Appendix: How to write an art analysis paper

Appendix 1: How to write an art analysis paper

Are you writing an art historical or art analysis paper for class? Here are some pro tips for researching, citing, and writing a great art analysis paper.

Here are some general guiding questions to ask yourself when writing an art analysis paper:

• How can we describe the object? (Take this back to basics at first; don’t try to be interpretive or fancy just yet. Think: what color is the object? What shape is it? How big is it? On a slightly higher level: is it decorated at all?—pictures? carvings? designs? etc. What kind of condition is it in?—is it broken? well-preserved? worn from use?)
• What is the object? (Take a look at the museum label, if you’re fortunate enough to be encountering your object in person! Do some further research into this type of object, if necessary. For example, let’s say your object is a lipped shipwright’s adze—whatever that is. Exactly. Look it up!)
• What was it used for? Or, in a more academic formulation: in what context was it used? (For example, military, ritual, food production, agricultural, decorative, etc.) Do we even know exactly what it was used for? If not, how can we make an intelligent guess? What guesses have scholars made?
• Who used it? (Men? women? soldiers? kings? Related to this question is perhaps an even more interesting one: what benefits did this object bring people? Did it make their daily lives easier? Did it bring them closer to their god(s)? Was it a luxury item that brought them greater social status?)
• Who made it? (It’s great if we can answer this question with a specific person, but that, of course, is unusual for the premodern period. But we can think about what type of person made it—a man? a woman? a blacksmith? a painter? etc.)
• When was it made? (Check the museum label, if you are seeing the object at a museum. See if there is any information about how the dating of the object was determined.)
• What material(s) was it made out of? (Check the museum label. Museum curators are pretty thorough about listing objects’ materials. Do some background research into the materials if they’re unfamiliar. For example, what if you found an object made of gypsum alabaster? What is that? Do some research.)
• Finally, some questions about our modern study of the object; these questions ought to be answered by the museum label, if you’re at a museum: what is its provenance? Do we know its provenance? How is the situation complicated if we don’t?
• Where is it usually kept? (Is it part of your museum’s permanent collection? Is it on loan from elsewhere?)
• Who has studied this object? Can you get access to their research?
• How does the museum label describe the object? (In your papers, DO NOT simply copy the label! But do pay attention to what kind of language the curators have used to describe the object. Do they talk about its color? Its shape? Its decoration? Its use? Its place of origin? Its creator? Its historical importance? etc. You can use their focus as a springboard for your own analysis of the object.)

How to Find a Suitable Object

1) A great way to start is to find an object from the relevant time period that your class focuses on. Many museums’ websites allow you to search for objects based on the time period during which they were created.

2) Or perhaps you’re drawn to a specific object or type of object you’ve discussed in class. You can search for that object or type on your museum’s website, find one on display, and go see it.

3) If you have lots of time, and/or a real interest in archaeology or art history, and ESPECIALLY if you’ve never been to a museum alone before, try this option: clear an afternoon, go to a museum, wander around until you come upon a gallery containing relevant material, and pick something familiar that catches your eye. There is no substitute for seeing art in person.

Putting Your Object into its Historical Context

Here’s where you may need to do some outside research. Please use your university databases! Class lectures or readings may also have held some important information. Summarize what you’ve learned about this object’s historical context. (What does “historical context” entail?)

Explaining Your Object’s Relationship with the Topic of the Class

1) Think about some topics of your class, first of all. What are they?

2) How does your object fit into/illustrate/embody/explain one or more of those topics?

If you’re going to venture out to a museum, go to…

The Metropolitan Museum of Art (aka “The Met”). This museum has no peer. If you haven’t been, please go. Clear an afternoon and see it. Its website is also a great resource. It’s pay-what-you-wish to enter for NY/NJ students. 1000 5th Ave; 4/5/6 subway line to 86th street

A Few Museum Hacks

• Go on a free museum tour.
• Read the label. Thoroughly. Then read the labels of the nearby objects.
• Examine the object from every angle. Remember to walk around to the back side of it, if possible.
• Take photos if possible. (Some museums allow photography; some do not.) Just make sure the flash is off on your phone camera.
• After you’ve seen your object, go to the museum gift shop. See if there is a museum catalog for sale. Don’t buy it—unless you’ve got a spare $50 or whatever, then, by all means! 🙂 Just flip through and try to find your object in it.
• A final note: do not just find your object online! Seriously. Go to the museum and see it in person if at all possible. There is no substitute for that.