Describe A Work of Art (Speaking Part 2)

The following videos contain perfect examples of spoken answers to the following Part 2 IELTS topic.


Describe a work of art that you really like. Tell:

• What it looks like
• Where you first saw it
• Why you like it

You can find transcripts for the answer below each video. Enjoy!

Ok, so, I’ll tell you about a painting I saw several years ago when I was living in Ecuador. It’s a painting that I’ll never forget, because it was so different from anything I’d ever seen before. The painting was done by an Ecuadorian painter named Oswaldo Guayasamin, and I guess it’s a modern painting because it was done in the 60s or 70s? I’m not exactly sure. Anyway, my friends and I went to the Guayasamin museum in Ecuador, and we really enjoyed his paintings. He has this very unique style. It’s a little bit abstract but he still conveys a lot of emotion with his art. Many of his paintings have a sad and lonely feeling to them. Anyway, as I walked around the museum, I was particularly struck by a painting called “The Pentagon.” It’s five paintings, actually, and all of them are very evil-looking men. The colours are very dark and grey and you get a frightened feeling when you look at it. I also think that, because of the title, this painting makes you think about the Pentagon in America, and you can imagine these evil guys making plans for war. They look really greedy and corrupt. So, I guess I wouldn’t say that it’s a beautiful work of art, but I like this painting because it’s really striking and it makes me think.

My favourite piece of art or my favourite  painting is very playful and a little bit sexy, and it’s one that I saw at the Musee D’Orsay in Paris. Paris is a very artistic city, so there’s lots of paintings I could talk about, but I’ll just stick to this one. I’m not sure what it’s called or even who painted it but it’s probably a few hundred years old. The painting shows a knight, wearing very shiny silver armor and standing in the middle of a meadow, and he’s completely surrounded by a group of beautiful naked women. I think they are meant to be magical fairies or sprites or something like that. Anyway, the women are looking at the knight and touching him curiously as if they’re not sure what to make of him. The painting is very colourful as all the women are covered in flowers and the grass of the meadow is bright vivid green and the knight’s armour reflects all these colours. Everything about the image is very fantastical and surreal and dreamlike, in fact, you get the idea that the knight might have died and gone to heaven. In any case, I like the painting because of its fanciful mood and interesting colours.

So…that’s that.

Actually, I’m not that interested in art, but I’ll tell you about a work of art that changed my opinion a little bit. It’s a famous sculpture called David by Michelangelo, and I’m pretty sure everyone knows about it. I saw this sculpture for the first time when I went to Florence with my aunt. She dragged me to all these art museums even though I really wasn’t interested. Anyway, I was quite impressed when I saw Michelangelo’s David for the first time. The statue is very realistic and lifelike, even though it’s made of marble. His face has a serious expression and it seems like he’s looking into the future. I think this sculpture is supposed to represent the perfect man, or the perfect ideal of humanity. Maybe we don’t meet the ideal all the time, but it’s worth trying for. That’s only my opinion, though.