This study of Egyptian aesthetics interprets the historical and political context of artistic discourse in the early twentieth century. In a period marked by intense struggle between landlords and rural laborers during the Depression and World War II, I compare the rise of the Egyptian Surrealists from the late 1930s, and the Contemporary Art…

"Tragedy," both in what the author calls the strict and nuclear ancient Greek sense of the term (which does not imply that tragedy is clearly and distinctly defined, even in ancient Greece) and in the looser, derived sense of the word, has a long and compelling history. It is not only true that tragedy as practice and performance has a…

This study of Egyptian aesthetics interprets the historical and political context of artistic discourse in the early twentieth century. In a period marked by intense struggle between landlords and rural laborers during the Depression and World War II, the author compares the rise of the Egyptian Surrealists, from the late 1930s, and the…

The National Endowment for the Humanities funded the Rembrandt Project for the purpose of developing an online teaching resource that can provide a means for accessing Rembrandt's art and his world. The Web site for the project includes numerous links that direct teachers to American museums that hold paintings, etchings, or drawings by Rembrandt…

The "all-over" abstract canvases that Jackson Pollock produced between 1943 and 1951 present a pedagogical challenge in how to account for their apparently chaotic structure. One reason that they are difficult to teach about is that they have proved notoriously difficult for art historians to come to terms with. This is undoubtedly a consequence…

Museums have become a crucible for questions of the role that traditional art and art history should play in contemporary art. Friedrich Nietzsche argued in the nineteenth century that museums can be no more than mausoleums for effete (fine) art. Over the course of the twentieth century, however, curators dispelled such blanket pessimism by…

This article features an arts education curriculum project that was designed to use the oeuvre of Rembrandt van Rijn--seventeenth-century Dutch painter, etcher, and draftsman extraordinaire--as a teaching resource. A partnership of scholars, university professors, museum educators, and classroom teachers designed the project, which uses Rembrandt…

Introducing the tale--A young girl about eleven years old appeared on the TV screen. She stood in an art museum expounding upon the painting hanging behind her. She talked about the artist and what the image portrayed. With an air of elitist prissiness that suited the museum environment, the girl delivered her presentation to a group of…

What is the best way to understand the recent development of American art? An older tradition of commentary focuses on the role of tradition, noting how each new form of painting is rooted in a long history. But Jack Bankoswky and some other art writers discussing Andy Warhol have adapted a different approach, arguing that his art breaks radically…

Art educators have acknowledged for a long time the importance of the study of images and visual elements in the lives of children and the field of art education. This is even more evident today as the discipline moves to embrace notions of "visual culture," which emphasize exploring and studying all the things that visibly shape lives. In spite…

In the words of Ralph A. Smith, "We can now discern the outlines of the problem: how to acquaint students with the aesthetic form of life in a manner that is not only ethically acceptable but also theoretically justifiable and pedagogically promising." This essay interrogates conventional assumptions about applications of art history in…

A prevailing assumption of Western theorizing about art is that each work of fine art is to be attributed to a single individual, "the artist" who created it. Art education, particularly in art history, reflects this assumption. Despite the "New Art History" of the 1980s that revised and diversified the canon, education in art history remains a…

One of the most significant characteristics which appears to have continually pervaded educational thought and practice is that of the "either/or," the "pendulum of education." The author discusses its impact upon art education by examining the issue of art history vs art making. (Author/RK)

Three approaches that teachers can use to incorporate related ideas into art history courses are discussed. They are parallelism, or the analogous developments in other spheres of study; the elucidation of the credo of a famous personage whose image has been perpetuated through art; and etymology. (RM)

Offers a rationale for teaching art history as an integral part of the K-12 curriculum. Maintains that art history instruction should begin in kindergarten. Includes sections on the relationship between art history, art production, art criticism, and aesthetics. (JDH)