Select a single work of art from the collection featured below to formally analyze for your critique paper. Be sure to scroll down to the bottom of the page to read the format and writing requirements for this assignment.  

Works of Art Featured in the Image Gallery

You will choose one of these paintings (shown above in the image gallery) to write on in your critique paper:

1. Peter Paul Rubens. The Raising of the Cross. 1609-10. Oil on canvas. 15 2 x 11 2 . Antwerp Cathedral.
2. Diego Velazquez. Las Meninas (The Maids of Honor). 1656. Oil on canvas. 10 5 ¼ x 9 ¾ . Museo del Prado, Madrid.
3. Henri Matisse. The Joy of Life. 1905-06. Oil on canvas. 5 8 ½ x 7 9 ¾ . The Barnes Foundation, Merion, Pennsylvania.
4. Ansel Adams. Mount Williamson: Clearing Storm. 1944. Photograph.
5. Sandy Skoglund. Fox Games. 1989. Photograph of artist s installation.
6. Edvard Munch. The Scream. 1893. Tempera and casein on cardboard. 36 x 29 . Munch-Museet, Nasjonalgalleriet, Oslo.

Critique Paper Format Requirements

• Save and title your document according to the following example:

Your last name_Critique.doc (ex: Jones_Critique)

• The Critique paper must be typewritten and double-spaced.
• The written portion of the Critique paper must fill at least three (3) full typewritten pages. Meeting the 3-page requirement is important to your overall grade. Each full typewritten page is worth approximately 33 points. If you submit a 2-page paper, your optimal score prior to any other deductions will be 67 (D). If you submit a 1-page paper, your optimal score will be 34 (F).
• Top, bottom, and side margins must measure no more than one inch (1″) in width.
• Font size must not exceed 12 points.
• Spelling, punctuation, grammar, and writing style are important and will count in the overall grading process.

Sources & Citations

You must properly cite all sources that you directly quote or paraphrase within the body of your paper using parenthetical notation, footnotes, or endnotes.

You must provide a Works Cited or Bibliography page at the end of your paper that lists sources appropriate for college-level research that have been cited in the body of your paper.

Wikipedia

Avoid using Wikipedia as a source. Although Wikipedia can be used to gather general information and to identify the names of primary sources worthy of further research, the site’s open editing function allows anyone to alter the information that appears in an entry. As a result, Wikipedia is not reliable and it should never be used as a primary source or cited in any college-level paper.

Plagiarism

When writing the Critique Paper, it is important to avoid plagiarism. To plagiarize is to take ideas and writings from a source and to present them as your own. Plagiarism is a serious academic offense and will result in a grade of “0” F for the paper.

Critique Paper Writing Requirements

Follow the instructions listed below to complete a formal critique of your selected work of art in terms of the Visual Elements of Art and the Principles of Design.

THE INTRODUCTION

Your introduction must effectively “set the stage” for your analysis of the assigned work of art. The following information regarding the work of art that you will critique must appear in your introduction:

1. Art work identification
   a. artist’s name
   b. title
   c. date
   d. medium (Ex: oil on canvas, photography, etc.)
2. Brief biographical information about the artist.NOTE: Biographical information can be found in the textbook OR from on-line encyclopedia and art reference sites. All sources must be cited at the points in which they are used (directly quoted or paraphrased) in your writing and listed on a separate Works Cited page at the end of your paper. Failure to properly cite your sources results in plagiarism.

THE BODY

The body of your Critique must include a thorough description of the work of art in terms of compositional organization and style.

1. Describe what you see in detail. Be specific!
2. As you carefully study the work of art, identify two or three prominent Visual Elements of Art and/or Principles of Design within the composition. (Visual Elements of Art – line, shape, mass, light, color, texture, pattern, space, time, and motion. Principles of Design – unity, variety, balance, emphasis, subordination, scale, proportion, and rhythm).
3. Utilizing the appropriate terminology, thoroughly analyze the work of art in terms of the prominent Visual Elements of Art and the Principles of Design that you have identified within the composition.

THE CONCLUSION

Summarize your thoughts about the artist and the work of art you critiqued.