Visual Literacy : Writing about Art

by Tucker, Amy

• ISBN13: 9780072302226
• ISBN10: 0072302224
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2001-12-10
• Publisher: McGraw-Hill Humanities/Social Sciences/Languages

Summary

Visual Literacyacquaints students with the critical issues that shape the discipline of art and teaches them to write about art from a variety of scholarly and rhetorical perspectives.

Table of Contents

PART I. ELEMENTS OF VISUAL ANALYSIS

Chapter 1 Responding to Art: Visual Literacy and the Practice of Writing

Writing Assignment: Journal Responses to a Work of Art

Visual Memory and Visual Literacy

Observations and Questions

The Art History Context

Intertextuality

The Comparative Method

Medium

Genre

Iconography

Moving from Observation to Interpretation

Research and Connoisseurship

WORKS CITED AND SUGGESTED READING

Chapter 2 “Intelligent Seeing”: Description and Analysis of Form

Writing Assignment: Formal Analysis of a Work of Art

The Visual Elements

Line, Shape, Mass and Volume

Color and Value

Texture

Spatial Depth, Perspective, and Scale

Time and Motion

Principles of Design

Unity and Variety

Balance

Scale and Proportion

Rhythm, Movement and Tension

Using Description to Support a Thesis

Writing Formal Analyses

Reviewing and Revising Your Impressions

WORKS CITED AND SUGGESTED READING

Chapter 3 On Site: Art and Architecture in Social Contexts

Writing Assignment: Contextual Analysis of a Work of Art

Site as Context: The Rock Garden at Ryoan-ji

Subject Matter, Function, and Form: The Beaune Altarpiece

Historical Context: Main Entrance and Floorplan,

Metropolitan Museum of Art

Patrons, Performers, and Audience: A Mende Helmet Mask

WORKS CITED AND SUGGESTED READING

Chapter 4 The Museum as Context: Display and Representation

Writing Assignment: Analysis of an Exhibition

Fine Art Display: A Mende Mask at the Metropolitan Museum

Formalist Display: Bamana Masks at the Barnes Foundation

Updated Ethnographic Display: A Baule Mask at the Museum for African Art

Artist’s Installation: Fred Wilson’s Installation at the Seattle Art Museum

Continuing Controversies

Writing Assignment: Position Paper on a Current Museum Controversy

What Is Exhibited?

Who Is Represented?

Who Owns the Object?

WORKS CITED AND SUGGESTED READING

CONCLUSIONS TO PART I: ELEMENTS OF VISUAL ANALYSIS

PART II. ESSAY WRITING STRATEGIES

Chapter 5 Planning and Developing an Essay

Case Study: Contextual Analysis of a Work of Art

Recording Impressions

Freewriting

Browsing: Conducting Preliminary Research

Narrowing the Topic and Formulating a Thesis

Outlining: Mapping Your Route through the Essay

Drafting the Essay

Composing an Introduction

Developing Conclusions

Student Essay: “Reading a Mughal Miniature,” by Mahwash Shoaib (MLA documentation style)

Incorporating Research in Your Essay

Chapter 6 Structuring an Essay

Case Study: Formal Analysis and Comparison/Contrast

Student Essay: “The Private Made Public: Goya’s Josefa Castilla Portugal de Garcini y Wanabrok,” by Baz Dreisinger (Chicago Manual documentation style)

Linking with Transitional Words and Phrases

Structuring with Topic Sentences

Organizing Description and Formal Analysis

Structuring Comparison/Contrast

Unifying Verb Tense

Unifying Tone and Diction

Chapter 7 Revising an Essay

Case Study: Exhibition Catalogue (A Group Project)

Re-examining the Thesis

Rewriting Paragraphs

Revising the Essay Structure

Reviewing Your Use of Sources

Revisiting Sentences

Chapter 8 Editing an Essay: Grammar, Punctuation, Usage

Editing for Consistency

Subject/Pronoun Agreement

Subject/Verb Agreement

Parallel Structure

Reviewing Word Order

Misplaced Modifiers

Dangling Modifiers

Split Infinitives

Punctuation Problems and Solutions

Apostrophe for Possessives

Misused Commas

Usage: Commonly Confused Words

Manuscript Mechanics, from The Art Bulletin Style Guide

Titles

Numerals

Capitalization

Spelling and Hyphenation

Abbreviations

Italics

Quotations

Usage

A Note on Captions

CONCLUSIONS TO PART II: ESSAY WRITING STRATEGIES

PART III. RESEARCH AND CRITICAL METHODS

Chapter 9 Researching and Documenting an Essay

Case Study: Reception History of a Work of Art

Online Research

Visiting the Public Library Online

Primary and Secondary Sources

A Word of Caution on Using Internet Sources

Museum Web Sites

Using the Online Catalog in Your School Library

Searching the Stacks

Consulting Art Periodical Indices

The Art Index and the BHA

Locating Articles and Taking Notes

General Reference Works

Visiting Specialized Libraries

Documenting Sources

What to Document

Why and How to Document

Chicago Manual of Style Format

Footnotes and Endnotes

Footnote Citations for Books, Dissertations, and Theses

Footnote Citations for Articles in Journals and Newspapers

Footnote Citations for Interviews, Correspondence, and Internet Sources

Bibliography or Works Cited

Bibliographic Citations for Books, Dissertations, and Theses

Bibliographic Citations for Articles in Journals and Newspapers

Bibliographic Citations for E-Mail and Internet Sources

Art Bulletin Style

Text References, Footnotes, and Frequently Cited Sources

MLA Style

Chapter 10 Critical Perspectives: On Women of Algiers in Their Apartment by Eugène Delacroix

Case Study: Critical Approaches to a Work of ArtBiographical Studies

From “The Life and Work of Eugène Delacroix,” by Charles Baudelaire

Psychoanalytic Approaches

Formalism

From Eugène Delacroix, by Barthélémy Jobert

The Social History of Art

Marxist Theory

“About Critical Reception: Women of Algiers,” by Véronique Chagnon-Burke

Gender Studies, Feminist Criticism, Gay and Lesbian Studies, and Queer Theory

Postcolonial Theory

‘Passivity and Politics in Delacroix’s Women of Algiers,” by Joan DelPlato

Structuralism, Semiotic Theory, and Iconographic Analysis

Poststructuralism

Pablo Picasso’s Women of Algiers, After Delacroix

Assia Djebar’s Women of Algiers in Their Apartment

Houria Niati’s No to Torture

Shirin Neshat’s Rapture

WORKS CITED AND SUGGESTED READING

CONCLUSIONS TO PART III: RESEARCH AND CRITICAL METHODS