Short Answer Questions for a Visual (formal) Analysis
How to look at and describe a work of art
Instructions:
Watch the video A-level: How to do visual (formal) analysis. This video is a great explanation of a visual analysis.
Please choose ONE of the paintings listed below. Answer each question about the painting you have chosen (only 1 painting and use the same one for each question).
Rules and Requirements:
Your answers may range between 5-10 sentences. Please be specific in your descriptions – do not generalize your observations/descriptions, for example “The painting has a lot of light.” Describe the light source and how it is presented because of a bright area or shadows.
THIS IS NOT ABOUT the history of the artist, the subject matter, or the meaning (iconography) of the painting. This is strictly about observing and describing the details of the composition.
Artist’s names must be capitalized (they are proper nouns). Titles of paintings must be italicized.
DO NOT USE AI, GRAMMARLY, or PLAGIARIZE! There are plenty of online resources regarding visual analyses of these paintings. However, the goal of this assignment is for you to simply look at the painting and using your own words and ideas, describe the main/key formal elements of design. If any evidence/suspicion of AI is detected, the assignment will be rejected.
I understand that most of you are not art history or art majors and may have never taken an art history course before this one. Therefore, I do not expect you to write/think like art historians.
You may copy the questions in your document and then answer or simply write the number for each question and then your answer.
If you do not understand or know how to answer one of the questions regarding your choice/example, then email me and ask and I will do my best to help you!
Each question is worth 20 points.
Options:
30-2 John Sloan, Sixth Avenue and Thirtieth Street, New York City, 1907, oil on canvas
30-3 Marcel Duchamp, Nude Descending a Staircase, No. 2, 1912, oil on canvas
30-7 Charles Demuth, My Egypt, 1927, oil on board
30-9 Edward Hopper, Nighthawks, 1942, oil on canvas
30-10 Jacob Lawrence, No. 49, from the Migration of the Negro, 1940-41, tempera on Masonite
30-16 Alfred Stieglitz, The Steerage, 1907, photograph
31-6 Jackson Pollock, Number 1, 1950 (Lavender Mist), 1950, oil on canvas
31-8 Willem de Kooning, Woman I, 1950-52
31-11 Mark Rothko, No. 10, 1950, oil on canvas
31-23 Richard Hamilton, Just What is it that Makes Today’s Homes So Different, So Appealing?, 1956, collage
31-27 Andy Warhol, Green Coca-Cola Bottles, 1962, oil on canvas
32-3 Kerry James Marshall, De Style, 1993, acrylic on canvas
32-4 Kehinde Wiley, Napoleon Leading the Army over the Alps, 2005, oil on canvas
32-6 Carrie Mae Weems, Man Smoking/Malcolm X, 1990, photograph
THIS IS NOT AN ESSAY – write the numbers and then answer that question. Continue with each numbered question.
Questions:
1. What is the overall design/organization of the composition? *
Some things to consider: Is the composition balanced or asymmetrical? Do objects encompass the entire space within the frame? Are they pushed into the foreground, midground, or background of the composition? Does the composition have a horizontal, vertical, or diagonal emphasis? Do not focus on the meaning!!! Content is not relevant to a visual study. Describe how elements/objects are laid out within the composition (frame).
2. How does the artist use light in the painting? Some things to consider: Is the light source obvious? Is there a light source (sun? candle? Window?) Is it seen or hidden? Is there evidence of light throughout the composition? For example, does it appear on objects that appear brighter, well-lit or are there shadows? Even the black/white photographs can offer a hint of a light source. Be specific!
3. How is line used in the composition? Some things to consider: Do lines create shapes or forms? Is there repetition? Consistency? Variety? Directional lines (do they show direction via line or shapes that create a type of line)? Be specific on this one. If you say the painting has a bunch of thick and thin lines, then I want you tell me which lines you are referring to. For example, in Andy Warhol’s Green Coca Cola Bottles, the artist creates the shapes of the bottles with a hard contour line which is repeated throughout the composition.
4. How is space/depth depicted? Some things to consider: Does the artist use perspective (atmospheric or linear) or overlapping? Do shadows or modeling of objects help create the illusion of depth? With Modern paintings, the case may be that they are flat and embrace their flatness. Meaning, the artists did not attempt to create an illusion into another world or window by the use of depth (using foreshortening or perspective). If this is the case, then discuss how the painting does not have depth.
5. How is color used in the painting? Some things to consider: What are the colors? Describe the colors. Do the colors create a pattern (think of repetition too)? Or texture? Are they muted colors? Or rich in tones? Pastels? Be sure to identify the colors! If you write they are muted, then explain what that means in the example.
If you use a black/white photograph as your example, then focus on the shades and value of the photograph (the white/grey/black scale). You can still consider how texture is created by value or patterns.
If you do not understand a term, you can use the glossary in your textbook or google it. www.smarthistory.org is a great source for art history information.
Try your best and if you have any questions, please do not hesitate to ask.
*Composition – Composition is the term given to a complete work of art and, more specifically, to the way in which all its elements work together to produce an overall effect. https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/glossary/composition