Look! the Fundamentals of Art History

by D'Alleva, Anne

• ISBN13: 9780131745056
• ISBN10: 0131745050
• Edition: 2nd
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2007-01-01
• Publisher: Prentice Hall

Summary

This handbook is designed to accompany the major textbooks used in the art history survey, presenting various methods for analysis of art as well as extensive tips on writing about art.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	7	(1)
Introduction How to use this book	8	(3)
Chapter 1 Introducing art history
What do art historians do? The object of art history	11	(5)
What is "art"?
A working definition of art
What is "history"?
Why is art history important?	16	(2)
Art history and related disciplines	18	(4)
Art criticism
Sociology
Anthropology
Aesthetics
Cultural studies
Visual culture studies
Connoisseurship
Art history's toolbox: formal and contextual analysis	22	(4)
Reading captions for information	23	(3)
Conclusion	26	(1)
Chapter 2 Formal analysis
Formal analysis	27	(1)
Formal elements	28	(3)
Color
Line
Space and mass
Scale
Composition
Two-dimensional art: painting, graphic arts, photography	31	(5)
Wölfflin and formal analysis	34	(2)
Sculpture	36	(3)
Architecture	39	(1)
Installation art	40	(1)
Performance art	41	(2)
Digital art	43	(2)
Textile and decorative arts	45	(1)
Conclusion	46	(1)
Chapter 3 Contextual analysis
Art and context	47	(1)
Contextual questions	48	(3)
Art out of context? Museums and art history	51	(4)
A brief history of museums
Museums and the experience of art
The process of interpretation: confronting your assumptions	55	(8)
The challenges of cross-cultural interpretation
The challenges of historical interpretation
Is African art anonymous?	59	(4)
Art and its controversies	63	(3)
Style and meaning	66	(2)
Conclusion	68	(1)
Chapter 4 Writing art-history papers
Structuring art-historical arguments: interpretation vs. opinion	69	(2)
Formal-analysis papers	71	(8)
Taking notes
Structuring your paper
The comparison paper
Research papers	79	(8)
Developing a topic and starting your research
Keeping notes
How many sources should I use?	86	(1)
Resources for research	87	(6)
Books
Periodicals
Websites
Reference works
Critical moments in art-history writing	93	(10)
Developing a thesis
Writing an introductory paragraph
Sustaining the argument
Dealing with intentions
The conclusion
Editing
Citations and bibliographies	103	(7)
MLA citations
Chicago citations
Bibliography or Works Cited
Plagiarism's gray zone
If you experience writer's block	107	(3)
Writing style	110	(3)
Common stylistic pitfalls of art-history writing
Finding a voice
Putting together (those damned) illustrations	112	(1)
Conclusion	113	(1)
Chapter 5 Navigating art-history examinations
Slide identifications and short-answer questions	114	(10)
Why are slide identifications important?
Why are slide identifications so hard?
How to succeed at slide identifications
Three-step slide memorization
Memory aids
Unknowns
Test-taking strategies for art-history exams	122	(2)
Art-history essays	124	(11)
Studying for essay tests
Types of essay questions
Effective note-taking	135	(3)
Taking good notes in class
Developing a consistent short hand
Taking notes on readings
Class participation — why bother?	137	(1)
Conclusion	138	(1)
Chapter 6 Art history's own history
Ancient world	139	(2)
Excerpt from Pliny's Natural History	140	(1)
Middle Ages	141	(1)
Renaissance	142	(4)
Excerpt from Vasari's Lives of the Artists	144	(2)
Age of Enlightenment	146	(3)
Winckelmann on the Laocotin	147	(2)
The nineteenth century: foundations of modern art history	149	(3)
Twentieth-century formalists, iconographers, and social historians	152	(2)
After 1970: the "new" art history	154	(5)
The feminist art-history revolution	156	(3)
Do other cultures practice art history?	159	(4)
China
West Africa
Early art history in China	160	(3)
Conclusion	163	(1)
Glossary	164	(2)
Bibliography	166	(5)
Table of parallel illustrations in art-history surveys	171	(2)
Index	173	(3)
Picture credits	176