A Survival Guide for Art History Students

by Maranci, Christina

• ISBN13: 9780131401976
• ISBN10: 0131401971
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2004-06-24
• Publisher: Pearson

Summary

Designed to guide learners through the often disorienting experience of taking a first art history class, this book addressesall aspectsof that total experience.KEY TOPICSSpecific chapter topics cover note-taking during lecture, studying for and taking slide exams, writing response papers, methodology, how to critique secondary scholarship, and what to do with an art history degree.For individuals with little or no experience in art history, and an interest in the powerful images that can provide a rich perspective on social, political, and cultural history.

Table of Contents

Preface	ix
Acknowledgments	xi
Why Take an Art History Class?	1	(4)
The Value of Visual Literacy	1	(2)
Art History Myths Debunked	3	(2)
The Art History Classroom: An Initiation	5	(28)
The Anatomy of an Art History Class	6	(17)
Recognizing Kinds of Visual Information	7	(2)
Organizing Information from the Lecture	9	(7)
The Content of an Image	16	(2)
The Visual Description of an Image	18	(2)
The Formal Analysis of an Image	20	(1)
The Macrostatement and the Comparison	21	(2)
Taking Notes in Art History	23	(10)
Organizing the Page	25	(3)
Note-Taking on Comparisons	28	(5)
Putting Words to Images: Mastering the Response Essay	33	(38)
Working in the ``White Box'': The Museum and Gallery Experience	35	(1)
Selecting a Work of Art	36	(1)
Recording Your Impressions	37	(27)
Formal Elements	41	(23)
Writing the Paper	64	(7)
The Introduction	65	(1)
Writing the Main Body	66	(3)
Some Further Tips on Writing	69	(2)
The Art History Exam	71	(26)
The Basic Parts of an Art History Exam	72	(6)
Identifications	73	(5)
Exam Time	78	(19)
Short-Answer Identifications	78	(2)
Slide Comparisons	80	(9)
The Essay Question	89	(5)
The Unknown	94	(3)
Research Projects in Art History	97	(29)
Formulating a Topic	98	(1)
Finding Bibliographic Materials	98	(17)
Finding Images on the Internet	99	(1)
Finding Scholarly Work on the Internet	100	(10)
The Library Visit	110	(5)
Seven Tips for Writing the Research Paper	115	(11)
Formatting Your Citations	117	(3)
Analyzing Scholarship	120	(6)
What Do You Do with a Degree in Art History?	126	(20)
Museum Work	127	(4)
The Commercial Art World	131	(5)
The Art Gallery	131	(1)
The Antique Market	132	(1)
The Auction House	133	(1)
The Corporate Curator, Curatorial Consultant, and Arts Organization Consultant	134	(2)
The Publishing World	136	(2)
Alternative Careers in Writing	137	(1)
The Arts Agency	138	(2)
Working at the National Level	138	(1)
Working at the State and Local Level	139	(1)
And If You Decide to Get an Advanced Degree	140	(6)
A Final Word of Encouragement	145	(1)
Glossary	146	(5)
Index	151

Excerpts

TO THE STUDENTThis book is written for you, the college student, who has had little or no experience with courses in art history. While you are familiar with how English classes are run, and feel comfortable with the format of science labs, what you will experience in an art history class is entirely new. As the class begins, the lights go down, and slides are projected on screens in pairs. Certainly, you have been to slide lectures before, but in those cases only one slide was projected at a time. And not only is the visual format new, but now your professor is actuallytalking about the slides.You had always thought that art was meant to be admired in silence. How are you, a student, supposed to put your own words to great works of art? In the upcoming weeks, you will be asked to do just that--to speak about images, to write about them, to remember them, to prioritize information about them--in sum, to engage with them visually in a way that has never been asked from you before. This book is designed to guide you through the process, assisting you with art history papers, exams, and note-taking. It will also help you with two frequently asked questions: "Why take an art history course?" and "What in the world do I do with a major in art history?" Finally, knowing that you are already saddled with tedious reading assignments, I have written the book in a style that is conversational and humorous. TO THE TEACHERAs teachers, we often forget the profound disorientation that first-time art history students can experience. Yet as I have learned from numerous conversations with my, students, the transition from other courses to art history is not a natural one. It often takes weeks for students to become acclimatized; some, particularly in large lecture classes, never do. "This is my first art history class," I am told after lecture. "I don't know what I am doing." Those whohavepreviously taken a course or two are regarded with awe, as though they are members of some secret society.This book will accompany the student through the adjustment process. It is intended to be read either straight through, in tandem with, or prior to your lectures, or as a reference text. Its organization reflects what I believe are the standard components of the introductory art history class as taught in colleges and universities in the United States. Hence it focuses on the traditional canon. I admit that African, pre-Columbian, and Native American art are not covered here, nor are newer forms of art, such as video and film.Each chapter will address a different aspect of the course. Chapter One emphasizes the value of art history as a discipline. Chapter Two is devoted to note-taking and listening in lectures. Chapter Three covers the process of writing response essays. In Chapter Four we deal with taking art history exams, and Chapter Five explores research projects. Although many existing guidebooks define basic terms and concepts used in the discipline, this book also explains how to take art history: how to listen to a lecture, how to discuss images, and how to study. Chapters will include strong (and weak) examples of exam answers and paper extracts. They will also address some of the usual worries of art history students: "How can I possibly write a five-page paper describing one work of art?" The concluding chapter focuses on career options in the field.