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=**Formal art criticism**=

= **What makes a good painting or a good work of art? Is it all based on taste?** = = **Is beauty or ugliness only in the eye of the beholder?** = = **How does one judge a work of art?** = = **Can one look at a work and not like it but still appreciate its place and value in our culture?** =

=In order to evaluate a work of art you must look at how "Form" and "Content" work together. In "artspeak" we talk about the formal aspects of a work, and the content. If form and content are in sync, then you can decode what the artist was trying to tell you in his work.=

= What does that mean? Formal Aspects? What's "Content"? =

= The formal aspects of a work of art is all about how a work is made. = = Here are some of the formal aspects you can talk about: =

Functional art objects are sometimes called fine craft.
=Content=

What kind of painting? Is it a portrait, a landscape, a still life or an abstract painting?
=What does the work represent? What is it about? What kind of feeling does it instill in you?=

=Assignment:= =Let's start by understanding the formal aspects of a work art.= = = =Choose one more of the following museum sites.= =Spend 15 minutes exploring these spaces.=

@http://www.nga.gov/

@http://www.metmuseum.org/

@http://www.louvre.fr/llv/commun/home.jsp?bmLocale=en

@http://www.tate.org.uk/modern/exhibitions/joanmiro/default.shtm = = =Then locate one work of art.= = = =Identify= =*the kind of art it is,= =*the artist,= =*the title,= =*the date it was made= =*the material it was made of= =write that information underneath the work.= = = = =