Paragraph Four
The meaning of an image becomes clearer when we understand the context in which it is was created and viewed. Images can connect to ideas, events, artistic movements, or social issues larger than the works themselves.
In this section of the essay, research the context of your image by finding one article from the JSTOR database (see Researching The Essay)
Use this research not simply to provide background information, but to help explain something important about the image. You might consider the artist’s life and ideas, the time period, country or community, artistic movement, or social issues surrounding the work.
For instance, if analyzing a work by Claude Monet, you might research its relationship to nineteenth-century Impressionism and ask, “What important characteristics of that artistic movement can I see in this work?” A sample paragraph appears below; note how it uses research and then connects that research directly to the image.
Sample Paragraph Four
Monet’s Woman with a Parasol can be better understood by considering its connection to the Impressionist movement of the nineteenth century. Impressionist painters such as Monet, Renoir, and Pissarro were interested in painting outdoor scenes and capturing the changing effects of light and color. According to Venturi, these artists studied how light reflected on water and began using different colors placed against one another rather than relying on dark colors to create shadows (35). These ideas can be seen in Woman with a Parasol, especially in Monet’s use of blue, green, white, and other colors throughout the landscape and figures. Instead of using sharp outlines and dark shadows, Monet uses color to separate the woman from the grass and sky and to show the sunlight around her. The outdoor setting also allows Monet to show the effects of the natural environment through the bright sky, blowing grass, and movement of the woman’s clothing. Viewed in the context of Impressionism, the painting is more than a simple scene of a woman and child; it demonstrates Monet’s interest in using light and color to capture an ordinary moment outdoors.