Many people have seen "The Kiss" (1907-08), an iconic artwork by Austrian Symbolist Gustav Klimt (1862-1918), but know little about its background. Since its creation, the sensual subject matter and lush golden patterns have been this culture's example of romantic love. The painting exemplifies Klimt's brand of Art Nouveau. Acceptance often eluded…

This article is concerned with the representational paintings and drawings of six- to nine-year-old children in which human relationships and interactions are central to subject matter. As a rule, children at this age are thought to be at the height of their curiosity and imaginative powers. (Author/KC)

Describes an art activity where children create imaginary character sculptures using clay. Discusses how the students created their creatures after first drawing their ideas and then painting their sculptures. (CMK)

Describes an art class flower painting project influenced by the book, "Georgia OKeefe: One Hundred Flowers." Students studied OKeefe's use of scale, color, composition, depth, and materials, to create their own flower paintings. (KM)

Describes an art lesson where students used watercolors to paint a flower bouquet arranged in a vase. Explains that the students viewed examples of flower bouquets by artists such as Vincent van Gogh and Odilon Redon. Discusses, in detail, the process of creating the artworks. (CMK)

Explores the similarities between paintings of the abstract expressionists and those of young children. Similarities include total surface coverage, disregard for details, direct application of pigment, disregard for visual perspective, and use of the painting surface as a frontal plane. (CB)

Illustrates the skill and inspiration of master art teacher, Frank Wachowiak, by presenting three lessons for children: "Fruits and Vegetables" or "Leaves" in crayon resist, "X-ray Trees" in crayon engraving and "Angels or Self-portraits" in tempera. Lessons emphasize the use of patterns and textures, as…

Focuses on individualized expression resulting from ideas and skills that have developed over time. Describes how students first drew a group of people, then used values and added background details, and finally enlarged the drawings demonstrating their own ideas. (CMK)

This study extends previous work in the use of descriptive reinforcement procedures to increase productivity of new forms in artwork. Subjects were four kindergarteners who demonstrated an absence of diverse forms in their paintings. Results indicated that form diversity was improved and that the improvement lasted over time. (SJL)

Gives an art activity for second-graders where they use two art techniques, tissue gluing and tempera painting, to create brightly colored pictures of landscapes. Expounds that first the students examine a variety of landscapes by different artists, such as Paul Cezanne, and then learn the differences between the foreground and background. (CMK)

A recently developed pictorial and musical program was used to teach abstract art to 12 elementary students with severe intellectual disabilities and 12 controls. There was a significant main instructional effect favoring pictorial with classical music over both pictorial only and pictorial with rock music. (Contains references.) (Author/CR)

Focuses on a video series showing elementary students discovering new approaches to painting. Describes performances and questions that expand children's views on painting, including painting objects, seeing different ideas for the canvas, and exploring new paint brush forms. (CMK)

The purpose of this study was: (1) to examine how artistic development is fostered in the playgroup setting; (2) to discover if between-playgroup effects are apparent in the developmental levels of children's painting, and (3) if such differences occur, to consider the relevance of supervisor behavior to these differences. Subjects were 48…

Recognition of the handicapped child's isolation from the environment is the basis for creative art therapy across handicapping conditions (physical disabilities, mental retardation, emotional disturbance, deafness, Blindness, speech impairment, cerebral palsy). Detachment may be overcome by self expression through drawings, paintings, and…

Depicts a high school art activity in which students create imaginative compositions by selecting, cutting out, and aesthetically arranging various styles of lettering. These letters then dictate the style and content of the composition. Tracing paper is used to transfer the desired composition creating a border for another page which is then…