Art Essay Examples
Art Essay Examples to Get You Inspired - Top 10 Samples
Published on: May 4, 2023
Last updated on: Oct 28, 2024
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Are you struggling to come up with ideas for your art essay? Or are you looking for examples to help guide you in the right direction?
Look no further, as we have got you covered!
In this blog, we provide a range of art writing examples that cover different art forms, time periods, and themes. Whether you're interested in the classics or contemporary art, we have something for everyone. These examples offer insight into how to structure your essay, analyze art pieces, and write compelling arguments.
So, let's explore our collection of art essay examples and take the first step toward becoming a better art writer!
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Good Art Essay Examples
In the following section, we will examine a selection of art essay examples that are inspiring for various academic levels.
College Art Essay Examples
Let’s take a look at college art essay examples below:
The Intersection of Art and Politics: An Analysis of Picasso's Guernica
The Role of Nature in American Art: A Comparative Study
University Art Essay Examples
University-level art essay assignments often differ in length and complexity. Here are two examples:
Gender and Identity in Contemporary Art: A Comparative Study
Art and Activism: The Role of Street Art in Political Movements
A Level Art Essay Examples
Below are some art paper examples A level. Check out:
The Use Of Color In Wassily Kandinsky's Composition Viii
The Influence of African Art on Pablo Picasso's Les Demoiselles D'avignon
A Level Fine Art Essay Examples
If you're a student of fine arts, these A-level fine arts examples can serve as inspiration for your own work.
The Use Of Texture In Vincent Van Gogh's Starry Night
Exploring Identity Through Portraiture: A Comparative Study
Art Essay Examples IELTS
The Impact of Art on Mental Health
The Effects of Technology on Art And Creativity
Paper Due? Why Suffer? That's our Job!
AP Art Essay Examples
A Comparison of Neoclassical and Romantic Art
An Examination Of The Effects Of Globalization On Contemporary Art
Types of Art Essay with Examples
Art essays can be categorized into different types. Let's take a brief look at these types with examples:
Art Criticism Essay : A critical essay analyzing and evaluating an artwork, its elements, and its meaning.
Example:
The Persistence of Memory" by Salvador Dali: A Critical Analysis
Art History Essay: A comprehensive essay that examines the historical context, development, and significance of an artwork or art movement.
The Renaissance: A Rebirth of Artistic Expression
Exhibition Review: A review of an art exhibition that evaluates the quality and significance of the artwork on display.
A Review of the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Exhibition
Contemporary Art Essay: An essay that explores and analyzes contemporary art and its cultural and social context.
The Intersection of Technology and Art in Contemporary Society
Modern Art Essay: An essay that examines modern art and its significance in the development of modernism.
Cubism and its Influence on Modern Art [insert pdf]
Art Theory Essay: An essay that analyzes and critiques various theories and approaches to art.
Feminist Art Theory: A Critical Analysis of its Impact on Contemporary Art [insert pdf]
Additional Art Essay Example
Let’s take a brief look at some added art essay samples:
Artwork Essay Example
Artist Essay Example
Advanced Higher Art Essay Example
Common Art Essay Prompts
Here are some common art essay topics that you may encounter during your coursework:
- Describe a piece of artwork that has inspired you.
- A comparative analysis of Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa and Michelangelo's David.
- Analyze the cultural significance of a particular art movement.
- Discuss the relationship between art and politics.
- Compare and contrast two works of art from different time periods or cultures.
- The representation of identity in art
- The Evolution of Artists' Paintings:
- From Traditional to Contemporary Art
- The representation of identity in Frida Kahlo's self-portraits.
- The significance of oil on canvas in the history of art.
- The significance of the Mona Lisa in the Italian Renaissance
Art Essay Topics IELTS
Here are some art essay topics for IELTS students. Take a look:
- The value of art education.
- The role of museums in preserving art and culture.
- The impact of globalization on contemporary art.
- The influence of technology on art and artists.
- The significance of public art in urban environments.
Looking for more aesthetic topics? Check out our art essay topics blog for more interesting ideas!
Tips For Writing a Successful Art Essay
Here are some tips for writing a stand-out art essay:
- Develop a clear thesis statement that guides your essay: Your thesis statement should clearly and concisely state the main argument of your essay.
- Conduct thorough research and analysis of the artwork you are writing about : This includes examining the visual elements of the artwork, researching the artist, and considering the historical significance.
- Use formal and precise language to discuss the artwork: Avoid using colloquial language and instead focus on using formal language to describe the artwork.
- Include specific examples from the artwork to support your arguments: Use specific details from the artwork to back up your analysis.
- Avoid personal bias and subjective language: Your essay should be objective and avoid using personal opinions or subjective language.
- Consider the historical and cultural context of the artwork: Analyze the artwork in the context of the time period and cultural context in which they were created.
- Edit and proofread your essay carefully before submitting it: Ensure your essay is well-organized, coherent, and free of grammatical errors and typos.
- Use proper citation format when referencing sources: Follow the appropriate citation style guidelines and give credit to all sources used in your essay.
- Be concise and focused in your writing: Stick to your main thesis statement and avoid going off-topic or including irrelevant information.
- Read your essay aloud to ensure clarity and coherence: Reading your essay out loud can help you identify inconsistencies or any other mistakes.
The Bottom Line!
We hope that the art essay examples we've explored have provided you with inspiration for your own essay. Art offers endless possibilities for analysis, and your essay is a chance to showcase your unique opinions.
Use these examples as a guide to craft an essay that reflects your personality while demonstrating your knowledge of the subject.
Short on time? Let CollegeEssay.org help you! All you have to do is to ask our experts, " write college essay for me " and they'll help you secure top grades in college.
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Take the first step towards excellence in your art studies with our AI essay writer !
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Introduction to Art 30,000 years of human creativity
The history of art is a vast story of human creativity, a record of our passions and struggles from before written history through today. Obelisk is a free, online art history textbook, sharing the wild, tragic and inspiring stories of artists and their work from 30,000 BCE through Modern Art. Obelisk is designed for discovery, a cross-linked web of artworks, biographies and writings, a choose-your-own-adventure where every path leads you to something new and interesting.
Meet the artists , discover artwork , or explore the timeline . But if you'd like to learn more about how to look at and understand art, the next few pages describe the visual language of art, the ways we can understand it, and why art is important. So dig in!
Art History Methodologies
Eight ways to understand art
Is there such a thing as Bad Art?
Yes, but it's complicated
Categorizing Art
Can we make sense of it all?
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Writing Essays in Art History
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Art History Analysis – Formal Analysis and Stylistic Analysis
Typically in an art history class the main essay students will need to write for a final paper or for an exam is a formal or stylistic analysis.
A formal analysis is just what it sounds like – you need to analyze the form of the artwork. This includes the individual design elements – composition, color, line, texture, scale, contrast, etc. Questions to consider in a formal analysis is how do all these elements come together to create this work of art? Think of formal analysis in relation to literature – authors give descriptions of characters or places through the written word. How does an artist convey this same information?
Organize your information and focus on each feature before moving onto the text – it is not ideal to discuss color and jump from line to then in the conclusion discuss color again. First summarize the overall appearance of the work of art – is this a painting? Does the artist use only dark colors? Why heavy brushstrokes? etc and then discuss details of the object – this specific animal is gray, the sky is missing a moon, etc. Again, it is best to be organized and focused in your writing – if you discuss the animals and then the individuals and go back to the animals you run the risk of making your writing unorganized and hard to read. It is also ideal to discuss the focal of the piece – what is in the center? What stands out the most in the piece or takes up most of the composition?
A stylistic approach can be described as an indicator of unique characteristics that analyzes and uses the formal elements (2-D: Line, color, value, shape and 3-D all of those and mass).The point of style is to see all the commonalities in a person’s works, such as the use of paint and brush strokes in Van Gogh’s work. Style can distinguish an artist’s work from others and within their own timeline, geographical regions, etc.
Methods & Theories To Consider:
Expressionism
Instructuralism
Postmodernism
Social Art History
Biographical Approach
Poststructuralism
Museum Studies
Visual Cultural Studies
Stylistic Analysis Example:
The following is a brief stylistic analysis of two Greek statues, an example of how style has changed because of the “essence of the age.” Over the years, sculptures of women started off as being plain and fully clothed with no distinct features, to the beautiful Venus/Aphrodite figures most people recognize today. In the mid-seventh century to the early fifth, life-sized standing marble statues of young women, often elaborately dress in gaily painted garments were created known as korai. The earliest korai is a Naxian women to Artemis. The statue wears a tight-fitted, belted peplos, giving the body a very plain look. The earliest korai wore the simpler Dorian peplos, which was a heavy woolen garment. From about 530, most wear a thinner, more elaborate, and brightly painted Ionic linen and himation. A largely contrasting Greek statue to the korai is the Venus de Milo. The Venus from head to toe is six feet seven inches tall. Her hips suggest that she has had several children. Though her body shows to be heavy, she still seems to almost be weightless. Viewing the Venus de Milo, she changes from side to side. From her right side she seems almost like a pillar and her leg bears most of the weight. She seems be firmly planted into the earth, and since she is looking at the left, her big features such as her waist define her. The Venus de Milo had a band around her right bicep. She had earrings that were brutally stolen, ripping her ears away. Venus was noted for loving necklaces, so it is very possibly she would have had one. It is also possible she had a tiara and bracelets. Venus was normally defined as “golden,” so her hair would have been painted. Two statues in the same region, have throughout history, changed in their style.
Compare and Contrast Essay
Most introductory art history classes will ask students to write a compare and contrast essay about two pieces – examples include comparing and contrasting a medieval to a renaissance painting. It is always best to start with smaller comparisons between the two works of art such as the medium of the piece. Then the comparison can include attention to detail so use of color, subject matter, or iconography. Do the same for contrasting the two pieces – start small. After the foundation is set move on to the analysis and what these comparisons or contrasting material mean – ‘what is the bigger picture here?’ Consider why one artist would wish to show the same subject matter in a different way, how, when, etc are all questions to ask in the compare and contrast essay. If during an exam it would be best to quickly outline the points to make before tackling writing the essay.
Compare and Contrast Example:
Stele of Hammurabi from Susa (modern Shush, Iran), ca. 1792 – 1750 BCE, Basalt, height of stele approx. 7’ height of relief 28’
Stele, relief sculpture, Art as propaganda – Hammurabi shows that his law code is approved by the gods, depiction of land in background, Hammurabi on the same place of importance as the god, etc.
Top of this stele shows the relief image of Hammurabi receiving the law code from Shamash, god of justice, Code of Babylonian social law, only two figures shown, different area and time period, etc.
Stele of Naram-sin , Sippar Found at Susa c. 2220 - 2184 bce. Limestone, height 6'6"
Stele, relief sculpture, Example of propaganda because the ruler (like the Stele of Hammurabi) shows his power through divine authority, Naramsin is the main character due to his large size, depiction of land in background, etc.
Akkadian art, made of limestone, the stele commemorates a victory of Naramsin, multiple figures are shown specifically soldiers, different area and time period, etc.
Iconography
Regardless of what essay approach you take in class it is absolutely necessary to understand how to analyze the iconography of a work of art and to incorporate into your paper. Iconography is defined as subject matter, what the image means. For example, why do things such as a small dog in a painting in early Northern Renaissance paintings represent sexuality? Additionally, how can an individual perhaps identify these motifs that keep coming up?
The following is a list of symbols and their meaning in Marriage a la Mode by William Hogarth (1743) that is a series of six paintings that show the story of marriage in Hogarth’s eyes.
- Man has pockets turned out symbolizing he has lost money and was recently in a fight by the state of his clothes.
- Lap dog shows loyalty but sniffs at woman’s hat in the husband’s pocket showing sexual exploits.
- Black dot on husband’s neck believed to be symbol of syphilis.
- Mantel full of ugly Chinese porcelain statues symbolizing that the couple has no class.
- Butler had to go pay bills, you can tell this by the distasteful look on his face and that his pockets are stuffed with bills and papers.
- Card game just finished up, women has directions to game under foot, shows her easily cheating nature.
- Paintings of saints line a wall of the background room, isolated from the living, shows the couple’s complete disregard to faith and religion.
- The dangers of sexual excess are underscored in the Hograth by placing Cupid among ruins, foreshadowing the inevitable ruin of the marriage.
- Eventually the series (other five paintings) shows that the woman has an affair, the men duel and die, the woman hangs herself and the father takes her ring off her finger symbolizing the one thing he could salvage from the marriage.