Arts >> Art >> Fine Art

Masters Art Research Topic Ideas

Finding a topic to research in art is only difficult because of the plethora of options and directions available. When selecting a masters art research topic idea, select an artist and medium that will fascinate you enough that you can engage in writing and research for the next few months or even years. Once you choose a subject that inspires you, develop a compelling argument to discuss the work. These are a few examples.
  1. Human Positioning in Brueghel's Paintings

    • Notice the contorted human positions in Brueghel's masterpieces. Research how the exaggerated body stances and suspended movements aid the eye across the paintings and tell the story in the painting. Study "The Triumph of Death" and "Neverlandish Proverbs" and "The Peasant Dance" in particular. Isolate the figures shape by shape to identify if the figures themselves tell stories through their body language.

    The Use of Yellow in Franciso de Goya's Masterpiece "Shooting on Third of May, 1808"

    • Study what yellow represents to the Goya and to the viewer. Notice how the yellow in the man to be shot's pants, the hillside and the bright yellow box beside the murderers. Study other paintings of Goya's, such as "The Collassus", "Self Portrait I" and "Crucified Christ." In these paintings, Goya seems to use yellow to depict sacrifice, fear and vulnerability. While many of Goya's works are black, gray, brown and shadowy, address the importance of yellow in his earlier and later masterpiece works.

    Modernist Poetry and Photojournalism

    • Research the connection between modernist poetry in the 1950s and photojournalism. Study the poems of Wallace Stevens, Denise Levertov, William Carlos Williams, Louise Bogan, and Frank O'Hara. Read selected poems by these authors and a collection of photojournalism photographs that you wish to study. Compare the use of detail, the human emotion, "voice" and narrative in both art forms. If possible, make unexpected connections. For instance, a poem by Denise Levertov may respond to the events on September 11, 2001; a poem by Wallace Stevens may answer questions posed by photojournalist Moises Saman, who covered the Libya dictatorship in 2011.

    Monet's Women: Feminism or the Male Gaze in Monet's "Women in the Garden"

    • Also look at other women in garden paintings, such as "Woman in the Garden (Saint-Adresse)" and the "Woman with Umbrella" series. Argue in your thesis whether the paintings work to liberate women from the male eye or the paintings lock women into the painter's gaze and a male-centered world. Note details in the painting "Women in the Garden." Discuss how Monet depicts the man in the painting, in yellow behind a bushel of flowers, and the woman, in white, fleeing behind a tree. Research for how Monet paints women in isolated, independent scenes outdoors, but shows women confined to elegant womanhood indoors.

Fine Art

Related Categories