Artwork label

Art galleries and museums will label almost everything on display. Many will also have a description, to give background information on what you’re looking at.

What information do they give? A little about the creator and their style. A little about the piece and what it shows. Art labels often sound calm and cool, while using words such as grand, fleeting, and ephemeral to give the impression that this is an important work by an important artist, which is why we’ve put it in our important exhibition.

Have a read.

Here's what the label would look like in a gallery:

Neil Welliver
American, 1929-2005

Late Squall, 1984
Oil on canvas

Neil Welliver was one of America’s leading contemporary landscape painters. His paintings are as much about the covering of a flat surface with rhythmic shapes as they are about a direct observation of trees, mountains and streams.

The artist sketched from nature in the Maine landscape where he lived and then returned to his studio to produce large-scale paintings. Late Squall presents a grand view of Mount Megunticook in winter. It reveals Welliver’s interest in capturing the fleeting, ephemeral quality of light and a pervasive mood.

Gift of the Enid and Crosby Kemper Foundation, F84-69

Late Squall, 1984 (label)

Now let’s look at an example of the same treatment using this photo as the starting point.

A woman sits upset after her meal has been dropped.

Cheryl Henze
Australian, 1995-

IMG_2040.JPG, 2019
Digital photo

Cheryl Henze is one of Australia’s foremost situational photographers. Her works follow the agony and ecstasy of contemporary life, covering subjects as diverse as awkward family portraits, pet shaming, people wearing odd clothes in supermarkets, and pretending you’re holding the full moon between your fingers.

The artist took this shot in her sister-in-law’s kitchen where she was visiting and then posted it online, where it quickly went viral. IMG_2040.JPG presents the dilemma of a dinner disaster. It reveals Henze’s interest in capturing the tragic, devastating quality of meal preparation while maintaining a sense of the cosmic absurd.

Upvoted by derpyhaze_3000, et al.

Write a label for this piece. Describe it like it’s part of an art gallery or museum exhibit. Talk very seriously about the creator and their creation.

Genre Mix 04 (Middle years)