Art Research paper

Art Research paper

For this 3-4 PAGE RESEARCH PROJECT on a topic of your choice (in consultation with me), you will engage in a close formal and contextual reading of a single art object

that comes from a regional museum and that falls between the years 1300 and 1900.  What (and whose) values or ideologies does an image promote?  How does visual

culture respond to the needs and desires of a specific, historically-situated audience?  In some way this project should relate to one or more the issues raised in

this course.

Your Project’s Life Cycle and You

Larva: A one-paragraph identification of the PROJECT TOPIC will let me know how things are progressing.  You will select your object from a regional museum or gallery,

although if you have transportation issues, I may allow you to find an object through other means.  You will also submit some form of dated documentation of your visit

to your museum.  NOTE: Anyone unable to visit a museum must obtain clearance from me in person by Thursday, February 23. You will not be able to change your topic

after you have turned in this phase of the assignment.

At this time you will also submit a PROJECT BIBLIOGRAPHY of no fewer than 7 entries; neither course readings nor web-based citations are acceptable. You will also

print a legible image of your topic (in color if possible) on regular, letter-sized paper and staple it to your topic submission. DUE in class THURSDAY, MARCH 2.

Pupa: Your 1 page PROJECT PROSPECTUS will outline your goals and summarize your argument in brief. Please also resubmit image and (optional) a revised bibliography.

DUE in class THURSDAY, MARCH 23.

Adult: For your FINAL PROJECT, you will submit your essay and a copy of your chosen image.  Final papers will be 3 to 4 pages, double-spaced, typed, paginated, in

twelve-point font, and with one-inch margins.  The 3 to 4 pages will be solely reserved for textual analysis; all relevant information (title, name, section time,

date, hair color, etc.) will be listed on a TITLE PAGE.  Use endnotes (not footnotes) for citation.  DUE in class THURSDAY, APRIL 13.  Late papers will be downgraded a

full letter grade per day or fraction thereof.

NOTE: Late larvae & pupae will deduct 1/2 grade from your paper, as will a 5th page of analysis.

Research Tips

Although this is a short project and you are responsible for a relatively small amount of writing, you will have to engage in some extensive research.

At the early stages, you might simply commit to work with an object that grabs your attention, for whatever reason.  Institutions on or near the Mall in DC include the

National Gallery, the Freer & Sackler Galleries, the Corcoran, and the National Museum of African Art.  Other good regional museums are the Virginia Museum of Fine

Arts in Richmond and the Chrysler Museum in Norfolk.  I am also always available for advice and guidance.

Once you’re selected your primary artwork, you’ll need to do some research on some secondary sources (e.g., academic scholarship).  This will familiarize you with the

historical significance of your selection and help you hone your core arguments.

On-line databases have made certain aspects of research less formidable.  Besides the Carrier on-line catalog, you can access a number of useful databases through the

library homepage, although I’d recommend against searching only on JSTOR since it contains only a fraction of available scholarly resources.  You will need to use ALL

of the following tools, available via the “Research Databases” link:

EBSCO: Academic Search Premier (more interdisciplinary)
WorldCat (books, conferences, etc.; essential since JMU’s library is relatively small)
Artbibliographies Modern (more art-historical; emphasis on 19th century and after)

After you’ve finished with these web resources, you’ll find even more potential references in the bibliographies of the books or articles uncovered in your initial

search.  As always, you can also consult with me for research advice.  Finally, here’s the best research shortcut: get a hold of the owning museum’s most recent

catalog, since curators typically publish their own research on institutional holdings.  NOTE: the use of Google Scholar, Wikipedia or other general online resources

is an unusually bad idea because they generally produce information of little or dubious value about artworks.  The internet provides a smorgasbord of superficial

factoids; library resources still contain more sustained, in-depth, relevant, and thoughtful analysis.

Finally, to help you with your research, I have placed a number of useful art history books — including many regional museum catalogs — on reserve at Carrier library,

including:

James Hall, Dictionary of Subjects and Symbols in Art (1974).
Matilde Battistini, Symbols and Allegories in Art (2005).
James Smith Pierce, From Abacus to Zeus: A Handbook of Art History (1995).
Early Netherlandish Painting (National Gallery of Art, 1986).
Ruth Butler, European Sculpture of the Nineteenth Century (National Gallery of Art, 2000).
Lorenz Eitner, French Paintings of the Nineteenth Century (National Gallery of Art, 2000).
Selections: Virginia Museum of Fine Arts (1997).
Borsook and Gioffredi, eds., Italian Altarpieces, 1250-1550: Function and Design (1994).
Jeffrey Chipps Smith, The Northern Renaissance (2004).
Paoletti and Radke, Art, Power, and Patronage in Renaissance Italy (2005).
Held & Posner, 17th & 18th Century Art: Baroque Painting, Sculpture, Architecture (1971).
Rudolf Wittkower, Art and Architecture in Italy, 1600-1750 (1999).
B. Haak, The Golden Age: Dutch Painters of the Seventeenth Century (1984).
David G. Irwin, Neoclassicism (1997).
David Blayney Brown, Romanticism (2001).
Stephen Eisenman, Nineteenth Century Art: A Critical History (2002).
Francis Frascina, Modernity & Modernism: French Painting in the Nineteenth Century (1993)
Robert L. Herbert, Impressionism: Art, Leisure, and Parisian Society (1988).
Charles Harrison, Primitivism, Cubism, Abstraction: The Early Twentieth Century (1993).
Richard R. Brettell, Modern Art, 1851-1929: Capitalism and Representation (1999).
Frances K. Pohl, Framing America: A Social History of American Art (2002).

John Ott
James Madison University, Spring 2017
ARTH 206: SURVEY OF WORLD ART II: RENAISSANCE TO MODERN

COURSE RESEARCH PROJECT: RESEARCH GUIDE

A successful research paper begins with your ability to familiarize yourself with the literature on your artwork, artist, and the issues you wish to pursue for this

project.   What follows below will help you navigate the stormy seas of academic art-historical literature.

1. Determine who owns your piece.  Since curators typically publish their own research on institutional holdings, you will want to get your hands on that museum’s most

recent print catalog to their permanent collection right away.  Search the name of the institution as author, first through the JMU Library Catalog, then through

WorldCat (see no. 4 below).  If you’re having trouble, you might also check the online store through the museum’s webpage, although I do not recommend you actually buy

these catalogs, which can run well over one hundred dollars.

2. Consult the bibliographies and footnotes of the textbook (Stokstad) and other course readings, particularly those that most relate to your topic; this will save you

a great deal of time poking around on the internet.  I’ve also placed on reserve at Carrier Library numerous other survey books, all of which boast their own useful

bibliographies:

James Hall, Dictionary of Subjects and Symbols in Art (1974).
Matilde Battistini, Symbols and Allegories in Art (2005).
James Smith Pierce, From Abacus to Zeus: A Handbook of Art History (1995).
Martin Kemp, The Oxford History of Western Art (2000).
Early Netherlandish Painting (National Gallery of Art, 1986).
Ruth Butler, European Sculpture of the Nineteenth Century (National Gallery of Art, 2000).
Lorenz Eitner, French Paintings of the Nineteenth Century (National Gallery of Art, 2000).
Selections: Virginia Museum of Fine Arts (1997).
Borsook and Gioffredi, eds., Italian Altarpieces, 1250-1550: Function and Design (1994).
James Snyder, Northern Renaissance Art…from 1350 to 1575 (1985).
Paoletti and Radke, Art in Renaissance Italy (1997).
Held & Posner, 17th & 18th Century Art: Baroque Painting, Sculpture, Architecture (1971).
Rudolf Wittkower, Art and Architecture in Italy, 1600-1750 (1999).
B. Haak, The Golden Age: Dutch Painters of the Seventeenth Century (1984).
David G. Irwin, Neoclassicism (1997).
David Blayney Brown, Romanticism (2001).
Stephen Eisenman, Nineteenth Century Art: A Critical History (2002).
Francis Frascina, Modernity & Modernism: French Painting in the Nineteenth Century (1993)
Robert L. Herbert, Impressionism: Art, Leisure, and Parisian Society (1988).
Charles Harrison, Primitivism, Cubism, Abstraction: The Early Twentieth Century (1993).
Richard R. Brettell, Modern Art, 1851-1929: Capitalism and Representation (1999).
Frances K. Pohl, Framing America: A Social History of American Art (2002).

3. Exploit the “Research Databases” link on the JMU Libraries homepage, beginning with the Oxford Art Online.  This particular database has been largely organized by

artist and thus will mostly provide you with a mere biographical sketch, which will be of limited use to you.  Instead, make a beeline for the Bibliography for each

artist and start locating those materials, starting with the most recently published material.

4. Other databases contain more recent resources and are searchable in more complex ways:

Art Abstracts (articles)
Art Bibliographies Modern (books and articles)
WorldCat (every book ever published; this will be an essential tool since JMU’s
library is relatively small)

For these databases, you will need to search in more numerous and creative ways beyond the name of your artist or keyword.   One helpful trick is to search a book you

know you will use and click on one or more of the subject links for that entry; this will quickly locate many, many citations on similar topics.  These databases are

also much larger and so you’ll need to conduct more narrow and precise searches, especially on the colossal WorldCat.  WorldCat is also extremely helpful because it

tells you whether or not JMU owns a particular book; for the Art Abstracts, each “hit” features a link that allows you to determine whether or not you can access that

resource at JMU.  All of you must use all of these databases.  Finally, don’t forget to search the JMU library catalog!

5. So far you’ve been preoccupied simply with finding potential resources; now you need to actually obtain them.  As noted above, many online databases will specify

whether JMU owns a particular item.   For articles, make sure you search periodical titles in the JMU catalog because oftentimes search entries will contain links to

electronic versions of your articles.

If we do not own something, you will need to take advantage of the Interlibrary Loan (ILL) service, which is also accessible via the JMU libraries home page.  Follow

the directions after logging in, and make sure that you specify whether you are searching for a book or an article in a periodical.  The more information you provide

ILL, the faster they will process your request.  Be especially sure to enter the ISBN (for books) or ISSN (for periodicals) number on the request form; you can locate

this number through any of the online databases discussed so far.   ILL is the bestest resource ever; they will deliver books to the Circulation desk at Carrier and

mail articles to any address you designate (although they will not page materials that JMU already owns).   Bear in mind, however, that requests can take weeks to

process, so start searching for materials ASAP!

6. After you’ve finished these searches, you’ll find even more potential references in the bibliographies of the books and articles that you uncovered in your initial

search.  Successful research inevitably takes several stages to complete.

FINALLY, remember that you will need to obtain two or three times as many resources as you will actually use for your project.  Sadly, many books or articles look

extremely promising when you locate them, but ultimately provide you with little helpful information.  Don’t be discouraged, this is a necessary evil of conducting

effective research.

NOTE VERY CAREFULLY: the use of Google Scholar or Wikipedia is an unusually bad idea because they generally produce information of little or dubious value about

artworks.  The internet largely provides a smorgasbord of superficial factoids; at this time, library resources still contain more sustained, in-depth, relevant, and

thoughtful analysis of artworks.

Remember that you will submit your one-paragraph project TOPIC and BIBLIOGRAPHY of no fewer than 7 entries (neither course materials nor web-based citations are

acceptable) in class on THURSDAY, MARCH 3.  As always, please don’t hesitate to make an appointment to discuss your topic and to ask for further assistance.

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