1   ART 101: FORM AND IDEA MUSEUM ESSAY All students will be required to visit the Tampa Museum of Art, the St. Petersburg Museum of Fine Arts, the Dali Museum in St. Petersburg, or the Ringling Museum of Art in Sarasota. Students will write a minimum 1500 word research paper (approx. 5 pages in length) based on one artwork of their choosing from the museum to investigate in further detail. The completed paper is due at the beginning of class on the assigned due date (see course syllabus for deadlines). This assignment will require students to a thoughtful analysis based on accepted research as well as your own developed point of view. Completed essays will be sustained thesis-driven interpretations of a single artwork based on scholarly research (three sources minimum are required). When selecting your artwork, pick the one that appeals to you and that you want to further examine. (Keep in mind that you may want to select an object that has already had significant scholarly research within art history.) A brief visual analysis of the selected artwork will ultimately support your thesis and lend credence to your research. Meaning, your discussion of the artist’s selection and use of the visual elements and principles of design should connect to your broader knowledge of style and pictorial culture, as we have discussed them in class lecture. Your analysis should also move from description to interpretation as it relates to your central argument – i.e., the particular qualities of the medium (ceramic, sculpture, painting, etc.) and how this relates to the artist’s content or culture; how the visual elements found in the artwork reflect (or were affected by) important cultural values found in the society in which it was made; how the work confronts the human condition or experience of its culture; the expressive significance of formal elements, spatial design, or motifs and their interaction; or how the artist has used visual elements to communicate a particular message/experience to his/her viewers. MUSEUM INFORMATION For more information on the Tampa Museum of Art, its location, hours of operation and collections, please see its website: http://tampamuseum.org. College student admission (with ID) is FREE, or Pay-as-you-will admission on Fridays between 4–8 PM. For more information on the St. Petersburg Museum of Fine Arts, its location, hours of operation and collections, please see its website: http://www.fine-arts.org. Regular student admission (with ID) is $10, and $5 after 5:00 PM on Thursdays. For more information on the Salvador Dali Museum, its location, hours of operation and collections, please see its website: http://thedali.org. Regular student admission (with ID) is $15 and is $10 after 5:00 PM on Thursdays. Note: on-site parking at the Dali costs $10, but is within walk-able distance of downtown parking. For more information on the Ringling Museum of Arts, its l ...

1. 1
ART 101:
FORM AND IDEA
MUSEUM ESSAY
All students will be required to visit the Tampa Museum of Art,
the St. Petersburg Museum of Fine Arts, the
Dali Museum in St. Petersburg, or the Ringling Museum of Art
in Sarasota. Students will write a minimum
1500 word research paper (approx. 5 pages in length) based on
one artwork of their choosing from the
museum to investigate in further detail. The completed paper is
due at the beginning of class on the assigned
due date (see course syllabus for deadlines).
This assignment will require students to a thoughtful analysis
based on accepted research as well as your own
developed point of view. Completed essays will be sustained
thesis-driven interpretations of a single artwork
based on scholarly research (three sources minimum are
required).
When selecting your artwork, pick the one that appeals to you
and that you want to further examine. (Keep in
mind that you may want to select an object that has already had
significant scholarly research within art
history.) A brief visual analysis of the selected artwork will

2. ultimately support your thesis and lend credence to
your research. Meaning, your discussion of the artist’s selection
and use of the visual elements and principles
of design should connect to your broader knowledge of style
and pictorial culture, as we have discussed them
in class lecture. Your analysis should also move from
description to interpretation as it relates to your central
argument – i.e., the particular qualities of the medium (ceramic,
sculpture, painting, etc.) and how this relates
to the artist’s content or culture; how the visual elements found
in the artwork reflect (or were affected by)
important cultural values found in the society in which it was
made; how the work confronts the human
condition or experience of its culture; the expressive
significance of formal elements, spatial design, or motifs
and their interaction; or how the artist has used visual elements
to communicate a particular
message/experience to his/her viewers.
MUSEUM INFORMATION
For more information on the Tampa Museum of Art, its
location, hours of operation and collections, please see
its website: http://tampamuseum.org. College student admission
(with ID) is FREE, or Pay-as-you-will
admission on Fridays between 4–8 PM.
For more information on the St. Petersburg Museum of Fine
Arts, its location, hours of operation and
collections, please see its website: http://www.fine-arts.org.
Regular student admission (with ID) is $10, and
$5 after 5:00 PM on Thursdays.
For more information on the Salvador Dali Museum, its
location, hours of operation and collections, please
see its website: http://thedali.org. Regular student admission
(with ID) is $15 and is $10 after 5:00 PM on

3. Thursdays. Note: on-site parking at the Dali costs $10, but is
within walk-able distance of downtown parking.
For more information on the Ringling Museum of Arts, its
locations, hours of operation and collections, please
see its website: http://www.ringling.org. Regular student
admission (with ID) is $5 and is free to the public on
Mondays.
GRADING STAGES: FROM DRAFT TO FINAL ESSAY
Writing is a mode of learning that requires practice. Thus,
students will be required to practice their writing
skills through outlines and rough drafts for which they will
receive detailed feedback from their instructor and
their peers. For this assignment, students will adhere to a
writing schedule that includes:
1. Full rough draft (minimum 4 pages long; hard copy) due for
an in-class peer review
2. Final essay (turn in a hard copy of “Field Notes” and Ticket
Stub; turn in essay as a digital file to Bb)
2
GRADING CRITERA
This essay requires students to collect original data from first-
hand observation and interpretation from
scholarly research of an object in a museum collection. All
students must turn-in a receipt or ticket stub as
proof of the museum visit, attached to the museum “Field
Notes” (see pages 5–7 of the assignment
directions). Failure to turn in “Field Notes” with attached proof

4. of visit will result in the penalty of one letter
grade (10 points).
Students must then interpret these observations with respect to
concepts learned in class, primary sources, and
art historical readings. The final essay will be assessed
according to the following criteria:
1. Rough Draft Component (10 points): Did the student submit a
full rough draft by the required due
date? Did the student make meaningful contributions to the in-
class peer review?
2. Central Argument (20 points): Does the essay include a
central thesis? Does the essay explore
critical themes, questions, and issues raised by the artwork?
Does the essay describe the critical
approach it would take to these themes, questions, and issues?
Were appropriate sources consulted?
Was the central argument/claim well supported with visual
evidence? Does the essay use clear
reasoning about interpretations drawn from thorough research
and from the looking process?
3. Visual Analysis (20 points): Does the description (visual
analysis) of the artwork have a critical
focus? Does the student clearly describe the work overall, then
move logically and critically to specific
details? Does the essay use careful, precise language to describe
the artwork observed?
4. Social Historical Context (20 points): Does the essay frame
the artwork historically? Does the essay
articulate ways in which the artwork expresses the values of the
time and place of its manufacture?

5. Does the essay acknowledge the range of aesthetic experiences
and interpretations of the artwork in
historical context?
5. Mechanics (15 points): Did the essay satisfy the required
length? Did the essay include a formal
introduction (with an underlined thesis statement), clearly
organized body paragraphs (the organization
of ideas supporting the argument), and a formal conclusion
(which summarizes and restates the main
argument)? Does the essay use proper spelling, punctuation,
grammar, formatting, and other
mechanics?
6. Bibliography and Depth of Scholarly Sources (15 points):
Does the essay include the salient
scholarly sources about the artwork under observation (online
sources are not scholarly—do not cite
these!)? Does the essay include at least three (3) sources in the
correct format (Chicago Manuel of
Style)? Does the essay use the proper footnote format to cite
sources?
Remember to proofread also for the clarity and formal
presentation of your ideas. NO LATE WORK WILL
BE ACCEPTED.
PAPER SPECIFICATIONS
Your paper should be a minimum of 1500 words, or
approximately 5 pages, in length (not including the
bibliography or footnotes). Please limit your papers to a
maximum of 6 pages; a too-long paper needs more
assertive revision to clarify the main thesis and supporting
arguments. Specific formatting instructions include:

6. • Your full name, date, section number, and assignment title as
a separate title page
• 12-point font; Times New Roman
• Double spaced
• 1” margins
• Number each page in the footer
• A reproduction of the artwork on the page immediately
following your conclusion
You are to upload your paper labeled as a .doc, .docx, or .pdf
file to Blackboard (no other file extension will
be permitted).
3
BIBLIOGRAPHY / WORKS CITED
Completed essays should include a full bibliography (or Works
Cited) page with a minimum of three (3)
scholarly sources. (All sources used are to be accredited. The
university library’s online database is a great
place to start, where you will find such sources as: JSTOR,
ARTSTOR, Art Index, etc. Websites such as
WIKIPEDIA, WIKIANSWERS, .com’s, etc. do not count as
acceptable sources at the college level.) All
sources, both footnotes and your bibliography, will follow the
Chicago Manual of Style. Remember, when
you include any information gained from your research in the
body of your essay (paraphrased or in
quotation), you must include a corresponding in-text citation

7. through footnotes. For helpful resources about
using Chicago Manual of Style, see:
• http://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/home.html
• https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/717/01/
WRITING STRATEGIES AND GUIDES
For any essay writing, follow an outline. This will help you
ensure your ideas flow logically from one idea to
the next. Your introduction should provide your reader with
some sense of your essay overall, culminating in a
thesis statement as the last sentence of your introductory
paragraph. Each body paragraph should
include a topic sentence at the very beginning of the paragraph,
which should provide the reader with a clear
sense of the central idea for that specific paragraph. Your essay
should end with a formal conclusion, which
re-states/re-summarizes your essay overall rather than providing
new information. If written correctly, the
thesis and transitions, if strung together separately, will read as
a grammatically correct paragraph of its own.
If incorrect, it will sound like a jumble.
Sample correct thesis (the last sentence of the first paragraph):
• This
essay
discusses
how
iconography,
shapes,
and

8. light
source
in
Amy
Donnelly’s
painting
Five
Stories
Up
(2012)
each
contribute
to
the
artist’s
unique
reflection
on
everyday
life.
Your own thesis should provide for your reader one possible
way to interpret and better understand the
artwork you selected. There are many ways to approach an
argument: through a central theme, some
iconographical aspect of the artwork, a strong connection to
biographical or societal information, etc. Try to
find some aspect that YOU find compelling, and which you
believe can be linked back to specific details that
you will provide in your visual analysis.

9. **NOTE: It is correct form to italicize titles of artworks at all
points—do not put them in quotation
marks—and list the date, in parentheses, the first time that you
mention a title. In addition, you should
refer to the artist by their last name after listing their full name
one time.
I provide many strong guides for writing in our course page
through Canvas that I highly recommend students
to explore. The below guides will also help you through this
process:
Strong thesis statements—Purdue Online Writing Lab offers
some solid strategies and approaches for writing
an argumentative essay. See their website:
https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/545/01/.
Paper mechanics—Sylvan Barnet, A Short Guide to Writing
About Art, 8th ed. Also Anne D’Alleva, “Writing
Art Historical Papers,” in Look! Fundamentals of Art History.
Prentice Hall, 2005. See especially pp. 71–75.
On Formal Analysis (What are they? How are they attempted?
What makes them so successful?)—Anne
D’Alleva, “Formal Analysis,” in Look! Fundamentals of Art
History. Prentice Hall, 2005. See especially pp.
11–39. Also Sylvan Barnet, “Formal Analysis and Style,” A
Short Guide to Writing About Art, pp. 113–134.
Clear and meaningful writing about art takes a great deal of
time and patience: try writing drafts. You may
seek the services of the Writing Center to develop ideas and to
strategize an approach (information about the
Writing Center can be found in the course syllabus).

10. https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/545/01/
4
Name: ________________________________
MUSEUM ESSAY: FIELD NOTES
Instructions: This worksheet should be completed during your
museum visit. The field notes are intended to
help organize your thoughts when writing the paper and should
be submitted along with the final paper.
Step One:
After you have walked through all of the galleries select one
artwork you would like to further consider. Then write down the
following details:
Artist’s Name:
_________________________________________________
Title:
_____________________________________________________
__
Date:
_____________________________________________________
__
Medium:
_____________________________________________________
Size:
_____________________________________________________
___
Period or Culture:
________________________________________________
Collection and Location:
____________________________________________
Step Two:

11. Absorb the artwork you have selected without writing anything
down. Pay attention to visual aspects of the artwork that jump
out immediately, and those that take time to emerge. Move
around the artwork and look at it from different angles (15
minutes).
Step Three:
Take notes about the artwork you have selected. Write a
detailed description of the work, noting its striking features
(15–30
minutes).

12. 5
Compare this artwork with a known artwork (something from
class lecture or your textbook):
Step Four:
Take a break, walk away, get a gelato, look at other artworks in
the museum. After your break, return to the artwork you
selected and look at it again without writing anything down. Be
aware of features that emerge that you did not see before.
Then take a whole new set of notes – issues, themes, or a
perspective that is shaping up (15 minutes).

13. Step Five:
Produce a tentative thesis (make sure you have all the visual
evidence you need to support that thesis). Think of questions for
further research.
6
Step Six:

14. Draw your selected artwork (even if you already took a picture,
if the museum allows you) – do not worry about how
“pretty” your drawing is, instead, focus on the details and
shapes and use this as a working tool.
Final Step:
Repeat the looking process and note any last minute details.
Write down ideas and questions you may want to look into
during your research.

15. Fernando Puig
ART 101
Prof. Souza
11/9/16
Mother and Child
When I arrived at the Tampa Museum of Art I did not know
what to expect, what I was going to see, etc. That is why I
decided to tour it completely, it did not take me that long since
the museum is not that big, That was a little disappointing.
After I walked around a couple of times I found the artwork that
brought my attention by Pablo Picasso’s painting Maternité /
Motherhood (1930; printed 1962). I think this artwork is all
about the relationship between mother and child. In the late

16. summer of 1901, Picasso visited the women’s prison of Soint-
Lozore. This experience of this squalid environment informed
the poverty-induced melancholy to the many of the “Blue
Period” work. The Blue Period is the period between 1900-
1904, were he started painting monochromatic painting in
shades of blue. Picasso having spent a few difficult years with
no fix studio and little artistic success, the producing of the
“Blue Period” works, reflected his experience of relative
poverty and instability.
This painting features a mother and child embracing each other;
the mother is kissing the child on the forehead. The painting is
of naturalistic appearance. The medium is aquatint, etching on
paper. The mother and child are situated in the center of the
painting to make it clear that is the principle element and main
focus of the painting. To make even more emphasis the figures
are really big, they take up the majority of the space. In the
position they are both together, they create an implied shaped, a
triangle. The mother is seated in a black rocking chair, which I
believe is wooden. Something common for mothers to do
especially when their child is little like the one depicted in the
painting; the child looks like he is a toddler. This is why I
would place this artwork in the theme of looking outward: the
here and now because they are portraying something that is
done in the everyday life.
This painting has a naturalistic appearance. When you see it for
the first time you are completely certain that what is being
represented is a mother and a child. The child is wearing a
white onesie and holding what looks like a red flower. Because
of the color of what he is wearing light is created, which makes
him the primary focus. The mom is wearing a blue cloak. After
staring at it for a while I was analyzing what the mother was
wearing because it reminded me of something. It reminded me
of the Virgin Mary. Doing research, I found that I was actually
right. The mantle symbolizes again protection, as women would
conceal babies and other vulnerable people inside for safety

17. (Laura W). She is doing exactly this in the painting. With this
knowledge now we can insinuate that maybe the baby she is
hugging is baby Jesus. Also the color blue is used because it
symbolizes peace and tranquility and because it indicates that
she is the protector and mother of the Earth (Laura W). This hue
is carried throughout the upper part of the background but in
different tones or value. The hue used in the lower part of the
canvas is a yellow type, which is triadic. At the same time this
produces contrast. The colors used also create a mood of
tranquility and peace as stated before. All of these elements are
things that make part of a mother and child relationship.
The lines in the background are horizontal, which suggest
calmness and passivity (Chapter 2, 3). These two elements,
color and lines, create visual unity in the painting. At the right
end of the artwork there is a small brown basket and inside is a
white textile, which I assume are linens (Chapter 4). I feel this
is something that the artist added just to add something to the
canvas so that it did not look so simple, since a lot of Picasso’s
artwork is very dramatic and busy. I still think there is no point
to it and I believe that it may have been an over thought.
In conclusion the painting portrays a mother and child. The
nurturing relationship they have, which is translated by the
action depicted and the symbolism of the colors used. The
figures were made in grand scale to make a point that the two
figures are the main focus. The shape they make also adds to
this argument. The child is wearing is wearing white which
creates light. Because of the colors used on the subjects of the
artwork it is gran possibility that these two are the Virgin Mary
and baby Jesus. The background is done in a very basic manner
so that it does not over power the rest of the painting. I think
that the painting was done very simple so that the audience can
appreciate real meaning of it, the love a mother and child have
for one another.

18. References:
Souza, Bethany. Visual Elements, Chapter 2, 3 slide shows,
Web. 23. 2016.
Souza, Bethany. Principles of Design, Chapter 4 slide shows,
Web. 23. 2016.
W, Laura. "Why Does the Virgin Mary Always Wear Blue?" As
Told by Laura. N.p., 18 Nov. 2013. Web. 24 Mar. 2016.