How Do You Write an Art History Caption?

Art|Art History

Writing an art history caption is an important skill to have when attempting to understand and appreciate art. Captions provide the context for understanding a work of art, and should be concise yet descriptive. When writing an art history caption, it is important to include the title, artist’s name, date of creation, medium used, size and location.

The title of the artwork should be written in italics or underlined, followed by the artist’s name in parentheses. If you know the exact date of creation for a work, you can include that as well. Otherwise you can provide an approximation of when it was created or when it fits into a particular time period or movement.

If applicable, you should also provide information about the medium used (oil on canvas) and size (height x width). The last bit of information that should be included is where the artwork is located (museum or gallery).

Including Descriptive Information

In addition to factual information, captions should also include descriptive information that provides insight into what is being depicted in the artwork. Think about what elements are most interesting in the work and explain why they are important. It might also be helpful to compare how the artwork fits within its time period by noting any similarities with other artists’ works and how it is distinct from them.

Conclusion

Writing an art history caption requires synthesizing both factual and descriptive information into a concise summary so that viewers can gain a better understanding of a work of art. Captions should include basic facts like title, artist’s name, date of creation, medium used and size as well as descriptive details that explain what makes this particular work interesting.