Looking and Writing A Guide for Art History Students

by Wyman, Marilyn, Ph.D.

• ISBN13: 9780130983596
• ISBN10: 0130983594
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2002-07-12
• Publisher: Pearson

Summary

Looking and Writingis an introductory guide for readers who are engaged in writing a visual analysis for the first time. Although it is written informally with the novice in mind, it provides the reader with the technical vocabulary appropriate to a visual analysis.KEY TOPICS: Guidelines for the selection, analysis, and presentation of an image found in a museum or gallery setting or an on-line site form the core chapters of the book. Other chapters discuss the use of symbols, the cultural precepts of how we process visual information, suggestions for writing and proofreading an essay and the structure of a proper bibliography.For those interested in art history, or writing about art.

Author Biography

Marilyn Wyman, Instructor in Art History and American Studies in the School of Art & Design, San Jose State University, received her Ph.D. from the University of Southern California. Her areas of interest include American, Modern, and African Art as well as studies in American culture. Since 1989, she has worked extensively in South Africa. Dr. Wyman's recent publications include: "The Harlem Renaissance and the Affirmation of Identity" (1989): "The Lay of the Land: A Comparison of 19th Century Landscape Tradition in the United States and South Africa" (1990); "The Deracinated Worker in California Depression Murals" (1995); "Mechanisms of Power: Native American and Zulu Imagery in Popular Culture" (1995); and "African American Ties in the Development of Urban Black Culture in South Africa" (1996).

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	vii
Figures	ix
Images on the Internet	xiii
Introduction	xv
Looking and Seeing	1	(8)
Communicating with Signs and Symbols	5	(3)
Testing your Skills: Looking and Seeing	8	(1)
Looking for Meaning	9	(20)
Subject Matter and Content	9	(2)
Description and Analysis	11	(1)
Interpretive Methodologies	12	(1)
Structuralism and Post-Structuralism	13	(3)
Feminism	16	(1)
Orientation	17	(1)
Historical and Contextual Criticism	18	(1)
Other Interpretive Considerations	19	(8)
Testing your Skills: Looking for Meaning	27	(2)
Understanding Formal Elements	29	(16)
Color	29	(5)
Line	34	(1)
Shape and Space	35	(4)
Texture and Surface	39	(1)
Time and Motion	40	(4)
Testing your Skills: Understanding Formal Elements	44	(1)
Principles of Design and Composition	45	(4)
Balance	45	(1)
Dominance and Subordination	46	(1)
Scale and Proportion	46	(1)
Repetition and Rhythm	47	(1)
Unity and Variety	48	(1)
Testing your Skills: Principles of Design and Composition	48	(1)
Applying Art History's Tools	49	(8)
Preparing for Your Assignment	50	(1)
Visiting the Museum	51	(1)
Beginning Your Analysis	51	(3)
Testing Your Skills: Applying Analytic Tools	54	(3)
Using the Internet to Look at Art	57	(8)
Visiting a Virtual Museum	57	(3)
Linking to a Museum Site	60	(1)
Linking to Additional Databases	61	(1)
Downloading and Printing Images	61	(2)
Citing Digital Information	63	(2)
Writing Your Essay	65	(8)
Planning Your Essay	65	(1)
Understanding the Question	66	(2)
Inspiration or Perspiration?	68	(1)
Freewriting	68	(1)
Organizing an Effective Essay	69	(1)
Thinking and Writing	69	(1)
Reading and Revising Your Essay	70	(1)
Some Common Mistakes	71	(2)
Citing Sources and Resources	73	(10)
Resources	73	(2)
Creating Footnotes and Endnotes	75	(1)
Modern Language Association	75	(4)
Chicago Manual of Style	79	(4)
Suggestions for Further Reading	83	(2)
Index	85