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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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Paper Masters
Contrasting Romanticism and Realism in Fuseli's Nightmare and Manet's Olympia
¶ … oil canvas artwork. As both are incorporating women as the subject matter, but the artists portray them in distinct ways. Contrasting this is: John Henry Fuseli's the Nightmare with Edouard Manet's Olympia.
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Research Paper Undergraduate
Michelangelo's David and Chartres Cathedral: structure, materials, and design compared
The subjects examined will be Michelangelo's David and Chartres Cathedral. These two will be compared as to structure, materials, function, how constructed, type of structure, purpose and time.
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Paper Undergraduate
Jan van Eyck's oil painting technique and realistic detail
Jan Van Eyck is renowned for his contribution to the development of painting, particularly with regard to his realism and attention to detail, as well as for his precise technique and realism.
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Research Paper Undergraduate
Craig Clunas' "Superfluous Things" and Ming Dynasty aesthetics
Superfluous Things: Social Status and Material Culture in Early Modern China
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Essay Doctorate
Cubism and Futurism: twentieth-century avant-garde art movements
Futurism was an Italian movement originated in early 20th century. It was artistic and social movement targeted to mass urban population. Futuristic was focused on transforming the mindset of society from political…
~1 min read
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Paper Undergraduate
Buddhist bodhisattva sculpture in the Song Dynasty
The Song Dynasty (also known as the Sung Dynasty) in China is known to have produced artwork across a multitude of media. While most often, the pottery and painting are most exalted, sculpture was also produced during…
~1 min read
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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.
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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.
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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…
~1 min read
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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.
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