
How does your artwork reflect the culture that produced it?
Consider some aspect of the social, cultural, political, technological, religious, or economic
circumstances of the time period. One of the following questions would be a good starting point.
 What is the subject matter of the art work?
 For what purpose was it created?
 How does the work reflect the historical era in which it was produced?
 Where was the artwork meant to be seen? How would the setting affect our perceptions?
 What role(s) do patrons and or audience play in the creation of the work?
Part III:
Based on your observations and your reading, develop a thesis which articulates the main point
of your paper. In your finished paper, you are combining your visual and contextual analyses
into a coherent essay that explains how the visual elements contribute to the work's meaning.
Format of the paper
Use an essay format with an introductory and concluding paragraph.
Develop a thesis or main idea that you will prove with your analysis in your essay.
The body of the paper should have three points that support your thesis.
You must document quotes with footnotes or endnotes.
List your sources of research in a bibliography at the end.
Print and include a copy of the Grading Rubric with your paper.
For further information on research and citation guides:
Alleva, Use Look! The Fundamentals of Art History
Barnet, A Short Guide to Writing about Art
Or see the LBCC library website at http://lib.lbcc.edu Click on Websites > Citation Guides or
Writing Tips.
Visual Analysis: Asking Questions to Get Answers
General Questions:
 What is my first response to the work?

What purpose did the work serve?

In what condition is the work of art?

What is the subject matter? What is happening?

What is the medium and how does it look? What techniques were used to create the artwork?

When and where was the work made? What is the period style or movement? Does it exhibit
the qualities that the textbook attributes to the culture and time?
Questions about Formal Elements:
 Are there lines in the image and how do they look? How does the artist use line to define
shape or volume?

What is effect of the light in the picture? What is the value or amount of light and dark?

What are the colors the artist used? Is the color imitative of reality or is it expressive?

Is there texture? How does the object appeal to the tactile as well as the visual sense?

How is space conveyed? Does there appear to be depth? How are figures or objects placed
relative to each other in the space of the picture?

Has the artist used perspective, overlapping, foreshortening?

How does the artist invoke time and or motion?
About Principles of Design:
 What is the composition? How do the parts of the art work together to create the whole?

What are the unifying features in the composition and what creates variety?

How does the artist balance visual elements within the composition?

How are the scale and proportion of objects represented in relation to other objects?

How does the artist direct your gaze or create movement within the composition?
Questions are adapted from: Sylvan Barnet, A Short Guide to Writing about Art and
Amy Tucker, Visual Literacy, Writing About Art.