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.

Art Tip #3: Have a home base

Create a home base for art making.

At my house we have the Craft Cabinet, the home of all our art supplies. Over the years the materials have changed as my sibling and I have grown up, but it's still in use today, getting raided by my sister for assignments for her college classes and by me for my art projects. The Craft Cabinet has been a source of amusement and creative self-discovery over the years for us. If we wanted to make some art, we'd just open up the cabinet and pull out some crayons, pencils, glitter glue, whatever struck our fancy. And when the art making is done, all the supplies have one place to go back to, which makes cleaning up pretty easy.

Art Tip #2: Encourage a mess

Allow and encourage making a mess.

This goes along with my previous post on failure. If things are getting messy, your child is making something and (hopefully) having some fun. Now I'm not advocating paste smeared on the walls and play-doh stuck in the dog's fur, but when the creative juices start flowing things can get a little messy. If art is so regimented and neat-nick that there's no room for error, then there's not really much room for fun either.

Art Tip #1: Failure is good

Failure is a good thing.

Yes, you read that right. Your kids have to be allowed to try something and possibly fail at it. This is true in other areas as well, but especially so in art.

I still distinctly remember one particular art teacher I had at a homeschool co-op when I was little. She would come around, look at students' drawings, and then erase something she didn't think was right and re-draw it! I would get frustrated, because I thought it looked good and then all my hard work was replaced. There's a difference between helping students improve their skills and doing their work for them. What would have been better for this teacher to do: come around to look at the drawings, then suggest ways to improve my drawing myself. A student can't truly learn something if the work is done by someone else.

I didn't understand perspective, scale, shading, proportions when I first put crayon to paper. But I was allowed and encouraged to draw, doodle, paint, cut, paste, build, sew...and through the process of creating I learned. Not everything I made as a 7-year-old and make as a 24-year-old are masterpieces. I try new ideas and they don't always work. And that's okay. I take what I learned and I create again.