The painting by Paul Cezanne, The Bridge of Trois-Sautets, was painted near the time of his death. In this rich watercolor, the artist dispensed with notions of traditional painting goals. Rather than solely focus on a realistic rendering of this scene, Cezanne turned instead to the task of recording his sensorial experience and exploring the…

The author of this article is an art specialist at Whiteford Elementary School in Sylvania, Ohio. Following a visit to a Paul Klee exhibition, she cut out all the miniature examples from the exhibition flyer in order to make six art pins. She then wore a different pin each day at both her elementary and high school assignments with amazing…

This brief article presents describes Pablo Picasso's oil on canvas painting, "Still Life with Glass and Lemon, 1910." Composed of abstract, monochromatic shapes, this painting's original subject is surprisingly a glass and lemon. The artist, Pablo Picasso, developed this unique system of breaking down objects into their basic geometric parts with…

This article describes a project that introduces students in grades K-8 to new artistic styles, giving them an appreciation for an artist's work, as well as teaching them some art history. The teacher introduced this lesson to each grade by presenting examples of the artist's works either from posters or books. They discussed the distinctive…

In this article, the author describes one classroom's experience engaging in a lesson on aboriginal painting. Aboriginal painting has a particular allure to middle school students. As this age group crosses the threshold from concrete knowing to conceptual understanding, they are ready to re-frame their perspective of the artist's intent. Learning…

In this article, the author describes the difference between debriefing and critiquing. Critiquing art entails examining the use of the art elements and the principles of design. Describing what one sees as well as how the work is organized is a major part of critiquing. Determining what the piece is communicating and whether the piece is…

How would you like to put some "Pow!" into your art instruction? A lesson in comic books--history, design, story, and production--can make your classes come alive. The authors present a new approach to using comics to build artistic skills and involve students in art appreciation. Why Comics? Many art teachers have students who say, "I hate art!"…

Norman Rockwell's Triple Self-Portrait provided the perfect starting point for taking self-conscious teenagers on a personal journey into the intimidating world of introspective art. Asking students to find the three self-portraits in the Rockwell work was an easy way to draw them into painting. From the visual clues and objects meaningfully…

The "Heavenly Horse" is a work of art revered for its spirit, strength, and beauty. It is a symbol of military might and political power. The size of the object suggests that it was made for an important person. Impressive as he is, this horse was not created as an art object. He was found in the tomb of an influential person. Scholars do not know…

Gustav Klimt (1862-1918), a Viennese painter, was the founder of the Vienna Secession, the Austrian Art Nouveau movement. Art Nouveau is characterised by flowing lines and flat designs based on organic structures. This style is found in the symbolic aspect of Klimt's later work, and in the works of other artists of the late 1890s and early 1900s…

The author describes a lesson she did on abstract art with her high school art classes. She passed out a required step-by-step outline of the project process. She asked each of them to look at abstract art. They were to list five or six abstract artists they thought were interesting, narrow their list down to the one most personally intriguing,…