• Identification: Select a work of art. You may select a piece that you like or dislike. Get all the information provided: artist, title, medium, year, etc. Write down your initial responses. How do you respond to the work? Does it invoke an emotional response? What do you think the artist was trying to communicate? It is helpful to bring a notebook to record your responses.
• Describe the piece and review it carefully. What do you see? Note all the details about the work. How would you describe it to someone you were talking to on the phone who can’t see it?
• Analyze the visual elements and design principles, thinking about the relationship between form, content, and subject matter. This will be helpful in your ‘interpretation’ of the work. Consider context: does it fit into a movement or time period? Consider its place in the artist’s overall output.
• Interpretation Follow your analysis with a subjective interpretation of the meaning of the work. How does the work make you feel? What do you think the content is? Go beyond “I like it” or “I don’t like it.”
• Research the artist. Historical and biographical information on the artist often provides clues into a work’s intended meaning. Carefully consider the purpose and context of the piece. Did the piece you selected have any particular political or cultural message? Was the artist making a statement?
• Evaluate What do you think the artist’s intentions were? Was this communicated? Does it have value? Can you recognize the aesthetic quality in the work?
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