Tips for Answering Art History Questions

Writing an Art History Paper.

Mocks.ie is a great website which has past art history papers, as well as tips for this years Art history exam. It is very important to study past exam papers to understand the layout of the exam as well as the types of questions that come up each year.

http://www.mocks.ie/LeavingCert/Subjects/Art.aspx

The Art History Paper is worth 37.5% of the overall art exam. 
The Art History paper is divided into three sections. You only have to answer ONE question in each section.

1) Irish Art
2)European Art
3)Art Appreciation

Essay writing Tips

You should spend time reading the question and be sure that you understand what is involved. An effective plan can make the task of essay writing more straightforward. The following points may be useful to remember.
Do not plunge straight into writing the essay without giving the reader some idea of what you are going to write about.
Underline the key words
list them using bullets
Remember once the exam starts you are allowed draw up a plan and sketch out your essay frist and you can inculde this with your finshed essay
Create a rough plan of your essay based on the key words
Do Include a brief introduction, the main body of the essay and a conclusion
Do Indicate briefly in the introduction the ideas, areas or issues you intend to cover (based on the key words you havr underlined) and your line of argument
In the main body of the essay discuss each of the areas mentioned in the introduction (based on the key words you have underlined). Include relevant argument and details.
Refer back to your list from time to time to check for relevance. It is easy to get carried away and regurgitate a lot of pre-learnt material. It may be factually accurate, but is it relevant to the question?
Make sure that each area is discussed in a separate paragraph or paragraphs
Remember to illustrate your answer. As much as ten points out of fifty are awarded for the illustration. Illustrate each section of your answer. Be sure to annotate the illustration in order to explain the significance of it to the text and the points you are making.
Past papers, in conjunction with marking schemes are useful in preparing for examination. These are a precious source of information. See the Examinations Commission Website and click on the Examination Material Archive link to access past papers: http://www.examinations.ie/
Click here to download the Record of past exams

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rRGQPJIO5CM&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Prewriting Strategies

Let's imagine, for the sake of argument, that you've been instructed to go over to the Hood Museum, to find a work of art (or two) that move(s) you, and then to write a formal analysis of the work or works in question. How do you proceed?

1. Take a pad of paper and a pencil with you so that you might record your thoughts as they occur to you. A tape recorder is an option, too.
2. Choose your work(s) carefully. Find a painting or a sculpture that "speaks" to you - not just emotionally, but intellectually as well.
3. Consider your response to the work. What emotions does it raise? What ideas does it provoke? What about the work, in particular, do you find provocative? How does the artist manage to evoke these ideas and feelings? Take notes.
4. Consider how the piece is displayed. Is it a piece that needs to be displayed in a wide open space? Do other works near it complement it? Does it need bright, high-contrast lighting? Does it welcome you to view it from up-close, or are you asked to view it from a distance? Are you seeing it in the context in which it was meant to be viewed, or was it made for a home or church vs. a museum?
5. Consider the formal elements of the work, taking note of all of your observations - big and small. Among the elements you will consider are:
• Medium. Why is the artist using this particular medium? What are its advantages? Its limitations?
• Lines. Are the lines thick or thin? Largely vertical or horizontal? Straight or curved? What is achieved by this particular use of line?
• Colour. Is the colour realistic or expressive? Warm or cool? Bright or muted? And to what effect?
• Light. How is light used? How is shadow used? Is there any play between the two? What is communicated to the viewer?
• Space. What is the sense of space in the work you've chosen? Is there great depth, or is the visual plane shallow? How are the elements of the work configured in that space? How does the sense of space affect the subject matter? Affect your response to the work?
• Composition. How do the various formal elements of the work interact? How does the composition convey the work's theme or idea? How does the eye move across the piece? How does the composition control that movement?
• Style. What elements of the composition work to constitute the artist's style? The style of the period in which the artist was/is working?
6. Consider the context of the work. When was it painted? By whom? Where? With what other works is it in conversation? What cultural or historical matters have influenced it? What cultural or historical matters does it seem to be addressing? If you don't know much about the context of the work, make a list of questions that you might wish to pursue. These questions will guide you in your library research. Remember: the exhibit will provide information. You will want to take any brochures that the museum provides.
7. Look at your notes on the formal elements of the work in question. Then return to your initial notes on your response to the work. Do you see connections between what the artist has done, formally, and your own responses? Turn then to your comments on the work's context. Does analysis of the formal elements shed any light on contextual matters? Or vice versa? When you begin to see connections between the formal elements and the larger issues of context and personal response, you begin to see how you might make an argument about art.
8. Make use of the Sherman Art Library and the college's on-line databases, such as the "Art Index" and the "Hood Museum Fine Arts Collections."

Writing Advice

In many ways, writing an Art History paper is no different from writing other kinds of papers in the Humanities. You need to focus your topic, write a thesis sentence, settle on a structure, write clear and coherent paragraphs, and tend to matters of grammar and style.

In some other ways, however, writing an Art History paper requires some understanding of the conventions of the discipline.

Remember art history is worth 37.5% of your overall Art exam so is very important  - the art history paper is 150marks & you have three sections to answer 1 ) Irish Art – you answer ONE question from this 2) E.U art – you answer ONE question from this 3) Art Appreciation – You answer ONE question from this.

All answers should be written in essay format – 2-3 pages & a page for your sketches – use your drawing skills to add details and fix up the sketches & very important that all sketches are LABELLED!