FAH382 Art Writing Long Writing Assignment Arts Essay

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FAH382 Art Writing Long Writing Assignment Acquisition Proposal Pretend you are a curator for either the ROM or the AGO. Browse the upcoming lots at any auction house (Christie’s, Heffel House, etc.) and select a work or object you would like to acquire for the collection. Write up a proposal describing the work and explaining how it will fit within the current collection according to the museum’s mandate. Format and Length • 800-1,00 words, not including the list of object information • Museums and galleries often have a template or a form for their acquisition proposals, but I’ll leave the structure up to you. • I suggest, however, that you roughly follow one or two of the sample proposals on Quercus: the Nautilus Cup, the Sara Rahbar flags, or the ajrakh textiles Alternative Proposal Propose an exhibition of contemporary art to the Critical Distance Centre for Curators in Toronto. Follow this link for submission details: https://www.criticaldistance.ca/about/opportunities/curatorial-proposals/ Deadlines • Rough draft due July 29 by 10:00 am • Final proposal due Aug. 3 by 11:59 pm Further Instructions Finding a Work or Object • You may not find a work or object directly related to your topic. Works by Leonardo da Vinci, for example, aren’t for sale very often. You may need to broaden your search for works or objects that are indirectly related. Look for paintings or drawings by artists who worked in Leonardo’s style, for example. • Search auction sites (Christie’s, Sotheby’s, Heffel House, etc.) and dealer sites. If you work on an artist who is still alive, check their own website. List all Relevant Object Information • artist/maker, • title or object description, • date/period, • medium and dimensions, • place of origin, • current location • cost Preparation and Research • You’ll need to learn more about your work or object, or about similar works or objects, by doing some research. • Try databases and encyclopedias that are accessible online in the UTL Catalogue, particularly the Oxford Bibliographies, or the Oxford Art Online. • Especially because of the difficulties accessing the library, you can search outside academic scholarship in the strictest sense, but be critical and mindful of what you’re reading. Museum websites can be especially useful. Blogs can be more uneven. • Don’t get distracted by overly general details about the context. You don’t need to explain what the “Renaissance” is, for example. Try to learn more about contexts that are as close to the object as you can find. • There is no need for footnote or endnote citations, but please provide a bibliography at the end just in case we need to double check the information in your proposal. Familiarize Yourself with the Collection • Large museums and galleries like the ROM and the AGO have many galleries (spaces) run by different departments, such as the European Galleries, Canadian Galleries, Indigenous Galleries. • You need to decide in which department your topic fits best. Then browse the collection of that department to get a sense of what’s in it. Convince the Committee of your Peers (other curators) You need to convince the committee that the value of your chosen work or object warrants the expense. There are three essential types of value to consider: Historical Value • What does the work or object tell us about its historical context (“history made visible”)? What does it tell us about historical traditions or changes? • How common was this work or object? • Consider style, iconography, medium/material, patronage, function. Market Value • How many of these types of works or objects are available for sale? • How does the price compare? • How many other museums or galleries, particularly in Ontario, Canada, or the Northeastern United States, have a work or object like this? Museum Value • What does the work or object contribute to the collection you oversee? • What does the work or object contribute to the museum as a whole? o Does it fill a hole in the collection? Does it add to a strength of the collection? Does it push the museum in a new direction? • What will you do with it? Where would you install it and with what other works and objects? What narratives do they create together? • What kinds of exhibitions do you think it could be used for? Suggest themes or topics. o It can be helpful to think of academic methodologies to devise different themes. You just won’t emphasize the importance of methodologies in your writing. Questions? If you have any general questions, take a look at the discussion board set up for the assignment. If you have questions specifically about your own proposal, don’t hesitate to see me during office hour, email me, or arrange another time to talk over Bb Collaborate.