Art History Operations

To further appreciate a work of art, you can gather information about the artist and time period in which the work was created. There are four steps to gathering information.

Ask, when, where, and by whom was the work created. You can get the basic information from the credit line, but you would need to do further research to learn about the artist.

Ask, what is the style of the work? Can the work be associated with an art movement? To analyze an artist's individual style, look at how the artist uses the elements and principles of art to express personal feelings and ideas, and compare several works by the same artist.

Ask, how did time and place affect the artist's style in terms of subject matter, composition, and content? Find out about the artist's life and surroundings and which other artists influenced him or her.

Now, ask whether this work is significant in the history of art. For clues, you can read what art historians say about the artist and make your own assessment.

Description, Analysis, Interpretation, Evaluation.