Look at the Indianapolis Museum of Art gallery website and consider what art you might like to research.

Compare Contrast Essay

This paper will use basic skills that are necessary to research and develop a formal analysis of a work of art. This assignment deals with the comparison of two works of art found on the website for the Indianapolis Museum of Art’s permanent collection. You will find the website at:  http://www.imamuseum.org/explore/galleries. The final product of this research will be a two-page typewritten paper. Your formal analysis must be:

-two FULL pages

-double-spaced 

-12-point legible font (Times New Roman preferred), 

-MLA format

-must have a Works Cited page.  (use 3 sources)

Paper Research-

The first stage: 

find information about the works and their respective artists, and document that information. Use the sheet provided below to help you gather important information. Be sure to include possible artist influences and reference any special subject matter depicted in the works. After you have had a chance to research basic information about your particular works of art, try to describe it using the elements of art listed below.

Remember:  the work you choose should be from the time period we study in this class, Prehistory through Gothic.  Look under Ancient Art of the Americas and Ancient Art of the Mediterranean on the IMA website.

The second stage:

take the information you have about the works (including your analysis of the elements of art, subject matter and artistic media), and present it in essay form.  

The third stage of your analysis:

refine your writing and to make any changes necessary before turning in the paper. 

PLEASE REMEMBER:

Researching a Work of Art: Gathering the Basics

Use this paper as a guide in the analysis of each of your works of art.  Make two copies of this sheet – one for each work.

Artist:_________________________________________________________________

Year born/year died: ____________________________________________________

Influences?_____________________________________________________________

Style associated with this artist:____________________________________________

Title of work:___________________________________________________________

Background info on work:________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

Critical Analysis of the Work:

Line: __________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________ 

Shape/Form: ____________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

Color: _________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________ 

Value:  _________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

Texture: ________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________ 

Space: _________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________ 

Helpful Websites for Preparing the Compare/Contrast Essay

Writing a Compare/Contrast Art History Essay, from the Academy of Art University

http://arc.academyart.edu/writing/essay.asp

Writing the Art History Paper, from the Dartmouth University Writing Program

http://www.dartmouth.edu/~writing/materials/student/humanities/arthistory.shtml

Compare/Contrast Guide, from the ReadWriteThink Site

http://www.readwritethink.org/materials/compcontrast/

Helpful Art Links

Mark Harden’s Artchive

-click on the Mona Lisa to access a listing of artists and their work http://www.artchive.com/

Christopher Witcombe’s Art History Resources on the Web

http://witcombe.sbc.edu/

Worldwide Art Resource