Understanding Art History part 1

Any student of art history quickly realizes that every author has a bias and a spin they want to put on things. This can range from benign to fairly insidious. The author who merely wants to draw a bit more attention to a forgotten artist is one thing, but there are writers who filter the history of art through feminist, racial, sexual, revisionist lenses.
Now I'm not saying that we shouldn't focus on female artists or those of other races, but we shouldn't embrace a re-written, politically correct time line. The reason there are so many white males in our western art chronology is because that's who was mainly making art and having an impact on the wider art world. It's pretty likely that there were a lot more women creating art than are in the textbooks...but they didn't have the influence of their male contemporaries until recently in history.
It bothers me that some try to minimize certain artists' accomplishments and influence simply because they were white and male.We should rightly embrace new discoveries and artists that were forgotten but have recently been re-discovered. But we shouldn't discard those who really did have an impact simply because their race and gender isn't popular today. Re-writing art history in the name of tolerance and diversity is robbing students of a true understanding of what actually happened.
Another modern day trend is making too big a deal about an artist's sexuality in relation to their work. Yes, there were and are homosexual artists. But some writers can make sexuality the overarching focus of their study of a particular artist, even if that didn't affect the work in a major way. Authors interpret every single detail through a sexual lens, even when the artist themselves have said differently what their intentions were. Georgia O'Keefe is one such artist whose work has been over-sexualized by later critics. When they've been recorded, reading an artist's own words about the intentions for their work is very important.
Don't simply take someone's word for it merely because they've managed to get a book published containing their opinions.

Understanding art history, intro

Art history is an overwhelming topic. You have objects from thousands of years ago up to the newest "it" artist of the moment creating work right now. As I've written about in the past, it can be confusing trying to figure out where to start and what to cover. There were the popular artists of their day who are now relegated to the footnotes of history (ever heard of William-Adolphe Bouguereau? Didn't think so), and the unknown painters toiling away in obscurity during their lifetimes only to rise to great prominence during later generations (Vincent van Gogh, anyone?).

What I want to accomplish with this forthcoming series of posts is to help you see art history, not as stale information, but as individual artists and a series of overlapping and interacting art movements. Think of ripples in a pond: the first wave sets off the rest and one leads to the next. You don't have the Expressionists rejecting the ideals of the Impressionists without first having Impressionism.

So come along with me as I walk down the winding road of art history; it's going to take us to some interesting places.

Art Tip #5: Inspiration book

Create an inspiration book/box/folder/bulletin board.

Every artist hits a creative wall from time to time. Some will tell you to just work through it, and eventually you'll get your "art mojo" back. But it's really hard to make anything when your mind is like a blank page. Just figuring out what art supplies to fiddle around with can be frustrating when you have no ideas at all.

My solution is an inspiration folder. Anytime I find an image that really strikes me--I like the colors, or the idea behind it, or it always sparks fresh ideas when I see it--I tuck it into a small folder that has a bunch of clear page holders. Pictures from the newspaper, magazines, fliers, brochures from museums, random stuff I find. I never know where I might find that next inspiring image. When I get stuck in an artistic rut or am at a loss for new ideas, I just page through my inspiration folder. Something always catches my eye and renews my creativity.

Article: Homecoming for 300 year old Native American shirt

Some cool local art news: The Minneapolis Institute of Arts just acquired a 300 year old Native American shirt that's originally from Minnesota. You can read the full article here.

The MIA has a growing collection of Native American art that's definitely worth checking out. One of my favorite pieces (which is currently not on display) is a beautiful little statue of a woman by the famous sculptor Allan Houser.

Article: 10 Outsider Artists

Another fun article from Mental Floss magazine: The Glorious Works of 10 Outsider Artists. 
http://www.mentalfloss.com/blogs/archives/47127

Article: Feel Art Again-- A Sunday Afternoon

A short post from the Mental Floss Blog about George Seurat's famous painting "A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte":

Several months back, a reader named Joseph suggested George Seurat’s “A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte” for, aptly enough, a Sunday afternoon. Since ‘Feel Art Again’ runs on Tuesdays and Thursdays, though, I figured today was as good a time as any. And, with the snowy forecast for tomorrow (at least here in PA), a cheery weather painting is just what we need. So, I’m proud to present “Un dimanche après-midi à l’ÃŽle de la Grande Jatte” by Georges-Pierre Seurat.

1. George Seurat devoted two years to “A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte,” spending afternoons in the park sketching figures. He completed approximately 60 studies for the 2×3 meter painting, and even reworked the original. He was most focused on color and light. Unfortunately, the pigment zinc yellow, which was new at the time, has darkened to brown over the years, changing the appearance of the lawn and other parts of the painting.

2. Seurat’s interest in the study and emotion of color might possibly be traced back to his childhood home. With his parents and two siblings, he lived at 100 Boulevard Magenta.

3. Near the end of his life, Seurat secretly cohabited with Madeleine Knobloch, a young model. In February 1890, she gave birth to their first son. Seurat died of uncertain causes in March 1891, shortly before the birth of his second son, who died soon after birth. Supposedly, Seurat had only introduced Knobloch and his son to his parents two days before his death.

4. After his death, the contents of Seurat’s studio were classified at his parents’ request. They offered the contents to the Louvre, but were refused; the contents were then divided amongst Knobloch and some of Seurat’s followers.

5. “A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte” isn’t just Seurat’s most famous painting, it is also one of the most famous and frequently reproduced paintings in the world. Like Leonardo da Vinci’s “Mona Lisa,” Salvador Dali’s “The Persistence of Memory,” and Edvard Munch’s “The Scream,” Seurat’s painting is often reference in pop culture. Stephen Sondheim wrote a Tony award-winning musical about it; the Looney Tunes, the Simpsons, and Sesame Street parodied it; it appeared in “Barbarella” (1968) and “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off” (1986); and Nancy Cameron posed in front of a copy of it for the January 1976 issue of Playboy.
6. In 2006, the painting was recreated in modern clothes in Beloit, WI. The recreation took place on a Saturday afternoon on the bank of the Rock River to promote the “Saturday in the Park with Friends” event. Arranged by Friends of Riverfront, the event was a bigger hit than expected. Check out the photo collection on flickr to see how close to the original they got.
A larger version of the painting is available here.

‘Feel Art Again’ appears every Tuesday and Thursday.

Art Tip #4: Try something new

Try something different--go outside the box.

It's easy and comfortable to stick with what we know. Trying something you're not familiar with can be awkward, there's more possibility for failure (see Art Tip #1); you might feel stupid as if you should somehow already know how to do this. You have no problem whipping through a lesson on history, helping your kids concoct a science experiment, teaching them reading and writing...but when it comes to art, you're all thumbs and you don't know how to come up with interesting projects.
We can't be experts on everything, dear readers. And making art is not relegated to a few select individuals who can draw a straight line blindfolded.
Like I've said before, just try to have fun and don't over think what you're doing. Just try something new, shake up your status quo.
If you always pull out the colored pencils and drawing paper, try letting your kids play around with some watercolors instead.
A lot of kids like building things with Play Doh, take it one step further with some cheap modeling clay; most craft stores carry the easy bake or air dry varieties.
If your children like drawing, take them to a museum and have them pretend they're apprentices during the Renaissance, learning from the great masters' works.
If you're into sewing, let your kids play around with scraps and thread, let them create something on their own. When I was in junior high, I made some leaf shaped pins out of felt scraps one day just for fun.
If you always visit the same art museum for field trips, go to a different one even if you don't like the art. I really love going to the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, and I'm not a huge fan of the Walker, but I visit both regularly because it widens my understanding of art. (Just looking at their websites' front pages, you can tell they're very different institutions) And sometimes I'm surprised and discover a piece of art that really inspires me where I least expect to find it.
I could go on, but you get the idea: shake things up, don't settle in a rut.