Reading Masterpieces in Art: Goya and Manet: This assignment is designed to help you master the careful reading of sources about art images and to help you apply the basic mechanics of analyzing and interpreting images appropriately.

In order to participate fully in this week’s discussion, do the following steps.

Choose one of the following to write about:

In order to participate fully in this week’s discussion, do the following:

1. Slow down and really look at the paintings after you complete the course readings and view the lesson.
2. Develop your post as a letter to a friend who has never seen the paintings and does not have a copy of it before them; and in your letter describe for them in very specific detail what the painting looks like and what it says to you personally.
3. Find a web site that has reliable information about the painting and refer to that source in your post. Attribute the source in any comments you make, and provide a link to the source. Remember that you must use italics or underlining for your titles of works of art. See Mechanics for Writing about Art and Writing a Critique-Attached to the discussion. As you discuss, be sure to read paintings from the background to the foreground, using the terms background, middle ground, and foreground.
4. Post your imaginary letter to the discussion as this week’s initial post.
5. Reply to peers: Participate in the developing discussion, responding to your colleagues’ observations, using appropriate terminology and drawing on what you’re learning from your text to help the discussion grow broader and deeper. 
6. TOPIC 2.) Edouard Manet, A Bar at the Folies-Bergere, 1881-82. It is 37 1/4″ X 51 1/4″ and is considered his last masterpiece. Manet was the first true modern artist, painting scenes from contemporary life, not history, Biblical or mythological scenes. This is a painting that represents modern nightlife in Paris. Examine this painting and discuss the unusual components of the work. You should search for the Folies-Bergere before you start, so that you know what the scene is about. Consider what the size of the painting means or does for/to the viewer.
7. TOPIC 1.) Examine and discuss in detail Francisco de Goya’s painting, The Third of May, 1808 created in 1815-16. The original painting, which currently hangs in the Prado museum, is very large (about 10 x 14 feet), and it was painted in 1816. It depicts the invasion by the French army into Spain in the early 1800s. Examine your book for other images by Goya, in order to understand his work better. Imagine you are looking at this painting while visiting the Prado Museum in Spain. Consider what the size of the painting means or does for/to the viewer.