Part I of Art Research Project

Now that you have chosen an artist, you’re going to need to get started on your research. An artist, like anyone, is a product of a particular time and place. The focus of your research paper will be the following: How does the artist’s work reveal his attitude toward the time and place in which he lived? How is his work a response to his environment and cultural context?To answer this you will need to research the period in which the artist lived and the relevant trends or cultural forces that influenced him. I would like you to focus on ten to twenty years. The artist may have produced works of art over several decades, but choose between three to five works from a period that in your mind (or according to critics) was the most productive in this person’s career. For example, if I were to write an essay on architect William Van Alen I would focus on a few of his designs from the 1920s, including the Chrysler Building, which is arguably the work for which he is best known. Since it was built in 1928, I would do my research on the 1920s. I would then look for a good book on the 1920s that has college-level writing. That means please avoid those books that are made for middle-school research projects that have big print and lots of pictures. Fortunately, there are many well-written books on American history and culture (and contemporary culture for those of you researching a contemporary artist). You just have to spend some time figuring out which ones are good. I find Amazon is a good resource because it is easier to search than the public library’s catalog. Find a few titles there and then search for them in the public library catalog. You might also read some reviews either on Amazon or a website called goodreads.com to find out if people have found the book to be interesting or terribly boring. Look for a general history. In my search for a book on the 1920s, I might find a book on flappers, but a better option would be a book called New World Coming, which talks about how the decade defined modern America. The book was published in 2003, which appeals to me because I tend to better understand the language and point of view of a book that is more recent. Some books may cover slightly more than a ten to twenty years, which is fine. You will read what is relevant. However, it is not OK to get a book on an entire century and obviously something that covers all of American history definitely does not work. Bring at least one book to class that meets these criteria by Tuesday, February 16th. (Remember that many library branches are closed Sunday and all will be closed on President’s Day.) To be on the safe side, check out a few different books. You may also want to get a book that contains biographic information about your artist in order to answer some of the questions below.

Part I of Art Research Project – Questions … continue to next page.

You will need your library book to answer the last two questions. The rest can be done by using a reliable internet source. Your answers must be submitted to turnitin by Monday, February 15th at 11 pm.

  1. Do some research to find between three and five works by your artist. The artist may have produced works of art over several decades, but I would like you to choose between three andfive works from a period (no more than 20 years) that in your mind (or according to critics) was a highpoint of this person’s career.What are the titles of the works and what year were they made? (By the way, when you sit down to write your research paper and you are struggling to meet the length requirement, you may be thankful to have five works to write instead of three.)
  2. When did the artist live? What year was he born and, if he is deceased, what year did he die?
  3. Where did the artist live? (Mention all places beginning with childhood and ending with where he lived when he produced the works on which you’ll write.)
  4. What was the artist’s socio-economic background? In other words, did he grow up in a poor, middle-class or wealthy family? What was his ethnic background? Was he religious? If so, what was his religion?
  5. Before doing any research on the period your artist worked, answer the following: What do you already know about the period in which the artist produced the works you chose? What do you think life was like for your artist? For example, was he working in time of social unrest? Was there a war going on? Or was he working in a time of prosperity? Was heaffected by his class, religion, race or gender? What major events defined this period? (Write a minimum of 200 words to answer these questions. If you can’t come up with that many words, you can then do some research to answer the questions.)
  6. Look carefully at the artworks you chose. Describe each artwork. How does each artwork reveal something about the artist’s world? Label each description (a, b, c, d, e). Each should be a minimum of 100 words in length.
  7. Read the Table of Contents of the book you got from the library on the history of the period in which your artist worked. What chapters seem like they may relate to your artist? Name two that you think will contain something relevant. Skim through the chapters. What are the two chapters about? Your quick summary of each chapter should be a minimum of 100 words in length.
  8. Why will the two chapters you summarized above be helpful for understanding the artist’s work? (100 words)