The assignment requires students to visit a museum or gallery in Southern California and analyze a single work of art, either 2-D or 3-D, in person. The paper must include a formal analysis of about 3 pages and a contextual analysis of approximately 3 pages, utilizing at least three scholarly sources. Students must follow specific formatting guidelines and include personal documentation such as a photo with the artwork or location.

1. ART
Paper Assignment
Topic:
Visit a museum or gallery in Southern California and complete
an analysis of a single work of art.
The work is recommended to be 2-D, but can be 3-D.
Do not
use an image from a book.
You must visit the work in person. You must include a photo of
yourself in front of the work or gallery/museum when
photography of the work is not permitted (often no flash is
allowed).
Format:
- (
6 pages minimum, 8 pages maximum)
Note that photographs, title pages, citations, and bibliographies
do not count as a page of writing.
-Typed, double-spaced, 12 pt. Times New Roman, 1” margins
-Stapled at top left corner BEFORE CLASS!- Please, no folders
or tape
-Full name as a header on each page.
-Title Page:
Title, your name, class number, and class meeting days and
times centered on page.
-Following the title page:

2. An image of the work (if available), receipt or show card, and
the photo of you with the work or in front of the
museum/gallery
-Body of the Paper:
-Formal analysis
-Contextual Analysis
-Bibliography or Works Cited Page
Due
:
Rough Draft (5 pts)
Final Draft
Part 1:
FORMAL ANALYSIS (about 3 pages)
-
Identify the title of a single work, the artist and the
collection/gallery/museum housing
the work.
This is the only information that will come from anywhere but
you.
NO RESEARCH SHOULD BE COMPLETED FOR THE
FORMAL ANALYSIS.
-
Complete formal analysis

3. :
These are
suggested
concepts, but you may have other things to say or some of these
terms may not be applicable to your work.
Also, you may see fit to organize the information differently for
the flow of your paper.
-Content:
What is it about?
Representational, non-Representational, abstract, naturalistic,
figurative, still-life, landscape, historical, contemporary,
narrative, symbolic, process-oriented
-Composition: how is it composed? Organization of space,
illusion, foreground, middle ground, background, focal point/s,
flat space, atmospheric perspective, linear perspective, scale
reductions, overlap, static or dynamic, symmetry, asymmetry,
spiral, the direction of visual interest, interaction with the
viewer, size of the work
-Materials:
paper, canvas, glass, etc., rough, smooth, flat, sculptural,
condition of work such as peeling/chipping/cracking, color
choices
Start general and work towards specific.
Incorporate terminology from art vocabulary. The reader should

4. understand what you are looking at and describing without
looking at a picture. Stick to descriptive words and avoid
opinion.
This is not a critique.
Part 2:
CONTEXTUAL ANALYSIS (about 3 pages)
-
Research:
For this portion of the paper, find at least
three scholarly sources in addition to your text book.
(No non-scholarly internet sources, though you may use
articles printed in scholarly journals accessed online through
databases like JSTOR or google scholar).
-
Complete Contextual Analysis:
Write about the same work from the formal analysis
portion, only now you will place the piece that you viewed into
a context.
If it is contemporary, explain how it relates to the present day
art culture based on outside, but scholarly research. Magazines,
newspapers, gallery websites, and artist websites can be useful
sources. This portion should be distinctly separate from the
formal analysis of the report.
ART
Paper Assignment

5. Topic:
Visit a museum or gallery in Southern California and complete
an analysis of a single work of art. The work is recommended
to be 2-D, but can be 3-D.
Do not
use an image from a book. You must visit the work in person.
You must include a photo of yourself in front of the work or
gallery/museum when photography of the work is not permitted
(often no flash is allowed).
Format:
- (
6 pages minimum, 8 pages maximum)
Note that photographs, title pages, citations, and bibliographies
do not count as a page of writing.
-Typed, double-spaced, 12 pt. Times New Roman, 1” margins
-Stapled at top left corner BEFORE CLASS!- Please, no folders
or tape
-Full name as a header on each page.
-Title Page: Title, your name, class number, and class meeting
days and times centered on page.
-Following the title page: An image of the work (if available),
receipt or show card, and the photo of you with the work or in
front of the museum/gallery
-Body of the Paper: -Formal analysis
-Contextual Analysis
-Bibliography or Works Cited Page
Due
: Rough Draft (5 pts)
Final Draft
Part 1: FORMAL ANALYSIS (about 3 pages)
-

6. Identify the title of a single work, the artist and the
collection/gallery/museum housing
the work. This is the only information that will come from
anywhere but you. NO RESEARCH SHOULD BE
COMPLETED FOR THE FORMAL ANALYSIS.
-
Complete formal analysis
: These are
suggested
concepts, but you may have other things to say or some of these
terms may not be applicable to your work. Also, you may see
fit to organize the information differently for the flow of your
paper.
-Content: What is it about? Representational,
non-Representational, abstract, naturalistic, figurative, still-life,
landscape, historical, contemporary, narrative, symbolic,
process-oriented
-Composition: how is it composed?
Organization of space, illusion, foreground, middle ground,
background, focal point/s, flat space, atmospheric perspective,
linear perspective, scale reductions, overlap, static or dynamic,
symmetry, asymmetry, spiral, the direction of visual interest,
interaction with the viewer, size of the work
-Materials: paper, canvas, glass, etc., rough,
smooth, flat, sculptural, condition of work such as
peeling/chipping/cracking, color choices
Start general and work towards specific. Incorporate
terminology from art vocabulary. The reader should understand
what you are looking at and describing without looking at a
picture. Stick to descriptive words and avoid opinion. This is
not a critique.
Part 2: CONTEXTUAL ANALYSIS (about 3 pages)
-

7. Research:
For this portion of the paper, find at least
three scholarly sources in addition to your text book.
(No non-scholarly internet sources, though you may use
articles printed in scholarly journals accessed online through
databases like JSTOR or google scholar).
-
Complete Contextual Analysis:
Write about the same work from the formal analysis
portion, only now you will place the piece that you viewed into
a context. If it is contemporary, explain how it relates to the
present day art culture based on outside, but scholarly research.
Magazines, newspapers, gallery websites, and artist websites
can be useful sources. This portion should be distinctly separate
from the formal analysis of the report.