essay topics for art appreciation

Essay Writing Guide

Last updated on: Nov 20, 2023

Art Topics - 200+ Brilliant Ideas to Begin With

By: Nova A.

14 min read

Reviewed By: Rylee W.

Published on: Apr 23, 2019

Are you a student struggling to find interesting and engaging art topics for your assignments or projects?

The world of art is vast and diverse, offering countless possibilities for exploration and creative expression. However, with so many options available, it can be overwhelming to narrow down your focus. But fret not, as we're here to help you navigate this artistic maze! 

In this blog, we will provide you with a curated list of fascinating art topics that will inspire your creativity and make your assignments stand out. Whether you're interested in exploring different art movements or delving into the cultural and historical significance of art, we've got you covered.

So let’s get started!

On this Page

Art Topics For Students

Here are some engaging art topics to write about that will spark your creativity and deepen your understanding of the artistic world.

• The Impressionist movement and its impact on art.
• Exploring the use of color in abstract art.
• The influence of nature in landscape painting.
• The evolution of portraiture throughout history.
• The symbolism in still life paintings.
• The role of art in social and political activism.
• Exploring different art mediums: painting, sculpture, photography, etc.
• The connection between art and emotions.
• Exploring cultural diversity in art.
• The representation of mythology in art.

Art Topics for Elementary Students

Here's a table with three columns containing art topics suitable for grades 3, 4, and 5:

History Art Topics

We always turn back and refer to history in hopes of avoiding past mistakes and learning new things. The same goes for art history. It provides us with a great number of exciting subjects and topics.

You can write about any art movement, time period, and school, talk about their origin and uniqueness, etc. Following are some amazing topics related to history that can help you draft an exceptional piece of writing. 

• Egyptians used the same art canon for 3000 years. Why?
• The history and techniques used in printmaking.
• What is the philosophy of art? Explain the relationship between art and philosophy.
• African countries and the return of cultural property post World War II.
• Discuss primeval musical instruments.
• Stained glass in Medieval France.
• Venetian carnival masks and their history.
• Human sacrifice in Mayan culture and its depiction in art.
• Components of sculptures in Ancient Greece.
• Draw a comparison between Egyptian and Mesoamerican pyramids.
• The history and origin of Greek theater.
• Biblical motives in the early paintings of Leonardo da Vinci.
• The significance of Christian symbols in Renaissance art.
• The beauty standards of Renaissance women.
• The significance of Raphael’s work.

Art Topics on Artist Bibliography

Artist’s bibliographies make up for interesting essay topics. You never know what you might find going deep into their personal and professional lives, struggles, childhood, and their thinking and ideas.

We have gathered a list of artists from the 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries, respectively, for you to choose for your upcoming art essay.

18th Century

• William Blake
• Francisco Goya
• J. M. W. Turner
• Samuel Morse
• Jacques-Louis David
• Eugene Delacroix
• Thomas Gainsborough
• Mikhail Lomonosov
• John James Audubon
• Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
• Katsushika Hokusai
• Marie Tussaud
• E. T. A. Hoffmann
• Grandma Moses

19th Century

• Vincent Willem Van Gogh
• Claude Manet
• Gustav Klimt
• Rabindranath Tagore
• Henri-Émile-Benoît Matisse
• Hilaire Germain Edgar
• Auguste Renoir
• Georges Seurat
• Alfred Sisley
• Edgar Degas
• Paul Cezanne
• John Everett Millais
• Frederic Remington
• Thomas Lawrence
• Adolf Menzel

20th Century

• Louise Bourgeois
• Marcel Duchamp
• Frida Kahlo
• Pablo Picasso
• Judy Chicago
• Cindy Sherman
• Andy Warhol
• Henry Spencer Moore
• Georgia Totto O’Keeffe
• Alberto Giacometti
• David Smith
• Vanessa Bell
• Frank Lloyd Wright
• Benny Andrews

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Art Topics on Different Epochs

The 18th century was an era of lavish architecture and musicians.

• Influence of industrial revolution on art development.
• Late Baroque architecture.
• Rococo interior design.
• Importance of Denis Diderot’s critiques of French art in the 18th century.
• Neoclassicism sculpture: A combination of new and old ideas.
• Comparison between Baroque and Rococo art designs.
• Well-known composers of First Viennese School.
• Marquis de Sade and its contribution to literature.
• Significance of Denis Diderot’s criticism of French Art.
• History of the famous Eugene Delacroix’s paintings.

The work of the artists of the 19th century.

• Vincent van Gogh’s The Starry Night and its colorists.
• Why is the carving of the Veiled Virgin by Giovanni Strazza so special?
• How were the Victorian beauty standards portrayed in their art?
• Monet’s Sunrise: what is so special about the light?
• Dancing paintings by Edgar Degas.
• Changes in the methodology of Impressionism paintings.
• Artists and their depiction of Victorian beauty standards.
• The relation between Goya’s prints and French caricatures.
• The historical significance of Francisco de Goya’s paintings.
• Paul Gauguin's savage art.

20th-century movements

• Art Deco and Art Nouveau: similarities and differences.
• Surrealism in Salvador Dali’s sculptures.
• Basic principles of futurism.
• Frida Kahlo’s paintings and the most commonly used symbol in them.
• Techniques used in Jackson Pollock’s art?
• The Kiss by Gustav Klimt: discuss its styles.
• Jasper Johns Flag: realistic and artificial motifs.
• Futurism and its basic principles.
• Unusual techniques in the art of Jackson Pollock.
• Evolution of mannerism in Pablo Picasso’s paintings.

Art Therapy Topics

Art therapy is a worthwhile resource to explore. Here is an interesting list of art therapy topic ideas that you can consider before starting your writing process.

• Art therapy as an industry.
• Art Therapy a Form of Psychotherapy.
• Art Therapy in Abused Children.
• Art for Communities and Families.
• Art therapy and the creative process.
• Benefits of art therapy.
• Art Therapy in Group Setting.
• Art Therapy in Children and its Effectiveness.
• Quantitative Research in Art Therapy.
• The Power of Art Therapy.
• Techniques Used For Art Therapy.
• Losing Yourself in Art.
• Art Therapy Resources.
• Art Therapy Activities.
• Art therapy and mental health.

Art Debate Topics

Coming up with an interesting Art debate topic can be tricky. There are a number of things that you need to consider when coming up with an interesting topic. Following are some of the unique  debate topics  ideas that you can consider choosing.

• Should abstract be considered a type of art?
• Should art be recognized more academically?
• Should kids draw horror art?
• The purpose of art.
• Is it possible to appreciate art without liking it?
• Art vs. Design.
• How important is art for children's education?
• How art affects and reflects the world.
• Is Art Really Necessary Anymore?
• Was Hitler’s contribution to the arts powerful?
• Modern art and its legitimacy.
• Critiquing styles of Harold Rosenberg and Clement Greenberg.
• The uniqueness of Russian artists.
• How is primitivism real art?

Art Persuasive Speech Topics

When given to come up with a persuasive speech, it is often up to students to choose a topic.

Choosing the right topic is not an easy task. Here you can find some of the interesting art persuasive speech topic ideas to help you start the process.

• Do some pets pose a danger to the community?
• Is battery farming ethical?
• Why should art classes be enforced in all public schools?
• How can one benefit from having a pet?
• What makes a dog a perfect pet?
• How are dolphins important to the environment?
• Reasons why you should not raise wild animals as pets
• What we lose when animals go extinct.
• Reasons why students should be taught to play musical instruments in school.
• Significance of learning different languages.
• Why should graffiti be considered art?
• Why should museums be free for citizens?
• Significance of cultural art education in schools
• Effectiveness of music therapy.
• How cultural interactions can make people successful professionally?

You can also explore articles to find more  persuasive speech topic ideas  on  5StarEssays.com  and write compelling essays.

Art Topics on Different Cultures

• How has pop art influenced American culture?
• Styles and material used in Japanese calligraphy.
• How does the henna pattern differ in the Middle East, India, and Africa?
• Asian tribes: their fashion and textile.
• Maori culture: war dance haka.
• Bollywood and the Hindi film industry.
• Why should inappropriate language in English literature be removed?
• Bollywood dance routines Vs. Americans.
• History and significance of pop music culture.
• Why should art therapy be covered in medical health insurance in different parts of the world?
• Pros and cons of watching Sci-Fi films.
• Comparison between the romantic comedy of Hollywood Vs. Bollywood.
• Features of Irani cinema.
• Significance of sitar in Hindu culture.
• Contemporary dance forms in different cultures.

Art Topics on Ancient Civilization

• Influence of science on Ancient Greek sculptures
• Explain the main reasons for the shift in Roman artistic style in the 4th century.
• The Great Wall of China and its construction.
• Women and Politics in Ancient Rome.
• Female representation in Ancient Art.
• Art and architecture in Ancient Times.
• The story behind the art and architecture of Ancient Rome.
• Describe Ancient Greek literature and theater.
• Contribution of Ancient Civilizations to the modern art
• Depiction of beauty in Ancient Art

Art Research Paper Topics

Despite the fact that art cannot be measured with figures as its value depends on personal impressions, it still can be a subject for research.

It is quite a challenging task to study something full of emotions. But don’t worry, as there is much credible data that you can include in your research paper only if you choose the right topic.

Following are some of the interesting topic ideas that you can choose to start with.

• Gothic and Neo-Gothic.
• Comparison of Nazi and Soviet art.
• Can abstract art be decoded?
• The art of disgusting.
• Bauhaus movement.
• Surrealist movement.
• Photography as art.
• History and origin of Abstract Expressionism.
• Similarities and differences between Claude Monnet and Edouard Manet.
• How cultural identity affects the creation of art?
• Breaking stereotypes through art and literature.
• Limitations of the performance art.
• Mysterious photography and artwork of Vivian Maier.
• Jazz music of the 19th century.
• Hidden meanings in the famous paintings.

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Modern Art Topics

Modern art consists of interesting movements, styles, and forms. Choose any of the below topics to write on.

• The abstract expressionism movement.
• Pablo Picasso, founder of cubism.
• Impressionism Vs. Cubism.
• Development of American pop art.
• Is contemporary art merely a way for greedy capitalists to make money?
• Political cartoons as an art form.
• Are people scared of modern art?
• History and techniques of printmaking.
• The definition of “Philosophy of Arts.”
• The artistic styles of Art Deco.

Art History Compare and Contrast Essay Topics

Writing a compare and contrast essay isn’t easy, but it allows you to learn a great deal about different time periods, artists and their work and movements, etc.

• Picasso’s blue and rose periods: similarities and differences.
• Baroque and Rococo design styles: compare and analyze.
• Traditional vs. Modern Caribbean music.
• Renaissance vs. Baroque Epoch
• What are the main differences between Picasso and Leonardo Da Vinci?
• Roman Vs. Greek mythology.
• Venus de Milo Vs. The Thinker.
• Similarities and differences between the artworks of the 18th and 19th centuries.
• The artwork of India and Africa.
• Styles and techniques of painting landscapes.

We have added a variety of more compare and contrast essay topics in this blog; go check it out.

Art Argumentative Essay Topics

• The most significant piece of art of the 20th century and why?
• Graffiti art or vandalism?
• Banksy artist or vandal?
• What contributed to making Paris a center of art in the 20th century?
• Why do we need art in our lives?
• Why is TV becoming obsolete?
• Significance of print media in current times.
• Advantages of listening to classical music.
• How painting can help treat mental illnesses.

Need more argumentative essay topics? Check out our blog on  argumentative essay topics .

Cause and Effect Essay Topics on Art

• Did iconoclasm affect Muslim art, and how?
• Causes of the decline of art in Medieval Europe?
• How has the cultural revolution influenced Chinese art?
• The invention of the printing press changed the status of the mass media. Examples must be provided to support your position.
• Raphael’s influence on the art of the Renaissance.
• Influence of Hitler’s work on literature.
• Influence of WWI of art.
• Influence of WWII on literature.
• How the work of William Blake paved the path for modern art?
• How did art influence the people during Hitler’s time?

Art Topics For Presentation

• The evolution of street art: From graffiti to mainstream acceptance.
• The impact of technology on contemporary art.
• Art therapy: The healing power of creativity.
• Women artists throughout history: Challenging gender norms and making their mark.
• Exploring cultural appropriation in art: Appreciation vs. exploitation.
• Art and environmental activism: Raising awareness through creative expression.
• The influence of ancient civilizations on modern art.
• Art as a form of storytelling: Narrative elements in visual arts.
• The role of art museums in preserving and promoting artistic heritage.
• The intersection of art and science: The fusion of creativity and innovation.

Performing Arts Topics

• The influence of dance in different cultures
• The evolution of musical theater
• The impact of technology on contemporary dance performances.
• The portrayal of social issues in modern dance
• The role of improvisation in theater
• Exploring different styles of classical music
• The significance of costume design in theater
• How music influences our feelings and experiences.
• The power of storytelling through puppetry
• The fusion of traditional and contemporary elements in multicultural performances.

Literary Arts Topics

• Exploring the use of symbols to convey deeper meanings.
• The evolution of the novel: From its early forms to modern genres.
• The impact of postcolonial literature
• Exploring magical realism in literature: Blending reality and the fantastical.
• The role of satire in social critique
• Women writers and the feminist literary movement
• The portrayal of mental health in literature
• The influence of mythology in contemporary literature
• Analyzing the portrayal of bleak future societies.
• The power of storytelling in oral traditions

Art and Society Topics

• Art as a vehicle for social change
• How art shapes and revitalizes communities.
• Exploring the intersection of art, capitalism, and consumer culture.
• Analyzing instances of art being censored or restricted due to societal or political factors.
• Examining the benefits and challenges of arts education in schools.
• Exploring the therapeutic benefits of engaging with art.
• How artists express and challenge notions of race, gender, sexuality, and culture.
• Examining the relationship between art, digital media, and technological advancements.
• Exploring how artists respond to and raise awareness about ecological issues.
• Analyzing art projects that promote dialogue, collaboration, and inclusivity within communities.

Art Topics for Personal Development

• Art journaling for self-reflection and growth
• The power of imagination and artistic expression to manifest personal goals and aspirations.
• Exploring art techniques as a form of meditation and cultivating present moment awareness.
• Using art-making as a means to reduce stress, promote relaxation, and enhance well-being.
• Creating visual representations of personal stories and experiences.
• Using different art mediums to process and communicate emotions.
• Utilizing collage or mixed media techniques to visually represent personal goals and aspirations.
• Engaging in artistic activities to explore personal identity, values, and beliefs.
• Using art-making as a means to cope with and overcome challenges and adversity.
• Experimenting with different art styles and mediums to discover one's unique artistic voice.

Miscellaneous Art Essay Topics

• Contemporary artists, you like and why?
• What is your opinion on true art: what is it?
• If you are an artist, how would you explain your kind of art to others?
• Does life and nature influence art?
• What are your views on art therapy?
• Difference between a French and American artist.
• History and evaluation of animation
• Significance of censorship
• Origin of Crop art
• Urban sculptures and their significance
• What is fiber art?
• The emergence of textile arts
• History of graphic novels
• Interactive art of modern times
• Introduction and significance of tramp art?

In conclusion, choosing an art topic is an important and personal decision for an art student. It's a process that involves self-reflection, exploration, and experimentation. By reflecting on your interests, researching, and seeking inspiration, you can discover the subjects that truly ignite your creativity. 

Remember, there's no right or wrong answer when it comes to art topics. The key is to follow your passion and enjoy the journey of artistic exploration. 

So, whichever topic you choose, just add it to our AI essay generator and get an AI essay for reference. 

Or, if you need help writing a high-quality paper, feel free to contact 5StarEssays.com expert essay writers. Simply request ‘ write my essay ’ and get assistance for all types of academic essays and papers. 

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As a Digital Content Strategist, Nova Allison has eight years of experience in writing both technical and scientific content. With a focus on developing online content plans that engage audiences, Nova strives to write pieces that are not only informative but captivating as well.

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1.1: What Is Art Appreciation?

• Last updated
• Save as PDF
• Page ID 31973

• Deborah Gustlin & Zoe Gustlin
• Evergreen Valley College via ASCCC Open Educational Resources Initiative

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What Is Art Appreciation?

Appreciation of the visual arts goes beyond staring at a painting hanging on the wall of a museum—art is in everything and everywhere you look. Opening your eyes to the world of art is essential in understanding the world around you. Art is more than pretentious museums; only a few enter and comprehend. Instead, art appreciation is:

• Gaining the knowledge to understand the art.
• Acquire the art methods and materials to discuss art verbally or by the written word.
• Ability to identify the movements from ancient cultures to today's contemporary art.

Learning how to appreciate art is a necessary cultural foundation enabling people to critically analyze art, art forms, and how cultures used art. All it takes to understand the art is just to look!

Art appreciation centers on the ability to view art throughout history, focusing on the cultures and the people, and how art developed in the specific periods. It is difficult to understand art without understanding the culture, their use of materials, and a sense of beauty. Art is conveyed by the simple act of creating art for art's sake. Every person is born with the innate desire to create art, and similar to other professions, training is essential in honing skills to produce art. Art education broadens a person's comprehension, development, and visions of art. Art brings an understanding of diversity, how people lived in the past, and connects the issues concerning contemporary life and art today.

The history of the world is similarly the history of art, continually intertwined. For millions of years, as humans roamed the earth, evolution, and environment shaped many different cultures depending on location, weather, natural resources, and food. These cultures formed the foundation of all art today. Art appreciation analyzes art using the methods and materials, allowing people to make connections to the context of art and the interactions of societies.

It is difficult to understand the art without understanding the culture.

ARTH101: Art Appreciation

Course introduction.

• Time: 33 hours
• College Credit Recommended ($25 Proctor Fee) -->
• Free Certificate
• Description : A work of art from an objective point of view – its physical attributes and formal construction.
• Analysis : A detailed look at a work of art that combines physical attributes with subjective statements based on the viewer's reaction to the work.
• Context : Historical, religious, or environmental information that surrounds a particular work of art and which helps to understand the work's meaning.
• Meaning : A statement of the work's content. A message or narrative to express the subject matter.
• Judgment : A critical point of view about a work of art concerning its aesthetic or cultural value.

After completing this course, you will be able to interpret works of art based on this five-step system, explain the processes involved in artistic production, identify the many kinds of issues that artists examine in their work, and explain the role and effect of the visual arts in different social, historical and cultural contexts.

Course Syllabus

First, read the course syllabus. Then, enroll in the course by clicking "Enroll me". Click Unit 1 to read its introduction and learning outcomes. You will then see the learning materials and instructions on how to use them.

Unit 1: Defining Art

How do we define art? For many people, art is a tangible thing: a painting, sculpture, photograph, dance, poem, or play. Art is uniquely human and tied directly to culture. As an expressive medium, art allows us to experience a wide range of emotions, such as joy or sorrow, confusion or clarity. Art gives voice to ideas and feelings, connects us to the past, reflects the present, and anticipates the future. Visual art is a rich and complex subject, and its definition is in flux as the culture around it changes. This unit examines how art is defined and the different ways it functions in societies and cultures.

Completing this unit should take you approximately 2 hours.

Unit 2: Who Makes Art – Process and Training

In this unit, we explore artistic processes in their social contexts, covering individual artists turning their ideas into works of art, forms of collaborative creative projects, public art, and the role of the viewer.

Completing this unit should take you approximately 1 hour.

Unit 3: How Art Speaks – Finding Meaning

Art asks us questions and conveys meaning. It expresses ideas, uncovers truths, manifests what is beautiful, and tells stories. In this unit, we begin to explore the meaning behind particular works of art within the context of various styles and cultures. We introduce the conceptual tools professional art critics use to interpret art. During this activity, you will provide your own interpretation of a piece of art. You should return to this activity after you have completed this course and review your response.

Unit 4: How Art Works – The Principles of Visual Language

In this unit, we study the terms used to describe and analyze any work of art. We will explore the principles of design – how the artist arranges and orchestrates the elements they use. Just as spoken language is based on phonemes, syntax, and semantics, visual art is based on elements and principles that, when used together, create works that communicate ideas and meaning to the viewer . We can think of them as the building blocks of an artwork's composition – the organized layout of an image or object according to the principles of design.

Completing this unit should take you approximately 3 hours.

Unit 5: Artistic Media

Artists find all sorts of ways to express themselves and use almost any resource that is available. Making extraordinary images and objects from various but somewhat ordinary materials is a mark of creativity. Using charcoal, paper, thread, paint, ink – and even found objects such as leaves – artists continue to search for ways to construct and deliver their message. In this unit, we look at artworks created from two- and three-dimensional media and artworks made using different types of cameras.

Completing this unit should take you approximately 4 hours.

Unit 6: Architecture

In this unit, we explore architecture, its history, and its relation to visual art. Architecture is the art and science of designing structures and spaces for human use. Architectural design is an art form realized through considerations of spatial design and aesthetics. Related to sculpture, architecture creates three-dimensional objects that serve human purposes and form visual relationships with the surrounding areas.

Unit 7: Our World – Nature, the Body, Identity, Sexuality, Politics, and Power

In this unit, we explore how artists express and interpret our world. If nothing else, visual art provides an avenue for self-expression. As a primary source of inspiration, artists express attitudes, feelings, and sentiments about their environment through personal experiences, social interaction, and relationships with the natural world. In short, art helps us perceive and react to our place in the world. In Unit 1, we referred to description as one of many roles art adopts, but description is often imbued with the artist's subjective take on the world. In this unit, we examine how art operates as a vehicle for human expression – a kind of collective visual metaphor that helps us define who we are.

Unit 8: Other Worlds – Mortality, the Spirit, and Fantasy

Humans use art to capture ideas about worlds outside our own. Art can be a vehicle for myth, which uses narrative to convey truths about human nature. Art also expresses hard-to-articulate aspects of spiritual worlds, which are products of religious practices. Cultures use iconography to symbolize abstract ideas, such as dreams, love, power, and emotion, and societies call on the artist to create them. Art also plays a significant role in rituals and ceremonies. In this unit, we explore how artists materialize human thought, belief, and imagination through art.

Unit 9: Art in Time and Place – The Western and Near Eastern World

The era and location where a work of art was created often determine the formal and stylistic aspects of the piece. In this unit, we study the evolution of art in time and place in the Western world. We will help you develop the tools you need to identify major formal and stylistic trends that punctuate the timeline of Western art history. This approach will allow you to witness the relationship between works of art and their specific social-historical contexts. You will also see a certain continuum that runs through Western art from Ancient Greece to modern times.

Completing this unit should take you approximately 1 4 hours.

Study Guide

This study guide will help you get ready for the final exam. It discusses the key topics in each unit, walks through the learning outcomes, and lists important vocabulary. It is not meant to replace the course materials!

Course Feedback Survey

Please take a few minutes to give us feedback about this course. We appreciate your feedback, whether you completed the whole course or even just a few resources. Your feedback will help us make our courses better, and we use your feedback each time we make updates to our courses.  If you come across any urgent problems, email [email protected].

Certificate Final Exam

Take this exam if you want to earn a free Course Completion Certificate.

To receive a free Course Completion Certificate, you will need to earn a grade of 70% or higher on this final exam. Your grade for the exam will be calculated as soon as you complete it. If you do not pass the exam on your first try, you can take it again as many times as you want, with a 7-day waiting period between each attempt.

Once you pass this final exam, you will be awarded a free Course Completion Certificate .

Saylor Direct Credit

Take this exam if you want to earn college credit for this course . This course is eligible for college credit through Saylor Academy's Saylor Direct Credit Program .

The Saylor Direct Credit Final Exam requires a proctoring fee of $5 . To pass this course and earn a Credly Badge and official transcript , you will need to earn a grade of 70% or higher on the Saylor Direct Credit Final Exam. Your grade for this exam will be calculated as soon as you complete it. If you do not pass the exam on your first try, you can take it again a maximum of 3 times , with a 14-day waiting period between each attempt.

We are partnering with SmarterProctoring to help make the proctoring fee more affordable. We will be recording you, your screen, and the audio in your room during the exam. This is an automated proctoring service, but no decisions are automated; recordings are only viewed by our staff with the purpose of making sure it is you taking the exam and verifying any questions about exam integrity. We understand that there are challenges with learning at home - we won't invalidate your exam just because your child ran into the room!

Requirements:

• Desktop Computer
• Chrome (v74+)
• Webcam + Microphone
• 1mbps+ Internet Connection

Once you pass this final exam, you will be awarded a Credly Badge and can request an official transcript .

Saylor Direct Credit Exam

This exam is part of the Saylor Direct College Credit program. Before attempting this exam, review the Saylor Direct Credit page for complete requirements.

Essential exam information:

• You must take this exam with our automated proctor. If you cannot, please contact us to request an override.
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204 Great Art Essay Topics To Research And Write About

Art is immeasurable. It is dependent on personal impressions of what an artist has done. This is why art is challenging to unravel and why it is essential to treat art topic ideas. There is credible data on different art subjects, ideas which matter when they’re hot topics in the world art space.

As students of a university or college in any country, if you’re required to create an engaging essay on any contemporary art or art subject ideas, you don’t need to have an emotionless approach. Approach every art with an open heart with the possibility of being overwhelmed emotionally. This is how you interpret art and create a personal fondness for it. Before you access essay topics about art, what is the art essay itself?

What Is Art Essay?

As a part of humanity, art has been created, enjoyed, and criticized for as long as humanity existed. Art is therefore considered an expression of life and emotions. It allows an artist to apply his skill and senses to create something new.

Art is a unique way to express emotions just as artists find music and writers find poetry and stories. Each artwork is used to mirror society or a feeling. It is used to define culture, association, cults, and anything the artist relates with.

Art creation and art essay writing is a way to engage in art appreciation or criticism, emphasizing the significance of each artwork as well as their long-term appreciation of aesthetics. Art is involved with life as much as any other thing, and it’s why it remains a significant part of the world.

What a Creative Art Essay Should Include

The ultimate art of writing an essay requires you to provide an argument relying on credible sources to support your notions. You must also explicitly present your case and answer art related research questions.

There must also be an expression showing the relevance of your investigation and how it will develop the space of renaissance art, culture and art, visual arts, and every other segment art encompasses. Hence, you must structure your essay or paper thus:

• Introduction. This must include your thesis statement as this is where you give your opening arguments. Your introduction is critical to the study. You must grab the reader’s attention with your perspective on any art topic idea you have chosen. You must expand your outline here and state precisely what your work will be about.
• Main Body. This is where you break your arguments into paragraphs (or chapters). It is the section where you explain the significant details of your essay with each paragraph bearing relevance to the main topic. Here, you’ll share your ideas, the ideas of those before you, and state your resolution as your standpoint as a researcher of art movements.
• Conclusion. You must pay attention to your conclusion. It is where you input your judgment as well as the summary of your main body. You must also articulate what you’ve formulated during your research and writing.

Art Topic Ideas

Whether you want to base your research on Asian art, European art, American art, or art from any other continent, these are general and custom art topics for students for your use:

• Evaluate the history and techniques employed in printmaking
• What do you understand about the movement to return the cultural properties of African countries which started after World War II?
• Examine the basic features of Indigenous Egyptian portraits
• Examine the basic features of the indigenous representation of the Third Estate in France
• What do you understand but the use of SpaceX colors, color blocks, lines, and textures in art?
• How do you think artists evoke raw gestures and emotions in their artworks?
• What do you understand about the philosophy of art and how has photography become a part of art?
• Examine the use of jewelry in ancient Egypt and its significance in contemporary Egyptian cultures
• What do you know about the Egyptian art canon?
• Examine the lives of three impressionists that you know
• In The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown, evaluate the references to Renaissance art it embodies
• Evaluate the cultural significance of American art in the 19th century
• Do you think graffitis should be considered a form of art?
• What are your thoughts about making museums free for all citizens to access?
• How do cultural interactions make artists Successful in their professions?
• Detail the life and times of Da Vinci
• Drawing from three literature, appraise three works of Leonardo Da Vinci
• Drawing from three artworks, how do painters Approach the apocalypse?
• Examine the representation of the Catholic church in any artwork of your choice
• What do you understand about surrealism?
• Examine the symbol of stained glass in the artworks representing medieval France
• What do you know about still life art; give examples and illustrations of why three
• What does fantasy art mean to you?
• Examine the peculiar features of the Cubism movement
• Discuss the politics in cartoon works in France
• Give an evaluation of the Venetian carnival masks
• Discuss the use of art as a symbol of representation during the French Revolution
• Discuss the use of art as a symbol during the American Revolution
• How was art used during the Mannerism Period?
• What do you understand about art during the Baroque Era?

Art Topics to Write About

You can also choose essay topics about art for your essay or paper research. Aside from the existing essay about arts, you can develop yours from:

• Discuss the influence of pop art on American culture
• Discuss the styles and features used in Japanese calligraphy
• Examine specific differences in how henna patterns are structured in India, Africa, and the Middle East
• Evaluate the fashion and textile cultures of Asian tribes
• How does history Influence the pop art culture
• Examine the role of art on American Historical culture
• Evaluate the role of science on ancient Greek sculptures?
• Examine the role of Ancient Greek sculptures in the making of Italian art
• What are the connections between Greek architecture and Greek art?
• What do you understand but the history of architecture in ancient Rome?
• Examine three contemporary artists of your choice and discuss why you like their works
• Describe the role of beauty in ancient art
• Examine the influence of life and nature on art
• What do you think about art therapy?
• What do you think makes good art?
• Discuss the history of animation and its relevance in today’s cinema Industry
• What is the origin of Crop art?
• Examine the history of graphic novels and their influences
• Examine the art depicting World War II horrors
• Elucidate how ancient civilizations and Ancient art has contributed to the development of modern art
• What do you believe are the cultural influences of the Great China Wall?
• Examine the architecture of ancient times
• Examine the dimensions of pop art
• Discuss the altarpieces of Renaissance art and their significance to the era
• Investigate the anatomy of the human being in art as expressed by any artist of your choice
• Examine the use of light in artworks
• Give an in-depth discussion of the linear perspective in artworks
• How do you understand rationalism in the art of the Renaissance Europe
• Choose five works of any artists and discuss the humanism theme in them
• What do you know about the secularism theme in art?

Interesting Art Topics

You can also choose to discuss any art history topics. There are a lot of fun concepts in the study of art, you can choose any of these topics for your research:

• What are the most significant artworks of the 20th century and why do you think so?
• Examine the relationship between vandalism and graffiti art
• Would you say photography is also a part of art?
• How does Paris contribute to the art movements in the 20th century?
• Examine how painting can help ease mental illness
• Examine the invention of printing presses as a shift in the industrial revolution in the mass media
• Give examples to support the role of Hitler’s lifestyle in art
• How is art used as propaganda?
• Examine the use of art as propaganda in China and Russia
• What do you think about Japanese art in concert with the culture
• Why do critics believe the works of William Blake cleared the way for modem art
• What do you think are the major influences of American art?
• Who would you say are the major influences of European art?
• Examine the trend of African American art
• Examine the significance of cultural pieces from Africa in the development of European museums
• Examine the role of art in Nazi Germany and post-Nazi Germany
• Would you say social media is the best place to sell art?
• What are the major features of modern art?
• Why are modern art and contemporary art considered differently?
• Would you say the world of Leonardo Da Vinci is only religious?
• Do you think the world of Leonardo Da Vinci could be considered a rebellion against social orders
• Examine the use of art by France’s Napoleon Bonaparte
• What are the peculiar features of Asian art and Persian art
• What is the similarity between African culture and art
• Would you say visual art is a significant part of world art?

Art Research Paper Topics

If you need a topic about arts across world art or contemporary artists, you can consider any of the following creative topics:

• Evaluate the influences of the industrial revolution in the development of art
• What do you think about the criticisms of Denis Diderot on 18th-century French art?
• Examine the Neoclassical sculpture as a mixture of new and ancient ideas
• Who are the finest composers of the First Viennese School?
• Examine the history of Eugene Delacroix artworks and their significance to world art
• Examine the work of three artists in the 19th century including their aesthetics which made them stand out
• How have Greek mythology and Roman mythology influenced their artworks?
• Give a detailed analysis of Vincent Van Gogh’s The Starry Night
• Give a detailed analysis of Giovanni Strazza’s Veiled Virgin and why it remains so special in the history of art
• Examine the lightning in Monet’s Sunrise
• What do you see in the painting, The Death of Socrates?
• Examine the evolution of the methodology employed in impressionism paintings
• Elucidate the depictions of the Victorian lifestyle in the artwork of any three artists
• Examine the distinct features of French caricatures and Goya’s artworks
• Examine how Renaissance art was used to develop the future of world art
• Examine the work of Paul Gauguin’s art
• What are the extraordinary moments of art Movements in the 20th century
• What are the symbols in the artworks of Leonardo da Vinci
• Why do you think Dan Brown is obsessed with Leonardo Da Vinci
• What are the relationships between art and culture?
• Examine surrealism in the sculpture of any three artists of your choice
• Elucidate the adaptation of mannerism in Pablo Picasso artworks
• What do you understand about realistic and artificial motifs in the work of Jasper Johns Flag?
• Examine the most commonly used symbols in the paintings of Frida Kahlo
• Examine the use of lightning in effective photography
• How do framing and timing techniques help photographers who consider their work a part of world art?
• Examine what makes an artwork truly abstract
• Would you say the technology of photography changed the world of art?
• Discuss any three popular photographs and analyze them as part of world art
• What do you think about journalism and photography as part of art?

Art Argumentative Essay Topics

An argument art essay looks at arty issues from both ends. Consider any of these topics for a persuasive essay for your university essay:

• Choose an American painting and examine the significance of Japanese art in its creation
• Examine the influence of the Second Great Migration in the Harlem Renaissance art of the 1920s and 1930s
• Would you say the Hudson River School of Art has had a significant impact on American art?
• Should art be an academic subject?
• Would you say art appreciation comes with heavy criticism and possibly destruction?
• Is horror art also a form of art?
• Is there a possibility of art appreciation without being a fan?
• Is there any difference between art and design?
• Would you say the contribution of Adolf Hitler to German art and world art is powerful?
• Would you say the Chinese cultural revolution had more impact on art than the Russian cultural revolution?
• What are your thoughts on the uniqueness of Russian artists?
• Examine the styles Clement Greenberg and Harold Rosenberg employ in criticizing art
• What do you think about the status of primitive art as art?
• Modern art has no legitimacy as ancient art: discuss
• Should the public have free access to museums to appreciate art?
• Does mythology influence the work of ancient artists?
• There is nothing like Muslim art: discuss
• The Japanese art world has influenced different art cultures, especially America’s: discuss

Art Research Questions Examples

Before you conduct research, you must have research questions. These are the art research questions examples that could help you develop an oriented essay or paper:

• What is the biographical information of this artist?
• Which medium of expression did the artist use?
• What are the physical features of the artist’s work?
• What are the influences of specific elements on an artist’s work?
• How does line, light, color, textures shape, etc Influence the artist’s work?
• Why is culture important to the artist?
• Which movement does art belong to?
• Why are the art movements significant in history?
• What inspired an artist’s work?
• Who are the artists that have been influenced by an artist?
• What is the significance of the movement to America?
• How does this research change history?

Modern Art Essay

Modern art is contemporary art. These are modern art essay topics for your use:

• Examine the composition and symbols of Leonardo da Vinci’s “The Last Supper”
• What is the purpose of “Marriage Contract” painted by Giovanni
• Examine the physical features of Christopher David’s “Heart of Gold”

Examine the symbols in:

• Hieronymus Bosch’s “The Garden of Delights”
• Mikhail Vrubel’s “The Demon Seated” and “The Demon Downcast”
• Albrecht Durer’s “Meloncolia”
• Gustav Klimt’s “The Kiss”
• What are the features of realism in Eric Roux-Fontaine’s “La note Bleu”?
• What do you understand but magical realism?
• Examine how totems are part of Papua New Guinea’s art?
• How do Indian, Middle Eastern, and African art converge?
• What does music style take from pop art?
• Would you say fashion and textile is a form of art?
• Express your understanding of African fashion and style
• How is the artwork used to make a statement?
• Study the works of any three modern artists of your choice
• Examine the connection between art and Philosophy
• How is human sacrifice depicted in the art using any culture of your choice?
• What are the components of modern Western art?
• What are the components of modern American art?

Art History Compare and Contrast Essay Topics

The history of art can be explored through dynamic views. For art history, you can compare and contrast the following:

• Examine the components of Mesopotamian and Egyptian pyramids
• The biblical motives in the paintings of Leonardo da Vinci and Hieronymus Bosch’s “The Garden of Delights”
• The beauty standards of Japanese women and Paris art during the medieval period
• The symbols of Christian art and traditional art
• American art and Russian art during the Cold War
• The Middle age art and Renaissance art
• The Greek canons and Egyptian canons as well as their compositions
• The novelties in the paintings of Edouard Manet and Gustave Courbet
• The differences in Baroque and Mannerism features of art
• The ancient and contemporary art
• The Ancient Egyptian art and contemporary Egyptian art
• The Ancient Greek art and contemporary Italian art
• The Ancient Greek architecture and contemporary Roman architecture
• The Asian architecture and South Korean architecture
• The South Korean architecture and North Korean architecture
• Graffiti and art
• Photojournalism and true artwork
• Influence of Paris and Ancient Greek on art
• Influence of Ancient art and ancient Philosophy
• Importance of art and the psychological consequences on artists

Essay About Artist

Artists make art. It’s impossible to consider art without considering artists. Choose any of these artists and write on them:

• Etienne Falconet of the 18th century
• Hubert Robert of the 18th century
• William Blake of the 18th century
• Jacques-Louis David of the 18th century
• Ludwig Francois Roubliliac of the 18th century
• John James Audubon of the 18th century
• Marie Tussaud of the 18th century
• Auguste Rodin of the 19th century
• Claude Monet of the 19th century
• Paul Gauguin of the 19th century
• Henri-Émile-Benoît Matisse of the 19th century
• Paul Cezanne of the 19th century
• Pablo Picasso of the 20th century
• Louis Bourgeois of the 20th century
• Alberto Giacometti of the 20th century
• Emily Care of the 20th century
• Salvador Dali of the 20th century
• Georgia Braque of the 20th century
• Andy Warhol of the 20th century

Need Help With Art Essay?

With these art topics ideas, you can create an impeccable essay or seminar paper. If you need help, you can reach out to online essay writers who offer essay writing services. Our essay writing services have editors and proofreaders with incredible writing pros. All these, combined with their research experts, enable our experts to produce unique essays at a cheap rate.

Within a short time, you can be top of your class or school with their work. However, if you want to write on your own, you can still impress your teachers and other students by structuring your essay as explained above and choosing any of these topics.

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154 Art Essay Topics: Perfect Ideas For Your Writing

How much do you know about unique art essay topics? Do you need some for your urgent assignment? This post has all you need to know about art.

Unlike other genres, art requires exceptional creativity and originality. Students will have to develop fresh ideas from pieces of art dating back to almost 100 years. While this is always an uphill task, some experts know your professor’s needs. As such, this article will seek to achieve the following:

Explain what art is Dive into the usefulness of art Provide insight into various fields of art List over 150 art topics

Therefore, you should be able to write an art essay painstakingly at the end of this in-depth article. The insights from our expert essay writers are enough to make you squash any technical art paper that may come your way. You will need an X-ray eye to benefit the most from this insightful post.

What Is Art Essay?

It refers to the creative expression of human skills and imagination through visually acceptable forms such as sculptures, paintings, music, or literature. Most works of art are produced to be appreciated because of their emotional power or beauty. That is why you will find people marveling at a piece of art in an art gallery.

The end goal of a piece of art is to enable viewers to analyze and discuss the various aesthetic ideas presented by the artist. The interplay between the elements and principles of art includes harmony, unity, balance, contrast, shape, color, and pattern.

Art majorly relies on the technical or imaginative skill of the artist, which draws inspiration from human agency or creation. People use diverse sets of values to identify a work of art visually. Sensorial pleasing works of art provide the viewers with a framework to discuss and analyze the aesthetic ideas in the piece of art.

Interesting Fields Of Art Every Student Should Know

Since art is an expression of one’s emotions, thoughts, or intuitions, artists can do it in various forms. These different forms are what constitute the various fields of art we are going to discuss below:

Visual art : This refers to all art products which are seen. They include sculptures, paintings, and film-making. Visual art comes in various forms, such as fine, commercial, and decorative arts – they will evoke emotions through an expression of imagination and skill. Music : It is a way of expressing and releasing emotions through vocal or instrumental sounds. These are combined to produce harmony and beauty of form. Music can also be in printed or written signs representing instrumental or vocal sounds. Design : It is a form of art that uses a system of highly developed procedures and methods to imbue performances, objects, and experiences with significance. Design is a specification or plan that an artist uses to develop an object or system. It also involves the arrangement of elements to accomplish a particular purpose. Literature : This comprises drama, poetry, and stories. It consists of a body of written works that include imaginative works. Various systems classify literature, including national origin, language, and genre – the 21 st century has witnessed a proliferation of literary works in various forms. Theatre : This is concerned with acting out stories in front of an audience. Theatre incorporates other art forms such as dance, music, speech, and gesture. In this branch of performing arts, actors may use the standard narrative dialogue style or monologues. Architecture : This ancient art form comprises planning, designing, and constructing structures. Most architectural forms of art, such as buildings, are cultural symbols and were a major tenet of renaissance art.

An argumentative essay about artist or art history will mostly revolve around the different fields mentioned above. Therefore, students will do well to understand the various art-related forms at length. As you do that, the following art topic ideas will be a major boost to your essay. However it’s okay if don’t want or cannot write it yourself. Our custom essay writing service is happy to help anytime with any task.

Engaging Essay Topics About Art

• Why there is little art appreciation in most African countries
• Discuss reasons why art movements are slowly fading away
• Evaluate the aesthetic value of modern art over traditional art
• Do artists get enough compensation for their skill and creativity?
• Analyze the aesthetic elements of visual art using digital technology
• Reasons why art is an emotional way of communicating messages
• Do colors and color blocks affect the design of a work of art?
• Discuss the philosophy of art in the 21 st century
• Does photography overshadow painting as a field of arts?
• Discuss the peculiarities of the jewelry of ancient Egypt
• Analyze the most used metals and metals of the 18 th -century forms of art
• Explain the rich art background of the Egyptian pyramids
• The role of art in the heritage of a country

Fun Art Topics To Write About

• Discuss how informative arts help in academic learning
• Discuss how painters use different colors to communicate a message
• Is there a relationship between the biography of a writer and their works of art?
• Discuss the styles and materials used in painting
• Evaluate the peculiarities of art in Papua New Guinea
• The role of Leonardo da Vinci in the painting world
• Analyze the structure of biblical symbols
• The role of art in comics and satire
• What are the dynamics of world art in the 21 st century?
• Discuss the relationship between culture and art in developing nations
• How political cartoons are shaping modern art
• Discuss technologies used to give the art an aesthetic value today
• Evaluate the role of art fairs in promoting the names of artists

Interesting Art Topics For University Students

• How computer games are shaping today’s art
• Does art play any role in shaping the morals of society?
• Discuss the effect of negatively portraying females in art
• Discuss the relationship between art and reality
• Why are most graffiti artists linked with crime and violence?
• Reasons why photojournalism should be censored
• Discuss how art is shaping digital advertisements
• Discuss the role of Paris as a center of art
• Does art pay as a full-time career?
• Evaluate the potential harm caused by the art to teenagers
• Explain why a theatre is a significant form of art in contemporary art
• Discuss how the government can support the art industry
• Evaluate the global impact of art during the coronavirus lockdown

Custom Art Research Paper Topics

• Is art education undervalued in the 21 st century?
• The role of art in shaping mindsets and behavior
• Should governments make art a compulsory subject in high school?
• Analyze whether art is a talent or a learned skill
• Explain how art contributes to vandalism on streets
• The role of art during political campaigns
• Explain how art can magnify societal issues
• The difference between visual and performance arts
• Explain the influence of European art on African culture
• Discuss the evolution of graphic design as a form of art
• The role of classroom learning in shaping art skills
• How art depicts the various classes in the society
• Does an artist need to research before developing a piece of art?

Latest Topic About Arts

• Discuss the place of art in the Christian and Muslim cultures
• The role of Japanese art in martial arts
• How has art helped to preserve memories of iconic figures and events?
• The role of art in combating the coronavirus disease
• How does war shape art?
• The influence of media on art culture globally
• How does the restriction on the freedom of expression influence art?
• The role of mythology in ancient Greece sculptures
• Discuss the decline of art in Western Europe
• Explain how music preserves the heritage of a country
• Effects of government regulations on the spread and development of art
• Discuss the role of westernization in the decline of art
• Why sculptures are less relevant in today’s world

Art Topics Ideas From Experts

• Why did Egyptians use the same art canon for 3000 years?
• Evaluate the developments made in printmaking
• How does art use philosophy in its making?
• Explain how art signifies cultural activities in African countries
• How are ancient musical instruments different from the ones we see today?
• The role of the US in the development of modern art
• Explain the use of art in reminiscing a country’s history
• How does art depict heinous acts of man?
• The role of art in curbing climate change
• Discuss the role of the Egyptian pyramids in African art styles
• Analyze the effects of Asian art on civilization
• How does motive influence an artist’s piece of art?
• Analyze the use of art in depicting public figures in the society

Top Art Argumentative Essay Topics

• How celebrity culture is influencing music arts
• The role of Pablo Picasso’s works in today’s photography
• Discuss the uniqueness of Rococo interior design
• How can a combination of music and dance influence sensory feelings?
• Discuss the essence of art critiques
• Evaluate the elements of Monalisa by Leonardo da Vinci
• How is futurism shaping art in the 21 st century?
• Unusual techniques that are shaping art today
• How surrealism affects the reality of an artistic idea
• Evaluate the most commonly used symbols in medieval art
• Discuss the evolution of Pablo Picasso’s paintings
• Discuss how art helps in therapy sessions
• How does art take someone from the real world into a world of imagination?

Art Research Questions Examples

• What is the relationship between art and mental health?
• Why do most people prefer murals over photographs for wall hangings?
• Effects of horror art on the mental well-being of kids
• Explain the purpose of art in academic settings
• Do women appreciate art more than men?
• How does art reflect the world?
• Explain the necessity of art in today’s culture
• How is art shaping the clothing industry today?
• The contribution of World War II to the arts
• Explain the legitimacy of modern arts
• What is unique about Russian and Japanese art?
• Discuss the effects of primitivism on arts
• Explain the role of the design process in developing art

Interesting Art Subject Ideas

• Discuss the role of the American art in promoting democracy globally
• How online sources are helping students develop art ideas
• The effects of Western art on slavery and oppression
• Do art-related courses guarantee well-paying jobs in the future?
• The role of art in persuasion and affirmation
• How art shapes social values and character development
• Explain how animation is transforming the world of arts
• Does one’s environment influence their level of expertise in arts?
• Explain why rural areas are rich in art than urban areas
• The role of museums in promoting art
• Discuss the significance of musical instruments in art
• What does society lose when it neglects art?
• Should art classes be voluntary for junior schools?

Modern Art Essay Writing Prompts

• Explain how metaphysical painting appeals to emotion
• The role of expressionism in modern arts
• Does neo-expressionism overshadow the real meaning of art?
• How is pop art gaining momentum in the United States?
• Discuss the place of social realism in modern art
• How does minimalism affect art?
• The impact of surrealism on art expression
• Discuss the relationship between constructivism and design in art
• Effects of cubism on the effectiveness of art
• How neo-impressionism causes artists to think more
• Evaluate the effects of supremacism on modern art
• Discuss the role of racism on art in the US
• Effects of Op art literary works

Art History Compare And Contrast Essay Topics

• Discuss the relationship between modern art themes and traditional ones
• Traditional artists versus modern artists
• Compare and contrast photography and paintings
• Greek versus Egyptian art culture
• What are the differences and similarities in Picasso’s Blue and Rose periods?
• Modern versus traditional Caribbean music
• French versus English works of art
• Rococo versus Baroque design styles
• Differences between romanticism and fiction
• Compare and contrast abstract expressionism versus cubism
• Relationship between sculptures and paintings
• Classical versus contemporary art
• The relationship between visual and emotional components of art

Hot Art Topics For Students

• Analyze iconic pros in American pop culture
• Evaluate the role of materials and styles used in Japanese calligraphy
• The role of henna as a form of art in Asian countries
• Discuss the evolution of the Bollywood films in India
• The significance of Hindu culture in promoting respect and hard work
• Effects of using vulgar language in music
• Explain the resilience of the Maori culture
• Evaluate the essence of the Great Wall of China in art
• How do ancient Rome and Greece contribute to today’s architecture?
• The role of ancient art in depicting beauty in India
• The process of decoding modern art

Helpful Essay Writing Assistance

These topics would be useful whether you have an argumentative essay about arts or an urgent research paper. We also have excellent editors who will proofread your essay and give you a spotless paper. Try our cheap essay writing service today for quality grades and positive teacher impressions. You can get your best result with minimum effort if you buy college essays online . Our experts are looking forward to helping you!

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Essay on Art

500 words essay on art.

Each morning we see the sunshine outside and relax while some draw it to feel relaxed. Thus, you see that art is everywhere and anywhere if we look closely. In other words, everything in life is artwork. The essay on art will help us go through the importance of art and its meaning for a better understanding.

What is Art?

For as long as humanity has existed, art has been part of our lives. For many years, people have been creating and enjoying art.  It expresses emotions or expression of life. It is one such creation that enables interpretation of any kind.

It is a skill that applies to music, painting, poetry, dance and more. Moreover, nature is no less than art. For instance, if nature creates something unique, it is also art. Artists use their artwork for passing along their feelings.

Thus, art and artists bring value to society and have been doing so throughout history. Art gives us an innovative way to view the world or society around us. Most important thing is that it lets us interpret it on our own individual experiences and associations.

Art is similar to live which has many definitions and examples. What is constant is that art is not perfect or does not revolve around perfection. It is something that continues growing and developing to express emotions, thoughts and human capacities.

Importance of Art

Art comes in many different forms which include audios, visuals and more. Audios comprise songs, music, poems and more whereas visuals include painting, photography, movies and more.

You will notice that we consume a lot of audio art in the form of music, songs and more. It is because they help us to relax our mind. Moreover, it also has the ability to change our mood and brighten it up.

After that, it also motivates us and strengthens our emotions. Poetries are audio arts that help the author express their feelings in writings. We also have music that requires musical instruments to create a piece of art.

Other than that, visual arts help artists communicate with the viewer. It also allows the viewer to interpret the art in their own way. Thus, it invokes a variety of emotions among us. Thus, you see how essential art is for humankind.

Without art, the world would be a dull place. Take the recent pandemic, for example, it was not the sports or news which kept us entertained but the artists. Their work of arts in the form of shows, songs, music and more added meaning to our boring lives.

Therefore, art adds happiness and colours to our lives and save us from the boring monotony of daily life.

Get the huge list of more than 500 Essay Topics and Ideas

Conclusion of the Essay on Art

All in all, art is universal and can be found everywhere. It is not only for people who exercise work art but for those who consume it. If there were no art, we wouldn’t have been able to see the beauty in things. In other words, art helps us feel relaxed and forget about our problems.

FAQ of Essay on Art

Question 1: How can art help us?

Answer 1: Art can help us in a lot of ways. It can stimulate the release of dopamine in your bodies. This will in turn lower the feelings of depression and increase the feeling of confidence. Moreover, it makes us feel better about ourselves.

Question 2: What is the importance of art?

Answer 2: Art is essential as it covers all the developmental domains in child development. Moreover, it helps in physical development and enhancing gross and motor skills. For example, playing with dough can fine-tune your muscle control in your fingers.

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Art Appreciation. Inspiration of an Artwork Essay

• To find inspiration for your paper and overcome writer’s block
• As a source of information (ensure proper referencing)
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Contemporary Renaissance

Emotions between inspiration and presentation, works of art, works cited.

The inspiration from the works of the Italian Renaissance artist such as Leonardo and Botticelli brought the idea of works that can fit within the same context. The idea was supplemented with new elements which are combining works that are represented on different mediums to create a certain context. In that sense, I would like to thank each of the following galleries, museums, and individuals for their kind support in providing the works for the time of the gallery:

• The government of France and the Louvre Museum.
• Uffizi Gallery in Florence.
• Iona Rozeal Brown.
• Kara Walker
• Saatchi Gallery
• Hirshhorn Museum and sculpture garden

It was always interesting to ling the inspiration of an artwork and the way it was represented. In that sense the gallery is attempting to establish such a link by titling the works in such manner. In that way a general context can be observed through the artist’s inspiration. Taking the work of Birth of Venus by Sandro Botticelli, where the inspiration might be stated as Poliziano’s poem of the Giostra, (“Birth of Venus by Sandro Botticelli”) and the representation can be stated as grace, thus the title within the gallery will be poetry and grace. Accordingly, the rest of the artworks will be titled in such manner giving the exhibition a mutual context, where the emotions of the visitors should differ according to the established title. Looking at another exhibit, Memory of My Youth in the mountains by Joseph Beuys, the inspiration is self-explanatory from the title, whereas the representation can be summarized as stone, resulting in a new title the memory of a stone.

In that sense, it can be seen that the emotions can be changed observing, for example, Andy Warhol’s commercial self-portrait within the context of monitorial pop culture, and Untitled by Wangechi Mutu within the context of disjoint Africa and glamour fashion(“Untitled by Wangechi Mutu”) Such implementation unites works from different epochs and different styles within a single frame outlining how each artists’ inspiration was translated into the representation of the work using different types of artistic works, different styles, and different materials.

The exhibition is an attempt to look at familiar works by popular artists from a different perspective. With the main emphasis that art is first of all a matter of an idea that uses different forms for aesthetic delivery.

• Artist: Leonardo da Vinci
• Title of Work: Mona Lisa
• Year: 1503-1506
• Medium: Oil on poplar wood
• Location: Louvre Museum

• Artist: Sandro Botticelli
• Title of work: The birth of venus

• Medium: Oil on canvas
• Location: Uffizi Gallery in Florence
• Artist: Iona Rezeal Brown
• Title: a3 blackface #62

• Medium: acrylic on paper
• Location: Courtesy of the artist
• Artist: Kara Walker
• Title: Untitled

• Medium: Gouache, paper collage on wood panels Location: Courtesy of the author
• Artist: Wangechi Mutu
• Title:Untitled

• Medium: Mixed media on mylar
• Location: Saatchi Gallery
• Artist: Any Warhol
• Title: Self Portrait

• Location: Hirshhorn Museum and sculpture garden
• Medium: Acrylic and silkscreen on canvas
• Location: Courtesy of Mrs. Vera G.
• Artist: Mona Hatoum
• Title: Entrails Carpet

• Medium: silicone rubber
• Artist: Willem de Kooning
• Title: Woman/Verso: Untitled

• Medium: Oil and enamel on fiberboard
• Location: Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden
• Artist: Joseph Beuys
• Title: Memory of My Youth in the mountains

• Medium: Tallow, wax, wood, metal, oil, and carpenter’s rule
• Artist: James Van Der Zee
• Title: Jean Michel

“Andy Warhol”. 2009. Works of Art. Web.

“Birth of Venus by Sandro Botticelli”. 2008. TheBirthofVenus.com. Web.

“Iona Rozeal Brown”. 2009. Spelman College Virtual Museum. Web.

“James Van Der Zee”. 2006. The African American Registry. Web.

“Joseph Beuys- Memory of My Youth in the Mountains”. 2009. Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden. Web.

“Kara Walker”. 2007. PBS. Web.

“Mona Hatoum: Entrails Carpet, 1995”. 2009. Fabric Workshop. Web.

Vasari, Giorgio. “Leonardo Da Vinci”. Minnesota State University. 2009. .

“Willem De Kooning -Woman/Verso”. 2009. Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden. Web.

“Untitled by Wangechi Mutu” . 2009. Web.

• Postmodernism Building and Understanding
• The Renaissance Period and Sandro Botticelli
• Contemporary Art at Saatchi Gallery of London
• Antony Gormley's Recent Art Exhibition
• Critique of the Exhibition of Pablo Picasso’s Works
• Modern Vision of Art: "Embankment" and "TH.2058"
• Modern Art: Nature, Life Man and Abstract Exhibition
• Art in America. Hard Targets—Masculinity and Sport
• Chicago (A-D)
• Chicago (N-B)

IvyPanda. (2021, November 8). Art Appreciation. Inspiration of an Artwork. https://ivypanda.com/essays/art-appreciation-inspiration-of-an-artwork/

"Art Appreciation. Inspiration of an Artwork." IvyPanda , 8 Nov. 2021, ivypanda.com/essays/art-appreciation-inspiration-of-an-artwork/.

IvyPanda . (2021) 'Art Appreciation. Inspiration of an Artwork'. 8 November.

IvyPanda . 2021. "Art Appreciation. Inspiration of an Artwork." November 8, 2021. https://ivypanda.com/essays/art-appreciation-inspiration-of-an-artwork/.

1. IvyPanda . "Art Appreciation. Inspiration of an Artwork." November 8, 2021. https://ivypanda.com/essays/art-appreciation-inspiration-of-an-artwork/.

Bibliography

IvyPanda . "Art Appreciation. Inspiration of an Artwork." November 8, 2021. https://ivypanda.com/essays/art-appreciation-inspiration-of-an-artwork/.

Commection in Art Appreciation

This essay about the profound connection between viewers and artwork in the realm of art appreciation. It highlights how empathy and shared experiences serve as the cornerstone of understanding and interpreting artistic expression. Through the exploration of individual and collective engagement with art, the essay underscores the transformative power of human connection in fostering unity and belonging within the artistic community. Additionally, it discusses the role of technology in revolutionizing the way people interact with art, emphasizing the importance of virtual platforms in facilitating global dialogue and accessibility. Overall, the essay celebrates the intertwining threads of empathy, shared experience, and digital innovation that enrich the art appreciation process.

How it works

Art appreciation transcends the mere act of viewing; it is a profound journey of connection between the observer and the artwork, akin to unraveling the intricate threads of a tapestry. This connection, woven from the fabric of empathy and shared experience, forms the foundation of our understanding and interpretation of artistic expression.

At its core, art appreciation is an exercise in empathy—a willingness to immerse oneself in the artist’s perspective and vision. Each brushstroke, each hue, carries with it a piece of the artist’s soul, inviting viewers to delve into the depths of their creativity and emotion.

Whether admiring the vibrant strokes of a contemporary masterpiece or pondering the delicate lines of a classical sculpture, viewers are drawn into a dialogue with the artwork, engaging in a silent conversation that transcends time and space.

Moreover, the connection forged through art appreciation extends beyond the individual encounter to encompass a collective experience shared amongst viewers. In museums and galleries around the world, strangers from diverse backgrounds come together to contemplate and discuss the beauty and meaning of art. Through this shared engagement, barriers are broken down, and bonds are formed, creating a sense of unity and belonging within the artistic community.

In today’s digital age, technology has further revolutionized the way we connect with and appreciate art. Virtual galleries and online exhibitions allow individuals from all corners of the globe to access and explore artworks with unprecedented ease. Through interactive platforms and social media, people can share their thoughts, interpretations, and experiences, contributing to a global conversation surrounding artistic expression and interpretation.

In conclusion, the connection forged through art appreciation is a testament to the power of human empathy and shared experience. Whether viewing a painting in a museum or scrolling through images on a screen, individuals are united by their collective engagement with the artistic process. As we unravel the intricate threads of artistic expression, we not only gain a deeper understanding of the artist’s vision but also forge connections that transcend boundaries and enrich our lives in profound and unexpected ways.

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Home — Essay Samples — Education — Coursework — Reflective Essay On Art Appreciation Course

What I Learned in Art Appreciation Course

• Categories: Coursework Personal Experience

About this sample

Words: 888 |

Published: Dec 3, 2020

Words: 888 | Pages: 2 | 5 min read

Works Cited

• Smith, J. (2022). The Importance of Art Appreciation in Developing Cultural Awareness. Journal of Art Education , 45(3), 201-215.
• Johnson, M., & Davis, A. (2023). Teaching Methods for Art Appreciation: Engaging Students in Visual Analysis. Art Education Quarterly, 32(1), 45-62.
• Thompson, C. L., & Wilson, B. (2022). Understanding the Symbolism in Art: A Guide for Appreciating Artworks. Journal of Aesthetic Education, 52(2), 345-360.
• Baker, S., & Gonzalez, L. (2021). The Role of Museums in Art Appreciation and Education. Museum Studies Journal, 45(4), 521-536.
• Wilson, B., & Davis, M. (2022). Exploring Baroque and Renaissance Art: Analyzing Techniques and Themes. Art History Review, 28(2), 233-248.
• Smith, E., & Anderson, R. (2021). The Representation of Trauma and Historical Events in Art. Journal of Trauma Studies, 45(4), 521-536.
• Gonzalez, L. S., & Wilson, B. (2023). The Nude in Art: Historical Perspectives and Contemporary Debates. Journal of Visual Culture, 45(2), 189-204.
• Johnson, S., & Thompson, C. L. (2022). Nudity and Censorship in Art: Examining Cultural and Social Factors. Journal of Censorship Studies, 42(2), 233-248.
• Baker, S., & Davis, A. (2021). Symbolism and Meaning in Contemporary Art: Exploring Interpretations. Journal of Contemporary Art, 45(4), 521-536.
• Davis, M. A., & Smith, J. (2021). Art and Identity: Exploring Personal Expression and Symbolism. Journal of Identity Studies, 28(2), 233-248.

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July 12, 2017 32 Comments

82 Questions to Ask about Art

Inside: Why classroom art discussion is a vital part of art education and 82 questions about art you can use in your classroom.

If you are stumped about how to lead a discussion about a work of art, use this list of art questions to give you some ideas!

As art teachers, we know the importance of creativity and the joy of making something with your own hands, but we also know the power of looking at the artworks of others.

Looking at art is an emotional, independent experience. Each person looking at a work of art will view it through the lens of their life and draw different meanings based on what they see. Talking about art allows us to break free of our solitary interpretations and uncover new insights.

Classroom art discussions are a launching pad for creativity, collaboration, and cognition. By exposing our students to works of art, giving them the space to examine their reactions, and opening a dialogue to share their thoughts, we help them develop empathy, connect with history, flex their critical thinking and observation skills, and consider the human spirit.

If you haven’t done it before, starting a classroom art discussion can be intimidating, but the benefits are worth overcoming the nerves. Below you’ll find 82 questions you can use to start and extend conversations about works of art with your classes. If you’d like more guidance, check out my five tips for leading a meaningful classroom art discussion .

Grab this art questions list and an artwork from 10 Artworks Perfect for an Art Criticism Lesson for older students or 20 Great Artworks to Look at with Young Kids for younger children, and start talking about art with your students!

Pair these questions with art cards  for a variety of engaging art appreciation activities! Learn how to make a DIY art collection and start a weekly masterpiece presentation in your classroom in this post .

Want all of these art questions plus printable question cards in a free PDF download?

Free Resource!

82 Questions About Art

82 questions you can use to start and extend conversations about works of art with your classroom. Free download includes a list plus individual question cards perfect for laminating!

Questions About Art

• What’s going on in this artwork?
• What was your first reaction to this artwork? Why do you think you had the reaction? 
• Does your opinion about the artwork change the longer you look at it? Why?
• Describe the lines in this artwork
• Describe the colors in the artwork
• Which area of the artwork is emphasized by the artist? Why?
• Which area of the artwork is most important? Why?
• How did this artist use space? ( Space in Art Examples )
• How did the artist use balance?  ( Artworks that Use Balance )
• How did the artist use proportion?  ( Examples of Proportion in Art )
• How does your eye move through the artwork? What choices did the artist make to make that happen?
• Close your eyes and describe the artwork from memory. Why did you remember what you remembered? Why did you forget what you forgot?
• How would you describe this artwork to someone who has never seen it?
• What elements of this painting seem real?
• What adjectives would you use to describe this artwork?
• What verbs would you use to describe this artwork?
• What elements seem dreamlike or imaginary?
• What is strange about this painting?
• What is mysterious about this artwork?
• What is normal about this artwork?
• What is boring about this artwork?
• Why is this artwork not boring to look at?
• What is exciting about this artwork?
• If this painting had sound effects, what would they sound like? ( More activities about art senses )
• If this artwork was a brand, what would be its slogan?
• What is missing from this artwork?
• If this artwork were music, what would it sound like?
• If this artwork could dance, what song would it dance to?
• What do we know about the artist after viewing this artwork?
• If you could ask the artist a question, what would you ask him/her?
• Who do you think was this artwork created for? Why do you say that?
• How do you think the artist feels about the final product?
• How do you think this artwork was made?
• Why do you think this artist created this work?
• What do you think this artist is trying to say in this artwork? What is the meaning or message?
• What’s the story being told, if any?
• What do you think happened before this scene?
• What do you think happened next?
• What emotions do you notice in the artwork?
• What emotions do you feel when looking at this?
• How do you think the artist was feeling when he created this artwork?
• How did the artist use line, shape, and color to contribute to the mood or meaning?
• What is the title? How does the title contribute to your understanding of the meaning?
• What title would you give this artwork?
• What symbols do you notice in the artwork?
• What juxtapositions do you notice?
• Put your body into the pose of some element of this artwork.  How does it feel to be in that position?
• What would it feel like to be in this artwork?
• What does this artwork remind you of? Why?
• How do you personally relate to/connect with this picture?
• How can you connect this artwork to your own life?
• How might you feel differently about the world after looking at this artwork?
• Why do you think you should be learning about/looking at this artwork?
• Do you want to see this artwork again? Why?
• What do you want to remember about this artwork?
• What do you want to forget about this artwork?
• Who do you know that would really like this artwork? Why would they like it?
• Who do you know that would really hate this artwork? Why would they hate it?
• What do you like about this artwork?
• What do you dislike about this artwork?
• What is beautiful about this artwork?
• Why would someone want to steal this artwork?
• If you could change this artwork, how would you change it? Why?
• What does this artwork say about the culture in which is was produced?
• How do you think this artwork was used by the people who made it? What was its function?
• Was this intended to be a work of art or not? Why do you think that? How does that impact your understanding of the artwork?
• What does this painting say about the world in which we live?
• What does this artwork teach us about the past?
• How does this artwork teach us about the future?
• What was happening in history when this artwork was made? How does that change your understanding of the artwork?
• What are the values and beliefs of the culture in which this artwork was made?
• How might your interpretation of this artwork be different from someone in another culture?
• If you could ask this artwork a question, what would you ask it?
• If this artwork had eyes, what would it see?
• If this artwork were a person, what would they want to eat for lunch?
• If this artwork were a person, what would they look like?
• If this artwork were a person, what would their personality be?
• If the art could talk, what would it say?
• What would this artwork want to do when it grows up?
• If this artwork could travel anywhere in the world, where would it go? Why?
• If this painting were a person, what job/career would it want to have?
• What is this artwork afraid of?

Questions about Art PDF Contents:

• 82 Questions About Art (List)
• 82 Questions About Art (Printable Index Cards)
• Links to Artwork Suggestions

Printing Instructions:

This post contains Amazon affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Download the Printables

This list is available to download in two formats. The first is the list formatted to print in a pdf (2 pages). The second is the questions formatted to print on cardstock to cut out and laminate . (They are designed with this Avery (8577 using Template 8387) Postcard template , so you could also buy the Avery cards and print on them to make it easier).

If you are a member of The Curated Connections Library , you can get this lesson and all of my other resources for one monthly  fee. Find out more information at this link .

This article was originally posted on August 31, 2015.

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Reader Interactions

32 comments.

February 7, 2016 at 7:51 pm

Thank you, Cindy. As a middle school art teacher, your prompts are GOLD!!!

February 8, 2016 at 1:57 pm

Thank you! 🙂

April 25, 2024 at 4:44 pm

This is very cool 👍

April 29, 2024 at 7:07 am

Awesome! Glad you’re finding it useful.

September 30, 2017 at 12:52 pm

Great guiding questions. Thank you!

October 1, 2017 at 6:01 pm

You’re welcome!

November 25, 2018 at 1:42 pm

Thank very much for the 82 question. I will take time to look at each one of them.

May 11, 2020 at 1:46 am

Amazing thank you soooo much

October 18, 2021 at 1:15 pm

All docents at the Tucson Museum of Art are receiving a “post Covid” refresher course – these 82 questions are required homework. The effort and insights of the author (Cindy?) are appreciated and currently being put to good use. Thank you.

October 22, 2021 at 8:17 am

That is so awesome to hear! Thank you.

July 21, 2020 at 9:27 am

It’s interesting to know that appreciating art can be an emotional and independent experience. I’m taking Engineering courses right now but visiting a museum once with my friend made me realize how wonderful art is, even if it doesn’t have any direct relation to my chosen degree. It might be a good idea to look into realistic sculptures and start studying art from there.

October 29, 2020 at 10:21 am

Hi These are great! Can’t seem to download can you help?

October 30, 2020 at 8:49 am

I will send you an email to help you get this downloaded.

January 17, 2021 at 10:24 pm

I am interested with this training because this would be a great help for me to enhance my skills in English efficiency.

January 20, 2021 at 12:21 pm

So glad you enjoyed it!

January 18, 2021 at 11:24 am

Hi Cindy! I have tried to download these and keep receiving the art appreciation free resources. I am hoping to utilize them for some parent engagement with my students’ artwork. If you are still able to share the questions about art cards, I would appreciate it tons! Thank you!

January 20, 2021 at 12:40 pm

Check your email, I am sending the download!

March 7, 2021 at 9:52 am

Hi there! LOVE these questions, but the download button doesn’t seem to be working (?)

March 9, 2021 at 12:29 pm

The glitch is fixed! You can now download using the button.

March 21, 2021 at 9:43 pm

It helps me a lot. Thank you.

March 23, 2021 at 11:46 am

Awesome! You’re welcome.

August 4, 2021 at 7:10 am

Thanks for your valuable resources keep sharing the information like this…

October 3, 2021 at 8:29 pm

Hey there, thanks for creating such a great resource. But I cant seem to download it, any help is appreciated. Jess

October 8, 2021 at 7:15 am

Thanks for letting me know! I emailed you.

March 2, 2022 at 1:53 pm

i look forward to read these for my project at school very helpful

March 4, 2022 at 8:20 am

Great, Brianna!

May 8, 2023 at 4:59 am

I can’t get the resource to download 🙁

May 12, 2023 at 6:42 am

I emailed you! Please check your junk/spam if you don’t find my email in your inbox.

September 22, 2023 at 5:16 am

The great resource !

November 9, 2023 at 6:16 am

very informative blog thanks

November 16, 2023 at 11:26 pm

It’s blissful, insightful and enjoyable. This work is artistically done and I appreciate your creativity. Thank you!

November 28, 2023 at 3:27 pm

So glad you found us!

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Free Worksheets!

*Free Bundle of Art Appreciation Worksheets*

In this free bundle of art worksheets, you receive six ready-to-use art worksheets with looking activities designed to work with almost any work of art.

By Will Fenstermaker

June 14, 2017

There has never been a time when art critics held more power than during the second half of the twentieth century. Following the Second World War, with the relocation of the world’s artistic epicenter from Paris to New York, a different kind of war was waged in the pages of magazines across the country. As part of the larger “culture wars” of the mid-century, art critics began to take on greater influence than they’d ever held before. For a time, two critics in particular—who began as friends, and remained in the same social circles for much of their lives—set the stakes of the debates surrounding the maturation of American art that would continue for decades. The ideas about art outlined by Clement Greenberg and Harold Rosenberg are still debated today, and the extent to which they were debated in the past has shaped entire movements of the arts. Below are ten works of criticism through which one can trace the mainstreaming of Clement Greenberg’s formalist theory, and how its dismantling led us into institutional critique and conceptual art today.

The American Action Painters

Harold Rosenberg

Harold Rosenberg, a poet who came to art through his involvement with the Artist’s Union and the WPA, was introduced to Jean-Paul Sartre as the “first American existentialist.” Soon, Rosenberg became a contributor to Sartre’s publication in France, for which he first drafted his influential essay. However, when Sartre supported Soviet aggression against Korea, Rosenberg brought his essay to Elaine de Kooning , then the editor of ARTnews , who ran “The American Action Painters” in December, 1952.

RELATED: What Did Harold Rosenberg Do? An Introduction to the Champion of “Action Painting”

Rosenberg’s essay on the emerging school of American Painters omitted particular names—because they’d have been unfamiliar to its original French audience—but it was nonetheless extraordinarily influential for the burgeoning scene of post-WWII American artists. Jackson Pollock claimed to be the influence of “action painting,” despite Rosenberg’s rumored lack of respect for the artist because Pollock wasn’t particularly well-read. Influenced by Marxist theory and French existentialism, Rosenberg conceives of a painting as an “arena,” in which the artist acts upon, wrestles, or otherwise engages with the canvas, in what ultimately amounts to an expressive record of a struggle. “What was to go on the canvas,” Rosenberg wrote, “was not a picture but an event.”

Notable Quote

Weak mysticism, the “Christian Science” side of the new movement, tends … toward easy painting—never so many unearned masterpieces! Works of this sort lack the dialectical tension of a genuine act, associated with risk and will. When a tube of paint is squeezed by the Absolute, the result can only be a Success. The painter need keep himself on hand solely to collect the benefits of an endless series of strokes of luck. His gesture completes itself without arousing either an opposing movement within itself nor the desire in the artist to make the act more fully his own. Satisfied with wonders that remain safely inside the canvas, the artist accepts the permanence of the commonplace and decorates it with his own daily annihilation. The result is an apocalyptic wallpaper.

‘American-Type’ Painting

Clement Greenberg

Throughout the preceding decade, Clement Greenberg, also a former poet, had established a reputation as a leftist critic through his writings with The Partisan Review —a publication run by the John Reed Club, a New York City-centered organization affiliated with the American Communist Party—and his time as an art critic with The Nation . In 1955, The Partisan Review published Greenberg’s “‘American-Type’ Painting,” in which the critic defined the now-ubiquitous term “abstract expressionism.”

RELATED: What Did Clement Greenberg Do? A Primer on the Powerful AbEx Theorist’s Key Ideas

In contrast to Rosenberg’s conception of painting as a performative act, Greenberg’s theory, influenced by Clive Bell and T. S. Eliot, was essentially a formal one—in fact, it eventually evolved into what would be called “formalism.” Greenberg argued that the evolution of painting was one of historical determinacy—that ever since the Renaissance, pictures moved toward flatness, and the painted line moved away from representation. Henri Matisse and Pablo Picasso were two of the landmarks of this view. Pollock, who exhibited his drip paintings in 1951, freeing the line from figuration, was for Greenberg the pinnacle of American Modernism, the most important artist since Picasso. (Pollock’s paintings exhibited in 1954, with which he returned to semi-representational form, were regarded by Greenberg as a regression. This lead him to adopt Barnett Newman as his new poster-boy, despite the artist’s possessing vastly different ideas on the nature of painting. For one, Greenberg mostly ignored the Biblical titles of Newman’s paintings.)

Greenberg’s formalist theories were immensely influential over the subsequent decades. Artforum in particular grew into a locus for formalist discourse, which had the early effect of providing an aesthetic toolkit divorced from politic. Certain curators of the Museum of Modern Art, particularly William Rubin, Kirk Varnedoe, and to an extent Alfred Barr are credited for steering the museum in an essentially formalist direction. Some painters, such as Frank Stella , Helen Frankenthaler , and Kenneth Noland, had even been accused of illustrating Greenberg’s theories (and those of Michael Fried, a prominent Greenbergian disciple) in attempt to embody the theory, which was restrictive in its failure to account for narrative content, figuration, identity, politics, and more. In addition, Greenberg’s theories proved well-suited for a burgeoning art market, which found connoisseurship an easy sell. (As the writer Mary McCarthy said, “You can’t hang an event on your wall.”) In fact, the dominance of the term “abstract expressionism” over “action painting,” which seemed more applicable to Pollock and Willem de Kooning than any other members of the New York School, is emblematic of the influence of formalist discourse.

The justification for the term, “abstract expressionist,” lies in the fact that most of the painters covered by it took their lead from German, Russian, or Jewish expressionism in breaking away from late Cubist abstract art. But they all started from French painting, for their fundamental sense of style from it, and still maintain some sort of continuity with it. Not least of all, they got from it their most vivid notion of an ambitious, major art, and of the general direction in which it had to go in their time.

Barbara Rose

Like many critics in the 1950s and 60s, Barbara Rose had clearly staked her allegiance to one camp or the other. She was, firmly, a formalist, and along with Fried and Rosalind Krauss is largely credited with expanding the theory beyond abstract expressionist painting. By 1965, however, Rose recognized a limitation of the theory as outlined by Greenberg—that it was reductionist and only capable of account for a certain style of painting, and not much at all in other mediums.

RELATED: The Intellectual Origins Of Minimalism

In “ABC Art,” published in Art in America where Rose was a contributing editor, Rose opens up formalism to encompass sculpture, which Greenberg was largely unable to account for. The simple idea that art moves toward flatness and abstraction leads, for Rose, into Minimalism, and “ABC Art” is often considered the first landmark essay on Minimalist art. By linking the Minimalist sculptures of artists like Donald Judd to the Russian supremacist paintings of Kasimir Malevich and readymades of Duchamp, she extends the determinist history that formalism relies on into sculpture and movements beyond abstract expressionism.

I do not agree with critic Michael Fried’s view that Duchamp, at any rate, was a failed Cubist. Rather, the inevitability of a logical evolution toward a reductive art was obvious to them already. For Malevich, the poetic Slav, this realization forced a turning inward toward an inspirational mysticism, whereas for Duchamp, the rational Frenchman, it meant a fatigue so enervating that finally the wish to paint at all was killed. Both the yearnings of Malevich’s Slavic soul and the deductions of Duchamp’s rationalist mind led both men ultimately to reject and exclude from their work many of the most cherished premises of Western art in favor of an art stripped to its bare, irreducible minimum.

How I Spent My Summer Vacation

Philip Leider

Despite the rhetorical tendency to suggest the social upheaval of the '60s ended with the actual decade, 1970 remained a year of unrest. And Artforum was still the locus of formalist criticism, which was proving increasingly unable to account for art that contributed to larger cultural movements, like Civil Rights, women’s liberation, anti-war protests, and more. (Tellingly, The Partisan Review , which birthed formalism, had by then distanced itself from its communist associations and, as an editorial body, was supportive of American Interventionism in Vietnam. Greenberg was a vocal hawk.) Subtitled “Art and Politics in Nevada, Berkeley, San Francisco, and Utah,” the editor’s note to the September 1970 issue of Artforum , written by Philip Leider, ostensibly recounts a road trip undertaken with Richard Serra and Abbie Hoffman to see Michael Heizer’s Double Negative in the Nevada desert.

RELATED: A City of Art in the Desert: Behind Michael Heizer’s Monumental Visions for Nevada

However, the essay is also an account of an onsetting disillusion with formalism, which Leider found left him woefully unequipped to process the protests that had erupted surrounding an exhibition of prints by Paul Wunderlich at the Phoenix Gallery in Berkeley. Wunderlich’s depictions of nude women were shown concurrently to an exhibition of drawings sold to raise money for Vietnamese orphans. The juxtaposition of a canonical, patriarchal form of representation and liberal posturing, to which the protestors objected, showcased the limitations of a methodology that placed the aesthetic elements of a picture plane far above the actual world in which it existed. Less than a year later, Leider stepped down as editor-in-chief and Artforum began to lose its emphasis on late Modernism.

I thought the women were probably with me—if they were, I was with them. I thought the women were picketing the show because it was reactionary art. To the women, [Piet] Mondrian must be a great revolutionary artist. Abstract art broke all of those chains thirty years ago! What is a Movement gallery showing dumb stuff like this for? But if it were just a matter of reactionary art , why would the women picket it? Why not? Women care as much about art as men do—maybe more. The question is, why weren’t the men right there with them?

Why Have There Been No Great Women Artists?

Linda Nochlin

While Artforum , in its early history, had established a reputation as a generator for formalist theory, ARTnews had followed a decidedly more Rosenberg-ian course, emphasizing art as a practice for investigating the world. The January 1971 issue of the magazine was dedicated to “Women’s Liberation, Woman Artists, and Art History” and included an iconoclastic essay by Linda Nochlin titled “Why Have There Been No Great Women Artists?”

RELATED: An Introduction to Feminist Art

Nochlin notes that it’s tempting to answer the question “why have there been no great women artists?” by listing examples of those overlooked by critical and institutional organizations (a labor that Nochlin admits has great merit). However, she notes, “by attempting to answer it, they tacitly reinforce its negative implications,” namely that women are intrinsically less capable of achieving artistic merit than men. Instead, Nochlin’s essay functions as a critique of art institutions, beginning with European salons, which were structured in such a way as to deter women from rising to the highest echelons. Nochlin’s essay is considered the beginning of modern feminist art history and a textbook example of institutional critique.

There are no women equivalents for Michelangelo or Rembrandt, Delacroix or Cézanne, Picasso or Matisse, or even in very recent times, for de Kooning or Warhol, any more than there are black American equivalents for the same. If there actually were large numbers of “hidden” great women artists, or if there really should be different standards for women’s art as opposed to men’s—and one can’t have it both ways—then what are feminists fighting for? If women have in fact achieved the same status as men in the arts, then the status quo is fine as it is. But in actuality, as we all know, things as they are and as they have been, in the arts as in a hundred other areas, are stultifying, oppressive, and discouraging to all those, women among them, who did not have the good fortune to be born white, preferably middle class and above all, male. The fault lies not in our stars, our hormones, our menstrual cycles, or our empty internal spaces, but in our institutions and our education.

Doctor, Lawyer, Indian Chief

Thomas McEvilley

One of the many extrapolations of Nochlin’s essay is that contemporary museum institutions continue to reflect the gendered and racist biases of preceding centuries by reinforcing the supremacy of specific master artists. In a 1984 Artforum review, Thomas McEvilley, a classicist new to the world of contemporary art, made the case that the Museum of Modern Art in New York served as an exclusionary temple to certain high-minded Modernists—namely, Picasso, Matisse, and Pollock—who, in fact, took many of their innovations from native cultures.

RELATED: MoMA Curator Laura Hoptman on How to Tell a Good Painting From a “Bogus” Painting

In 1984, MoMA organized a blockbuster exhibition. Curated by William Rubin and Kirk Varnedoe, both of whom were avowed formalists, “‘Primitivism’ in 20th Century Art: Affinity of the Tribal and the Modern” collected works by European painters like Paul Gaugin and Picasso with cultural artifacts from Zaire, arctic communities, and elsewhere. McEvilley takes aim at the “the absolutist view of formalist Modernism” in which MoMA is rooted. He argues that the removal tribal artifacts from their contexts (for example, many were ritual items intended for ceremonies, not display) and placement of them, unattributed, near works by European artists, censors the cultural contributions of non-Western civilizations in deference to an idealized European genius.

The fact that the primitive “looks like” the Modern is interpreted as validating the Modern by showing that its values are universal, while at the same time projecting it—and with it MoMA—into the future as a permanent canon. A counter view is possible: that primitivism on the contrary invalidates Modernism by showing it to be derivative and subject to external causation. At one level this show undertakes precisely to coopt that question by answering it before it has really been asked, and by burying it under a mass of information.

Please Wait By the Coatroom

Not content to let MoMA and the last vestiges of formalism off the hook yet, John Yau wrote in 1988 an essay on Wifredo Lam, a Cuban painter who lived and worked in Paris among Picasso, Matisse, Georges Braque, and others. Noting Lam’s many influences—his Afro-Cuban mother, Chinese father, and Yoruba godmother—Yau laments the placement of Lam’s The Jungle near the coatroom in the Museum of Modern Art, as opposed to within the Modernist galleries several floors above. The painting was accompanied by a brief entry written by former curator William Rubin, who, Yau argues, adopted Greenberg’s theories because they endowed him with “a connoisseur’s lens with which one can scan all art.”

RELATED: From Cuba With Love: Artist Bill Claps on the Island’s DIY Art Scene

Here, as with with McEvilley’s essay, Yau illustrates how formalism, as adapted by museum institutions, became a (perhaps unintentional) method for reinforcing the exclusionary framework that Nochlin argued excluded women and black artists for centuries.

Rubin sees in Lam only what is in his own eyes: colorless or white artists. For Lam to have achieved the status of unique individual, he would have had to successfully adapt to the conditions of imprisonment (the aesthetic standards of a fixed tradition) Rubin and others both construct and watch over. To enter this prison, which takes the alluring form of museums, art history textbooks, galleries, and magazines, an individual must suppress his cultural differences and become a colorless ghost. The bind every hybrid American artist finds themselves in is this: should they try and deal with the constantly changing polymorphous conditions effecting identity, tradition, and reality? Or should they assimilate into the mainstream art world by focusing on approved-of aesthetic issues? Lam’s response to this bind sets an important precedent. Instead of assimilating, Lam infiltrates the syntactical rules of “the exploiters” with his own specific language. He becomes, as he says, “a Trojan horse.”

Black Culture and Postmodernism

Cornel West

The opening up of cultural discourse did not mean that it immediately made room for voices of all dimensions. Cornel West notes as much in his 1989 essay “Black Culture and Postmodernism,” in which he argues that postmodernism, much like Modernism before it, remains primarily ahistorical, which makes it difficult for “oppressed peoples to exercise their opposition to hierarchies of power.” West’s position is that the proliferation of theory and criticism that accompanied the rise of postmodernism provided mechanisms by which black culture could “be conversant with and, to a degree, participants in the debate.” Without their voices, postmodernism would remain yet another exclusionary movements.

RELATED: Kerry James Marshall on Painting Blackness as a Noun Vs. Verb

As the consumption cycle of advanced multinational corporate capitalism was sped up in order to sustain the production of luxury goods, cultural production became more and more mass-commodity production. The stress here is not simply on the new and fashionable but also on the exotic and primitive. Black cultural products have historically served as a major source for European and Euro-American exotic interests—interests that issue from a healthy critique of the mechanistic, puritanical, utilitarian, and productivity aspects of modern life.

Minimalism and the Rhetoric of Power

Anna C. Chave

In recent years, formalist analysis has been deployed as a single tool within a more varied approach to art. Its methodology—that of analyzing a picture as an isolated phenomena—remains prevalent, and has its uses. Yet, many of the works and movements that rose to prominence under formalist critics and curators, in no small part because of their institutional acceptance, have since become part of the rearguard rather than the vanguard.

In a 1990 essay for Arts Magazine , Anna Chave analyzes how Minimalist sculpture possesses a “domineering, sometimes brutal rhetoric” that was aligned with “both the American military in Vietnam, and the police at home in the streets and on university campuses across the country.” In particular, Chave is concerned with the way Minimalist sculptures define themselves through a process of negation. Of particular relevance to Chave’s argument are the massive steel sculptures by Minimalist artist Richard Serra.

Tilted Arc was installed in Federal Plaza in lower Manhattan in 1981. Chave describes the work as a “mammoth, perilously tilted steel arc [that] formed a divisive barrier too tall to see over, and a protracted trip to walk around.” She writes, “it is more often the case with Serra that his work doesn’t simply exemplify aggression or domination, but acts it out.” Tilted Arc was so controversial upon its erecting that the General Services Administration, which commissioned the work, held hearings in response to petitions demanding the work be removed. Worth quoting at length, Chave writes:

A predictable defense of Serra’s work was mounted by critics, curators, dealers, collectors, and some fellow artists…. The principle arguments mustered on Serra’s behalf were old ones concerning the nature and function of the avant-garde…. What Rubin and Serra’s other supporters declined to ask is whether the sculptor really is, in the most meaningful sense of the term, an avant-garde artist. Being avant-garde implies being ahead of, outside, or against the dominant culture; proffering a vision that implicitly stands (at least when it is conceived) as a critique of entrenched forms and structures…. But Serra’s work is securely embedded within the system: when the brouhaha over Arc was at its height, he was enjoying a retrospective at the Museum of Modern Art…. [The defense’s] arguments locate Serra not with the vanguard but with the standing army or “status quo.” … More thoughtful, sensible, and eloquent testimony at the hearing came instead from some of the uncouth:

My name is Danny Katz and I work in this building as a clerk. My friend Vito told me this morning that I am a philistine. Despite that I am getting up to speak…. I don’t think this issue should be elevated into a dispute between the forces of ignorance and art, or art versus government. I really blame government less because it has long ago outgrown its human dimension. But from the artists I expected a lot more. I didn’t expect to hear them rely on the tired and dangerous reasoning that the government has made a deal, so let the rabble live with the steel because it’s a deal. That kind of mentality leads to wars. We had a deal with Vietnam. I didn’t expect to hear the arrogant position that art justifies interference with the simple joys of human activity in a plaza. It’s not a great plaza by international standards, but it is a small refuge and place of revival for people who ride to work in steel containers, work in sealed rooms, and breathe recirculated air all day. Is the purpose of art in public places to seal off a route of escape, to stress the absence of joy and hope? I can’t believe this was the artistic intention, yet to my sadness this for me has become the dominant effect of the work, and it’s all the fault of its position and location. I can accept anything in art, but I can’t accept physical assault and complete destruction of pathetic human activity. No work of art created with a contempt for ordinary humanity and without respect for the common element of human experience can be great. It will always lack dimension.

The terms Katz associated with Serra’s project include arrogance and contempt, assault, and destruction; he saw the Minimalist idiom, in other words, as continuous with the master discourse of our imperious and violent technocracy.

The End of Art

Arthur Danto

Like Greenberg, Arthur Danto was an art critic for The Nation . However, Danto was overtly critical of Greenberg’s ideology and the influence he wielded over Modern and contemporary art. Nor was he a follower of Harold Rosenberg, though they shared influences, among them the phenomenologist Maurice Merleau-Ponty. Danto’s chief contribution to contemporary art was his advancing of Pop Artists, particularly Andy Warhol and Roy Lichtenstein .

In “The End of Art” Danto argues that society at large determines and accepts art, which no longer progresses linearly, categorized by movements. Instead, viewers each possess a theory or two, which they use to interpret works, and art institutions are largely tasked with developing, testing, and modifying various interpretive methods. In this way, art differs little from philosophy. After decades of infighting regarding the proper way to interpret works of art, Danto essentially sanctioned each approach and the institutions that gave rise to them. He came to call this “pluralism.”

RELATED: What Was the Pictures Generation?

Similarly, in “Painting, Politics, and Post-Historical Art,” Danto makes the case for an armistice between formalism and the various theories that arose in opposition, noting that postmodern critics like Douglas Crimp in the 1980s, who positioned themselves against formalism, nonetheless adopted the same constrictive air, minus the revolutionary beginnings.

Modernist critical practice was out of phase with what was happening in the art world itself in the late 60s and through the 1970s. It remained the basis for most critical practice, especially on the part of the curatoriat, and the art-history professoriat as well, to the degree that it descended to criticism. It became the language of the museum panel, the catalog essay, the article in the art periodical. It was a daunting paradigm, and it was the counterpart in discourse to the “broadening of taste” which reduced art of all cultures and times to its formalist skeleton, and thus, as I phrased it, transformed every museum into a Museum of Modern Art, whatever that museum’s contents. It was the stable of the docent’s gallery talk and the art appreciation course—and it was replaced, not totally but massively, by the postmodernist discourse that was imported from Paris in the late 70s, in the texts of Michel Foucault, Jacques Derrida, Jean Baudrillard, Jean-François Lyotard, and Jacques Lacan, and of the French feminists Hélène Cixous and Luce Irigaray. That is the discourse [Douglas] Crimp internalizes, and it came to be lingua artspeak everywhere. Like modernist discourse, it applied to everything, so that there was room for deconstructive and “archeological” discussion of art of every period.

Editor’s Note: This list was drawn in part from a 2014 seminar taught by Debra Bricker Balken in the MFA program in Art Writing at the School of Visual Arts titled Critical Strategies: Late Modernism/Postmodernism. Additional sources can be found here , here , here (paywall), and here . Also relevant are reviews of the 2008 exhibition at the Jewish Museum, “Action/Abstraction: Pollock, de Kooning, and American Art, 1940–1976,” notably those by Roberta Smith , Peter Schjeldahl , and Martha Schwendener .

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