A museum exhibition consists of a carefully selected group of art objects that illuminates a specific artistic, cultural, or historical theme. It can explore the development of a single artist's work (e.g. "The Prints of Albrecht Dürer"), reveal a range of artistic activity from a given time and place (e.g. "High Renaissance Artists in Rome under Pope Julius II"), or chart the depiction of a certain subject throughout history (e.g. "Images of War in the 20th Century"). Much like an academic paper, an effective exhibition makes an argument, using works of art as evidence for its thesis. Furthermore, an exhibition creates meaning through the arrangement of works of art in space. By sequencing works in a certain way, the exhibition's organizer, or curator, structures the viewer's understanding of the its subject.
This assignment asks you to create your own art exhibition devoted to a topic of your choosing, consisting of at least four works of art. Unlike your museum paper, this paper does require library research. Your final paper should have the following format:
I. Introductory paragraph: Introduce your reader to your exhibition's topic. Describe its historical significance (in other words, why was this exhibition worth organizing? what can be learned from seeing it?) and state your thesis.
II. Checklist: Write at least two paragraphs for each work of art in your exhibition. Each entry in your checklist should contain a short formal analysis of the work and describe how it relates to your thesis. Consider how the sequencing of works in your exhibition affects the development of your argument.
III. Conclusion: This paragraph should not simply restate your thesis. What have we learned from your exhibition? What were the consequences of the works you have chosen? How do these works point to future art historical developments?