Table of Contents

In this Section:

• Chapter 1: Writing About Art
  • What Is Art?
  • Why Write about Art?
  • The Imagined Reader as the Writer's Collaborator
  • The Functions of Critical Writing
  • Some Words about Critical Thinking
  • A Sample Critical Essay
  • What Is an Interpretation—and Are All interpretations Equally Valid?
  • Expressing Opinions: The Writer's “I”
• Chapter 2: Writing About Art: The Big Picture
  • Standing Back: Kinds of Writing (Informing and Persuading)
  • Close-Up: Drafting the Essay
  • Checklist of Basic Matters
• Chapter 3: Formal Analysis and Style
  • What Formal Analysis Is
  • Formal Analysis Versus Description
  • Sample Essay: A Formal Analysis
  • Postscript: Thoughts about the Words "Realistic" and "Idealized"
  • Cautionary Words about Slides and Reproductions in Books and on the World Wide Web
• Chapter 4: Analytical Thinking
  • Subject Matter and Content
  • Form and Content
  • Getting ideas for Essays: Asking Questions to Get Answers
  • Another Look at the Questions
• Chapter 5: Writing A Comparison
  • Comparing as a Way of Discovering
  • Two ways of Organizing a Comparison
  • Sample Essay: A Student's Comparison
  • Rebecca Bedell: "John Singleson Copley's Early Development: From Mrs. Joseph Mann to Mrs. Ezekial Goldthwait"
  • Checklist for Writing a Comparison
• Chapter 6: Writing an Entry in an Exhibition Catalog
  • Keeping the Reader in Mind
  • A Sample Entry
  • Checklist for Writing a Catalog Entry
• Chapter 7: Writing a Review of an Exhibition
  • What a Review Is
  • Three Sample Reviews
• Chapter 8: Virtual Exhibitions: Writing Text Panels and Other Materials
  • Kinds of Exhibitions
  • Kinds of Writing Assignments
• Chapter 9: How to Write an Effective Essay
  • The Basic Strategy
  • Looking Closely: Approaching a First Draft
  • Revising: Achieving a Readable Draft
  • Peer Review
  • Preparing the Final Version
• Chapter 10: Style in Writing
  • Principles of Style
  • Get the Right Word
  • Writing Effective Sentences
  • Write Unified and Coherent Paragraphs
  • A Note on Tenses
• Chapter 11: Art Historical Research
  • Accounting for Taste
  • Historical Scholarship and Values
• Chapter 12: Some Critical Approaches
  • Social History: The New Art History and Marxism
  • Gender Studies: Feminist Criticism and Gay and Lesbian Studies
  • Biographical Studies
  • Psychoanalytic Studies
  • Iconography and Iconology
• Chapter 13: Writing a Research Paper
  • Primary and Secondary Materials
  • From Subject to Thesis
  • Finding the Material
  • Art Research and the World Wide Web
  • Keeping a Sense of Proportion
  • Reading and Taking Notes
  • Checklist for Note-Taking
  • Incorporating Your Reading into Your Thinking: The Art of Synthesis and Drafting and Revising the Paper
  • Checklist for Reviewing a Revised Draft of a Research Paper
• Chapter 14: Manuscript Form
  • Basic Manuscript Form
  • Some Conventions of Language Usage
  • Quotations and Quotation Marks
  • Acknowledging Sources
  • Documentation
  • Footnotes and Endnotes: Chicago Manual Style
  • Chicago Manual of Style
• Chapter 15: Writing Essay Examinations
  • What Examinations Are
  • Writing Essay Answers
  • Last Words

Reviews

"Extraordinarily useful and necessary for any class in art history!" - Johanna Movassat, San Jose State University "A step-by-step guide, incorporating both theory and practice, to critically thinking and writing about art." - Janet Carpenter, City College of San Francisco "An extremely useful book for art history students at all levels of study." - Melissa Dabakis, Kenyon College "I find the text to be fundamental in teaching students to write. It is concise enough to cover in a course on a particular art historical topic without overtaking the topic itself. It is always my secondary text." - Rebecca Trittel, Savannah College of Art and Design "Excellent definitive source on writing about art for the advanced student." - Carey Rote, Texas A & M University-Corpus Christi