Titles of works of art and exhibition titles.
- Make sure that all material from the four required research sources that is paraphrased and/or directly quoted from texts is cited and a Works Cited page is included at the end of the paper. For formatting MLA citations see: https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/mla_style/mla_formatting_and_style_guide/mla_in_text_citations_the_basics.html
- For the Works Cited page see: https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/mla_style/mla_formatting_and_style_guide/mla_works_cited_page_basic_format.html
- Carefully proofread your text. For example, use spell-check and thesaurus options. You can also read your paper out load to catch any errors. Poor grammar and spelling will be penalized.
Basic Guidelines for Writing Art History Papers:
1. Titles of works of art and exhibition titles should be italicized or underlined. Students should label illustrations as: Artist, Title, date. Medium and scale. Bibliographic source for image should be given as well.
- For example: Fig. 1. Frida Kahlo, Self-Portrait with Thorn Necklace and Hummingbird, 1940. Oil on hardboard, 51 x 38.5cm. Reproduced in Frida Kahlo, Emma Dexter and Tanya Barson, eds. London: Tate Gallery, 2005, figure 37.
3. If you are defining an art historical term, such as Impressionism, do not use a standard dictionary definition, use your textbook, another art historical text or the Oxford Art Online database.
4. When first discussing an illustrated image, indicate its presence in the text by adding (Fig. #) at the end of a sentence that introduces the image.
5. Artworks should be discussed in the present tense.
6. The voice of scholars from secondary sources should be discussed in the past tense. For example, Dexter argued that Kahlo’s images….
7. Avoid the phrase “piece of art work.” Instead, be specific about the medium as much as possible. This painting, this sculpture, etc.
