Learning art history through interpretation and investigation.

Art history is essential to the learning of art. Many students tend to lose interest in art history due to monotonous lectures in class. There may be a better way to cultivate students' interest in this area. This past semester, I introduced art history to college freshmen through studio activities--it proved to be a successful endeavor.

Art History

I chose Cubism for our first area of study as it has significant influences in many central concepts of Modern art. The Cubists' concept of space and the two main phases of Cubism were introduced to the students to begin the lesson. The following outlines some of the concepts I used to introduce these innovative artists.

The Cubists looked for reality in a painting. The definition of reality can be broken into three areas.

1. Reality in Space

Cubists wanted to free themselves from traditional concepts of space represented by Renaissance perspective. They saw painting a three-dimensional object on a two-dimensional canvas as an illusion of space. They created space by overlapping.

2. Reality in Moment of Time

By combining different viewpoints into one painting, Cubists disregarded the fixed moment of time and brought about the concept of painting from |knowledge' instead of |vision.'

3. Reality in Life

In the later state of Cubism, Cubists used everyday, disposable materials as a substitute for the subject to be painted. They found the inclusion of actual materials in a painting more real than painting them.

The Two Phases of Cubism

Analytical Cubism 1910-1912

* Different views of the same object are put together in one representation as if they happened simultaneously.

* Right-angled and straight-line construction are favored; color schemes are simplified, tending to be nearly monochromatic.

Synthetic Cubism 1912-1915

* The inclusion of lettering, newspaper, wall poster or the cover of a piece of sheet music to form a textured surface or decorative patterning was characteristic of this period.

* The Cubists introduced bright, solid colors and shapes to make up a more decorative composition.

Because of the difficulty in reaching all the planned objectives in one activity due to the complexity of the periods and concepts of Cubism, I decided to reconstruct the experience into several activities.

Lesson 1--Converting a Cubist Painting to Realistic Form

Objective: Students understand that art history involves the investigation and interpretation of works of art.

Procedure:

1. Select several Cubists' works that show readable images despite the destruction of form.

2. Discuss these paintings with the students. in the process, guide them in relating the concepts introduced in the start of the lesson to the forms and images of the paintings. This will help them to better appreciate and understand.

3. Organize the class into groups of four or five. Give each group a reproduction of a Cubist work. Each group should discuss and interpret the images in the paintings. Through investigation and interpretation, they make use of the concepts they learned about Cubism.

4. After the discussion, students produce a set-up of what they saw in the painting. By doing this, they have a chance to compare the Cubist concept of space to a traditional concept-renaissance perspective. This is the part that the students find most interesting. Some of my students were so enthused, they actually created the costumes some of the characters wore in the painting.

5. Take photographs from different angles.

Interpretation and conversion from one concept of space to the other is not an easy task. Students find it challenging and interesting as it provides them with a new experience in learning art history.

Lesson 2--A Still Life in the Cubist Style

Objective: To put into practice the concept of Cubism.

Procedure:

1. Set up a still-life grouping.

2. Ask students to view the still life from different angles and observe the differences.

3. Discuss what would happen if we combined the multiple views of an object into one painting.

4. Go nearer to and farther away from the objects, picking up different portions and demonstrating the final result to the students.

5. When students show that they understand the simultaneity pointed out by the Cubists, explain the difference between "painting from knowledge" and "painting from vision." Emphasize that the former refers to an art of conception and the latter to an art of imitation.

Problems Faced and Adjustments Made

Although the terms structure and form were mentioned in the beginning of the lesson, the students still found them too abstract to understand fully. Therefore, the original objective of getting a painting as close to the analytical period of Cubism was difficult to achieve.

To extend the problem, I advised them to follow the color of the original objects and paint in a more graphic and decorative way, that resembles the style of the synthetic period. The resulting paintings were a combination of both analytic (multiple views) and synthetic (bright color and decorative) phases.

Conclusion

At the end of the two lessons, a critique session was held, and the students found they had come to understand Cubism in a deeper sense. This activity opened another door in the students' perception of art.