+1 862 207 3288 History of Contemporary Art –
Trimester 1 Assignment
Please read the assignment carefully!
Please limit yourself to the word count as asked. Please DO NOT go over the word limit!! 3
double-spaced pages for the essay is the absolute maximum.
You must hand the written work in on time and via google classroom. All final work must be typed
(12pt times new roman font), double-spaced checked for spelling errors and grammatical mistakes.
Part 1.
Please provide brief formal analyses for and then present a comparison of the two following works:
Still Life with Flowers and Fruit
Henri Fantin-Latour (French, Grenoble 1836–1904 Buré) Gallery 824
Still Life with Apples and a Pot of Primroses
Paul Cézanne (French, Aix-en-Provence 1839–1906 Aix-en-Provence) Gallery 826
Now, after having looked and thought and taken notes, begin writing your paper. Your essay should
focus above all on the form of each of the images—that is, the “how” aspects above. While a brief
iconographic description (the “what”) is of course necessary, this should be integrated into your overall
formal focus.
5. After having taken some notes, walk around the Met, perhaps working on the other questions. After
some time has passed, come back and take another look at your works. Does what you wrote in your
notes correspond to what you see? Did you spend too much space on some elements and not enough on
others? Revise accordingly. Be sure to balance between the forest and the trees: ultimately, your
discussion of discrete components should add up to an integrated analysis of the image as a whole and
then a meaningful comparison of the two images.
***What are the formal similarities? What are the differences, and, most importantly, why is this
significant? What are the two images communicating to the viewer? This should not be a laundry list of
observations, but rather a thoughtful analysis with a clear argument. (2-3 double-spaced pages)
