Art has long been a difficult concept to define. Some think that it is anything that stirs emotions in the viewer, whereas others see art as the expression of ideas or formal elements for their own sakes. It can also be seen as a means to experience the mysterious, or as a form of communication among human cultures. Moreover, many different cultures have a separate word or concepts that co-refer with “art”—for example, shamanistic rituals in some Native American tribes might be considered to be art, while the idea of the beauty of balance and harmony may apply to all cultures.
The fact that art is hard to pin down makes it interesting and worth studying in an academic context. Students can gain valuable skills in close observation by studying a range of visual materials: paintings, photographs, drawings, sculptures, posters, and even architecture. Students can also hone their analytical skills by exploring these various materials in historical context. This can include reading primary sources from the time period, discussing them with peers and teachers, and then evaluating works of art that draw on these same histories.
As an example of historical questioning, consider analyzing a painting or photograph with your students and then asking them to compare it with other primary sources from the same time period. You could do this with advertisements, short fiction, newspaper articles, speeches, or music. Using multiple, diverse primary resources helps your students understand how people from the past experienced events in different ways and challenges their tendency to simplify conflicts or historic events into two opposing sides.
This approach can be expanded to include comparing and contrasting works of art with contemporary artists. This is a great way to show your students how artistic styles and forms can change in the span of a few decades, and it also provides your students with a window into how their own experiences can influence art and art history. You can find a variety of online art history resources to help your students learn about and analyze these changing trends. One such resource, Smarthistory, offers a free open textbook course on the history of Western art. This course uses contributions from over 200 scholars to guide learners through centuries of art and includes a comprehensive syllabus with links out to videos and additional articles. You can also find other courses that focus on non-Western art, and there is a growing number of art history apps available.