This is the link to the artwork that I chose to analyze for the formal analysis:
https://www.moca.org/collection/work/the-roman-caper
Below are the instructions:
Formal Analysis: the interpretation of a work of art through its visual or material qualities.
1. Introduce the work: artist, title, date, and medium (materials) in one or two sentences. (This should come in your introduction.) Make sure to have a thesis statement: what does the work of art communicates and how? The HOW will be the real heart of your paper.
2. In your own words- avoid over quoting. Describe the work visually, in detail, identifying which formal elements and principles of design are present. Make sure to examine how different elements react and respond to and with one another and how they are structured within the overall composition. Each paragraph should be organized and focused on an element or principle of design and how they support your interpretation. These paragraphs will become the body of your paper.
3. Interpret the meaning or message of the work through visual analysis. Make sure that your conclusion supports your analysis of the key visual elements and principles of design that were discussed in your paper. This exercise is about looking, describing, and analyzing; however, this is not simply a visual description or an inventory of the physical qualities of your work. A formal analysis requires you to interpret the physical qualities that make up the visual totality of the artwork: what are the significant formal elements of the work that the artist has selected and how can we read/view meaning in them? How does the work generate meaning from the interaction and conversation of the visual elements and the situated viewer? This analysis should emerge from a thoughtful visual exploration of the media and the inter-relationship of the formal elements and how they are arranged. In your own words- avoid over quoting.
Be sure to start with the general and move to the particular; support your analysis with actual details in the work. Your formal analysis should be organized with relation to the significant visual elements of the work. You should include an image of your work*
Your analysis should be three pages – typed (Areal or times 12 pt. font and double-spaced) not including bibliography or images.
NOTE: This project does not require and should not include outside research. I am looking for your OWN visual analysis based on a careful study of the physical features of the artwork.
Helpful Hints:
Titles of artworks need to be italicized.
Include the dimension and media of your artwork
Cite all sources in MLA format that you use in your paper: museum labels, brochures, internet, etc.
