Museum Catalogue Entry Assignment

NGN2001A, Sem 1 2023-24

Select a two-dimensional artwork from one of the exhibitions listed on the excursion
guide and write a museum catalogue entry of about 300-350 words. As a starting point,
consider the following points and questions:

• The work’s title, year of execution, medium and scale and how that shapes your
analysis.
• A description of the work’s subject matter and how that relates to the title as
well as how the subject matter has been rendered.
• The formal elements that you believe are most striking and what these elements
evoke (move from identification & description to analysis).
• A possible interpretation of the work (what is the artwork trying to show/tell the
viewer?), supported by formal and/or evidence.

You do not need to write the piece in this exact order; you can start with any one of
these points or address any one of these questions to introduce your chosen work.

You can read other museum catalogue entries to observe how the text is written and
structured (I have listed some links at the end of the document). If you plan to visit the
National Gallery, take note of the extended captions that accompany a selection of
works in the museum as well as the information provided for selected works on the
Gallery Explorer app. Consider what information is provided, how that may help the
viewer better understand the work, and how that information could perhaps be
reformulated.

Bear in mind that the information provided by the museum is for the general public;
your prose will need to reflect this. Write in a simple, clear, and engaging way.

See Helen Charman’s Tate Gallery guide ‘Ways of Looking’ (on Canvas) as a general
guide for a museum visit.

Assignment Presentation

Please include the following in your assignment submission:

1. An image or photograph of the work (details of the work are optional; limit
yourself to a maximum of two). Remember that only non-flash photography is
permitted!
 (detail)

2. A selfie with your chosen work (don’t bring a selfie stick or tripod; they are not
allowed in the galleries).

3. A photograph of the caption or any supporting text (see example below).

4. Your own text should be placed under the image and caption.

Examples of catalogue entries

The following websites contain online catalogues of their collections. Here, you will
find examples of catalogue entries for individual artworks.

The Met, NY: https://www.metmuseum.org/art/the-collection

MoMA, NY: https://www.moma.org/collection/

Tate, London: https://www.tate.org.uk/search?type=artwork

Other Useful Links

Roots.sg: https://www.roots.gov.sg/

Google Arts & Culture: https://artsandculture.google.com/

NLB BiblioAsia: https://biblioasia.nlb.gov.sg/

Citations

If the text you find in the museum is the same or similar to what you find on the website
or in the exhibition catalogue, it may be easier to reference those sources.

The following links give information on citing museum wall text and/or labels:

https://libguides.princeton.edu/artfaq/citing

https://style.mla.org/citing-wall-text/

https://www.easybib.com/guides/citation-guides/mla-format/how-to-cite-a-mobile-
app-in-mla/

Tips

Citing the text you see in museums is similar to how you would cite similar information
found in a book or article.

Please see NUS’s definition of plagiarism for more detailed information:

https://www.nus.edu.sg/celc/programmes/plagiarism.html
https://www.usp.nus.edu.sg/curriculum/plagiarism/

As a general guide, facts that are common knowledge do not need to be supported by a
citation (for example, where an artist was born, where the artist studied, or the outbreak
of the Second World War). However, specialist knowledge, original research, ideas, or
interpretations should be cited. For example, a writer may have conducted specific
research that contributes to their formal analysis or comes up with a reading of a work
that you wouldn’t have otherwise considered. Observing how website catalogue entries
use citations is helpful in this regard:

https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/437112

For example, if you read The Met’s catalogue entry for Claude Monet’s Bouquet of
Sunflowers (1881), you will notice that the author quotes the contemporary Paul de
Charry verbatim; cites Richard Mühlberger’s formal description that the flowers are
‘Purposely placed a bit off-center’ since this reading is based on specialist research on
Monet’s working process; cites specialist knowledge on sunflowers (Joel 2002); cites
the artist Vincent van Gogh verbatim, and cites a unique interpretation of the work
(Rosenblum 1975).