AMICO Assignment Set:
Find and Compare Exercises for Modern European Art, 1780-1900
Exercise: Photography as Art, Art as Photography

Student Instructions:

1. Read all the instructions below before beginning the exercise.
   
2. Using the AMICO Library, choose a photograph made by a European photographer between about 1840 and about 1900.
   
3. Using the AMICO Library, choose a painting made by a European artist between about 1840 and about 1900.
   
4. In a 250-word essay, compare the two artworks, considering one of more of the following questions:

   • Did contemporary paintings influence the photographer in some way? How?
     
   • Did contemporary photographs influence the painter in some way? How?
     
   • Do the works represent the same idea of "realism" or contrasting ones?
     
   • Do the works express specific attitude towards their respective subjects?
     
   • Does the technology used to create either image influence its style or subject matter?
5. Save the images and related data in your essay.
   
6. Your essay will be judged on the following criteria:

   • Did you correctly follow instructions for the exercise?
     
   • Did you make a good choice of images?
     
   • How does your essay reflect your knowledge of the period, its political history, and its art?
     

Sample Images:

Copyright 1999, Art Gallery of Ontario		Copyright The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art and the Estate of the Artist
Claude Monet (French)		William Henry Fox Talbot (English)
Charing Cross Bridge, brouillard, Unknown		Nelson's Column Under Construction, Trafelger Square, Ca. 1843
Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, AGO_.90/161		San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco, California, USA, SFMO.94.506
View the complete AMICO record		View the complete AMICO record

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