Select an art work by this artist; find out where the artist lived when he was making the art work. Make a “virtual” trip to that country and talk about the circumstances of the artist at that time. You must also include your experiences while visiting that country.
The work has already been selected for you:
The Annunciation
Luca Giordano, Naples Italy
Travel the World
– Letter to a Friend –
Overview, Writing Format, & Instructions
– Write in the 8 paragraph format outlined below, a 2-page “letter to a friend”, 12-point font size, with 1.5 or double line spacing.
– Choose one work of art from the link or document provided by your professor in aNEWS announcement.
– Determine the city in which the one work of art was made. This will take research on your part.
– On the web, discover all you can about the city then and the culture now, in which the work was made.
– Begin 2-page paper with Dear “friend’s name”, and end with Sincerely, “your name”.
– The grading rubric will not apply if you confuse the city in which the work was made with the city in which the work is now located which most typically is a museum.
– The topic sentence in first paragraph sets the tone for your paper and your grade. Include EXACTLY the factual information requested in that topic sentence; no more, no less.
– This paper is about one work of art, its meaning, the geographical, political, and historical context in which the one work wascreated.
Paragraph Format
I. First Paragraph (Use present tense; I am in the city of…..etc.)
a. First and the topic sentence includesALL of the following: city visiting (city in which work of art was made), the title of the artwork (italicized), artist or the civilization, the year it was created, media, period and/or style
b. Why you want to spend money to travel to the town where it was made
c. One sentence statement about what the artist is trying to say in the artwork (i.e., content of the work)
d. Cost to travel to the city in which the work was made
f. Cost of the hotel and name of the hotel you are staying
e. One detail, a fact, about the original patrons for this onework of art
II. Second Paragraph – City
a. Describe the location of the city in the world
b. Food and culture
c. Architecture
d. Entertainment
e. Geographical, landscape features of the region
f. Climate
III. Third Paragraph – Media and Materials
a. Name the materials in the work (the “media”)
b. Describe the process used to put the materials together (mediums: painting, printmaking, sculpture, watercolor, digital)
c. What is the size, scale, dimensions of the work?
d. Is there any texture, actual (tactile) or implied?What material is used to represent the texture? How does this affect your sense of touch or sight?
e. How does the artist use light?
f. Name other elements or principles of art used in the work and why?
IV. Fourth Paragraph – Period or Style
a. Name of the period and/or style in which the work was made (often an ‘ism, and the term is capitalized)
b. Years in which the period or style flourished
c. Political history of the period
d. Location in which the period or style flourished
e. Visual elements of the period that were retained from the past
f. Visual elements of the period that are emphasized
V. Fifth Paragraph – Description of the artwork
a. Subject Matter or objects you can name in the work
b. Form the work takes- 2D or 3D, medium and methods, installation or digital?
c. Emphasis and the elements the artist uses to create emphasis
d. Symbolism of colors, patterns
e. How the above elements restate what the artist is trying to say
VI. Sixth Paragraph – Artist Biography
a. Birth and circumstances of death of the artist
b. Professional activities of the artist
c. Formal Education or self taught? Where, why, how?
d. Circumstances of lifestyle as reflected in something you see in the one work of art
e. The artist’s inspiration for the one work of art
VII. Seventh Paragraph – Compare and Contrast Outside Influences
a. Name artist/s working during this period and their influence/s on your artist or this chosen artwork
b. Name and describe another artwork during this period and compare it with your chosen artwork
VIII. Eighth Paragraph – Conclusion
a. Who owns the one artwork today? (90% of the time, a museum owns the work today)
b. In what city is the artwork located today?
c. Surmise something you learned by visiting the city in which your one work was made?
d. Could you have made the trip easier somehow? What would you do differently if you returned?
e. Sign off with “Sincerely”, and your name
f. On 3rd page, cite all sources used in the paper. At a minimum you will have these 3sources:
1. travel web site for hotel and air fare
2. library book must be a scholarly source -a book or journal article)
3. Include a photo of the work with your paper and/or attach
