Reference no: EM133376830

Question: For this assignment, you will virtually visit a museum and select a piece of art to write about. Then you will compare it to any "text" explored in this course. Feel free to use anything from lectures, videos, and/or readings to complete this assignment.

First, choose one (or more) of the following museum links below to virtually tour. When you open each link (notice I don't say when you go to the museum's website), you'll find an initial area labeled "stories" which is a series of ONLINE EXHIBITS. Browse several ONLINE EXHIBITS and choose a work of art from one of the ONLINE EXHIBITS.

Oh my! Did you notice how many times ONLINE EXHIBITS appears in bold in those previous three sentences? Well, that's because this is the #1 mistake students make when approaching this assignment and I truly want to see everyone avoid it. As an example, below you'll find The Museum of Modern Art as an option. Vincent van Gogh's famous painting Starry Night is housed in this museum and you'll even see it when you click on the link below for this museum. But you won't find it in the museum's ONLINE EXHIBIT, so avoid getting a zero on this assignment for something completely avoidable. It is essential that you find something from an ONLINE EXHIBIT, not just from the museum link below.

I recognize that what you just read comes off as a bit terse, which is certainly not my intention. Unfortunately, I've seen many students overlook these first steps, which results in a lot of wasted work, so in my effort to prevent this from happening to anyone, I am doing my best to be as clear and transparent as possible. Ultimately, I'd love to see everyone get full credit for this, since it can be a wonderful grade booster!

The more you explore, the easier this assignment will be. You want to make sure you choose something that you'll be able to effectively analyze, which is why I suggest checking out several ONLINE EXHIBITS. But, wait, where are these ONLINE EXHIBITS again? Answer: in the initial area labeled "stories" when you click on each link below:

Johannesburg Art Gallery
National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Korea
National Gallery of Modern Art, India
The Museum of Modern Art
The Guggenheim

Virtually tour your chosen museum through its ONLINE EXHIBITS, and select a work of art (keep in mind that some museum links above have multiple ONLINE EXHIBITS while others may have just one). The work can be a painting, sculpture, photograph, mixed media, or any other medium exhibited in one of the ONLINE EXHIBITS.

Part 1: Introduction

The introduction of your essay should provide your initial thoughts prior to your virtual museum visit. It might be a good idea to write your introductory paragraph PRIOR to your virtual visit. Which museum are you choosing? Why did you choose it? What do you think you'll "experience"? What are you looking forward to in terms of your exploration? What are you least looking forward to?

Part 2: Artwork Information

This next part of your essay should contain all of the following pieces of information. For this part of the essay, feel free to format it as a list rather than a paragraph:

Title of work
Artist's name
Creation date
Classification (i.e. painting, sculpture, mixed-media, etc.)
Time period and/or style
Medium (What's it made of? What materials were used?)
Social, Cultural, or Historical origin (i.e. Where's it from? What is it a product of?)
Western or Non-western Humanities Classification (Based on the social, historical, and cultural contexts: Would you classify this work as Western or Non-Western? Based on your research and observations, provide reasons and evidence supporting your classification claim.)
For this part, exploring the direct museum website is fine, but make sure you cite accordingly.

Part 3: Critical Analysis

This part will serve as the bulk of your essay. There is no minimum paragraph requirement, but each area that follows should read as an essay. First, provide an initial analysis of your chosen work of art in fully developed paragraphs using the following guidelines:

Identify the most significant art principles that were used in the work of art, using at least three relevant and genre-specific vocabulary words (see list of acceptable vocabulary words at the end of this web page), clearly describing how the artist used them. Provide a minimum of three specific, descriptive details to support the use of each selected art principle.
Select two adjectives describing the overall mood of the piece (stay away from vague terms such as amazing, awesome, excellent, etc.). Give a minimum of two specific/descriptive details to support your claims.
After your initial analysis, further analyze the work and address the following in fully developed paragraphs:

Describe the main social, historical, and cultural contexts of the work? Refer to your responses in the "Art Work Information" section above.
Describe the primary purpose of the art work.
Describe the main artistic statement.
Describe how the work reflects the human condition, or how it communicates as a "human, creative expression."
Next, compare the work of art with another work of art explored in the course and include the following items in fully developed paragraphs:

Select and identify another work of art from the course content.
Explain three qualities that the work from the museum shares with the work from the course, with specific examples to support your argument.
Based on your comparison, explain whether or not the work of art from the museum is a "masterpiece" or might become a masterpiece, using specific examples to support your decision.
Part 4: Conclusion

Finally, conclude your essay with a fully developed paragraph that reflects on your initial attitudes from your introductory paragraph. What surprised you? What was your favorite part? What was your least favorite part? Include any other thoughts about your virtual visit to wrap up your essay.