Writing About Art

In the tradition of its best-selling earlier editions, Writing About Art, Fourth Edition, continues to prepare students for writing assignments requiring the description and interpretation of art. Widely used as a complement to Art History survey and period texts, this book provides students with an easily accessible, step-by-step approach to writing about art—from choosing a work to write about to preparing the final essay, including a complete guide to research and citation.

Author Henry M. Sayre includes essays written by students—one complete one and four others in draft—and, new to this edition, Erwin Panofsky's famous short essay on Van Eyck's Arnolfini Betrothal, a model of art historical writing. All of these essays are designed to demonstrate not only the process of writing about art but alternative approaches that different students, with different learning and writing styles, find useful.

The new edition also includes new up-to-date material on research and writing in on-line environments and an appendix that presents a short guide to usage and style. Writing About Art, Fourth Edition, addresses the needs of students working at every level of technological sophistication, from pen and paper to the Internet.

This straightforward guide prepares students to describe, interpret, and write about works of art in meaningful and lasting terms. Designed as a supplement to Art History survey and period texts, this efficient book features a step-by-step approach to writing—from choosing a work to write about, to essay organization, to research techniques, to footnote form, to preparing the final essay. For beginners as well as more advanced students.