Do you know who created this painting? Anyone in 6th through 8th grade should. In fact, by the time students start 8th grade, they will have learned 150 artists. By the end of their 8th grade year, they will know another 80 artists.
The Francis Bacon painting above is just one example. Each quarter, students will be introduced to a new group of artists. We will study the main concepts each artist was most famous for, and learn to discern their style from other artists. At the end of the quarter, students will be tested to see if they can match the artists to their original work of art. Then, we will further stretch and assess students’ knowledge of the artists, as well as their ability to analyze, compare and contrast, and use deductive reasoning skills, by testing them using another set of works by the same group of artists.
The Francis Bacon painting above is just one example. Each quarter, students will be introduced to a new group of artists. We will study the main concepts each artist was most famous for, and learn to discern their style from other artists. At the end of the quarter, students will be tested to see if they can match the artists to their original work of art. Then, we will further stretch and assess students’ knowledge of the artists, as well as their ability to analyze, compare and contrast, and use deductive reasoning skills, by testing them using another set of works by the same group of artists.
Why are we learning this?
We live in a world that is filled with the artifacts of human history, architecture, painting, and sculpture. Art History is the study of the visual arts in civilization. Art History seeks to understand different cultures through the study and analysis of art and architecture as a means of communication. Through the study of art history, we can learn about the changing values in all fields of the visual arts, including painting, sculpture, graphics, photography, architecture, film, the mass media, and forms of popular expression. Art History provides knowledge and understanding of the past, and through it, the present.
By studying Art History, you will gain the tools to recognize and understand these forms and learn about other individuals and societies through their visual expression. Art History also teaches how to recognize, order, and interpret facts. In so doing, it trains students to think and write clearly and to read carefully.
This is not only Art History. It is your history. It will show you where humans have been in other fields, such as science, math, history, philosophy, and literature. It will help to explain how and why we arrived at the artwork being created today.
Here are some videos and articles with other "practical" applications of learning Art History and how it's being used in other fields.
Harvard reports 40% more observations after art observation course
Teaching Cops to See
How Art Can Help You Analyze
Class Helping Future Doctors Learn the Art of Observation
Medical Students Transfer Observation Skills from Painting to Patient
The Art Museum and Medical Education
Monet? Gauguin? Using Art to Make Better Doctors
The Fine Art of Finding Clues
Art in the Details
This Depth of Knowledge chart is shows the skills we are developing while studying these artists. The yellow underline represents skills developed during the introduction to the artists and for the first test and the red underline are skills you should be developing for the second test. Notice that there is some overlap of skills in Levels 2, 3, and 4, however, the first test is all based on the lowest level of knowledge. The second test is where you demonstrate your higher level thinking skills and greater depth of knowledge.
Below are specific standards we will be meeting in our study of Art History.
By studying Art History, you will gain the tools to recognize and understand these forms and learn about other individuals and societies through their visual expression. Art History also teaches how to recognize, order, and interpret facts. In so doing, it trains students to think and write clearly and to read carefully.
This is not only Art History. It is your history. It will show you where humans have been in other fields, such as science, math, history, philosophy, and literature. It will help to explain how and why we arrived at the artwork being created today.
Here are some videos and articles with other "practical" applications of learning Art History and how it's being used in other fields.
Harvard reports 40% more observations after art observation course
Teaching Cops to See
How Art Can Help You Analyze
Class Helping Future Doctors Learn the Art of Observation
Medical Students Transfer Observation Skills from Painting to Patient
The Art Museum and Medical Education
Monet? Gauguin? Using Art to Make Better Doctors
The Fine Art of Finding Clues
Art in the Details
This Depth of Knowledge chart is shows the skills we are developing while studying these artists. The yellow underline represents skills developed during the introduction to the artists and for the first test and the red underline are skills you should be developing for the second test. Notice that there is some overlap of skills in Levels 2, 3, and 4, however, the first test is all based on the lowest level of knowledge. The second test is where you demonstrate your higher level thinking skills and greater depth of knowledge.
Below are specific standards we will be meeting in our study of Art History.
Wisconsin’s Model Academic Standards for Art and Design Education
ART AND DESIGN KNOWING
A. VISUAL MEMORY AND KNOWLEDGE
Content Standard
Students in Wisconsin will know and remember information and ideas about the art and design around them and
throughout the world.
Rationale:
The study of art involves not only creating art, but also knowing and remembering information and ideas about art and design. Museums, galleries, and other institutions employing arts professionals help preserve, protect, interpret, and evaluate works of art
and architecture. Art critics, aestheticians, historians, and philosophers all work to better interpret the political, anthropological, social, philosophical, and psychological impact of the arts. Students in our schools need to know about art and design now and throughout history in order to better understand the arts, themselves, and the world around them.
PERFORMANCE STANDARDS
By the end of grade 8:
A.8.1 Develop a mental storehouse of images
A.8.2 Learn appropriate vocabulary related to their study of art
A.8.3 Know about styles of art from their own and other parts of the world
A.8.4 Know about some styles of art from various times
A.8.5 Demonstrate ways in which art is one of the greatest achievements of human beings
A.8.6 Identify ways in which art is basic to thinking and communicating about the world
B. ART AND DESIGN HISTORY, CITIZENSHIP, AND ENVIRONMENT
Content Standard
Students in Wisconsin will understand the value and significance of the visual arts, media and design in relation to history, citizenship, the environment, and social development.
Rationale:
The study of human history and different cultures and their art forms represents a legacy that enriches our lives and allows us to see our own and other cultures from different perspectives. When students understand the form and function of the visual arts and design, they can better understand people as well as art objects. Students will communicate better with others and develop more tolerance for other lifestyles and points of view through the study of cultural images and artifacts.
PERFORMANCE STANDARDS
By the end of grade 8 students will:
B.8.1 Explore how artists and cultures throughout history have used art to communicate ideas and to develop functions, structures, and designs
B.8.2 Recognize ways in which form, function, meaning, and expressive qualities of art and design change from culture to culture and artist to artist
B.8.3 Identify works of art and designed objects as they relate to specific cultures, times,and places
B.8.4 Know ways in which art is influenced by artists, designers, and cultures
B.8.5 Understand how their choices in art are shaped by their own culture and society
B.8.6 Know how to describe, analyze, interpret, and judge art images and objects from various cultures, artists, and designers
B.8.8 Learn about the contributions of art historians, cultural anthropologists, and philosophers of art to our understanding of art and design
D. PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS
Content Standard
Students in Wisconsin will apply their knowledge of people, places, ideas, and language of art and design to their daily lives.
Rationale:
Learning about people, places, ideas, and language of art and applying this to daily life is what arts education is all about. Thinking deeply, creatively, and critically enables students to connect their knowledge to their local and worldwide communities and daily activities. Research shows that students who are educated in the arts perform better in other areas, show respect for others, work more cooperatively, and are able to think better.These are lifelong skills applicable to daily living and learning.
PERFORMANCE STANDARDS
By the end of grade 8 students will:
D.8.1 Know about the history, public art, and unique architecture of their cultural community
D.8.3 Know how the environment influences the look and use of art, architecture, and design
D.8.4 Understand basic concepts in art, such as “form follows function,” “destruction of the box,” “less is more,” balance, symmetry, integrity, authenticity, and originality
D.8.5 Learn common language in art, such as abstraction, representation,impressionism, reproduction, serigraphy, sculpture, graphic design, construction,and aesthetics
ART AND DESIGN THINKING
G. ART AND DESIGN CRITICISM
Content Standard
Students in Wisconsin will interpret visual experiences, such as artwork, designed objects,architecture, movies, television, and multimedia images, using a range of subject matter,symbols, and ideas.
Rationale:
People throughout history have recorded experiences in a variety of visual forms, including fine art, folk art, designed objects, movies, television, and multimedia images, that document their time and heritage. Students will need more experiences in these areas to be prepared for the highly technological world in which they will live and work, and to understand artistic images of other times and cultures.
PERFORMANCE STANDARDS
By the end of grade 8 students will:
G.8.1 Know that visual images are important tools for thinking and communicating
G.8.2 Know how to find the meanings in artwork
G.8.3 Analyze the meanings of artworks and design
ART AND DESIGN UNDERSTANDING
I. PERSONAL AND SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT
Content Standard
Students in Wisconsin will use their senses and emotions through art and design to develop their minds and to improve social relationships.
Rationale:
Arts education integrates sensory and emotional development with the overall intellectual development of students. Our senses bring complex information into our brains and feeling is just as important as reasoning in shaping our minds. Emotional intelligence will affect how students perform in school and in life.
PERFORMANCE STANDARDS
By the end of grade 8 students will:
I.8.1 Use art to understand their own emotions
I.8.3 Talk or write about feelings in a variety of works of art
I.8.4 Recognize that their own feelings affect how they look at art
I.8.5 Understand that art reflects the time and place in which it was created
I.8.6 Understand how creating or looking at art brings out feelings
J. CULTURAL AND AESTHETIC UNDERSTANDING
Content Standard
Students in Wisconsin will reflect upon the nature of art and design and meaning in art and culture.
Rationale:
Reflection about art introduces big questions such as: What is Art? and, Why do people around the world and throughout the ages make art? Students learn to speak, read, write,and think about the nature of art through dialogue and personal reflection. Reflection about art allows students to make informed aesthetic judgments.
PERFORMANCE STANDARDS
By the end of grade 8 students will:
J.8.1 Begin to understand the purposes and functions of art
J.8.2 Understand how the choice of materials and techniques influences the expressive quality of art
J.8.3 Learn ways different cultures think about art
J.8.4 Learn ways philosophers think about art
J.8.5 Explore their own ideas about the purposes and meanings of art
J.8.6 Learn the value of art as a basic part of being human
J.8.7 Learn to use art criticism and aesthetic knowledge in art and design
J.8.8 Explore different cultures’ concepts of beauty
J.8.9 Understand the difference between original artworks, reproductions, and copies
J.8.10 Develop the ability to reflect and talk about works of art
ART AND DESIGN CREATING
K.MAKING CONNECTIONS
Content Standard
Students in Wisconsin will make connections among the arts, other disciplines, other cultures, and the world of work.
Rationale:
Fields of knowledge and disciplines are intimately connected. Fragmentation of knowledge prevents people from absorbing the vast information that shapes their lives. The arts help students integrate knowledge and experience and to become better thinkers, problem solvers, creators, communicators, and citizens.
By the end of grade 8 students will:
K.8.1 Connect their knowledge and skills in art to other areas, such as the humanities,sciences, social studies, and technology
K.8.3 Apply what they know about the nature of life, nature, the physical world, and the human condition to their understanding and creation of art
K.8.4 Use a variety of tools, such as words, numbers, sounds, movements, images,objects, emotions, technology, and spaces, to help understand and communicate about the visual world
K.8.5 Know about a range of art activities, such as museum curation, historic preservation, collecting, and writing about art and design
K.8.6 Explore the similarities and differences of world cultures by studying their fine arts: music, dance, theater, literature, and architecture
L. VISUAL IMAGINATION AND CREATIVITY
Content Standard
Students in Wisconsin will use their imaginations and creativity to develop multiples solutions to problems, expand their minds, and create ideas for original works of art and design.
Rationale:
Imagination allows people to explore connections to the world, develop conceptual thought processes, and learn to use metaphors to arrive at original ideas. Art helps children become more creative, deal with complexity and ambiguity, be more flexible, solve problems in creative ways, use higher order thinking skills, and take risks.
By the end of grade 8 students will:
L.8.1Use their knowledge, intuition, and experiences to develop ideas for artwork
L.8.2 Develop a base of knowledge and skills from which to create new ideas
L.8.3 Understand the role that personal traits, such as independent thinking, courage,integrity, insight, dedication and patience, play in creating quality art and design
L.8.4 Understand that nature and other designs can be sources for new ideas
L.8.5 Study ways that artists develop personal style that reflects who they are
L.8.6 Understand that art is created by people of different cultures, expresses different ideas and concepts, and changes over time
A. VISUAL MEMORY AND KNOWLEDGE
Content Standard
Students in Wisconsin will know and remember information and ideas about the art and design around them and
throughout the world.
Rationale:
The study of art involves not only creating art, but also knowing and remembering information and ideas about art and design. Museums, galleries, and other institutions employing arts professionals help preserve, protect, interpret, and evaluate works of art
and architecture. Art critics, aestheticians, historians, and philosophers all work to better interpret the political, anthropological, social, philosophical, and psychological impact of the arts. Students in our schools need to know about art and design now and throughout history in order to better understand the arts, themselves, and the world around them.
PERFORMANCE STANDARDS
By the end of grade 8:
A.8.1 Develop a mental storehouse of images
A.8.2 Learn appropriate vocabulary related to their study of art
A.8.3 Know about styles of art from their own and other parts of the world
A.8.4 Know about some styles of art from various times
A.8.5 Demonstrate ways in which art is one of the greatest achievements of human beings
A.8.6 Identify ways in which art is basic to thinking and communicating about the world
B. ART AND DESIGN HISTORY, CITIZENSHIP, AND ENVIRONMENT
Content Standard
Students in Wisconsin will understand the value and significance of the visual arts, media and design in relation to history, citizenship, the environment, and social development.
Rationale:
The study of human history and different cultures and their art forms represents a legacy that enriches our lives and allows us to see our own and other cultures from different perspectives. When students understand the form and function of the visual arts and design, they can better understand people as well as art objects. Students will communicate better with others and develop more tolerance for other lifestyles and points of view through the study of cultural images and artifacts.
PERFORMANCE STANDARDS
By the end of grade 8 students will:
B.8.1 Explore how artists and cultures throughout history have used art to communicate ideas and to develop functions, structures, and designs
B.8.2 Recognize ways in which form, function, meaning, and expressive qualities of art and design change from culture to culture and artist to artist
B.8.3 Identify works of art and designed objects as they relate to specific cultures, times,and places
B.8.4 Know ways in which art is influenced by artists, designers, and cultures
B.8.5 Understand how their choices in art are shaped by their own culture and society
B.8.6 Know how to describe, analyze, interpret, and judge art images and objects from various cultures, artists, and designers
B.8.8 Learn about the contributions of art historians, cultural anthropologists, and philosophers of art to our understanding of art and design
D. PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS
Content Standard
Students in Wisconsin will apply their knowledge of people, places, ideas, and language of art and design to their daily lives.
Rationale:
Learning about people, places, ideas, and language of art and applying this to daily life is what arts education is all about. Thinking deeply, creatively, and critically enables students to connect their knowledge to their local and worldwide communities and daily activities. Research shows that students who are educated in the arts perform better in other areas, show respect for others, work more cooperatively, and are able to think better.These are lifelong skills applicable to daily living and learning.
PERFORMANCE STANDARDS
By the end of grade 8 students will:
D.8.1 Know about the history, public art, and unique architecture of their cultural community
D.8.3 Know how the environment influences the look and use of art, architecture, and design
D.8.4 Understand basic concepts in art, such as “form follows function,” “destruction of the box,” “less is more,” balance, symmetry, integrity, authenticity, and originality
D.8.5 Learn common language in art, such as abstraction, representation,impressionism, reproduction, serigraphy, sculpture, graphic design, construction,and aesthetics
ART AND DESIGN THINKING
G. ART AND DESIGN CRITICISM
Content Standard
Students in Wisconsin will interpret visual experiences, such as artwork, designed objects,architecture, movies, television, and multimedia images, using a range of subject matter,symbols, and ideas.
Rationale:
People throughout history have recorded experiences in a variety of visual forms, including fine art, folk art, designed objects, movies, television, and multimedia images, that document their time and heritage. Students will need more experiences in these areas to be prepared for the highly technological world in which they will live and work, and to understand artistic images of other times and cultures.
PERFORMANCE STANDARDS
By the end of grade 8 students will:
G.8.1 Know that visual images are important tools for thinking and communicating
G.8.2 Know how to find the meanings in artwork
G.8.3 Analyze the meanings of artworks and design
ART AND DESIGN UNDERSTANDING
I. PERSONAL AND SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT
Content Standard
Students in Wisconsin will use their senses and emotions through art and design to develop their minds and to improve social relationships.
Rationale:
Arts education integrates sensory and emotional development with the overall intellectual development of students. Our senses bring complex information into our brains and feeling is just as important as reasoning in shaping our minds. Emotional intelligence will affect how students perform in school and in life.
PERFORMANCE STANDARDS
By the end of grade 8 students will:
I.8.1 Use art to understand their own emotions
I.8.3 Talk or write about feelings in a variety of works of art
I.8.4 Recognize that their own feelings affect how they look at art
I.8.5 Understand that art reflects the time and place in which it was created
I.8.6 Understand how creating or looking at art brings out feelings
J. CULTURAL AND AESTHETIC UNDERSTANDING
Content Standard
Students in Wisconsin will reflect upon the nature of art and design and meaning in art and culture.
Rationale:
Reflection about art introduces big questions such as: What is Art? and, Why do people around the world and throughout the ages make art? Students learn to speak, read, write,and think about the nature of art through dialogue and personal reflection. Reflection about art allows students to make informed aesthetic judgments.
PERFORMANCE STANDARDS
By the end of grade 8 students will:
J.8.1 Begin to understand the purposes and functions of art
J.8.2 Understand how the choice of materials and techniques influences the expressive quality of art
J.8.3 Learn ways different cultures think about art
J.8.4 Learn ways philosophers think about art
J.8.5 Explore their own ideas about the purposes and meanings of art
J.8.6 Learn the value of art as a basic part of being human
J.8.7 Learn to use art criticism and aesthetic knowledge in art and design
J.8.8 Explore different cultures’ concepts of beauty
J.8.9 Understand the difference between original artworks, reproductions, and copies
J.8.10 Develop the ability to reflect and talk about works of art
ART AND DESIGN CREATING
K.MAKING CONNECTIONS
Content Standard
Students in Wisconsin will make connections among the arts, other disciplines, other cultures, and the world of work.
Rationale:
Fields of knowledge and disciplines are intimately connected. Fragmentation of knowledge prevents people from absorbing the vast information that shapes their lives. The arts help students integrate knowledge and experience and to become better thinkers, problem solvers, creators, communicators, and citizens.
By the end of grade 8 students will:
K.8.1 Connect their knowledge and skills in art to other areas, such as the humanities,sciences, social studies, and technology
K.8.3 Apply what they know about the nature of life, nature, the physical world, and the human condition to their understanding and creation of art
K.8.4 Use a variety of tools, such as words, numbers, sounds, movements, images,objects, emotions, technology, and spaces, to help understand and communicate about the visual world
K.8.5 Know about a range of art activities, such as museum curation, historic preservation, collecting, and writing about art and design
K.8.6 Explore the similarities and differences of world cultures by studying their fine arts: music, dance, theater, literature, and architecture
L. VISUAL IMAGINATION AND CREATIVITY
Content Standard
Students in Wisconsin will use their imaginations and creativity to develop multiples solutions to problems, expand their minds, and create ideas for original works of art and design.
Rationale:
Imagination allows people to explore connections to the world, develop conceptual thought processes, and learn to use metaphors to arrive at original ideas. Art helps children become more creative, deal with complexity and ambiguity, be more flexible, solve problems in creative ways, use higher order thinking skills, and take risks.
By the end of grade 8 students will:
L.8.1Use their knowledge, intuition, and experiences to develop ideas for artwork
L.8.2 Develop a base of knowledge and skills from which to create new ideas
L.8.3 Understand the role that personal traits, such as independent thinking, courage,integrity, insight, dedication and patience, play in creating quality art and design
L.8.4 Understand that nature and other designs can be sources for new ideas
L.8.5 Study ways that artists develop personal style that reflects who they are
L.8.6 Understand that art is created by people of different cultures, expresses different ideas and concepts, and changes over time