For this assignment, you are writing a catalog entry with a 350-500 word essay for an upcoming art auction. Use the sample catalog entries to guide you: you will need to include artist, title, date, medium, condition, provenance, literature (note: not the same as a bibliography), and exhibition history. For the latter three, I understand you are working with limited information, but see what you can pull together. You are welcome to speculate on the price (I will not evaluate your accuracy on this, however). For your research, start with the books I have put on reserve for Practicing Art History. You are also welcome to use the web. Please attach an additional bibliography with all the resources you used, including web sources (web sources need to documented with author, title, date, website name, web address and date viewed, as available). For the literature list and the bibliography, please see the Chicago Manual of Style citation guide on the department’s website.

As you write your short essay, ask yourself, how do I justify the value of this work, and characterize its importance? You are a connoisseur here, so what are your priorities? Look back at recent examples we’ve read to remind yourself of the kind of information connoisseurs mobilize to make their cases.

Writing matters: I am looking for clear and compelling essays that effectively make the case for why your work is valuable. These essays are short, so they need to be economical—ie: make every word count.

Resources:
Given that you will be sharing limited library resources, I have put a number of key books on reserve for this project. Start there. Note: for those of you who choose to write on Miro, about whom there are many books written, you might find period survey books helpful as well, especially as they will give a shorter and more manageable accounts of your artist.

Artworks:
Digital images of the works are available below. You also must make time to view the works in person to make a close study of the object, and as possible, its condition.

Availablein the Art History Faculty Lounge. To gain access to the lounge (typically locked), speak to me or Julia Yang, the department assistant. If neither of us is available, you may ask another department faculty member. You need to SIGN IN and OUT on the sign-in sheet (on the clipboard), and be sure the door locks behind you when you leave.

	Tonya Gregg (USA), Europa, 2004 Acrylic on linen note: the (c) Tanya Gregg is a watermark on the digital image only
	Purchased by the Handwerker Gallery directly from the artist.
	Joan Miró (Spain), Composition, color lithograph
	Miro data from Handwerker
	Anonymous Santero (Mexico/New Mexico), Virgin of Guadalupe painting note: This digital image is in sepia tones; the original is in color
	Virgin of Guadalupe data from Handwerker

	Marta Maria Pérez Bravo (Cuba), Cultos Paralelos (Parallel Cults), photograph
	Signed, dated and numbered in pencil recto on verso by Marta Maria Pérez Bravo. Handprinted from the negative onto 20x16 inches (51x40.5 cm) and matted in a pH-balanced, acid free archival white rag bookmat to 24x20 inches (61x51 cm) Provenance document note: good info on Marta Maria Perez Bravo from the Fraser Gallery, as well as other galleries that represent her work, on-line.