Critical Analysis Process
- Initial reaction – do you like it or not and why?
- Description – what story do you see in it?
- Analysis – can ask questions to help like: where do you see line? why do you think it’s there? does the title give you any clues?
- Consideration of cultural context – art and culture are inextricably linked; art always has a cultural context (even when it is done within the mainstream)
- Informed opinion – do you have more to say now after considering the cultural context?
* Remember the goal is not to like al the art but to understand why it’s representative of the theme the artist is trying to communicate. Think about why a piece would have been chosen to be in the National Gallery rather than whether you like it.
Critical Analysis of Art Activity:
Go through each of the steps above with a piece of art. We did it so that we answered one question and then moved to another table with another piece of art and went back to our original for # 5.
