Reflections on the Art Paper with Aoibhínn

With 70% of the Art exam already in the bag, it felt nice to do the remaining Art History paper knowing I had the majority of the assessment already complete. 

For the short questions, I did the first 5 which I found to be very fair and topical especially with the Banksy mural at the Royal Courts of Justice, London featuring as the subject of question 4. The Basic Income for Artists (BIA) Pilot scheme, galleries and museums also made an appearance which I was very happy about as it allowed me to express my view on these matters. 

In terms of the essays on the paper, I completed question 11 in the first section which was on Realism, Impressionism and Post Impressionism and question 14 in the second section which focused on Pre-Christian Ireland. Although time got the better of me slightly in question 11, I thought what they were asking was very broad which I was glad of as it allowed me to explore many aspects of how artists during this time depicted 19th century social realities through their paintings. Question 14 was more specific as it asked about Megalithic structures and I was glad to have looked over Newgrange and Knowth in detail as part of my study. Nonetheless, I believe a lot of students will feel disappointed that there wasn’t an opportunity to discuss other artefacts from the Bronze and Iron Age in more detail.