Edgar Degas - The Dance Studio - Art Criticism

(The Dance Studio, 1876)

One of the most rewarding tasks I have as an educator is teaching my students how to evaluate a work of art.  For an example, I have chosen a famous portrait for us to analyze together, here on the class blog.  The work above is called The Dance Studio, and was painted in 1876 by Edgar Degas.  Degas was the French Impressionist perhaps most famous for his paintings of ballerinas.  

The first step in critiquing a work of art is to describe it in terms of facts that we know about it.  We want to determine the artist, the name of the work, and the year and historical period in which it was created.  We also want to note if the work is still in existence if we are looking at a copy or reproduction.  Further, we should describe our preliminary interpretation of the work.

Next, we will perform an in-depth analysis of the work.  We will make note of the material or media used to create the work of art, and how the artist uses color, contrast, shading, texture, and value.  Further, we will analyze elements of design, such as line, shape, value, and space.  We will attempt to relate these technical elements back to our preliminary interpretation of the work and note why the artist possibly chose certain techniques to create a desired interpretation.

Finally, we will examine the work of art from a more personal and interpretative point of view.  What are the mood and theme of the piece?  How does it make you feel, and how does it relate to you personally as a viewer of the work of art?

Now that we know how to critique a work of art, I have a fun activity for you to do as a family.  The Telfair Museum of Art is having a Free Museum Sunday next weekend.  Before Sunday, go to the following web addresses:

http://telfair.org/collections/la-parabola-a-parable-left-panel/

http://telfair.org/collections/la-parabola-a-parable-right-panel/

These are two sides of a diptych.  Analyze both halves of the work online according to the instuctions on this blog.  Then, view the real painting on Free Museum Sunday.  Re-analyze the work, and describe the differences in viewing the work online and in person.  For extra credit, develop a Power Point presentation that analyzes the work.  Make sure to define what a diptych is.