Writing about Art and Art History

The Death of Socrates – Jacques-Louis David

Analyzing and writing about the visual or even verbal arts can be challenging. We have to understand how to do a critical analysis and we have to learn how to take a visual or sound ‘text’ apart so we can examine it more closely.


This handout from UNC-Chapel Hill goes through some typical art history assignments and the kinds of analyses you may have to do.

Under the Wave off Kanagawa (Kanagawa oki nami ura), also known as The Great Wave, from the series Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji (Fugaku sanjūrokkei) (ca. 1830–32). Edo period (1615–1868). Japan. Accession number: JP1847