Art 111: Museum Paper
The goal of this assignment is to learn to create an objective, accurate, detailed, and engaging
description of the formal (physical) characteristics of a work of art.
Formal Analysis:
A formal analysis is a detailed description of a work of art that reveals the ways in which
the artist used formal elements or characteristics (composition, line, shape, color, texture, etc.) to
convey the subject and/or meaning to the viewer. A strong formal analysis does not reflect a
personal response to or opinion of a work of art, but instead represents an objective attempt to
understand how the artist’s use of formal elements shape a viewer’s response.
There are many questions you might ask yourself when writing a formal analysis, and I strongly
recommend referring to the supplemental readings available on Blackboard if you are unsure of
where to begin. There is not a checklist of questions that must be answered; some will be
pertinent to your chosen work and some will not. Part of the assignment is figuring out which
questions are the most relevant to your analysis.
The Assignment:
We will be visiting the North Carolina Museum of Art (NCMA), located at 2110 Blue Ridge Rd in
Raleigh on Tuesday September 11. There you will choose a work of art to write about and take
notes on your work of art. You should make sure you record the NCMA accession number to
find a high-quality picture online of the work for later reference or you can take a photo of it
with your phone, etc. *** Please note, it is prohibited to use flash at the NCMA.
Your formal analysis should use an essay format with an introduction containing a thesis, body
paragraphs with appropriate topic sentences and transitions, and a conclusion.
The thesis of your formal analysis should answer this question: What formal characteristics of
this work of art are most significant and how do they contribute to the viewer’s understanding of
the work’s subject and/or meaning?
Your formal analysis should be 3-4 pages of text in length double spaced (not including your
heading or image page). Your submission should have one-inch margins, Times New Roman 12-
point font, and should be double-spaced with no additional space added between paragraphs.
Please upload your document in a .doc or .docx format.
Under your name at the top of the page, please list the title, artist, and NCMA’s
inventory/accession number (provided on the object’s label). At the back of the paper, please
include a decent picture of your work of art.
This paper does not use outside research. The most important part of this assignment are your
observations about the work of art, not relying on the texts or words of others.
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