Artist Research Essay

Artist Research Essay: You will select one of the major, heard-of artists mentioned in the textbook as a subject for your research paper.

Step  1: Research the artist and a theme within their work This paper should be more than just being “about” the artist. It is not a biography. Focus on two pieces by the artist. Identify a theme or central idea about the artist or his/her artwork (your thesis) and then build the essay around that idea.

Select an artist from the list below Robert Mapplethorpe The expectation is that the research should represent information from several sources (at least 3 — websites will only count as sources if they are online versions of print material) and that any direct borrowing of wording from these sources will be indicated by quotation marks and listed on the works cited page.

Step 2: Write the essay Draft your thesis (remember, this is not a biography paper so your thesis needs to be about the art) Identify a common theme within the artist’s works What is the context of their work? Cultural? Spiritual? Political? Historical?