Compare/Contrast: Rococo, Neoclassical, Romantic & Realism
The first writing assignment will be a compare/contrast between two or three (3) art objects or buildings that represent two or three of the artistic periods discussed so far this semester: Rococo, Neoclassical, Romantic and/or Realism.
For this paper, you will seek to create a connection between works from these different periods through the subjects they address and/or ideas and influences they respond to.
Note 1: for the 18th century portraiture lesson, you will find that some of these artists seem to lean toward the aesthetics of one of these major movements more so than others; you may use one of these portraits as an example of that period.
Note 2: You do not have to limit your selections to works covered in class, but the examples do need to represent the periods listed above.
Example: Sculptural Portrait of Volaire Seated (Houdon, Neoclassical) with Napoleon at the St. Bernard Pass (David, Neoclassic with a touch of Romanticism-more on this later!) and Bonaparte at the Pont d’Arcole (Gros, Romantic)
In the paper, you will provide a brief summary of each object or buildings origin, in addition to the actual “compare/contrast” portion of the paper. How you arrange the sequence of introduction is up to you. Please also be sure to describe the individual works in detail as you summarize the works or as part of your compare/contrast.
Paper Requirements:
PARAMETERS:
The subjects of your Compare/Contrast paper should come from artists active:
in Europe or North America
during the years and artistic periods covered in Unit I (c.1715 – 1860)
SUBJECT/THEME:
The selected artworks share a similar subject or theme (if architecture, the buildings should serve a similar function).
Examples might include:
“Images of war: victory versus defeat”
“Depicting the rural lifestyle: from Rococo to Realism”
Do NOT select the most famous examples of different periods that share little in common other than, well, being famous examples of their respective periods!
FORMAT:
A cover page is required (Does not count toward text page count)
5-6 pages of TEXT (not including the cover page, images, works cited page)
Double-spaced, 12-point font, 1-inch margins
Images with captions
Captions include: Title of Artwork (in italic), date, name of the artist, medium, size, country of origin
Please DOWNSIZE images before attaching and uploading your file
Footnotes & Work Cited page is written in Chicago Manual of Style
Works cited page does not count toward required pages of text
See PDF in writing resources folder for tips on Chicago Manual of Style
Also: “Portraits of Napoleon” has footnotes formatted in Chicago style
Last Page: Self-Proofing Checklist
Required Sources:
At least 5 references, beyond the class resources, are required for full credit
this means: you CAN use class resources (lectures, khan academy, etc),
but you ALSO need to find at least 5 resources beyond the required readings for class.
at least 2 sources must be from those on JSTOR (or comparable peer-reviewed publication)
At least 7 citations, direct or indirect quotes
No more than 25% of your paper is DIRECT quotes
All block quotes require special formatting (what’s a block quote? google it!)
On your Bibliography page, list all works referenced in your paper in alphabetical order by author’s last name.
Tip: Find references/sources on JSTOR, museum websites, look up lectures on youtube
(ie: search for “Delacroix museum lecture”)
***Questions about Chicago Manual of Style?***
Visit ChicagoManualofstyle.org to check out sample citations written in the Chicago Manual of Style
Tips for your paper:
Select objects with a shared theme or that serve a similar purpose (ie two history paintings or three portraits of rulers), this will provide a basis for comparison against the points of contrast as you write the essay.
For the example pair above: Each portrait listed by three artists draws references from the legacy of Ancient Rome to amplify the idea that the artist wanted to communicate about the sitter.
Introduce your paper with a focused statement about the theme you will address and how these artworks might be connected. Do NOT start your paper with a broad statement about “the grand function of art.” Instead, keep your paper focused from beginning to end solely on the ideas that you will address within the 4-5 pages of your essay.
For example, try to avoid broad statements and the use of “always” or “never” as written here: “Since the dawn of Western Civilization, rulers have always used art to portray themselves as a hero to the masses.”
In the later 18th Century, it was a common artistic strategy to reference Classical imagery in order to evoke specific ideas about the subject of a portrait.
Notice that you have a much better idea of what to expect from the rest of the essay following the second sentence. The paper is focused on the art of the 18th century and we will probably learn about Classical iconography as well as how and why it was a popular motif in portraiture during this time.
Think of the popular saying: “Form follows function.” This is usually true, especially of religious works or secular (meaning non-religious) objects that serve an official capacity (meaning related to the ruling forces).
Explore in your essay: How does the style and shape of the object or building:
Can you reveal the artistic / architectural influences of your example?
Try to relate the iconography in the example to the purpose of the object or building?
To do this, please explain what iconography is present and what did it mean to viewers of the time?
Describe your examples with specific details. For example, Napoleon’s cape in his portrait is not just “very colorful,” but uses a bold Crimson red! From there: What symbolic details can be related to this color here? (blood of war? symbolic of his character..how so?) Describe how the use of color and brushwork affect the emotional quality of the illustration (is it energetic? somber?)
Use Spell check on your word doc program, Grammarly, or a similar app to check for typos, spelling and grammatical errors. (I use the free version of grammarly all the time!)
Make sure you properly cite your sources! If you are unsure whether something needs to be cited… it is better to provide the citation.
I wrote my proposal & chose 2 artworks,
I attached my writing and also professor comment & idea for my essay.
Please if you have a question contact me.
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