Docent Association
Handbook
Pensacola Museum of Art
407 South Jefferson Street
Pensacola, FL 32502
850.432.6247
www.pensacolamuseum.org
1
February 2016 Edition
2
Table of Contents
History of the Pensacola Museum of Art
3
General Museum Policies
7
What is a Docent?
9
Getting Started: Basic Tour Guidelines
11
Tour Suggestions for different types of tour groups
14
General Art Analysis 101
19
American and European Art History Timeline:
•
1600-1900
29
•
20th Century
36
Museum Staff Contact List
43
3
A Brief History of the Pensacola Museum of Art
In 1954, a group of determined women combined their efforts to create an art center for
the City of Pensacola. Members of the American Association of University Women
(AAUW) wanted a place to exhibit traveling shows, offer art classes for both children
and adults, provide meeting space for members of the community as well as have a forum
for lectures, films and other cultural presentations. They joined forces with others in the
community who shared this same vision and formed the Pensacola Art Association
(PAA).
When the City of Pensacola decided to replace the Old City Jail in 1954, the Pensacola
Art Association made a bid for the building. The Spanish Revival structure was a perfect
location for an Arts Center. The Jail was already fireproof, secure and centrally located in
Pensacola’s Historic Downtown District. When the City allowed the group to lease the
old jail for $1 per year, the PAA’s Board members pulled together to turn the jail cells
into exhibition spaces. Initially the City leased the building to the PAA which became
the Pensacola Museum in1982 and in 1988 the Museum purchased the building that is
known to this day as the Pensacola Museum of Art.
Over the course of the past 62 years, the PMA has presented hundreds of exhibitions and
thousands of educational opportunities, becoming the foundation for the visual arts here
in our community. As we as a community move towards a new, revitalized culture, the
PMA continues to play an integral role in the development and fostering of quality arts
experiences and is a significant contributing element in our community’s diverse culture
as it serves over 100,000 visitors annually within our region. With this as a foundation for
development, the PMA has put together a stimulating 2016 exhibition schedule as well as
a host of quality educational programs, all of which amplify the mission of the Museum bridging the diverse populations of Pensacola and the surrounding communities through
the visual arts.
4
Pensacola Museum of Art
General Information
Museum Hours:
Tuesday through Friday, 10 AM – 5 PM
Saturday, 11 AM – 4 PM
Monday closed
Admission:
PMA Member: Free
Adults: $7.00
Military with ID and Seniors: $5
Children (7-17): $5
Children (6 and under): Free
Last Tuesday of Every Month: Free
Address:
407 South Jefferson Street
Pensacola, FL 32502
850.432.6247
5
Tours
Tours of the Museum are conducted by Museum Docents (trained volunteer guides)
under the supervision of the Education and Curatorial Departments. Forty-five minute
tours highlight exhibitions and are presented on a year-round basis to schools, school
extracurricular groups and community organizations. Escambia County school groups
may visit free of charge; other schools as well as other groups are offered group rates of
$3 per person. To receive discounted admission, tours must consist of a minimum of 10
people. Tours should be limited at approximately 60 people, must include one chaperone
for every 10 to 15 people, and must be scheduled at least 2 weeks in advance to ensure
availability.
Art Exploration Trunks
Share the art of another culture with this special hands-on learning experience. The
Trunks offer the unique opportunity to combine art, history, music, geography, foreign
languages, and language arts lessons. A resource guide is included. Teachers may
borrow a Trunk from the Museum for one week (Saturday to Saturday). Trunk loans are
free of charge to all educators in Escambia, Santa Rosa, Okaloosa and Walton Counties.
Trunk Themes
Latin American
China
Seven Wonders
Japanese
Greek
Australian
African
Native American
6
General Museum Policies
Access to Building
Because the Museum must operate under a high level of security, volunteers are allowed
access only through the main entrance of the building. Excluding special events, all food
must be eaten in the kitchen.
Carrying Objects and Checkroom
Museum visitors are requested to check cameras, parcels, briefcases, knapsacks and
umbrellas at the information desk.
No Ink Pens are allowed in the Galleries
Chewing Gum
Visitors must remove chewing gum at the beginning of a tour. The Museum has a NO
CHEWING GUM policy.
Closed Galleries
There are several reasons for closing Galleries to the public: taking down, preparation
and re-installation of exhibits, photography, conservation, or other curatorial concerns.
In these instances, no entry will be allowed when a Gallery is marked closed. Be polite,
but be firm when questioned.
Sketching
Drawing in pencil on a portable sketchpad is permissible in the Galleries.
Disabled Visitors
The Museum is wheelchair accessible and a wheelchair is available upon request.
Disabled visitors may enter at the side entrance of the Museum for use of a ramp. There
is a buzzer at this handicapped entrance that is audible from the Information Desk.
Kitchen
Volunteers are permitted to bring food into the Museum and store it in the refrigerator
located in the kitchen.
Library
Shelves in the library contain general visual arts reference books and reference books
pertaining to the collections. Docents are welcome to make use of this room during the
time the Museum is open to the public. Books are not currently available to check out
however the Museum photocopier is available to docents if needed. Please inquire with
staff for assistance.
7
Lost and Found
All found articles should be left with the receptionist at the Information Desk. Articles
will be discarded after 30 days.
No Touching Policy
The policy of not touching works of art must be made clear to the tour group before
going into the Galleries.
Photography
Depending on the exhibit (please check for each show), sometimes the Museum permits
casual photography of the exhibits with the following restrictions:
Hand-held cameras only: Tripods, large format cameras and video cameras are
prohibited.
Absolutely no flash: Flash and/or cameras with built in or automatic flash are prohibited.
Flash photography will damage artworks.
Photography is limited to educational or personal use: Photography for any other purpose
must be approved by the PMA staff.
Smoking
Smoking is not permitted in the Museum.
Soliciting or Vending
No soliciting or vending in the Museum or on the grounds is permitted without
authorization from the Executive Director.
8
What is a Docent?
The term “docent” is derived from the Latin verb docere, meaning “to lead or teach.”
A docent at the PMA is a volunteer who conducts tours, presents Art Exploration Trunks,
and assists with outreach programs and workshops with the public, school and local
groups, out-of-state visitors, senior citizens, etc. Due to his or her high visibility while
performing their duties docents are considered representatives of the Museum.
Docents are often motivated by a love of people, a desire to be involved in public service
or an interest in the study of art. Being a docent requires the willingness and ability to
engage in an ongoing learning process about the PMA exhibitions and to impart to groups
what has been learned about these exhibitions. Volunteer service to the Education
Department offers creative and rewarding teaching experiences for those interested in
museum education.
Museum Education can be challenging and a docent’s role in it is critical. He or she
should take a serious and professional view of all responsibilities. A docent is expected
to participate in all training sessions throughout the year, prepare for all programs, and
carry out all scheduled tours.
Docent Goals
To represent the PMA to the public.
To educate visitors about PMA exhibitions, art technique and history through tours,
outreach and Art Exploration Trunks.
To present the Museum’s exhibitions to visitors in an informative, stimulating and
appropriate way in order to:
• Increase understanding and sensitivity to the formal elements of art and related
historical and thematic concepts
• Increase public awareness of the Museum’s mission and its vital importance in
studying, preserving, and interpreting the visual arts
• Encourage life-long learning in a Museum setting and to stimulate participants to
become active Museum supporters.
To present tours suited to the needs and purposes of specialized groups.
9
Docent Benefits
The PMA’s commitment to its volunteers is a deeply felt one. The Board of Trustees and
staff are keenly aware of the very substantial contributions volunteers make in terms of
time, knowledge and energy. The volunteer’s role in making the Docent Program an
effective part of the overall operation of the PMA is gratefully acknowledged. In return
for a docent’s time and talents, he or she will receive educational opportunities such as
• Educational lectures by the curators, local university faculty, artists and visiting
specialists in order to learn more about the permanent collections, special
exhibitions, and techniques for touring diverse audiences.
• Organized trips to local and state-wide museums, galleries and artists’ studios
• Use of art-related resource materials and books
• Private docent group walkthroughs of new exhibitions with the curator
• Docent tour packets provided by the curator for each exhibition (available in print
and electronic format)
• Free exhibition catalogs (when available)
Docents continually enhance their own knowledge base through volunteerism and are
able to share their appreciation of art while meeting others with similar interests.
Docent Requirements
Touring Requirements: The tour coordinator (Christa Ramirez) is responsible for
ensuring that each scheduled tour is matched with a docent(s). The tour coordinator will
place docents by one of three ways: passing around a sign-up sheet during monthly
docent meetings, phoning the docent directory, and by email. It is your responsibility to
contact the tour coordinator in advance if you are unable to attend your scheduled tour.
This will enable a substitute to be placed for you.
Meetings: Docents meet the second Thursday of each month at 1:00 p.m. Regular
attendance is encouraged but not required. Exhibition walkthroughs are conducted at the
close of each meeting, as needed.
10
Getting Started
Basic Tour Guidelines
No Touching Policy
The policy of not touching works of art must be established with a tour group before
going into the galleries. With older children, a few words should serve as a reminder;
younger and more active groups should be seated on the floor to gain their attention and
to reinforce the policy.
Ways of Saying “Please Don’t Touch”
Works of art in the Museum’s collections need to be taken care of so they can be seen
and enjoyed by all visitors now and in the future. Touching the art may damage it, even
if you can’t see the damage.
The following are examples of different approaches to be used primarily with groups of
children.
•
•
•
•
•
Why do you think you are asked not to touch the art? Is it ok to touch it
carefully? If you can’t see any change from touching it, does that mean it wasn’t
harmed? (Objects can be broken, or dirtied and worn by people handling them too
much. If you touch the object, then someone else will, and someone else and so
on.)
Feel your fingertips. Do you know what it is that keeps our skin soft? (All of us
have oil and moisture in our skin)
Have you ever seen fingerprints? Have you seen fingerprints made by clean
fingers? (Oily marks on a drinking glass, tabletop, or mirror)
What things have you seen that are badly worn from many people touching or
using them? (Carpeting that’s worn where a lot of people have walked over
time—such as in doorways and corridors…a favorite blanket, an old chair’s
armrests, a path through the grass)
Some of the works of art in the Museum’s collection are quite old and we need to
take care of them. We want people for years to come to be able to see and enjoy
this art in the same condition as you are enjoying it now. What do you think some
good precautions are to protect the art? (temperature and humidity control, no
touching, sometimes camera flashes can cause paint to fade, vitrines- glass covers
on pedestals)
General Procedures
Always double-check tour routes to ensure that no last minute changes have been made
within the Galleries. Remember to coordinate the route with the other participating
docents scheduled for the tour.
11
Meeting the Tour Group
If the group is meeting in the Lobby prior to the tour, please make sure the doors are
unlocked and the lights are on in all the Galleries.
Take your group to a predetermined starting point and go over introductory comments
such as:
•
•
Introduce yourself and welcome them in a relaxed and smiling manner.
•
Outline the no-touching policy as it applies to them. Test the group’s knowledge
first by asking them if they know any Museum rules.
•
If you are touring a group of children, go over any other items or points you
would like your group to do, i.e., raise their hands if they have a questions or wish
to answer a question, always stay with their group, have young children on a
buddy system, etc.
•
State the theme of the tour with a good introductory statement that will spark the
group’s interest
•
Help the group feel relaxed by using open-ended dialogue questions with no right
or wrong answers.
•
Help the group make connections between objects and what they know or might
have experienced. Refer to previously discussed works.
•
•
•
•
•
Be a good and patient listener. Wait for and encourage the group’s responses.
•
•
Use different tones of voice to enliven the tour.
•
Keep gestures at a safe distance from the works (at least 8 inches). Do not touch
the works. Do not point with a pen or pencil.
•
•
Make sure everyone has a chance to see the work.
Give a brief introduction to the Pensacola Museum of Art (history, building, etc.)
if they are first-time visitors and this introduction is appropriate to the type of
group you are touring. Kids enjoy being told this was the old city jail from 1906
until the 1950s.
Face the group members, not the work about which you are speaking.
Maintain eye contact.
Be friendly, enthusiastic, and flexible about what you are doing.
Speak clearly, distinctly, and slowly; at a volume that can be heard but not so loud
as to disturb other groups.
Tailor your vocabulary to the level of your group.
Use appropriate
language/vocabulary. Define your terms or omit them. Simplicity is the key.
Do not be too eager to tell all you know about an exhibition or object you are
looking at as you may inadvertently stifle an exciting thought. Always avoid
lecturing.
12
•
Do not be too quick to give the “right” answer. What may be “right” to you may
not appear logically “right” to the visitor. With many questions under discussion,
your comment is only one interpretation of the issue. Visitors’ responses can be
surprising, and it’s best to have your approach follow rather than doggedly pursue
a predetermined line of reasoning.
•
Do not ask questions that require factual answers (unless it is a matter of common
knowledge you are using as a springboard for a personal response)
•
Do not be afraid to say, “I don’t know,” offer to find out and follow-up on the
question. If someone is knowledgeable about a certain area, let him/her add
constructively to the tour.
•
Be tactful, but forceful, in dealing with discipline problems, i.e. group members
that want to monopolize the tour; visitors that offer incorrect information; visitors
that persist in sharing personal anecdotes irrelevant to the tour subject.
•
Do not, under any circumstances, make negative comments or personal opinions
about the Museum exhibition. Do not discuss the prices of works or the identity
of anonymous donors.
•
At the conclusion of the tour, summarize what has been seen and learned, or help
the group conduct their own summary.
•
Ask visitors to speak a little regarding what they liked and didn’t like. What
would they tell others about the visit? How did their experience compare with
what they expected?
•
Praise the group for their thoughtful questions, their interest and their
participation.
•
•
Tell the group you enjoyed showing them the Museum!
Encourage them to come back, and if they are older, to pick up a newsletter or
membership information brochure!
13
Tour Suggestions for Different Types of Tour
Groups
Tour Introduction
A positive way to begin with any group is to introduce the theme of your tour. Relate
what you say to the experience of the visitors. Be prepared to learn from the visitors. If
they ask questions not directly related to your tour theme, that’s okay, follow their
interests.
Young Children (ages 3-6)
Children between the ages of 3 and 6 may talk excessively or loudly, interrupt frequently,
and ask many questions. They have intense curiosity and thirst for knowledge. They can
understand the Museum’s rules. Tours need to be flexible and sometimes shorter than
initially planned. Bear in mind that children tire easily and have short attention spans. A
tired child learns little of value. Some of the following suggestions may be helpful:
•
Explain the rule about not touching objects; set a good example by keeping your
own distance from them.
•
•
•
•
Allow the teacher or chaperone to deal with an individual child’s problems.
•
•
Asking good questions is a helpful technique to encourage group participation.
•
Begin by asking the children what colors they see and which shapes they
recognize.
•
Encourage them to use their imaginations by questions such as “let’s do a
scavenger hunt for i.e. birds, flowers, castles…or any reoccurring object in
different pieces in the exhibition”
•
Stimulate as many senses as possible: “If you were there (in the
painting/drawing/print/photograph), what sounds would you hear? What would
you smell? How would you feel?”
•
If it is a painting, ask the children to use pretend brushes to paint lines and shapes
in the air to imitate how they feel the artist may have painted.
Seat children whenever possible; bench or floor is suitable.
Maintain eye contact with the group.
Talk with the children, rather than lecture down to them. Be careful with which
words you choose, if you use a complex word, explain it. For example “The
medium the artist chose was watercolor. A medium is the type of material the
work of art is made out of.”
Show appreciation when a child asks or answers a question or makes an
observation.
14
•
As soon as you see children losing interest, move to the next object. Let their
interest help determine the time spent on each work. Attention spans will vary
greatly with each group.
Let each child know how very pleased we are to have them in the Museum! Encourage
them to return soon, and to bring their family and friends so that they can share with them
all that they have learned. It is so important for each child to feel completely welcome
during this initial visit.
Elementary School Children (ages 6-12)
The years between first and sixth grade span ages when children are changing rapidly.
Teaching methods for the early primary grade child are different from those effective
with fifth and sixth graders. The following suggestions are generally applicable for all.
Additionally, your own suggestions for itineraries and activities appropriate for the
various age or grade levels are earnestly sought.
•
Tell the group from the beginning that you want to hear what they have to say.
You won’t be the only one doing the talking. You will be asking lots of questions
and want to hear their thoughts. Always involve the children in your presentation.
•
•
Enthusiasm is infectious with all ages and keeps the children’s attention
•
Keep the group together. Once you allow wandering, you lose control of the
group.
•
Establish the rules of behavior and expectations of the children. For example, tell
them to raise their hands for questions or comments. Children need to know
limits; it saves them from testing you to see what they can and cannot do in the
Museum.
•
•
•
•
Through questions you can easily initiate a discussion.
Watch your vocabulary. Be certain they understand what you mean. Avoid
talking “down” to them.
Listen carefully to their comments for clues to their interests.
Occasionally, stand back and be a viewer with them.
Be cautious about spending too much time on one work of art. Fidgeting is a
good indicator that it’s time to move to another object.
Teenagers
Teenagers tend to worry about being embarrassed in front of their peers by saying the
“wrong thing.” Often this insecurity may cause them to act in a blasé, uncooperative
manner. By treating the students as respected individuals, and distinguishing them from
children, you will put them and ease and encourage positive participation.
•
Treat teenagers as adults as long as they are behaving relatively appropriately,
even if they act disinterested.
15
•
Be good-humored with the group. Never use sarcasm, sharp comments, or too
personal remarks that single out students.
•
Try not to create a classroom “quiz session” atmosphere by asking students for
historical facts such as “who fought the Battle of Bunker Hill?” Rather, review
any needed information with them, remind them of facts as though you assume
they already know them. They may then volunteer further detail, observation or
questions that will enhance the group’s understanding of the work being
discussed.
•
Invite students to make observations and voice opinions. They are usually less
hesitant to do so if you have reassured them that such expressions are not being
graded as “right” or “wrong.”
•
Guide students in developing their powers of observation. For example, note
changing styles of clothing, hairdo, jewelry, etc. over the years. Ask them if they
can guess the time period. Have them consider the impact of discoveries,
inventions, and social changes that brought about the differences. These
considerations lead to a greater understanding of the times that produced the
works of art.
Adults
•
•
•
•
•
Most adults visiting the museum for the first time appreciate and benefit from
having the layout of the Museum and the contents of its various Galleries
explained to them in a logical sequence.
Confirm with the group that the tour will last one hour.
Select one or two highlights from each gallery area for a detailed examination.
Do not assume the level of museum experience a visitor may have. Two common
mistakes are (1) flaunting your more detailed or technical knowledge, or (2)
talking “down” to the visitor. One way to present basic information that seems
elementary but is essential to a good museum experiences is to use phrases like
“We were interested to learn that…” or “Research has revealed that…”
There is always the possibility that the visitor has useful information that you
would like to hear. If comments by the visitor are known by you to be
misinformation, regain control of the conversation and give the correct
information as tactfully as possible; or indicate that more than one opinion exists
on the subject.
As a docent, you must at all costs avoid giving misinformation. If you don’t
know, don’t fabricate.
Senior Citizens
For certain groups of adults who admit to belonging to this arbitrarily named age group,
you may need to make some modifications to the suggestions in the preceding “adults”
section. In general, the ideas therein are applicable here, but the following additional
suggestions may also be of assistance:
16
•
•
•
•
•
Ask first how long the group wishes to remain at the Museum. It may be that they
need a shorter or longer time, depending on physical stamina and/or their other
activities before or after the Museum visit.
Determine any physical disabilities or special needs require attention.
Lead the group slowly enough for all to proceed in the gallery before you begin
talking.
Speak slowly, distinctly, and perhaps more loudly than you might with younger
groups. It is doubly tiring for an older visitor to have to strain to hear as well as to
see.
Encourage them to speak by asking questions about their memories, experiences,
and travel. Recalling these can help identify them with some of the subject matter
of works they see. Their personal associations sometimes lead to discoveries of
interesting details for yourself and the tour group to consider.
Visitors with Disabilities
•
•
The most important thing to remember when trying to assist visitors with special
needs is that every person is unique—each has their own set of personality
characteristics, abilities and needs. They recognize their disability and know how
you can help, and IF you can help. Never assume you know best how to help
someone; ask what their preferences are.
The following suggestions will provide you with general information on assisting
special needs visitors. From there you can modify your actions to meet an
individual’s preferences.
Assisting Hearing-Impaired Individuals
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Keep paper and pencil available, because some people who are deaf prefer to
write notes.
Use facial expressions and gestures to get your message across.
Look directly at them so they can watch your mouth and be able to read your lips.
Try not to move your head a lot while you are talking.
Make your speech clear and slow. Never yell or exaggerate words as this only
makes lip reading more difficult.
Make sure there is light on your face so they can see your mouth clearly. Move to
a well lit area in the Museum before trying to explain something.
If necessary, repeat what you said. Say the same thing in a different way because
some words are easier to lip read than others. Lip reading is very difficult and
requires patience from both the speaker and the listener.
If you do not understand them, ask them to repeat what was said. Never pretend
to understand when you do not, as that may cause confusion.
Face the tour group while speaking. They may not hear you if you call them from
behind. Walk up to them or get their attention by lightly tapping them on the arm,
and then begin to speak.
17
Assisting Visually-Impaired Individuals
•
Most visually impaired people have residual sight (the term “blind” is used with
people who have none) and can enjoy the Museum on their own without special
assistance if there are no serious safety hazards.
Assisting Individuals who are Emotionally or Mentally Disabled
•
•
•
•
•
Ask them if they need help, they will tell you if they do not.
Don’t talk “down” to the person. They are perfectly capable of comprehending
and learning. Keep your speech clear and simplify the complexity of your
sentence structure and vocabulary.
Some individuals may have a physiological problem that impairs their speech, but
not their mental capabilities. They can hear and understand what you say.
Talk directly to them and don’t ask another person what they want as if they were
not there. If you can’t understand someone’s speech after trying, say, “I’m sorry,
I don’t understand. Let’s get (a group leader) to help us out.”
If you’re designing a tour, try to make one that is participatory. Some special
needs individuals tend to have shortened attention spans and need to participate in
activities.
Assisting Mobility Impaired Individuals
•
•
•
Offer to assist individuals in a wheelchair, never simply grab the back handles of
the chair. Wait until they direct you. People who use wheelchairs are
“wheelchair users.”
When assisting individuals in a wheelchair to go up or down a curb, take careful
direction from them about how to move the chair.
If you are assisting anyone using crutches to sit down, ask where they would like
the crutches to be placed in relation to their seat.
In general, be sensitive to visitors with special needs and don’t be over solicitous. All
PMA visitors want and deserve to be treated with courtesy and understanding.
18
General Art Analysis 101
FUNDAMENTALS
LINE -The 2-dimensional mark that joins two points on a surface.
SHAPE - An area defined by linear, color or value boundaries.
COLOR -The quality of a substance or object, reflecting light and creating a visual
sensation.
VALUE - The lightness or darkness of a color.
TINT - The addition of white to a color.
SHADE - The addition of black or another dark color to a color.
SPACE - The area between objects in 3-dimensional works of art, but can also refer to
the illusion that a painter creates between depicted forms.
FORM - The 3-dimensional shape of an object that clearly defines its own space.
PATTERN - Three or more repeated images that create an organized sequence.
MEDIUM - Refers to the material used to make a work of art. For example: Painting
(watercolor, oil or acrylic) Sculpture (wood, marble, metal, clay or found objects) Prints
(lithography, etching, silkscreen) Photography (black-and-white or color).
INTERMEDIATE CONCEPTS
HUE - The name of the color ... red, blue, etc.
COLOR WHEEL - The arrangement of hues based on color theory.
PRIMARY COLORS - Hues that can’t be created by mixing other hues: Red, Yellow,
Blue.
SECONDARY COLORS - Are created by mixing the primary colors: Red + Yellow =
Orange Red + Blue = Violet Blue + Yellow = Green.
SILHOUETTE - The shape of an object produced by back lighting.
GENRE - A category of artwork having a particular form or content. For example,
Landscape depicts the natural outdoor environment. Still Life depicts a group of objects.
Portrait depicts a person or other living being.
MURALS - Large paintings, often painted directly on a wall.
SCALE - The relative size of an object in relationship to others.
COLLAGE - Combination of flat materials adhered to a 2-dimensional surface.
COMPOSITION - The way in which elements are combined and arranged in a work of
art.
ASSEMBLAGE - 3-dimensional combination of found objects and materials.
ADVANCED UNDERSTANDING
ABSTRACT- Art that expresses qualities apart from objects that can be represented
visually.
EXPRESSION - A visual statement of an artist's thoughts, feelings or creative process.
ILLUSIONISM - The technique of using pictorial methods in order to fool the eye.
PERSPECTIVE - The impression of distance or space in a work of art.
PICTURE PLANE - The actual surface of a painting.
19
PRISM -A faceted clear glass object that breaks light into the spectrum.
SPECTRUM - Band of colors seen through a prism in the order of their wavelengths.
IDENTIFY
• What are you looking at? Is it a picture of a painting, a print, a drawing or a sculpture?
• What visual clues did you find to help you classify this work of art?
• What is the subject of this work of art?
• What is happening in this work of art?
ANALYZE
For example: Identify the colors you see. What kind of patterns can you find in this
reproduction? What is the overall expression of this artwork? Does the composition
imply movement?
INTERPRET
• What stories can you develop about this image?
• Create your own story about the artist and his or her reasons for making this image.
WHY DO WE CALL THIS ART?
• Ask your students for their input on what causes an organization of materials to become
art.
• Make a list of all definitions. Stress that this is a difficult question and let the discussion
become an open-ended adventure for the students.
• Please keep in mind your age group and direct your language accordingly.
SENSORY: QUALITIES THAT APPEAL TO OUR SENSES
Color: hue, value, intensity of pigment
1. What color is most often used?
2. How many different colors have been used?
3. Is the general coloring in the painting strong/weak; bold/shy, primary/secondary;
warm/cool; fast/slow?
4. How many different shades or tints of one color do you see?
5. Do the colors suggest the time of day or season?
6. Are there more light or more dark colors in the painting? Do the light areas or dark
areas stand out most?
7. Point out where colors are repeated within the painting.
8. Does the artist use color to indicate distance?
9. Did the artist use color to make something in particular stand out? How? (Point out and
ask why they think the artist did this.)
20
10. Does the color used on a particular shape or surface make that surface look flat,
rounded, or appear three-dimensional?
11. How do the colors affect the mood of the painting?
Line: a series of connected points that are or appear to be continuous
1. What kinds of lines do you see in the painting? Are the lines straight or curved?
2. Where do you see straight lines? Curved lines? Do you see any other kinds of lines?
3. Are most of the lines in the painting vertical, horizontal, or diagonal? Point these out.
4. Do you see thick or thin lines? Long or short lines?
5. Are the lines deep/bold or shallow/light; jagged/smooth; continuous/broken;
moving/still?
6. What kind of line stands out the most in the painting?
7. Do you see repeated lines? (Repetition of thick, thin, horizontal, curvy, any kind of
line.)
8. Sometimes artists create imaginary line directions (lines not actually drawn) in the
direction a person is staring, talking, pointing, etc., or by the formation of imaginary lines
created by shape. Does this painting have any imaginary lines?
Shape: area enclosed by outline, either organic (curved) or geometric
(angled)
1. Are most of the shapes organic (natural or curved) or geometric (angular or straight)?
2. Are most of the shapes large or small? Round, square, triangular, open, closed?
3. What other shapes do you find in the painting? (Ovals, circles, squares, triangles,
others?)
4. What shape is repeated most often throughout the painting?
5. Do any shapes overlap?
Formal: Structure or organizational properties of a work of art
1. Is this image/scene well balanced?
2. Is it symmetrical or asymmetrical?
3. Does one side appear heavier than the other?
4. Which side contains the most detail? Does this make the painting look unbalanced?
Why? What is the very center of the painting?
5. How did the artist balance the painting?
Repetition: ordered, regular recurrence of an element(s)
Rhythm: look or feel of movement achieved by repetition of elements
1. What elements do you see repeated in this painting? (Color, line, shape,
texture). Name and point out each.
2. Choose a color and count how many times it has been repeated throughout the
painting.
21
3. What shapes are repeated? Which are repeated more often, the dark
shapes or the light shapes?
4. Do you see a pattern?
5. Do you see any repetition of lines?
6. Obviously the figures, flowers, fruits, trees, or other objects (relate to the painting you
are talking about) have been repeated in this painting.
7. Does the repetition create movement in the painting? Regular/irregular;
flowing/halting; random/exact; rising/falling; coming/going.
Theme and Variation: motif or subject matter, recurring elements
1. What is the subject (main idea) of the painting?
2. Does the title of this painting relate to it? If so, what did the artist do to show this?
3. If an artist of today painted this painting, would it look the same? If not, how might it
be different?
4. Did the artist use a particular color for a theme?
5. Have you seen this theme in other works? (Example: Patriotism)
Expressive feeling, meanings, values in a work of art
People should locate expressiveness in the work of art itself, not in how it affects them. In
other words, people should be asked if the painting looks sad, not does it make them feel
sad.
Mood, Emotional States: general feeling or atmosphere
1. Is this painting serious/lighthearted; friendly/unfriendly; calm/angry; fearful/confident;
young/old; shy/bold; eager/hesitant; real/imaginary?
2. How did the artist show these emotions?
Character States: distinguishing quality, attribute, trait, ethical quality
1. Does this painting appear: pompous/meek; stately/lowly; good/evil, proud/humiliating;
dignified/undignified; brave/cowardly; greedy/generous; charitable/stingy?
2. If there are people in the painting, describe their character state also. Explain your
opinion.
22
Additional Art Terms
PRINTS
An “original print” is the image on paper or similar material made by one or more
of the processes described here. Each medium has a special, identifiable quality,
but because more than one impression of each image is possible, “original” does
not mean “unique.”
The artist’s intention and level of participation throughout the process to create
an original print is the key to the “originality” of the finished work. For example, if
he or she first conceives of a watercolor, then has the result copied by woodcut,
the result is not “original” but merely a reproduction. The total number of prints
made of one image is an “edition.” The number may appear on the print with the
individual print number as a fraction such as 5/25 meaning “edition was 25
examples with this example numbered 5.” If intended for use with a written text,
original prints will not likely be numbered (or hand-signed) and may be produced
in very large editions.
Color: Blocks, plates, screens or two or more stones may be used, one for each
color, printed on top of each other to produce the final print.
Restrikes and Canceled Plate Proofs: Both are original prints but from unlimited
editions usually printed after an artist’s death.
Woodcut: Made by cutting into the broad face of a plank of wood, usually with a
knife. (The linocut is made by the same method, except that linoleum is
substituted for wood.) In working the block, the artist cuts away areas not meant
to print. These cut away areas appear in the finished print as the white parts of
the design, while the ink adheres to the raised parts.
Wood-Engraving: Made by engraving a block made up of pieces of end-grain
extremely hard wood. The block, being naturally much harder, enables the artist
to engrave (rather than cut) a much finer line than is possible on the softer plank
surface used for woodcuts.
Collagraph: Printing surface is built up on the plate or block by applying various
materials which may also be incised.
Etching: A metal plate is coated by a material which resists acid, called the
ground. The artist then draws the design on the ground with a sharp needle
which removes the ground where the needle touches it and, when the plate is put
in an acid bath, these exposed parts will be etched (or eaten away). This
produces the sunken line which will receive the ink. In printing, the ink settles in
the sunken areas, and the plate is wiped clean. The plate in contact with damp
paper is passed through a roller press, and the paper is forced into the sunken
23
area to receive the ink. The artist etches on the plate those parts which will
appear in the finished print as black or colored areas. White areas are left
untouched. Depth of tone is controlled by depth of etch.
Engraving: The design is cut into the plate by driving furrows with a burin; then
the plate is printed as in an etching.
Drypoint: The sunken lines are produced directly by diamond-hard tools pulled
across the plate. The depth of line is controlled by the artist’s muscle and
experience. The method of cutting produces a ridge along the incisions, called a
burr. This gives the dry-point line the characteristically soft, velvety appearance
absent in the clean-edged lines of an engraving or etching.
Aquatint: A copper plate is protected by a porous ground which is semi-acid
resistant. The white (non-printing) areas, however, are painted with a wholly acidresistant varnish. The plate is then repeatedly put into acid baths where it is
etched to differing depths. The final effect is an image on a fine pebbled
background (imparted by the porous ground). Aquatint is usually used in
combination with line etching.
Lithography: The artist draws directly on a flat stone or specially prepared metal
plate (usually using greasy crayon). The stone is dampened with water, then
inked. The ink clings to the greasy crayon marks but not to the dampened areas.
When a piece of paper is pressed against the stone, the ink on the greasy parts
is transferred to it.
Serigraphy: The artist prepares a tightly-stretched screen, usually of silk, and
blocks out areas not to be printed by filling up the mesh of the screen with a
varnish-like substance. Paper is placed under the screen and ink forced through
the still-open mesh onto the paper.
RAW MATERIALS OF PAINTING AND GRAPHICS
PAINTING
Technical names for Media
Oil
Composition = dry pigments + oil such as linseed; soluble in turpentine, alcohol,
etc.
Advantages: flexible, easily manipulated, wide range of varied effects,
permanence, rich color and depth, great range of textural possibilities.
Disadvantages: yellowing, disintegration of paint film, long drying time.
24
Acrylic
Composition = pigments + synthetic resins; soluble in water (relatively recently
developed)
Advantages: permanence, wide range of varied effects, quick drying
Disadvantages: inflexible, value changes when drying
Watercolor
Composition = pigments + gum arabic + water
Advantages: brilliance and luminosity of color, wash effects
Disadvantages: fading, easily affected by environmental conditions, not as
permanent as other media
Tempera
Composition = pigments + water; soluble in water
Advantages: quick drying, cheap
Disadvantages: flaking, non-permanent, easily affected by environment
Egg Tempera
Composition = pigments + egg yolks
Advantages: quick drying, semi-gloss finish which can be buffed, permanence
Disadvantages: insoluble, yellowing, storage of media
Fresco
Composition = pigments + water + egg white
(plaster: wet = fresco; dry = secco)
Advantages: permanence, quick drying, flexible
Disadvantages: easily affected or damaged, fading of colors, lack of luminosity
Encaustic
Composition = pigments + wax (heat)
Advantages: permanence, capable of buffing surface Disadvantages: insoluble,
inflexible, loss of control, heat
SURFACES
Supports
Untreated object which is prepared to receive the paint. Cloth, canvas, wood,
cardboard, paper products, walls, etc.
Ground
A surface specially prepared for painting. The support on which a painting or
drawing is executed (canvas, paper).
25
TOOLS
Brushes, palette knives and palettes.
Graphic Processes: making of plates or screens and from them the print of
pictures (hand and gravure).
Relief--rubber stamps, wood cuts and linocuts Intaglio--drypoints, etchings,
aquatints Planographic--lithography
Stencil--Serigraphs (silk screens) Collagraphs—both intaglio and relief
OTHER GENERAL TERMS
Bas Relief: In low or bas relief sculpture, the figures project only slightly, and no
part is entirely detached from the background (as in medals and coins).
Cast: To reproduce an object such as a piece of sculpture by means of a mold;
also, a copy so produced. The original piece is usually of a less durable material
than the cast.
Collage: The technique of creating a pictorial composition in two dimensions or
very low relief by gluing paper, fabrics or any natural or manufactured material to
a canvas or panel. Collage evolved our of papiers colles ( a French term for
pieces of paper glued together). It was a 19th century “art recreation” in which
decorative designs were made with pasted pieces of colored paper and adapted
to the fine arts about 1912-1913 when Picasso and Braque began to incorporate
into their Cubist paintings a wide variety of prosaic materials.
Hatching: Shading or modeling with fine, closely set parallel lines. When a
second series of lines crisscrosses the first set, the technique is called crosshatching. By varying the size and closeness of the lines, an artist is able to
indicate tones and suggest light and shadow in drawing, linear painting,
engraving and etching.
Impasto: Paint applied in outstanding heavy layers or strokes; also, any thickness
or roughness of paint or deep brush marks, as distinguished from a flat, smooth
paint surface.
Medium (pl. Media): The fluid or semi-fluid in which pigments are dissolved, such
as water, egg yolk, oil. The term also applies to the technique or material used in
the execution of a work of art.
Molding: Ornaments on a building in the shape of long, narrow bands in relief to
provide variety to the surface.
Mural: Of the Latin word murus. A huge painting executed directly on a wall
(fresco) or separately and affixed to a wall.
26
Oil Painting: A painting executed with pigments dissolved in oil; in the beginning
on a wood panel prepared with gesso, and since late 15th century on a canvas,
stretched and primed with white paint and glue.
Opacity, Transparency: These terms refer to the ability of a substance to transmit
light. An opaque paint is one that transmits no light and can readily be made to
cover or hide what is under it. A transparent material transmits light freely; when
a transparent glaze of oil color, for example, is placed over another color, it
produces a clean mixture of the two hues without much loss of clarity.
Panel: A wooden surface used for painting, commonly in tempera, and as a rule
prepared with gesso. Panels of masonite and other composite materials are
more recently being used as panels.
Paper: Writing material made of various fibrous materials. Invented in China in
the 2nd century AD, known in Europe early, but came into general use there,
replacing parchment with the emergence of printing in the 15th century.
Parchment: A paper-like writing material made of thin bleached animal hides,
invented in the Greek city of Pergamumin Asia Minor in the 2nd century BC.
Used in the Middle Ages for manuscripts. A superior quality parchment made of
calfskin is called vellum.
Pastel: A painting executed with drawing sticks of pigments, ground with chalk
and mixed with gum water, resulting in soft subdued colors. Texture is obtained
from the substance it is used on. It is a fragile medium, a fixative must be used to
keep it from powdering away.
Pigment: Colored substances, organic, inorganic, or synthetic in origin, mixed
with or suspended in a liquid medium before use in painting.
Polychrome: Multi-colored.
Polytych: A work consisting of four or more panels.
Relief: The projection of a design or part of a design from the flat background of
an object, sculptured, modeled, or woven (soft sculpture). Also the
apparentprojection of forms in a painting or drawing, achieved by the application
of shade, light and color.
Rubbing: A reproduction of a relief surface by covering it with paper and rubbing
with a chalk, pencil or similar object.
Stucco: Cement or concrete used to cover a wall or a building. Also a type of
plaster used for architectural ornamentation such as reliefs, cornices and others.
27
Tapestry: Textile fabric in which wool is supplied with spindle instead of shuttle,
with design formed by stitches across the warp. Used for covering walls,
furniture, etc.
Terra cotta: Italian word for cooked earth. An earthen ware of natural reddish
color, used in pottery, sculpture or to cover a building.
Wash: A thin layer of translucent color applied in watercolor painting, brush
drawing and sometimes in oil painting.
28
AMERICAN AND EUROPEAN
ART HISTORY OUTLINE
1600 - 1900
The Baroque in Italy
In the 17th century, the city of Rome became the center of Catholic majesty and
triumph expressed in all the arts. Baroque architects, artists, and urban planners
magnified the classical and ecclesiastical traditions of the city to such an extent, that it
became for centuries the acknowledged capital of the European art world. Popes
commissioned artists during this period with projects meant to monumentalize and
beautify areas all over Rome.
Baroque painters strove to create integrated and harmonious environments (un bel
composto) meant to heighten religious experience. For example, in three famous
paintings illustrating the life of Saint Matthew, Italian painter Caravaggio (1571-1610)
made the light represented within each painting consistent with the actual illumination of
the chapel where the pictures were to hang to create this overall religious experience in
the space.
In the 1640s and 1650s, Pietro da Cortona (1596-1669) adorned the vaults of Santa
Maria in Vallicella with spectacular portrayals of the Trinity in Glory and the
Assumption of the Virgin, in which monumental groups of figures seen from below enact
heavenly events as though occurring in the viewer's own experience.
France, 1600s
France emerged during this period as a major world power and a cultural center to
rival Rome, becoming the fountainhead of the Baroque style. This is largely due to the
absolutist aims of the French monarchs, particularly Louis XIV who, with a retinue of
architects, painters, and sculptors, fashioned a court of peerless splendor.
France, late 1600s & early 1700s
The late 17th and early 18th centuries in France were marked by the Rococo style.
Rococo painters used delicate colors and curving forms, decorating their paintings with
cherubs and mythical love scenes. Some works displayed sexual innuendo or a risqué
style and in the behavior of their subjects. This was a significant departure from the
Baroque style’s church/state orientation. Landscapes were pastoral and often depicted the
leisurely outings of aristocratic couples. Jean Antoine Watteau (1684–1721) is
generally considered the first great Rococo painter. He had a huge influence on later
painters, including Francois Boucher (1703–1770) and Jean-Honore Fragonard
(1732–1806), two masters of the later Rococo period.
29
France, mid- to late-1700s
During the second half of the 18th century, France became the seat of the
Enlightenment, a major intellectual movement that asserted the power of reason and
showed a widespread dissatisfaction with contemporary social and political problems that
resulted later in the century in revolution.
The light and airy style of the Rococo period came to a sudden end under the
revolution. Enlightenment brought about a new respect and interest in the art and culture
of antiquity (ancient Rome and Greece), resulting in a Neoclassical movement in the arts.
This movement was characterized by a renewed interest in harmony, simplicity, and
proportion. This renewed fascination with antiquity was in large a results of the new and
popular science of archaeology. In southern Europe, towns and cities of ancient Greece
and Rome were being unearthed, along with art, artifacts, and architecture. New and
fascinating archeological discoveries at Pompeii and Herculaneum added fuel to this
artistic fire. The artist most commonly associated with this movement in art history is
Jacques-Louis David (1748-1825). His 1793 painting, The Death of Marat, evokes the
stylistic essence of Raphael and Caravagio and is a prime example of the Neoclassical
style.
The end of the century would take a dramatic turn, however, going from the
reason and proportion of the Neoclassical to a new movement known as Romanticism.
The Low Countries, 1600s
The 17th century was referred to as a Golden Age of Dutch art. Schools of
painting arose in cities such as Amsterdam and Utrecht. Civic bodies and wealthy
citizens, such as merchants who made their fortunes in Holland's vast overseas trade
empire, were important patrons to the arts. The two greatest Flemish masters of the age
were Peter Paul Rubens (1577-1640) and Anthony van Dyck (1599-1641). Rubens,
whose professional life extended beyond visual artistry to political diplomacy, played a
vital role in the spread of the Baroque style from its origin in Rome.
Francisco de Goya (1746–1828) and the Spanish Enlightenment
Francisco de Goya y Lucientes (1746–1828) was regarded as the most important
Spanish artist of the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Goya was a court painter to the
Spanish Crown and a chronicler of historic Spanish events, from the wealth of the
Spanish aristocracy to revolt and revolution. His celebrated Los Caprichos prints were
important commentaries on the social and political ills of contemporary Spanish society.
30
Great Britain, 1800s
The economic, social, and artistic developments of the 19th century were heavily
shaped by the Industrial Revolution: the period of transition from manual to mechanical
labor. The Romantic Movement in the arts and literature responded to these dramatic
changes and the rationalism fostered during the Enlightenment by rejecting reason in
favor of emotion- exalting the supreme power of nature in an aesthetic known as the
Sublime. The sublime meant to create a connection between the world of nature and the
world of the spirit, where the soul could transcend and become part of something far
greater than itself.
Central Europe and Germany, 1800s
At the turn of the 19th century, Central Europe was the center of a broadly
sweeping cultural movement known as Romanticism. This movement asserted the
power and importance of feeling over reason. Mysticism and a fascination with the
supernatural and the sublime captured the artistic imagination. In the visual arts, this
resulted in a flowering of landscape painting and influenced a nationalist revival of
medieval culture in literature, art, and architecture.
France, 1800s: Departing from Neoclassicism and Romanticism
into Realism
At the turn of the 19th century Napoleon Bonaparte governed France. As emperor
of the French Republic, Napoleon sanctioned the neoclassical style and its focus on
realism and bold historic themes that contained clear messages on bravery and patriotism.
Nowhere was this style more recognizable during the period than in the art of celebrated
Frenchman and Neoclassical painter, Jacques-Louis David. Meanwhile, the seeds of
Romanticism taking root in Germany and central Europe were giving rise to a very
different aesthetic that celebrated emotion, nature, and the sublime over rationalism and
classicism.
Romanticism gained momentum as an artistic movement in France and Britain in the
early decades of the 19th century and flourished until mid-century. With its emphasis on
the imagination and emotion, Romanticism emerged as a response to the disillusionment
with the Enlightenment values of reason and order in the aftermath of the French
Revolution of 1789.
Around mid-century, in the midst of class struggles and the wake of civil uprisings
against an oppressive government, Romanticism was replaced by Realism in the arts.
Realism focused on modern subjects and the lives of the lower classes. The Realist
movement in French art flourished from about 1840 until the late 19th century, and
sought to convey a truthful and objective vision of contemporary life. Realism emerged
in the aftermath of the Revolution of 1848 that overturned the monarchy of LouisPhilippe of France. French society fought for democratic reform and the rights of the
common people. The Realists democratized art by depicting modern subjects drawn from
the everyday lives of the working class. Rejecting the idealized classicism of academic
31
art and the exotic themes of Romanticism, Realism was based on direct observation of
the modern world. The urbanization of Paris and the industrial revolution of this time
shaped emerging artists. A modern world complete with easier modes of transportation
led the way for artist's to travel more frequently, a change easily noticed in landscape
paintings of the time.
32
The Barbizon School: French Painters of Nature
In early 19th century France, landscape painting was restricted and even frowned upon by
the conservative French Academy of Art. Painters and sculptors were rigorously trained
in the conservative Neoclassical tradition, forced to copy only the artists of the
Renaissance and classical antiquity. Landscape painting was not practiced in the art
schools, and at best, artists could hope to paint a heavily idealized depiction of nature
inspired perhaps by ancient poetry. Those artists eager to get away from the restrictive
and overly exclusive art scene of France and wishing to paint from nature went to Italy.
There, among ancient monuments drenched in Mediterranean sunlight, they gathered to
paint and draw directly in the landscape. Even if in the beginning their open-air sketches
tended to keep some of the Neoclassical formal lines, it nevertheless freed artists to leave
the studio to fully experience nature, to look rather than copy, to feel rather than analyze.
The exhibition of English painter John Constable (1776-1837) at the Paris Salon
of 1824 was one of the first formal introductions of landscape painting in the French
salons. Now artists felt that they could go out in warm weather, artists now ventured just
outside Paris to paint from nature. It was during this time that a group of artists formed
that became known as the Barbizon School. Now landscape painting was no longer
subservient to history painting. The original Barbizon artists glorified nature and peasant
life. Dedicating themselves to painting outdoors and capturing the effects of sunlight on
the trees, sky and fields they transferred these artistic ideals and obsessions to another
generation of upcoming artists, the Impressionists.
Impressionism & Post-Impressionism
Two major artistic movements dominated the second half of the 19th century. In
the 1870s, a group of painters known as the Impressionists also took up themes from
modern life, often created in the outdoors and not in studios as their Barbizon
predecessors had done. Impressionist painters depicted the new urban landscape of the
industrial period and intimate scenes of everyday middle-class life using natural light and
rapid brushwork.
In response, a group of artists known as the Post-Impressionists developed
independent styles of painting that rejected the objective naturalism of the Impressionists.
Also known as Neo-Impressionism, these artists were in favor of a measured painting
technique grounded in science and the study of optics, and encouraged by contemporary
writing on color theory.
Americans in Paris, 1860s-1900
Paris was the art capital of the 19th century. The city's art schools, museums, and
exhibition spaces, along with the new popular attitude that the arts were an integral part
of everyday life, attracted painters, sculptors, and architects from around the world.
In the decades following the Civil War, hundreds of Americans joined the throngs headed
to Paris. Needing to compete with French artists, especially the academics whose works
were being snatched up by wealthy American collectors, they enrolled in the prestigious
government-sponsored École des Beaux-Arts and in thriving private art schools and
33
studios. They studied the masterpieces hanging in the Louvre and the modern works on
display at the Paris Worlds Fair, and other exhibitions, including the eight shows of the
Impressionists during the 1870s.
The Americans established their own artistic credibility by presenting their
paintings and sculpture in these forums. Notable artists displaying their works alongside
those by Europeans included John Singer Sargent (1856-1925) and Mary Cassatt
(1845-1926). Cassatt notably being one of only four female artists actively involved in
Impressionist exhibitions in Paris during the 1870s and 1880s.
American Impressionism (19th Century post-Civil War)
Americans were late bloomers to Impressionism. After the end of the Civil War in
1865, the United States gained unprecedented international political and economic status.
American art patrons, notably Northerners who had made fortunes from the war, traveled
abroad and took on European culture. During the mid-1880s, as French Impressionism
lost its radical edge, American collectors began to value the style, and more American
artists began to experiment with it. William Merritt Chase (1849-1916) became the first
major American painter to create Impressionist canvases in the United States. At about
the same time, Americans began to visit artists' colonies that centered on outdoor
painting, most notably Giverny, where Monet had settled in 1883. Those who sought
inspiration there included John Singer Sargent (1856-1925), Willard Metcalf, and
Theodore Robinson. Their works, like those of their French counterparts, appear to be
infused not only with light and color but with meanings inherent in the subjects they
depicted. Some were captivated by the energy of urban life, and scenes from domestic
life also engaged the American Impressionists. Mary Cassatt, Edmund Tarbell, Frank W.
Benson, and others often depicted women and children in tranquil interiors and gardens.
Many American artists worked in the Impressionist style into the 1920s.
The Hudson River School
The Hudson River School was America's first true artistic fraternity/brotherhood, so
to speak. Its name was coined to identify a group of New York City-based landscape
painters that emerged about 1850. The founder of this collective of artists was Thomas
Cole (1801-48), an artist primarily self-taught who thought nature to be his true teacher.
The wilderness theme had earlier gained importance in American literature, especially in
the novels of James Fenimore Cooper (Last of the Mohicans, Leatherstocking Tales),
which were set in the upstate New York areas that became Cole's earliest subjects,
including several pictures illustrating scenes from the novels.
Several of these artists toured Europe and came back inspired by the Italian
landscape, choosing to paint an idealized view of the American frontier. The desire to
attract attention to what seemed uniquely American within the subject matter became a
focus in their paintings.
The leader of these great American landscape painters, following the death of
Thomas Cole, was Asher Brown Durand (1796-1886). Durand's 1849 painting Kindred
Spirits memorializes Cole, who had died a year previous, and is a tribute to 19th century
34
Hudson River School style of painting. It pays homage to the American wilderness,
symbolism and beauty in nature that Cole so loved in his own work.
The Arts and Crafts Movement in England and America,
late 1800s
The Arts and Crafts movement emerged during the late Victorian period in
England, the most industrialized country in the world at that time. Anxieties about
industrial life fueled a renaissance of handcraftsmanship and pre-capitalist forms of
culture and society.
Arts and Crafts designers sought to improve standards of decorative design,
which they believed to have been debased by the age of the machine and factory, and to
create environments in which beautiful and fine workmanship could flourish. Arts and
Crafts supporters called for an end to the division of labor and advanced the designer as
craftsman. A leading figure in late Victorian decorative arts was William Morris (18341896). Morris sought to reclaim a return to medieval life and that of the guild workshop
system. His legacy is remembered in the stained glass, textile and wallpaper designs (still
popular in interior design today), furniture and bookmaking he helped to create.
Art Nouveau in Europe and America
From the 1880s until the First World War, Western Europe and the United States
witnessed the development of Art Nouveau ("New Art" in French). Taking inspiration
from the wild and organic aspects of the natural world, Art Nouveau influenced art and
architecture, especially in the applied arts, graphic work, and illustration.
Sinuous lines and "whiplash" curves were derived, in part, from botanical studies
and illustrations of deep-sea organisms such as those by German biologist Ernst Heinrich
Haeckel (1834–1919). Other popular publications advocated nature as the primary
source of inspiration for a generation of artists seeking to break away from past styles.
Although international in scope, Art Nouveau was a short-lived movement that reached
its peak in the 1890s, its brief popularity was a precursor of modernism. Its influence can
be seen in later Art Deco styles.
35
AMERICAN AND EUROPEAN
ART HISTORY OUTLINE
20th Century
Early 20th Century American Art
By the 1890s New York had gone from being recognized as a seaport to that of
the core of banking and communication in the United States. Early subway systems
developed underground while on land skyscrapers began to dot the horizon. Thomas
Eakins (1844-1916) is considered one of the most significant American artists working at
the end of the 19th century, in part because he broke from the strict conservatism and
insular nature that defined American art up until that point. He began teaching at the
Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts in 1876 and was attacked for his radical ideas,
particularly his insistence on working from nude models. In 1886 he was forced to resign
after allowing a mixed class to draw from a completely nude male model. Eakins’ quest
for realism led him to study anatomy to pursue honesty and depth of characterization.
The most famous of his paintings is The Gross Clinic (Jefferson Medical Collage,
Philadelphia, 1875), which aroused controversy because of its liberal depiction of
surgery.
At the beginning of the 20th century, his desire to “peer deeper into the heart of
American life” was reflected in the work of the Ash-can School and other Realist
painters.
The Ash-Can School and the Realist Movement
The Ash-can School was a small group of artists who sought to document
everyday life in turn-of-the-century New York City, capturing it in realistic and unglamorized paintings and etchings of urban street scenes. Immigration at this time was
creating a clash of culture and classes as an influx of poorer citizens made their way into
the U.S, changing the character of the old city. The urban realists of this movement
heralded this change as uniquely American and captured it in their works. The Ash-can
School largely consisted of Robert Henri (1865-1929) and a group of artists known as
“The Eight.” Henri, an influential teacher for other artists in the movement, was an
admirer of the unpretentious and masculine realism of Thomas Eakins.
American Scene Painting
American Scene painting was a Depression-era effort to isolate and validate that
which was particularly unique to the United States. Edward Hopper (1882-1967) is an
artist frequently associated with this school of painting. Hopper was trained under Robert
Henri (one of the founding painters of the Ash-can School), and exhibited at the Armory
Show in 1913. However, he gained widespread recognition as a key figure of the
American Scene painting movement.
Edward Hopper painted American landscapes and cityscapes with a disturbing
truth, expressing the world around him as a chilling and alienating place. Hopper soon
36
gained a widespread reputation as the artist who gave visual form to the loneliness and
boredom of life in the big city.
For example, in the painting Cape Cod Evening (1939), a first glance reveals an
idyllic scene. The couple enjoys the evening outside their home, yet they are a couple
only technically, and upon further observation their enjoyment appears passive; both are
isolated and introspective. Their house is closed to intimacy, the door firmly shut and the
windows covered. The dog is the only alert creature, but even it turns away from the
house. In a way these tones captured the sense of human hopelessness and
disillusionment that characterized the Great Depression of the 1930s.
Fauvism
Between 1901 and 1906, several exhibitions were held in Paris, making the work
of Vincent van Gogh and Paul Gauguin widely accessible for the first time. For the
painters who saw the achievements of these great artists, the effect was one of liberation
and they began to experiment with radical new styles. Fauvism was the first movement
of this modern period.
The advent of Modernism if often dated by the appearance of the Fauves in Paris
at the Salon d'Automne in 1905. Their style of painting, using non-naturalistic colors,
was one of the first avant-garde developments in European art. They greatly admired
van Gogh, who said of his own work: “Instead of trying to render what I see before me, I
use color in a completely arbitrary way to express myself powerfully.” The Fauvists
carried this idea further, translating their feelings into color with a rough, almost clumsy
style of violent colors and untamed brushstrokes. Henri Matisse (1869-1954) was a
dominant figure and central force in the movement. However, the Fauves did not form a
cohesive group and by 1908 a number of painters had moved into Cubism.
The Fauvists believed in color as an emotional force. With Matisse and his
friends, Maurice de Vlaminck (1876-1958) and André Derain (1880-1954), color lost its
descriptive qualities and became luminous, creating light rather than imitating it.
They astonished viewers at the 1905 Salon d'Automne: the art critic Louis Vauxcelles
saw their bold paintings surrounding a conventional sculpture of a young boy, and
remarked that it was like a Donatello “parmi les fauves” (among the wild beasts). The
freedom of the Fauves’ form and their expressive use of color seemed brasher than
anything seen before.
Expressionism
Expressionism was a movement that developed around 1905. Characterized by
heightened, symbolic colors and exaggerated imagery, it was German Expressionism in
particular that focused on the darker, sinister aspects of the human psyche.
The term “Expressionism” is used to describe any art that raises subjective feelings above
objective observations. The Expressionist paintings aimed to reflect the artist’s state of
mind rather than the reality of the external world. The German Expressionist movement
began in 1905 with artists such as Ernst Ludwig Kirchner (1880-1938) and Emile Nolde
(1867-1956), who favored the Fauvist style of bright colors but also added stronger linear
effects and harsher outlines.
37
Die Brücke (The Bridge) was the first of two Expressionist movements that
emerged in Germany in the early decades of the 20th century and was intended as a
"bridge" to the future of art. In 1905 a group of German Expressionist artists came
together in Dresden and took the name The Bridge to indicate their faith in the art of the
future, towards which their work would serve as a bridge. Their art became an angstridden type of Expressionism. The achievement that had the most lasting value was their
revival of graphic arts, in particular, the woodcut using bold and simplified forms.
The artists of Die Brücke drew inspiration from Vincent Van Gogh and primitive
art. Ernst Ludwig Kirchner (1880-1938), the leading spirit of Die Brücke, insisted that
the group express their inner beliefs honestly and spontaneously. They used images of
the modern city to convey a hostile, alienating world, with distorted figures and a garish
and oftentimes brutal color palette. Kirchner does just this in Berlin Street Scene, where
the shrill colors and jagged hysteria of his own vision flash forth uneasily. There is a
sense of violence in much of their art. Emil Nolde, briefly associated with Die Brücke,
was interested in primitive art and sensual color, which led him to paint some remarkable
pictures with energy, simple rhythms, and visual tension.
Another celebrated German artist working during this period was Max Beckmann
(1884-1950). Like other Expressionists, he served in World War I and suffered
unbearable depression and hallucinations. His work reflected his stress through its sheer
intensity: cruel, brutal images with solid colors and flat, heavy shapes.
Cubism
The art of painting original arrangements composed of elements taken from conceived
rather than perceived reality.”
-- Guillaume Apollinaire, The Beginnings of Cubism, 1912.
The two leading figures in Cubism were Spanish artist Pablo Picasso (1881-1973)
and the Frenchman Georges Braque (1882-1963). Both “splintered” the visual world,
providing every aspect of the whole three-dimensional subject or figure so that it could be
seen simultaneously in a single dimension.
The Cubist movement in painting was developed by Picasso and Braque around
1907. The artists chose to break down the subjects they were painting into a number of
facets, showing several different aspects of one object simultaneously. The work up to
1912 is known as Analytical Cubism, concentrating on geometrical forms using subdued
colors. The second phase, known as Synthetic Cubism, used more decorative shapes,
collage, newspaper cuttings and brighter colors.
38
Futurism and the Age of Machinery
Futurism was an early 20th-century artistic movement that centered in Italy and
emphasized the speed, energy, and power of the machine and the vitality, change, and
restlessness of modern life in general. Appropriating parts of cubism Futurism was an
Expressionist response to art history.
Futurism was first announced on Feb. 20, 1909, when the Paris newspaper Le
Figaro published a manifesto by the Italian poet Filippo Tommaso Marinetti. The name
Futurism, coined by Marinetti, meant discarding the static and irrelevant art of the past
and celebrating change and innovation in culture and society. Marinetti's manifesto
glorified the new technology of the automobile and the beauty of its speed, power, and
movement. He exalted the destruction of such cultural institutions as museums and
libraries. The manifesto's rhetoric was passionately bombastic; its tone was aggressive
and inflammatory.
The Italian Futurists, like the members of Die Brücke in Germany, aimed to free
art from all its historical restraints and celebrate the new beauty of the modern age. The
artists Umberto Boccioni (1882-1916), Gino Severini (1883-1966), and Giacomo Balla
(1871-1958) wanted to express the onrush of events in the world with pictures of motion,
dynamism, and power. The movement lasted from 1909 to 1916, primarily in Milan.
Bauhaus School
The German Bauhaus School is considered today as one of the most influential
schools of avant-garde art. Founded in 1919 and shut down by the Nazis in 1933, the
Bauhaus brought together artists, architects, and designers in a conversation about the
nature of art in the age of technology and modernity. Aiming to rethink the form of
modern life, the Bauhaus became the site of an array of experiments in the visual arts that
profoundly shaped the visual world today. The Bauhaus displayed a commitment to the
idea of "functionalism" and sought to break down barriers that separated visual artists,
architects and craftspeople.
Abstraction and Wassily Kandinsky
Der Blaue Reiter (The Blue Rider) was formed in 1911 and succeeded the first
Expressionist movement, Die Brücke. The group included Franz Marc (1880-1916),
Wassily Kandinsky (1866-1944), and August Macke (1887-1914). It celebrated the art
of children and primitive cultures. The most active proponent of this essentially romantic
and rather spiritual view of art was Franz Marc, a young artist who was killed in World
War I. Marc saw animals as the guardians of what was left of innocence and un-spoilt
nature.
Marc chose to express these feelings with emphatic, symbolic colors. He painted
animals with a profoundly moving love for what animals represented and could still
experience, unlike humanity. Deer in the Forest II, for example, is made up of a dense
network of shapes and lines, creating a forest through which one can see, as if emerging
39
from the undergrowth, the small forms of the deer. It is a stylized and luminous vision of
a species that can live without the anxieties of the human ego.
August Macke, who was also killed in the World War I, was another artist with a
gentle, poetic view of nature. Of the group, he was the most sensitive to form and color
and strove to create sensuous depictions of light.
Paul Klee
Paul Klee (1879-1940) was a Swiss-born painter and graphic artist whose art had
references to dreams, music, and poetry. Primitive art, surrealism, cubism and children's
art blended into his small-scale, delicate paintings, watercolors, and drawings. Klee later
toured Italy (1901-02) and was highly influenced by Early Christian and Byzantine art.
Pure Abstraction
For abstract art, the distinction is most often given to Kandinsky. Immersing
himself in the German avant-garde movement Kandinsky's late style was heavily
geometrical, as is the work of Dutch artist Piet Mondrian (1872-1944). Mondrian’s
greatest desire was to attain personal purity in his art by reaching by painting the “divine”
simplicities. In order to achieve his goals, Mondrian imposed rigorous constraints on
himself, using only primary colors, black and white, and straight-sided forms.
Dada and Surrealism
Between the two World Wars, painting lost some of the excited energy with
modernity and industry that began with the century and became dominated by two
philosophical-type movements: Dada and Surrealism, which arose partly as a reaction to
the senseless atrocities of World War I. Artists were also becoming increasingly
introspective, concerned especially with their own subconscious dreams: Sigmund
Freud's psychoanalytical theories were well known by this time, and painters explored
their own irrationalities and fantasies in search of a new artistic freedom.
Dada
Dadaism was a Western Europe artistic and literary movement (1916-23) that
sought the discovery of an authentic reality by abolishing traditional culture and aesthetic
forms. The members of this movement rejected reason, logic and Futurism as they felt
these ideas had caused the war.
The word Dada was seized upon by the group as appropriate for their antiaesthetic creations and protest activities against the bourgeois values and despair over
World War I. A precursor of the Dada movement, and ultimately its leading member, was
Marcel Duchamp (1887-1968), who in 1913 created his first “ready-made;” the Bicycle
Wheel, consisting simply of a wheel mounted on the seat of a stool. The movement had
lost its following by 1921 and by the 1922 Dada exhibition had ended.
40
Surrealism
Surrealism was a movement that flourished in Europe between the two World
Wars. A rebellion against Dada, the movement represented a reaction against the
destruction created by the rationalism that had guided European culture and politics in the
past and that had culminated in the horrors of World War I. According to the major
spokesman of the movement, the poet and critic André Breton, who published "The
Surrealist Manifesto" in 1924, Surrealism was a means of reuniting conscious and
unconscious realms of experience so completely that the world of dream and fantasy
would be joined to the everyday rational world. Drawing heavily on theories adapted
from Sigmund Freud, Breton saw the unconscious as the wellspring of the imagination.
He defined genius in terms of accessibility to this normally untapped realm.
The major Surrealist painters were Jean Arp, Max Ernst, André Masson, René
Magritte, Salvador Dali and Joan Miró. Surrealism provided a major alternative to the
contemporary Cubist movement. Surrealist artists would come to influence later
American Abstract Expressionists when, with the Nazi invasion of Paris in 1940, artists
such as Dali and Breton sought refuge from the war by fleeing to the U.S.
American Art: The Inter-War Years
During the 1920s and '30s, Edward Hopper and Georgia O'Keeffe (1887-1986)
emerged as the inspirational new painters of American traditions. Hopper's work was
strongly realist, his still images of isolated individuals reflecting the social mood of the
times.
O'Keeffe's art was more abstract, often based on enlarged plants and flowers, and
filled with a kind of Surrealism which she referred to as “magical realism.”
Abstract Expressionism
During WWII artists like Piet Mondrian and Max Ernst escaped Europe for the
safety of the United States. In the 1940s and '50s, for the first time, American artists
became internationally important with their new vision and new artistic vocabulary,
known as Abstract Expressionism.
The first public exhibitions of work by the “New York School” of artists-- who
were to become known as Abstract Expressionists-- were held in the mid '40s. What
these artists had in common were morally loaded themes, often heavyweight and tragic.
In contrast to the themes of social realism and regional life that characterized American
art of previous decades, these artists valued, above all, individuality and spontaneity.
The Abstract Expressionists shared an outlook characterized by a spirit of revolt and a
belief in freedom of expression. The major artists included Jackson Pollock, Willem de
Kooning, and Mark Rothko.
41
Color Field Painting
Color Field paintings are identifiable by their canvases marked with broad and
unarticulated bands of color. These bands are often stacked or adjacent to one another
and often give the illusion of extending off the edge of the canvas. Mark Rothko (19031970) created simplified color fields that evoke a mythic and spiritual feeling that
resonate within the viewer. The movement, initially connected to Abstract
Expressionism, strove to remove evidence of the artist's hand leaving behind only the
paint. They believed the process of the painting to be unimportant. Barnett Newman and
Helen Frankenthaler are also major artists of this period.
Pop Art
Pop Art was a reaction against Abstract Expressionism. Artists in the Pop Art
movement thought the Abstract Expressionists’ aversion to any sort of representation was
pretentious and impossible to relate to. Pop Art brought art back to the material realities
of everyday life, to popular culture, in a world where ordinary people derived most of
their visual pleasure from television, magazines, or comics. Roy Lichtenstein (19231997) monumentalized comic strips as a source of his artwork. During the early 1960s he
became famous for his silkscreened enlargements and cropped comic strip images. Pop
Art emerged in the mid-1950s in England, but realized its fullest potential in New York
in the '60s where it shared the greatest attentions of the art world. In Pop Art, the epic
was replaced with the everyday, and the mass-produced awarded the same significance as
the unique. The gulf between “high art” and “low art” was eroding away. Abstract
Expressionists, who evaded mass media commercialism, suddenly found themselves
surprisingly out of touch. The media and advertising were favorite subjects for Pop Art's
often tongue-in-cheek celebrations of consumer society. Perhaps the greatest and most
easily recognizable Pop artist is that of Andy Warhol (1928-87), an artist famous for
producing art that defies all previously held concepts of "art."
42
Museum Staff & Contact Information
Docents are invited to contact staff via phone or e-mail at any time. To visit with a
member of the Museum, please make an appointment in advance. If dropping in on short
notice, please have front desk contact the staff member. Thank you for respecting the
privacy of our offices.
Pensacola Museum of Art
(850) 432-6247
Raven Holloway
Executive Director
[email protected]
Ext. 202
Alexis Leader
Director of Curatorial Affairs
[email protected]
Ext. 208
Christa Ramirez
Administrative Manager
[email protected]
Ext. 204
Morgan Mills
Marketing and Events Manager
[email protected]
Ext. 203
Tammy Chisenhall
Docent President
[email protected]
850.932.7617
43