Writing an Art Exhibit Critique

A GUIDE TO WRITING A CRITIQUE OF AN ART EXHIBIT:
THE METHOD OF EDMUND FELDMAN

Presented by Professor Anna Calluori Holcombe
Head, Department of Art
Kansas State University


This guide is intended to give rise to a 2-page critique.

  • Give an introduction about the facts of the exhibit. Who? What? When? Where?
  • Use the Feldman outline (below) for criticism of two of the works included in the exhibit. This outline is adapted from Edmund Feldman's Varieties of Visual Experience (Prentice Hall, 1972).

    • Description
      Make objective* or value-neutral* statements about the work in question. Exclude interpretations and evaluations, and instead take an objective inventory of the work. Point out single features such as objects, trees, and people. Then point out abstract elements such as shapes and colors. Finally point out textures, which can lead to a description of the "characteristics of execution."

      * A test of objectivity would be that most people would agree with your statement.
    • Formal analysis
      Make statements about the relations among the things you named in the Descriptions (Part A). You should note similarities in formal elements--such things as color, shape, or direction. Then note dissimilarities (contrasts) in those same elements. Take note of continuities (such as the color red repeated throughout the work) and of connections (for example, the shape of a window repeated in the shape of a table) between these formal elements and the subject matter. Finally, note the overall qualities of the work.
    • Interpretation
      Make statements about the meaning(s) of the work. This is the most creative part of your critique. Using a hypothesis, support it with arguments, based on evidence given in the Description and Formal Analysis.
    • Judgement
      This is the most complex part of the critique and requires an opinion regarding the worth of an object, based on what was learned in the previous stages of the critique. Are you moved by this work? What do you think of it?
  • Draw conclusions -- compare and contrast the two works.