Art History and Aesthetics

Art Appreciation, Aesthetics, and Visual Thinking Strategies

• Watch the visual thinking strategies video at: http://www.vtshome.org/pages/videos

• Visual Thinking Strategies (VTS) Introduction - http://www.vtshome.org/.

"We need people with skills in critical thinking, analytical reasoning and problem solving. We need people who can communicate. We need to enhance the richness and diversity of the workforce, and we need people with the confidence to face the future.” Visual Thinking Strategies (VTS) is a curriculum and teaching method for students and teachers, founded on the premise that finding meaning in works of visual art involves a rich range of thinking skills. VTS encourages:

• a personal connection to art from diverse cultures, times and places

• confidence in one’s ability to construct meaning from it

• active class discussions and group problem solving

• development of thinking and communication skills

• development of writing skills

• transference of these skills to other subject areas

Aesthetic Valuing

• artistic perception

• creative expression

• historical and cultural context

• aesthetic valuing

• connections, relations, and applications

One of the most challenging objectives for visual arts education is to help children truly "see" art. We can begin that process by teaching them the elements of art so they can "see" line, shape, space, color, value, texture, pattern in works of art. We can give them to tools to create their own art. We can give them hands-on experience with art, teach the historical and cultural significance of different styles and media in art. Aesthetic valuing is often the biggest challenge to educators. Wikipedia defines aesthetics as "a branch of value theory which studies sensory or sensori-emotional values, sometimes called judgments of sentiment or taste. Aesthetics is closely associated with the philosophy of art." (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aesthetics). Gardner discusses Key entry points for understanding concepts and developing intelligence in the different domains. These three entry points, in particular, are essential for the "artistic" intelligence domains.

• Aesthetic

• Hands-on” experiences

• Interpersonal and collaborative activities

The performing arts clearly offer hands-on experiences and interpersonal, collaborative activities. We discussed the "aesthetic experience" in the textbook. You may wish to look again at the discussion of aesthetics and the "role of wonder.” The California standard for the visual and performing arts - aesthetic valuing - gives us our biggest challenge. How do you teach aesthetic discrimination and appreciation for the arts? That depends on your own concept of aesthetics and values.

What is beauty? The famous quote - "beauty is in the eye of the beholder" - truly applies to the arts. What is artistic quality? This depends on your own personal experience, exposure, training, cultural sensitivity, etc. These questions are subjective and personal. How do you assess this standard in your students? How do you evaluate your proficiency with this standard as a teacher? You can expose your children to the many forms of visual and performing arts. You can teach them the elements of each art - and give them opportunities to be creative within the arts. You can introduce them to visual artists, musicians, dancers, actors, playwrights, but how do you know they will understand and comprehend - let alone appreciate and value the arts? The value each of us places on each different arts experience in terms of aesthetic appreciation is personal and subjective. Below are the aesthetic valuing standards for 1st through 6th graders in the visual and performing arts. You will be selecting one grade level to discuss aesthetic valuing for your week nine discussion.

First Grade: 4.0 AESTHETIC VALUING - Responding to, Analyzing, and Making Judgments About Works in the Visual Arts

Students analyze, assess, and derive meaning from works of art, including their own, according to the elements of art, the principles of design, and aesthetic qualities.

Derive Meaning

4.1 Compare and contrast selected works of art and describe them, using appropriate vocabulary of art.

Make Informed Judgments

4.2 Identify successful and less successful compositional and expressive qualities of their own works of art and describe what might be done to improve them.

4.3 Select an artist's work and, using appropriate vocabulary of art, explain its successful compositional and communicative qualities.

Second Grade: 4.0 AESTHETIC VALUING - Responding to, Analyzing, and Making Judgments About Works in the Visual Arts

Students analyze, assess, and derive meaning from works of art, including their own, according to the elements of art, the principles of design, and aesthetic qualities.

Derive Meaning

4.1 Compare ideas expressed through their own works of art with ideas expressed in the work of others.

4.2 Compare different responses to the same work of art.

Make Informed Judgments

4.3 Use the vocabulary of art to talk about what they wanted to do in their own works of art and how they succeeded.

4.4 Use appropriate vocabulary of art to describe the successful use of an element of art in a work of art.

Third Grade: 4.0 AESTHETIC VALUING - Responding to, Analyzing, and Making Judgments About Works in the Visual Arts

Students analyze, assess, and derive meaning from works of art, including their own, according to the elements of art, the principles of design, and aesthetic qualities.

Derive Meaning

4.1 Discuss works of art created in the classroom, focusing on selected elements of art (e.g., shape/form, texture, line, color).

4.2 Identify and describe various reasons for making art.

Make Informed Judgments

4.3 Describe how and why they made a selected work of art, focusing on the media and technique.

4.4 Select something they like about their work of art and something they would change.

Fourth Grade: 4.0 AESTHETIC VALUING - Responding to, Analyzing, and Making Judgments About Works in the Visual Arts

Students analyze, assess, and derive meaning from works of art, including their own, according to the elements of art, the principles of design, and aesthetic qualities.

Derive Meaning

4.1 Describe how using the language of the visual arts helps to clarify personal responses to works of art.

4.2 Identify and describe how a person's own cultural context influences individual responses to works of art.

4.3 Discuss how the subject and selection of media relate to the meaning or purpose of a work of art.

Make Informed Judgments

4.4 Identify and describe how various cultures define and value art differently.

4.5 Describe how the individual experiences of an artist may influence the development of specific works of art.

Fifth Grade: 4.0 AESTHETIC VALUING - Responding to, Analyzing, and Making Judgments About Works in the Visual Arts

Students analyze, assess, and derive meaning from works of art, including their own, according to the elements of art, the principles of design, and aesthetic qualities.

Derive Meaning

4.1 Identify how selected principles of design are used in a work of art and how they affect personal responses to and evaluation of the work of art.

4.2 Compare the different purposes of a specific culture for creating art.

Make Informed Judgments

4.3 Develop and use specific criteria as individuals and in groups to assess works of art.

4.4 Assess their own works of art, using specific criteria, and describe what changes they would make for improvement.

Sixth Grade: 4.0 AESTHETIC VALUING - Responding to, Analyzing, and Making Judgments About Works in the Visual Arts

Students analyze, assess, and derive meaning from works of art, including their own, according to the elements of art, the principles of design, and aesthetic qualities.

Derive Meaning

4.1 Construct and describe plausible interpretations of what they perceive in works of art.

4.2 Identify and describe ways in which their culture is being reflected in current works of art.

Make Informed Judgments

4.3 Develop specific criteria as individuals or in groups to assess and critique works of art.

4.4 Change, edit, or revise their works of art after a critique, articulating reasons for their changes.

Visual Arts Video Resources Structured Drawing Programs - Young Rembrandts

• http://www.youtube.com/watch? v=KVtqPhOat4Y

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5pQuLpsdoVE

Teaching Art History and Appreciation

• Check out the Metropolitan Museum of Art Timeline of Art History - http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/splash.htm

• Have you been to the Louvre? - http://www.louvre.fr/llv/commun/home.jsp?bmLocale=en

• MOMA - The Museum of Modern Art - http://www.moma.org/

Meet the Masters - http://www.meetthemasters.com/index.html

Resources for Famous Art Works

• Olga's Online Art Museum - http://www.abcgallery.com/

• Art Cyclopedia - http://www.artcyclopedia.com/

Art Museums

• The Metropolitan Museum of Art - http://www.metmuseum.org/

  • Timeline of Art History - http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/splash.htm?HomePageLink=toah_l

  • Explore and Learn - http://www.metmuseum.org/explore/index.asp?HomePageLink=explore_l

• National Gallery of Art - http://www.nga.gov/

• Art Cyclopedia - http://www.artcyclopedia.com/museums.html

• The Smithsonian Institution - http://www.si.edu/

  • Art and Design - http://www.si.edu/Encyclopedia_SI/Art_and_Design/

  • Smithsonian Libraries - http://www.sil.si.edu/

• MOMA - The Museum of Modern Art - http://www.moma.org/

  • Van Gogh and the Colors of the Night - http://moma.org/exhibitions/2008/vangoghnight/

  • Kirchner and the Berlin - http://moma.org/exhibitions/2008/kirchner/

  • Art in Technological Times - http://010101.sfmoma.org/start.html

  • eSpace - http://www.sfmoma.org/espace/espace_overview.html

  • Artists of Bruche - Expressionists of Germany - http://moma.org/exhibitions/2008/kirchner/

  • Art Safari Online - http://www.moma.org/momalearning/artsafari/index.html

• Library of Congress Exhibits - http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/

• Art Museum Network - http://www.artmuseumnetwork.com/

• The Guggenheim Collection - http://www.guggenheimcollection.org/index.html

• The Getty Museum - http://www.getty.edu/

• The Louvre Museum - http://www.louvre.fr/llv/commun/home.jsp?bmLocale=en

• The Whitney Museum of American Art - http://www.whitney.org/

• The Virtual Library Museums - http://icom.museum/vlmp/

Other Online Museum Art History Timelines

• History of Art, Artists, and Art Movements - http://www.arthistoryguide.com/

• Lifetime of color - http://www.alifetimeofcolor.com/study/timeline.html

• The Louvre - http://www.louvre.fr/llv/commun/home.jsp?bmLocale=en

• Web Museum - http://www.ibiblio.org/wm/paint/tl/

• Egyptian Art - http://www.fieldmuseum.org/eternalegypt/art_time.html

• Great Buildings: Art Museums and Galleries - http://www.greatbuildings.com/times/types/gallery.html

• Art Museums Online - http://mason.gmu.edu/~montecin/museum.htm

Interactive Art: The National Gallery of Art Kids Zone - http://www.nga.gov/kids/kids.htm

• Interactive Art - http://www.nga.gov/kids/zone/zone.htm

• Brushter - http://www.nga.gov/kids/zone/brushster.htm

• Still Life - http://www.nga.gov/kids/zone/stilllife.htm

• Scatter Paint like Jackson Pollock - http://www.jacksonpollock.org/

• Mr. Picasso Head - http://www.mrpicassohead.com/

• The Case of Grandpa's Painting - http://www.eduweb.com/pintura/index.html

• Museum of Web Art: For Kids - http://www.mowa.org/kids/kids_enter.html

• Art Safari (MOMA) - http://www.moma.org/momalearning/artsafari/index.html

• Metropolitan Museum of Art: Just for Kids - http://www.metmuseum.org/explore/justforfun.asp

• Inside Art - http://www.eduweb.com/insideart/

• Kids Art Master Gallery - http://www.kidsart.com/IS/index.html

Art History Vocabulary

Cubism - http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/cube/hd_cube.htm

• Dadaism

• Earthworks

• Environmental art

• Expressive and expressionism

• Feminist art movement

• Folk art

• Formalist

• Gallery installation or installation art

• Genre

• Happening

Impressionism - An art movement and style of painting that started in France during the 1860s. Impressionist artists tried to paint candid glimpses of their subjects showing the effects of sunlight on things at different times of day. The leaders of this movement were: Camille Pissarro (French, 1830-1903), Edgar Degas (French, 1834-1917), Claude Monet (French, 1840-1926), and Pierre Renoir (French, 1841-1919). Some of the early work of Paul Cézanne (French, 1839-1906) fits into this style, though his later work so transcends it that it belongs to another movement known as Post-Impressionism.

Impressionism - http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/imml/hd_imml.htm

• Instrumentalism

• Magic realism

• Mobile

• Naive art

• Op art

• Paint

• Painterly

• Patron

• Pointillism

• Pop art

• Postmodern art

• Realism

• Social realism

Surrealism - http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/surr/hd_surr.htm

Other Glossaries/Dictionaries

• Art Periods - Wikipedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Art_periods

• About.com

• Art by Period

• Art Movements

• Artchive - http://artchive.com/ftp_site.htm

Art Movements - The Guggenheim - http://www.guggenheimcollection.org/site/movements.html

Art Movements - http://www.factmonster.com/ipka/A0906942.html

• Abstract Expressionism

• Baroque

• Cubism

• Expressionism

• Impressionism

• Minimalism

• Pop Art

• Post-Impressionism

• Romanticism

• Surrealism

Post Impressionism - http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/poim/hd_poim.htm