HUMA 1301: Art Museum Assignment
Purpose
- To evaluate art using the techniques and knowledge acquired in class.
- To historically situate art in the culture, era, and style of its production.
- To experience art and make connections!
General Instructions
For this assignment, you will visit The Contemporary Arts Museum Houston (free), The Menil Collection (free), The Museum of Fine Arts Houston (free on Thursdays), or an independent gallery of your choosing.
- You will select 3 pieces of art to analyze. These can be paintings, sculptures, or artifacts.
- You will provide the date, title, medium, and artist for each work. If any of these facts are unknown, note it in your paragraph.
- You will critique each work using the “look, see, think” method described here: Look, See, Think
- You will include a picture of each work. It must be taken by you during your visit (do not use one found online). The picture can be of the work itself, you standing next to the work, or a selfie of you with the work.
Detailed Instructions:
Museum paragraph:
- Give the name and location of the museum, what kind of collection(s) it has, when it was founded, and what kind of building it’s housed in, or other info that might help your reader understand the museum.
- Do not just cut and paste! Put this information into your own words.
- This paragraph should be 50-100 words.
For each of the 3 works, give the following information (per work):
- The title of the artwork, date it was created, medium (i.e. what it’s made out of), and size.
- Perhaps you can’t find all this information, but you should be able to find most of it.
- Taking a picture of the plaque or information next to a work can help you remember.
- A description and interpretation of the artwork so your readers can picture it in their mind’s eye.
- Describe the composition, colors, figures, shapes. Make sure it’s detailed!
- Give an interpretation of what the work possibly means or signifies taking into account its title, composition, and the time and place of its creation.
- Should be 100+ words.
- A statement about why this artwork stood out to you– your personal response to it.
- Write enough to make a real point and explain what you mean in at least 50 words.
- You may love the piece, but you may also hate it! It may make you feel overwhelmed, troubled, moved, excited, or any number of other things, but the key here is to explain WHY you believe it incites this response in you.
Connections paragraph:
Here, you will tie at least 2 of the 3 works to a lesson from the class in 100-150 words.
Formatting Information
MLA format– 12 pt Times New Roman font, double-spacing, 1 inch margins.
Submitting your Assignment
Please submit as a .pdf to the Art Critique assignment link in the Oral Presentation and Art Critique folder.
Grading Criteria: Art Critique Rubric
Category
Excellent
Good
Needs Work
Poor
1. Museum Description: 10%
-Gives detailed information about the museum visited.
-50-100 words
-Gives some information about the museum visited.
-50-100 words
.-Gives minimal information about the museum visited.
-less than 50 words
– Does not provide info about the museum, uses AI generated information, or copies and pastes from another source.
2. Artwork 1
20%
– Title, date, medium, and size of piece listed
-Detailed description of work
-Logical interpretation of work
– Explanation of why the work stood out (50+ words)
-Photo included
– Uses correct grammar and spelling
– Title, date, medium, and size of piece listed
– Somewhat detailed description of the work
– Reasonable interpretation of work
– Mostly clear and detailed explanation of why the work stood out (50+ words)
-Photo included
-Uses mostly correct grammar and spelling
Has one or more of the following issues:
-Title, date, medium, or size of piece not listed
-Description of work provided, but insufficient
– Interpretation of work not based on anything concrete.
– Unclear or minimal explanation of why the work stood out (less than 50 words)
– Photo included
– Makes 4-5 mistakes in grammar and spelling
Has one or more of the following issues:
-Does does provide title, date, medium or size of piece
– Description of work not provided
-Little to no interpretation of work.
– Insufficient or undeveloped description of why the work stood out
-No photo included.
– Makes 5+ grammar and/or spelling mistakes.
3. Artwork 2
20%
– Title, date, medium, and size of piece listed
-Detailed description of work
-Logical interpretation of work
– Explanation of why the work stood out (50+ words)
-Photo included
– Uses correct grammar and spelling
– Title, date, medium, and size of piece listed
– Somewhat detailed description of the work
– Reasonable interpretation of work
– Mostly clear and detailed explanation of why the work stood out (50+ words)
-Photo included
-Uses mostly correct grammar and spelling
Has one or more of the following issues:
-Title, date, medium, or size of piece not listed
-Description of work provided, but insufficient
– Interpretation of work not based on anything concrete.
– Unclear or minimal explanation of why the work stood out (less than 50 words)
– Photo included
– Makes 4-5 mistakes in grammar and spelling
Has one or more of the following issues:
-Does does provide title, date, medium or size of piece
– Description of work not provided
-Little to no interpretation of work.
– Insufficient or undeveloped description of why the work stood out
-No photo included.
– Makes 5+ grammar and/or spelling mistakes..
4. Artwork 3
20%
– Title, date, medium, and size of piece listed
-Detailed description of work
-Logical interpretation of work
– Explanation of why the work stood out (50+ words)
-Photo included
– Uses correct grammar and spelling
– Title, date, medium, and size of piece listed
– Somewhat detailed description of the work
– Reasonable interpretation of work
– Mostly clear and detailed explanation of why the work stood out (50+ words)
-Photo included
-Uses mostly correct grammar and spelling
Has one or more of the following issues:
-Title, date, medium, or size of piece not listed
-Description of work provided, but insufficient
– Interpretation of work not based on anything concrete.
– Unclear or minimal explanation of why the work stood out (less than 50 words)
– Photo included
– Makes 4-5 mistakes in grammar and spelling
Has one or more of the following issues:
-Does does provide title, date, medium or size of piece
– Description of work not provided
-Little to no interpretation of work.
– Insufficient or undeveloped description of why the work stood out
-No photo included.
– Makes 5+ grammar and/or spelling mistakes..
5. Connections
30%
-100-150 words
-Uses a topic from the class
-Connection is well developed
-Makes a clear point
-Uses at least ⅔ works
-100+ words
-Uses a topic somewhat related to the class
-Connection is somewhat well developed
-Makes a fairly clear point
-Uses at least ⅔ works
-Less than 100 words
-Uses a topic not from the class
-Connection is partially developed
-Makes a somewhat clear point
-Uses at least ⅔ works
-Less than 100 words
-Uses a topic not from the class
-Connection is not developed
-Does not make a clear point
-Does not use ⅔ works
Student last name 1
Your Name
Professor Name
Subject Name
04 September 20XX
Title of Your Art Critique (Give it an interesting title!)
Museum: Name of art museum visited
Start with the name and location of the museum, what kind of collection(s) it has, when it was founded, what kind of building it’s housed in, and any other pertinent information. Do not use AI-generated content or cut and paste! Put this information into your own words. The museum description should be between 50-100 words.
Piece 1: Title of Artwork
First, give the title of the artwork, the date it was created, the medium (what it’s made out of), and the size.
Second, describe the work in detail. Describe the composition, image, colors, figures, shapes, and any other information about the piece. Go into great detail! Then, give an interpretation of what the work might mean or signify based on its title, composition, and time and place of creation. (100+ words)
Third, explain why the work stood out to you. This is your personal response to the work, should give a clear explanation of the work’s appeal, and should be at least 50 words.
Include an image of the work that you took during your visit.
Insert your selfie or picture with the work here.
Piece 2: Title of Artwork
First, give the title of the artwork, the date it was created, the medium (what it’s made out of), and the size.
Second, describe the work in detail. Describe the composition, image, colors, figures, shapes, and any other information about the piece. Go into great detail! Then, give an interpretation of what the work might mean or signify based on its title, composition, and time and place of creation. (100+ words)
Third, explain why the work stood out to you. This is your personal response to the
Student last name 2
work, should give a clear explanation of the work’s appeal, and should be at least 50 words. Include an image of the work that you took during your visit.
Insert your selfie or picture with the work here.
Piece 3: Title of Artwork
First, give the title of the artwork, the date it was created, the medium (what it’s made out of), and the size.
Second, describe the work in detail. Describe the composition, image, colors, figures, shapes, and any other information about the piece. Go into great detail! Then, give an interpretation of what the work might mean or signify based on its title, composition, and time and place of creation. (100+ words)
Third, explain why the work stood out to you. This is your personal response to the work, should give a clear explanation of the work’s appeal, and should be at least 50 words.
Include an image of the work that you took during your visit.
Insert your selfie or picture with the work here.
Connection: Relate at least two of the pieces you discussed above to one specific topic from the class.
This paragraph is really where the “rubber meets the road” in this assignment. Don’t just make a connection, really develop a connection in 100-150 words using details from the lesson. For example, if you looked at Egyptian imagery or relics, you could very directly (and in detail!) relate the works to the lesson on The Book of the Dead. Or, for example, two of the works you looked at could directly or indirectly relate to the Golden Rule, but you would need to be incredibly specific as to how. Refreshing yourself on the lessons we’ve covered before you visit a museum would be helpful.