This document provides guidance for writing a formal interpretation of an artwork. It instructs students to examine how the work affects them by identifying meaningful themes, ideas, and feelings or emotions elicited. It discusses three types of interpretation: formal theories, sociocultural theories, and expressive theories. Students are asked to consider questions about the political, philosophical, religious, artistic, geographic, and cultural context of the time period to incorporate at least three of these categories with at least three sentences each in their response. The objective is to demonstrate an understanding of interpretation versus evaluation and how a work generates meaning through various lenses.

1. de Beaufort
Group Assignment 100 points
Chose one of the above works to write a formal INTERPRETATION.
Interpretation
By interpreting an artwork, we begin to ask questions about the world we live in, and by doing so, we
begin to forge connections between our own experiences and those of others. Moving beyond a
discussion of the visual characteristics of the work itself, examine how the work affects us. Try to identify
themes and ideas that seem to be meaningful, and interpret the feelings, emotions, and other experiential
associations that the work elicits. Use the three strategies of criticism we discussed. When appropriate,
please use the Verbs of Communication attached on below. At this point you can feel free to use the
loaded value words we avoided earlier (“ugly”, “awesome”, etc.) to describe the expressive qualities of the
piece- however a INTERPRETATION is not an EVALUATION.
Keep in mind that not all art communicates a literal “message” that you will “get” like a
light- bulb turning on above your head, but often the meaning of the work is simply the
feelings and associations it leaves you with and the ideas that it forces you to examine
Three types of interpretation:
•Formal Theories
•Sociocultural Theories
•Expressive Theories
Some questions to consider during Interpretation:
Government/ Politics/ War
What was the political situation that the work emerged from ? Who were the leaders at the time, and what
sort of social structure was dominant ? Monarchy, Republic, etc? Was there a major conflict or war at the
time ?
Philosophy
What was the prevailing intellectual climate, major thinkers, scientists, etc ? Was there even an
intellectual climate at all? What was the state of science and how did powerful was "skepticism" for

2. forming or influencing beliefs ? How did the philosophy of the time conflict with or support the spiritual
beliefs of the people ?
Religion
What was the dominant spiritual tradition and what were its major tenets? How was religious practice
manifest in people's daily lives and were there alternatives vying for control?
Artist and Biography
What sort of life did the artist lead ? What type of personality traits did they possess and how did the arc
of their career unfold ? Who were the other competitors, comrades that they worked alongside of ? What
can you glean from their writings or statement?
Geography
What was the environmental reality that people faced? Was the climate cold, warm, prosperous, harsh,
etc ?
Cultural Values
How powerful were the institutions of marriage, family, love, citizenship, morality, etc.. What did the
culture value or devalue at this given moment ?
You must address at least three of the above.
For each category write at least three sentences.
Objectives:
• Demonstrate an understanding of sociocultural, expressive, and formal criticism.
• Demonstrate an understanding of Interpretation vs. Evaluation or Analysis.
• Demonstrate an awareness of how a work generates meaning-both literal, symbolic, metaphorical,
and sociocultural.
• Demonstrate an awareness of the relationship of content and form.
• Demonstrate an ability to Interpret without first Evaluating a work based on your own
subjective values.