Art History Classes Research Articles

Pynchon, <i>V.</i>, and The French Surrealists

It is appropriate to suggest connections between Pynchon and French surrealism for a number of reasons, not the least of which is that Pynchon himself points us in that direction in his Introduction to Slow Learner. There, Pynchon reminisces about his student days in an elective art history class where what most impressed him was surrealism. After admitting what we might call a shock of recognition, Pynchon says that as an apprentice writer he tried to apply surrealistic techniques--chiefly that of assemblage--in his early stories. This passage in his Introduction evidences Pynchon's early commitment to surrealist techniques, but more to the point are his self-criticisms for not quite having done it right (he accuses himself of misunderstanding assemblage and of not having had enough access to his dream life); for such reflections made more than twenty years after the fact can be construed as at least a residual belief in the legitimacy of the surrealist aesthetic. The title he gave to his collection of early stories, Slow Learner, suggests as much.

Teacher as Shaman: An Educational Criticism

Educational criticism based on educational connoisseurship is a form of educational evaluation that takes its motivation, format, and guidance from the paradigm of the arts. It is based on a model of aesthetic criticism, but the data collection techniques for this form of inquiry are based on participant observation techniques of the social sciences. Data were gathered on three high school art history classes and three educational criticisms were written as evaluations; Teacher as Shaman is one of these. William (a pseudonym), the Shaman, uses cognitive dissonance to bring about attitudinal change in his classroom.

The right to heritage: the teaching of deaf history.

During the fall semester of the 1979 school year, a program in deaf history was introduced at the Rhode Island School for the Deaf. The course, which was taught in conjunction with the senior Art History class, dealt with the medical, social, and educational aspects of deafness and presented biographies of deaf and hearing individuals of significance. The class drew upon information the students had obtained in other history classes. The results were increased interest and self-awareness and pride in deaf heritage.

"Mr. Jewel as a Model:" An Educational Criticism of a High School Art History Class

"Mr. Jewel as a Model:" An Educational Criticism of a High School Art History Class

Structural Clues to Corneille's Meaning in "Horatius"

David's famous painting, Oath of the Horatii, has served for many art history classes as a fine example of the calculated geometrics of French neoclassicism. The powerful intersecting lines of force which seem unconsciously to form a series of firmly based triangles convey to the viewer simultaneous impressions of urgency, strength, and serenity. Similarly, Pierre Corneille's play on the same subject, written in 1639, a century and a half before David's painting, is a carefully structured work of art in which a violent, almost barbaric story from Livy's history of Rome is imbued with a quality of classic dignity.

Experiences in Critical Inquiry: Approaches for Use in the Art Methods Class

Not long ago while visiting a rather large midwestern high school, was introduced to a young art teacher who was about to begin the first of a series of classes in art appreciation. expressed interest in the program, and the teacher responded by telling me of the hours he had spent the previous evening with his college art history texts preparing for that first class. He then pointed to a carousel slide tray filled to capacity and said hopefully, I only hope don't run out of slides before the period is over. As look back on that and other similar encounters, it seems to me that many art teachers have experienced the same kind of problem, that is, wanting on one hand to provide their students with opportunities to see and discuss a broad range of art works, but limited insofar as the knowledge, skill, and confidence required to do so. Too often the solution is to brush up on their art history and make sure that they are armed with more slides than they can ever hope to show in the course of the art period. Unfortunately, such an approach frequently results in little more than a shallow chronological survey in which students are provided a one-shot exposure to a number of art works accompanied by a few brief comments regarding the artist in question, the style in which the work was accomplished, and the period in which it was completed. Most art teachers are at least partially aware that this approach is not generating the kind of learning experience they desire for their students. Rather than providing these students with an opportunity to perceive aesthetic qualities and their relationships in works of art in order that meanings might be comprehended and personal judgments made, teachers are perpetuating a narrow standard of judgment closely modeled upon their own limited past experience with art exemplars in university art history classes. Moreover, by providing largely historical experiences under the guise of art appreciation, teachers seem to be implying that knowledge restricted to a work's origins, function, style, and influence is sufficient if students are to understand and

Dispensing with formalities in art education research

This article investigates how high school students master and appropriate concepts in aesthetics and modern art in art history classes and in art museums. It is argued that distinctions between schools and museums as places of formal and informal learning, respectively, are not useful analytical categories for understanding complex meaning making processes.

Warhol at Bennington

At Bennington College, I showed slides of Andy Warhol's work, first in a Seminar on Art Criticism to eight girls, and a little later to an Art History class of about fifty girls (one of whom was Suzy Stanton). This meant that about one girl in six in the College had seen the slides, but none of them had seen any original paintings by him. The Campbell's Soup Cans were not the only subjects by Warhol that I showed, but these became the issue in a heated argument that spread, involving an increasing number of students. Soon, girls who had not seen the slides were arguing about the aesthetics of painting soup cans. Clearly Warhol had the power to create art works that did not need to be seen to make at least a part of their effect. They were susceptible to compact verbal handling, without losing their ideological excitement. In this respect, Warhol's paintings acted like hand-done Marcel Duchamp objects. One point of Duchamp's ready-mades (the bicycle wheel, the bottle rack, the urinal) was to show that art ...