One of the most important skills that students in the Fine Arts and Cultural Studies programs must learn is the ability to critically evaluate a work of art. However, it is difficult for students not to instantly jump to their opinions based on first impressions when discussing art. Often students respond immediately by saying simply 'I like it' or 'I think that is a horrible work of art!' or even 'That's art?' Whether it is a work of their own creation, an historical artwork, or an entire exhibit of art, students must learn critical skills in order to understand and write about art. For those of us teaching in Fine Arts and Cultural Studies, it is our job to help students express informed opinions when discussing artworks.
Our challenge as TAs is to demystify the process of critically discussing art so that students will not be discouraged. A common assignment given to students in the Fine Arts and Cultural Studies programs is to write about a work of art or to review an art exhibition. To successfully complete these assignments, students need to understand the basics of analyzing art. In my own teaching experience, I have found it useful to walk students through the three main steps of art criticism: description, analysis, and evaluation. This model is one used in many disciplines within the Art and Humanities and I have found it to be very useful in teaching critical skills to Fine Arts and Cultural Studies students.
When demonstrating this three-step process to students, use a popular art image with which they can practice (a painting by Van Gogh or Picasso is usually a good place to start). First, explain the components of a description and ask students to describe exactly what they see in the image. It is important that they remain objective for this first step, so remind them to hold their opinions and instead to make only factual observations. Encourage the students to discuss elements such as the subject, medium, form, colour, lines, style, and any other purely factual information about the artwork.
The next step, analysis, allows students to build on the information they have gathered through description and to begin asking questions of the artwork, such as: "How is this artwork arranged?", "What is this artwork about?", and "What is the historical and cultural context?" They can make guesses and inferences; however, these should be educated guesses. Analysis can also be personal, so remind the students that their analysis of an artwork may differ from other students and that this is okay. Depending on the assignment that you are preparing the students for, they may need to do some background research in order to fulfill this stage of the process. Suggest that the students begin by reading through exhibition catalogues and artist statements in order to get a better understanding of the meaning behind the work of art.
Finally, students can evaluate the work of art. At this point it can be useful for the students to pose questions such as "Is this particular work of art successful?" Remind the students that simply saying "I think it's bad" is not enough. If they have followed the two previous steps of the method, they should now be able to explain why they like or dislike the artwork. How we value a work of art is a personal judgment, but it is also important to encourage the students to understand how certain works of art (whether they like them or not) have made a significant contribution to the history of art and to our society.
Critically assessing a work of art need not be a confusing process for our students in the Fine Arts and Cultural Studies programs. When discussing art, it can be difficult not to jump to personal opinions first, but as TAs we want to help our students to make intelligent statements and educated guesses when it comes to discussing works of art. By introducing these three steps in your tutorial, you will provide the students with essential critical skills and allow them to feel comfortable talking and writing about works of art in a thoughtful and educated manner.