A Museum Paper

This assignment is designed to acquaint you with one of the major art collections in the United
States, and to exercise your skills in descriptive analysis and in conducting research. To fulfill this assignment, you will be required to go to the McNay or the SAMA in order to choose two objects as the focus of your research. Note that admission is free at both SAMA and McNay when you show your SAC id.
1. Getting started:
Start by selecting
a. one artwork that engages your interest from one of the following non-Western
collections: Asian (Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Tibetan, Indian), Near Eastern, Islamic,
Oceanic, African or Pre-Columbian (Mixtec, Aztec or Inca only), and
b. one additional artwork from one of the following galleries: European, American, or Contemporary. A total of two works will be selected, both of which must be from the period covered in this course, 1300, through the present day. You may find that the artworks you have chosen are visually appealing to you, or disturbing; you may be familiar with the represented
subject matter, or it may be a complete mystery. In any case select works of art that you think have considerable potential for an in-depth research project.
2. Write a short description of each of the objects, including,
a. an identification of the object (use museum label information),
b. a thorough description of the object, which should include the following:
medium (e.g. bronze sculpture, oil painting, print, etc.), technique (e.g. woodcut print, engraving, cast bronze, etc.), method of construction (how was it put together?), approximate size, and shape and/or format.
c. if the work is representational, describe the image in the most basic terms. Do not attempt to interpret iconography at this point; just report what you see.
3. Investigate:
Your next task will be to do some brief research. You will be required to consult two scholarly
sources to find out more about each of these two objects (four sources total). These sources
may help you find out more about the artist who made the work (if attributed to a known artist), the subject of the artwork, the medium used to make it and/or its style (see worksheet). Do not use your textbook or general encyclopedias. One (but, only one) of your four sources may be a website (this means a source that exists only as a website), though it must be a legitimate one (the rule of thumb is that it must come from a museum or academic institution and have an author; look for .org or .edu sites.) Your research should help illuminate the work of art for you, bringing new insights to the first-hand observations you made while at the museum.
4. Final Museum Paper:
Your final paper will consist of five pages, organized in the following manner:
1. A thorough description of object #1. (20%)
2. Information you learned about object #1 from your research. (25%)
3. A thorough description of object #2. (20%)
4. Information you learned about object #2 from your research. (25%)
5. Works Cited page, containing two properly cited sources for each object (four sources
total). (10%)
You may use the MLA, APA, Chicago, or Turabian citation style. (Guides to both citation
formats are available online: see https://lib.trinity.edu/lib2/cite.php, or
http://sacguide.libguides.com/content.php?pid=216001&sid=1796701) (NOTE: This is not a single ‘comparative’ essay, so you need not tie the two objects together.)
Grading:
Your paper will be graded on the thoroughness of your description and research, and your
ability to relate secondary information (research information) to first-hand observation.
Your properly cited and complete (four sources) Works Cited page will constitute 10% of
your assignment grade.
Museum contact information:
San Antonio Museum of Art
200 W. Jones Ave
San Antonio, TX
(210) 978-8100
Hours:
Mon. – Closed
Tues & Fri.. – 10 AM – 7 PM
Wed, Thurs, Sat, Sun. – 10 AM – 5 PM
McNay Art Museum
6000 N. New Braunfels
San Antonio, TX
(210) 824-5368
Hours: Mon. & Tues. – Closed
Wed, Thurs., Fri. – 10 AM – 6 PM
Sat. 10 AM-5PM
Sun. 12-5 PM

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