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Art History
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What is Art History?

In order to understand what an art history essay is; it is necessary to understand what the term “art history” means.  It refers to the academic study of the history and development of the visual arts, including painting, sculpture, and drawing.  Therefore, an art history essay is any essay that involves discussion of this history and development of art, and may focus on technical details of art that make it representative of a certain historical period or movement in art history.  Typical essay topics may ask you to explain how a work does or does not represent a specific type of art, and will require you to analyze different aspects of the painting such as color, line, texture, scale, contrast, size, medium, subject, technique, and the use of light to support your explanation.

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Thesis Undergraduate
Meta Warrick Fuller's "Ethiopia Awakening" and Harlem Renaissance art
Five page paper describing in detail several works of art by African-American artists including Ethiopia Awakening by Meta Warrick Fuller, Fetiche et Fleurs by Palmer Haden, Richmond Barte's Fera Benga, and Augusta Savage's the Harp. The paper also addresses the way these and other early 20th century African-American artists increased the numbers of African Americans choosing fine art as a career.
Paper Doctorate
The rise of the personal computer and its impact on creative industries
The personal computer (PC) has had an enormous impact on arts and humanities. This annotated bibliography abstracts five articles that chronicle the history of the PC. Artists, writers, journalists and photographers have new tools with which to work and new venues for sharing their creativity with the world. The PC may have displaced some print media but has created other opportunities.
Research Paper Undergraduate
Cubism's evolution from analytic to synthetic forms
Cubism is a form of art that reduces the dimensionality of the appearance of paintings from three to two. Rather than adopting the nuances of lighting, shadows and curve to "bring out" the painting, cubism aims to…
Paper Doctorate
John Brown's raid on Harpers Ferry as catalyst for civil war
This essay examines the impact of John Brown's Harper's Ferry raid on the abolition of slavery. Brown has variously been referred to as a madman, terrorist, and murderer; others have called him a saint, hero, and a martyr. Regardless of one's opinion of Brown the human being, his place in history and his impact on ending slavery cannot be denied. Deranged or no, Brown was a driven man who lived the courage of his convictions. There can be little doubt that Brown's raid advanced the cause of abolition by escalating the debate over slavery that was already taking place in a polarized nation.
Essay Doctorate
The importance of context in studying history
¶ … direct bearing on current and future events. "Our view of history shapes the way we view the present, and therefore it dictates what answers we offer for existing problems," (Crabtree, n.d.).
Research Paper Doctorate
Color and artistic expression in Monet, Bonnard, and Signac
The use of color by artists depends on both personal predilections as well as environmental and social circumstances. This paper will use the works from three well-known artists to illustrate the assumption that the use…
Paper Undergraduate
Contemporary abstract artists compared with Kandinsky's spiritual foundations
¶ … abstract artists and show how the aims in their work differ from those of earlier generations of abstract painters.
Research Paper Undergraduate
Stylistic elements in Brueghel, Rubens, and Peeters' allegorical paintings
Jan Brueghel and Peter Paul Rubins "Allegory of Sight" depicts a painting of many paintings, sculptures, and other objects that relate to the visual world. A goddess or a muse sits in the picture's foreground.
Research Paper Undergraduate
Comparing ancient Greek and Egyptian decorative vessels
¶ … art, Beaker with birds and animals from ancient Greece, and Four-handled vessel from Ancient Egypt. Specifically, it will compare and contrast these two works, and how they fit into the context of the time period.
Paper Masters
The human form in art and anatomy through history
Anatomy is the branch of biology and medicine that is the study of the structure of living things. It is divided into gross (or macroscopic) and microscopic anatomy. Gross anatomy is the study of anatomical structures…