Final Paper Assignment
A 6-page (double-spaced; 12-point font) art history research paper on an American artwork currently on display at the Art Institute (1840-1945)
Picking an artwork: You may do your paper on any American artwork in the Art Institute (except for artworks made b 1840 or after 1945). Also, you may not do your work on Grant Wood’s American Gothic or Edward Hopper’s Nighthawks.
What to write about (but not necessarily in this order):
1. Formally describe your work. This means speaking about things such as color, scale, medium, composition, light/darks, surface of the work, etc. Also, speak about your artwork as an object, about where it is in the gallery, about how it is lit, and how it is shown alongside other works, if these things matter.
2. Speak about the artist, about their history, about any art world connections (museums, art schools, galleries, the art market), and about any groups or styles they were working in.
3. How does this artwork relate to the history of art and to the history of this country? What does its subject say about what kinds of things were happening in America? In other words, how does this artwork reflect the time and place in which it was made? This is the thesis of your paper….how you argue that it should be interpreted.
Research (at least 5 sources): One of them may be anything from the Art Institute of Chicago’s website. Another may be Doezema’s Reading American Art, our class text. Another may be a reference work, such as a dictionary of art; these are found in the Reference Room of the Richardson Library (numbered in the 700s) or online. A good source is the Oxford Art Online, which can be found on the Internet (going through the Library’s webpage, then “A-Z Databases,” then “Oxford Art Online”) or as bound volumes of the Grove Dictionary of Art in the Richardson Library.
Besides books you may find, you may also use articles from art historical journals. These may be found as full-text internet texts using JSTOR and various data bases accessed from the DePaul library’s web page. Do not use an article of less than, say, three pages (these would be just short essays announcing exhibitions and exhibition reviews).
Provide an illustration of your artwork: Or you may be able to find your artwork online (be sure to check the Art Institute of Chicago’s own “Collection” website). In your paper, refer to photographs as “…(Fig. 1).” Don’t forget to title and date your artwork in the text of your paper. Remember, the title is italicized (like book and movie titles).
Use the MLA (English) style of citation in your paper. An example would look like this… “One author believes Van Gogh was actually a woman (Johnson 39).” It doesn’t matter what style you use for the individual entries in your bibliography as long as you are consistent from entry to entry.
Limit your quotes! You should limit the number of direct quotes you use in your paper. If you do quote an author, make sure you explain the quote. Don’t simply end each paragraph with a quotation. There is no need to quote from our class notes. Also, if your quote is more than two lines long, block indent it and remove quotation marks.
Some other details:
a. Provide a title page including the (intriguing) title of the paper, your name, the course title and the date.
b. Your paper should have a separate “Works Cited” page.
c. Please include page numbers. The title page does not have a page number.
d. Don’t forget a strong introduction and conclusion.
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