Critique Assignment: Using the vocabulary below, see how many words you can work into a critique of the painting by Vincent Van Gogh entitled Shoes 1988. Take all the time you need to embed these words into your memory. Use at least half the words to describe this work of art.

aesthetics = ones own personal definition of beauty that holds a value system or reasoning.

ambiguity = revealing the beauty of opposites within a subject matter or work of art.

symmetry = a term to reveal a mirror image of a subject or perfect balance.

alchemy = Chemistry of the middle ages, characterized by the pursuit of changing base metals to gold.

allegory = The setting forth of a subject under the guise of another subject of aptly suggestive likeness.

allude = To refer incidentally, or by suggestion.

alteration = Change or modification.

Achillean = Invulnerable.

achromatic = Colorless

acquiescence = Passive consent.

acquisition = Anything gained, or made one's own, usually by effort or labor.

acute = Having fine and penetrating discernment.

addendum = Something added, or to be added.

adjacent = That which is near or bordering upon.

adjunct = Something joined to or connected with another thing, but holding a subordinate place.

aberration = a state or condition markedly different from the norm, an optical phenomenon resulting from the failure of a lens or mirror to produce a good image example: As I gazed at the painting I was reminded of an aberration that appeared like a haunting image within my subconscious.

capitulate = to surrender outright or to give in under certain terms. Either way, you’re agreeing to something you don’t really want. example: After arguing with his parents Jimmy capitulated to going shopping.

cognizant = mentally perceptive and responsive;”an alert mind”, aware intuitively or intellectually of something sensed example: I was cognizant that my zeal overstepped my presentation due to my beliefs being so important.

scale = the size or visual weight of an object as compared to another object. usage: The scale of the Lincoln Monument is 55 times larger than the average height of a man.

texture =  the visual surface of an object that shows the skin or outer dimension as appealing to the sense of touch. usage: The texture of the drawing of the tree showed the detail of the bark in a very real manner.

vanishing point = a single point on the horizon of an image that all lines lead to. usage: the railroad tracks all lead to one distant point.

analogous = similar or comparable to something else ex: An airplane’s joystick is somewhat analogous to the reins on a horse. The emotional impact of a painting by Jackson Pollock is analogous to watching fireworks on the fourth of July.

symmetry = balanced proportions ex: The human face holds symmetry on each side.

asymmetry = the lack or absence of symmetry ex: As Mercury orbits the Sun, it experiences a small torque due to its slight asymmetry in the plane of its orbit.

See if you can put the painting back together again!