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Essay Available:
Pages:
3 pages/≈825 words
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3 Sources
Style:
MLA
Subject:
Visual & Performing Arts
Type:
Essay
Language:
English (U.S.)
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Date:
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Topic:

Why “Vase of Tears” by Louise Bourgeois is an Interesting Print

Essay Instructions:

Go go Moma website: https://www(dot)moma(dot)org/collection/
The goal is to locate a work of art produced between 1945 and 2000 that sparks curiosity or attraction on your part and makes you want to learn more about it. Why do you find it compelling? Is the artist one of your influences or someone new to you? Your choice of artwork could be a painting, sculpture, photograph, drawing, or print—the only criteria is that it was produced between 1900 and 1945.
After you have selected a work of art that interests you for this project, you should spend some time looking at it. How much do you see? Take note of all its physical characteristics. After you have gotten to know the object thoroughly, then you will want to inform you vision by doing some research. Begin to collect information about the artist and the piece you have selected for study. Your visual observations and you research are the basis of your short paper—3-4 pages, double-spaced, plus a short bibliography (with 2-3 reference sources).
Here’s how to think about developing your short research paper. One part should be devoted to analyzing the work from a formal perspective. What are the artwork’s physical qualities? What is its size? What materials were used to produce it? What can you tell by looking at it? Analyze the artist’s techniques and what you can discover or observe about the process of making the artwork. What are the compositional strategies? What about the style, and any other physical properties you can observe.
Then, dig deep into some research in order to learn further about the artwork and the artist.
If your artwork is in the collection of a large museum, there should be research materials available on their website. Don’t forget to consult the Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History that the Metropolitan Museum of Art maintains. If you are quoting or referencing someone’s ideas, use a footnote. You should list the sources you use in general for your paper in a bibliography, which should be located at the end of your paper.
If you have any questions, please contact me. Thank you!

Essay Sample Content Preview:
Student’s Name
Professor’s Name
Course
Date
Modern Art
“Vase of Tears” by Louise Bourgeois
An interesting art that I can note from the Moma website is the “Vase of Tears” by Louise Bourgeois. The artist painted the image in 1946 and features a soft ground etching and engraving. The print, which is a portrait of a person crying and collecting their tears in a plate, is interesting because the artist appears to be communicating a message behind the print. Its origin is attributed to Bourgeois’ feelings following her mother’s death in 1932 and her father’s sarcasm of those feelings. Her mother had been her best friend but in her father’s eyes, she was pretending. He had said to her, “Do not wallow in your tears, and do not pretend.” It is worth noting that sarcasm is a form of emotional abuse that can affect one’s wellbeing.
The print appears to have been done on a paper plate using a pencil. The artist then opts to color the background as black, which is meant to create a better contrast between the portrait and the background. The black background gives the image some form of prominence compared to if the artist had opted to just leave the background in the normal white color of the paper. According to the museum dimensions, the plate is 5 1/2 x 3 7/16" (13.9 x 8.8 cm) whereas the sheet is 9 15/16 x 6 1/2" (25 x 16.5 cm). The contrast generated by using a black plate and a greyish sheet makes the image to appear more clearly and standout for anyone who may not have noticed it.
The print is interesting because it makes one to ask themselves several questions concerning the events surrounding its production. While the dark background appears to be only designed to enhance its contrast, it also creates a certain impression to the viewer. It gives the viewer a gloomy mood as it communicates the immediate surroundings to the author. According to Brummer, context is important in art because it communicates to the viewer how the artist views the world. It shows the social, cultural, and personal experiences of the artist and the time period from which the art was produced. The dark background of the print informs the reader that at the time the artist produced the painting, she was experiencing a dark moment. Her mother was her best friend and hence her death was a big blow to her as she did not have anyone to confide in. Her father worsened the situation when he decided to mock her sadness and hence the dark context.
The print shows the artist alone, crying and at the same time collecting her own tears in a vessel. The image presents a powerful ...
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