TERM PAPER
Your final paper should be based on a comparison of two works, one of
which must be on display in New York. Your paper topic should be on a
specific theme, question or issue that links the two objects.
Choose two paintings or sculptures
THEME: Divergent modes of Power in Art
SubThemes:
Propaganda
Identity (national, regional, cultural, individual, etc.) Industry/Progress
Multiculturalism
Ritual and Religion
Function vs. Form
Modes of Portraiture
Final Term Paper Guidelines
Your first paragraph should introduce your topic and thesis statement,
the artists’ names, titles of the artworks and where they are on display.
The first time you mention an artist’s name, always list the first and the
last name. Following that, you should mention the artist by his/her last
name only. The first time you mention a piece of art, always list the date
in parenthesis right after the title. All titles must be in italics.
The second part of your paper should be a visual analysis of the two
works. Walk us through the composition in an organized manner and try
to write it in so much detail, a person who wouldn’t be familiar with the
work, would have a clear vision of what it looks like following your
description. Use vocabulary words when applicable and analyze the
work in depth. Use your thesis statement as a line that runs through the
paper. In other words, your visual analysis should support your thesis
statement.
From here analyze the two works for content and incorporate
information from your research. Explain how the specific ideas are
represented in the two works and explain the importance of these ideas
to the specific culture and/or artists whose work you are analyzing. All
information should be information supporting your thesis statement.
Quote only when the exact words are absolutely necessary for your
text. If necessary, place a short quote within the text in quotation marks
followed by a footnote. If longer than 5 lines, place the quotation without
quotation marks, but singlespaced and indent. Whenever possible,
paraphrase and write in your own words. You must always cite the
information you use with a footnote directing the reader to the correct
source. See Barnet for correct style.
Your bibliography should follow your 57 page text.
A “List of Illustrations” follows your bibliography. Illustrations should be
separate from your text and added at the very end of your paper
(following the “List of Illustrations”). Cite them in the text as (fig.1), (fig.2)
etc. Describe them fully (artist, title, date) on the ”List of Illustrations”
placed after your bibliography and before the actual illustrations. Titles
of artworks must be italicized. Mark each of the plates with illustrations
in numerical order (Fig. 1, 2, 3…) arranged in line with the
corresponding number in the text (fig. 1, etc.).
An example paper:
Robert Peckham, The Raymond Children, c.
1838 Kerry James Marshall, Bang, 1994
Thesis statement: While Robert Peckham’s The Raymond Children
shows a vision of white colonial Americans dressed in their finest
clothing to sit for a formal portraiture, Kerry James Marshall’s Bang is a
depiction of contemporary black American children interacting with their
country and the racial politics of their time. The use of portraiture
demonstrates the gap between the Raymond children, who are
enclosed in a domestic space, and Marshall’s children, who are playing
at being grown up in a world that is hostile to them.
Abstract/Annotated Bibliography
1. An abstract is a paragraph that includes your thesis statement and
what your paper intends to cover. An abstract states the thesis of the
paper and the main arguments in 510 lines (about 200 words) written in
third person.
The following questions will help you in formulating your abstract:
1. What research problem or question do you intend to address? A
specific question will help you in formulating a thesis statement.
The thesis statement is the answer to the research question.
2. Why is this an interesting question?
1. Why is it problematic?
2. Why is it significant?
3. What do you expect to discover?
2. Create a working bibliography in proper format of the sources you
have collected and used so far. You must have at least 5 published
sources about each work. Please use Sylvan Barnet, A Short Guide to
Writing about Art for proper citations using the Chicago Manual of Style.
Guidelines for Research in Art History
Your 5 published sources need not only be books, or only articles, but a
mix of both. Look for sources that cover the time period, the culture, and
(if we know the name of the artist) other works by the same artist. You
must not use only online sources.
Useful information for completing the research paper assignment is not
limited to articles or passages in books, which focus on the particular
work of art selected. In addition to facts and interpretations about the
work and the artist, knowledge relating to the artistic and cultural
context will provide materials for writing the paper. In general,
information on the work selected, artist, period, culture, medium and
subject of the work (which is not necessarily the title of the work) should
all be considered. Consider also alternative words in your search. Are
you, for example, looking for sources on the Funerary Krater (8th century
BCE) from the Metropolitan Museum of Art, keyword and subject
searches may include words like “Funerary Practice Ancient Greece”,
“Burial Greece,” “Hellenistic Graves,” and “Geometric Style in Greek
Art.”
You can find good sources of information on museum websites, in
reference works, books, and journal articles.
MUSEUM WEBSITE
The website of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York is one of
the best websites maintained by museums. Students should look up
both the Collection Database (http://www.metmuseum.org/
Works_of_Art/collection_database/) and Heilbrunn Timeline of Art
History (http://www.metmuseum.org/toah).
REFERENCES
Oxford Art Online is one of the best reference tools in art history with
extensive articles written by experts in the field. In addition to articles on
individual artists, students can look up particular topics in art forms
(e.g., ceramics, mosaics, or photography), geography, styles and
cultures, and time periods. The bibliography at the end of each article is
particularly useful in guiding students towards other material on the
topic.
One should look up the following three sources for information on artists
not included in Oxford Art Online.
ULAN, The Union List of Artist Names (http://www.getty.edu/research/
conducting_research/vocabularies/ulan/)
Bénézit, E. Dictionary of Artists. Paris: Gründ, 2006.
Thieme, U. Allgemeines Lexikon der Bildenden Kunstler. Leipzig:
Engelmann, 190750.
JOURNAL ARTICLES
Even though it extends well beyond the fine arts and indexes only a
limited number of art periodicals, JSTOR covers the most important
journals in art history, including the official publications of the College
Art Association and many leading museums. Therefore, citations in
JSTOR tend to be substantial, scholarly articles excellent for research
purposes.
Wilson Art Index is the most comprehensive index to fine art literature
including Art Full Text, Art Index, and Art Retrospective. The wide range
of publications indexed, including scholarly peerreviewed journals as
well as popular art magazines, makes Wilson Art Index a standard tool
for art historical research.
Another important resource is Google Scholar, which offers a free
indexing service to books and journal articles across disciplines in a
familiar, easytouse interface. Because of its powerful software, it will
turn up pertinent materials which might otherwise be missed. While its
coverage on art history lags behind Art Index, Google Scholar is
especially useful for relevant articles published in journals outside the
humanities and the arts.
RESEARCH CHECKLIST:
It is important that students do research for their papers as much as
they can on their own. When you access the library’s homepage, click
on the button that says “Selected Resources.” You will see that there
are different subject headings. Although others may be useful too,
please click on “Art: where you will find a number of resources that will
be particularly useful to your research. Before you ask a librarian,
please check that you have tried the following search engines:
Art Full Text
Wilson Art Index
Oxford Art Online JSTOR
Worldcat
Google Scholar
Lexis Nexis (newspaper articles)
