Object Exploration Portfolios

Over the course of the semester, the students in Introduction to the Visual Arts (Guilford College, Fall 2021) explored an artwork of their choosing, engaging in weekly written assignments designed to help them deepen their knowledge of the work, the artist and the context within which it was made. Building each week, students moved from first impressions to formal analysis, material analysis, artist biography, comparison, historical context, and, finally, to art historical critique. At the end of the term, each student formed their revised writing assignments into a web-based portfolio to share their work. 

On this page, you can explore a selection of the students’ final portfolios. Click on the image to be directed to the student’s portfolio (shared with student permission).

AB Donegan

Early College, Class of 2022​

Guernica (1937)
Pablo Picasso (Spanish, 1881 – 1973)
Oil on Canvas, 11′ 6″ x 25′ 6″
Collection of The Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía

Tamryn Herring

Creative Writing, Class of 2025

The Birth of Venus (ca. 1485)
Sandro Botticelli (Florentine, 1445 – 1510)
Tempera on Canvas, 5′ 8″ x 9′ 2″
Collection of Le Gallerie degli Uffizi

Trisha Santanam​

Early College, Class of 2022​

Christina’s World (1948)
Andrew Wyeth (American, 1917 – 2009)
Tempera on Panel, 32 1/4″ x 47 3/4″
Collection of The Museum of Modern Art

Nastia Webber​

English & Media Studies, Class of 2022​​

Open Window, Collioure (1905)
Henri Matisse (French, 1869 – 1954)
Oil on Canvas, 21 3/4″ x 18 1/8″
Collection of The National Gallery of Art