Museum Report (LACMA)

Order Description

Write a 3 page report (typed, double-spaced, with a cover page) on what you have viewed. The experience of going to LACMA. The writer will have to describe the overall impression of the museum, including the architecture, environment and collections.

Foundations of Modern Art: Museum Report Requirements

•    Document your sources, both in a bibliography and in the essay.
•    Does clarity of writing count?  Yes, of course it does!

I.    View the European Early Modern Collections,
(Late 18th – 19th century Neo-Classicism through Post-Impressionism)

II.    Write a 3 page report (typed, double-spaced, with a cover page and staple) on what you have viewed. Organize your report in the following manner:

Paragraph 1:
•    Introduce your topic, including the name of the museum you visited, its city and the date of your visit. Describe your overall impression of the museum, including the architecture, environment and collections.
Museum: Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA)
City: LA
Date: 09-15-14

Paragraph 2:
Discuss your initial impression of the European Early Modern Collections area (late 18th-19th century art).  If late 18th-19th century American Art is displayed at this museum, discuss that area, too.  Note the exhibition design (how the artwork is displayed). Highlight what impressed you (positively or negatively) regarding the exhibition design. Are the spaces well designed for the display of these important works?  Consider lighting, spacing, frames and overall display.

Paragraph 3:
Note your overall impression of the Early Modern Art Collections (European, and possibly American).  Briefly mention a few Early Modern artworks.  Include the name of the artist, the title, century and medium).  Don’t simply list the works; explain what about these works makes them most interesting to you.  How do these works relate to what we have been studying in class?

Paragraphs 4 and 5:
Choose one favorite work from the European or American Early Modern Collection to analyze in detail.  Be sure to choose a late 18th-19th century artwork by an artist listed on the Art 311 Slide List.
1. Identify the work by artist, title, medium, size and country-of-origin.
2. Describe the work in detail.  Discuss the work both in terms of style and
content.  (Style refers to what the work looks like.  Content refers to the
meaning of the work, as expressed through the subject matter and
iconography.)  What made you choose this particular work?
3. Apply appropriate terms and concepts that we have been studying in
class.
4. What was the artist’s (and perhaps patron’s) intent?

Paragraph 6: Conclusion
1. Note your personal opinions regarding the museum, its collections and
your chosen artwork. What was your overall impression of the
museum and your visit?
2. Note the website address of the museum.  How did your museum visit                 compare to the website?

Final Page: Cite your sources!
This is not a research paper.  I want your impressions of what you viewed, not an art-historian’s research.  However, when you obtain information from the museum plaques, docents, website, catalog or from any other source (including your textbook or class lectures), you must note the source in both the body of your essay (parenthetical notation is OK) and in a Works Cited page at the end of your essay.  Use the MLA format to cite your sources.  Not citing ones sources is a type of plagiarism.  If you do not cite your sources, you will receive no credit (a grade of zero) for your report.

Artist to choose:
Barbizon Painters:
Theodore Rousseau (1812-1867)
Narcisse-Virgile Diaz de la Pena (1807 or 1808 – 1876)
Constant Troyon (1810-1865)
Jules Dupre (1811-1889)
American Romantic Landscape Painters:
Frederick Church (1826-1900)
Albert Bierstadt (1830-1902)
Honore Daumier (1808-1879)
Gustave Courbet (1819-1877)
Stars of the Salon
Alexandre Cabanel (1823-1889)
Thomas Couture (1815-1879)
William-Adolphe Bouguereau (1825-1905)
Jean-Louis-Ernest Meissonier (1815-1891)
Edouard Manet (1832-1883)
Edgar Degas (1834-1917
Claude Monet (1840-1926)
Pierre-Auguste Renoir (1841-1919)