To begin writing for your research papers, you'll need a topic. Here are some helpful questions to ask yourself when selecting an art historical topic.
When? What time period am I focusing on (Example 17th century)? What current or historical events are relevant?
Where? What region, country, state, or city am I focusing on? Combine this with a specific time period.
Who? What people or groups are involved either as artists, viewers, patrons of the arts, or subjects of the art? Who are people who have subsequently been influenced by the art - other artists or art movements later on? Has this art influenced society?
Why? Why are you interested in this particular topic? What drew you to it?
What? The more specific examples you can give the better!
When we write we are having a conversation, with those who wrote before us, and with our readers. We need to make sure to include the voices of those we learned from. That's what citations do.
Sometimes it can be helpful to skim broad sources such as the following to understand historical context or to hone a research topic into something more specific. These sources probably will not be your final sources in your paper, but always check with your professor about what you should cite and include.
Example - did you learn about Picasso and the Spanish Civil War? You might want to look up "Spanish Civil War" in Credo to learn more.
These usually include details about the artistic medium, dimensions of the art, where the art is located presently, etc.
You will have a better frame of reference to understand these articles when you have done a little background reading and you will also have better keywords to search these databases once you've done the background work. Example: Picasso AND "Spanish Civil War" in JSTOR
