Teaching Kids Art Appreciation

As a visual artist by degree the subject I had the most difficulty with was Art History and Appreciation. Memorizing the endless lists of artists, dates, identifying individual pieces of their work was grueling. I'm not proud to say that I would skip some of the classes because they were so dull and boring. Fortunate, in my junior year I had an exceptionally gifted Art History professor who taught the intangible facts in such a tangible way his expressive overview of their work transported us into the psyche of the artists.

My fourth grade granddaughter came home with a homework assignment that required her to choose an artist and write a short composition on two pieces of their work. She decided on Vincent Van Gogh, I had immediate flashbacks of the tedious hours of research that would be involved researching dates titles, etc. Thankfully, Van Gogh happened to be one of my favorite painters. I thought which pieces would we focus on, how much information did a fourth grade class want? I realized I was thinking more like an Art History instructor rather than an elementary school teacher. I didn't want to overwhelm her with details of the Dutch artist's biography. How he spent his final years painting under the cloud of mental illness and cutting off one of his ears. I wanted her to experience the beauty of his work.

I realized the reason Van Gogh was one of my favorites wasn't because of his sophisticated technique, it was his rudimentary use of color; the simplicity of line and form and subject matter. We chose two of his most recognizable pieces for her report, Starry Night and Sunflowers and a few simple questions.

Why: Ask why they like the painting.

What: What is it about it that makes them happy, sad, etc?

How: How do you think the artist decided what to painted?

When and Where: When did they paint it? Was it day/afternoon/evening. Were they outside or inside?

Question: If you could ask the artist one question about the painting(s) what would it be?

I was surprised by some of the inquisitive questions she came up with, i.e. Starry Night - Did Van Gogh paint it during a meteor shower? Good question. After the assignment we decided to honor Vincent Van Gogh by purchasing a pack of sunflower seeds to plant in our summer garden. It would remind us of the artist and his painting. As for Starry Night take your children outside and look at a starry evening sky. Let them know that they are viewing the same stars that influenced Van Gogh's painting.

Source(s):
http://www.vangoghgallery.com/misc/bio.html