Beginning Sculpture, Art History, the Olmec, Ancient Sculptors Of

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

Beginning Sculpture, Art History, the Olmec, Ancient Sculptors Of Davis/Sculpture/TEch1.3 3/9/04 4:13 PM Page 6 G Art History unchanged for more than 2,000 years. In Religious faith dominated ancient Asia, Chinese sculptors were mas- almost every aspect of life ters of casting bronze, creating intricate during the Middle Ages. Churches were centers of ritual vessels and containers covered with wealth and power as well designs of animal and human forms, as worship. The village of while carvers in India produced figurative Jelling was the home of works of beautiful naturalism. the first king of Denmark, The sculpture of ancient Greece and Gorm the Old. The stone Rome is often considered one of the great in Fig. 1–6 was raised by his son Harald Blåtand, achievements in Western art. Although also called Harald Blue- much Greek sculpture is known only tooth, in memory of his through Roman copies, they show the father and his mother, preoccupation with achieving perfection Thyra. The stone has of the human form. Sculptors focused on stood in the churchyard of Jelling for more than a thousand years. It is Fig. 1–6. Erected at the church in Jelling, inscribed in the runic Denmark, this stone honored the ancestors alphabet, a form of writing of a Danish king. The curving, intersecting lines are associated with Celtic art. used by ancient Germanic peoples from the third to Denmark, Jelling Stone: Crucifixion, c. 980 AD. the thirteenth centuries. Statens Museum for Kunst, Copenhagen, Denmark. Runic inscriptions were especially used to mark funeral monuments. Harald is credited with being the first Danish king to bring Christianity to Denmark. The The Olmec: Ancient Sculptors Jelling stone features the oldest representation of of Mesoamerica Christ in Scandinavia. The art of this culture features The first evidence of Olmec culture, including life-size statues of their swirling spirals, and cleverly the earliest known Mesoamerican civi- rulers, huge carved portrait heads, and hidden faces and animals lization, was discovered in 1862 when altars. Much of this monumental art disguised within the art. workers digging in a field uncovered a was found damaged—parts had been colossal carved-stone head with strik- broken off and heads removed from Internet Connection ing, unique features. Although details statues. Because this practice contin- There are many sites that about the Olmec remain unknown, ued throughout the existence of the show examples of Olmec art: archaeological evidence suggests that culture, scholars now believe that it www.witcombe.sbc.edu/ they flourished along the southern was the Olmec who destroyed their ARTHprehistoric.html, Gulf Coast of Mexico from about 1200 own sculptures, perhaps for religious www.tribalarts.com/ to 600 BC. Living in a highly developed or ritual purposes. feature/olmec/, agricultural society with complex Six colossal heads like this one have www.crystalinks.com/olmec .html urban centers, the Olmec built their been found at the urban center of San cities around a central raised mound, Lorenzo; all had been mutilated and later replaced by pyramidal structures, buried around 900 BC, the time of the that was used for religious ceremonies. city’s decline. San Lorenzo was laid Olmec political systems, city planning, out on a central axis surrounding a art, and religious beliefs were contin- ceremonial pyramid built of pounded ued and elaborated on by later cultures earth; the colossal heads were likely of pre-Hispanic Mexico, including the placed on the four sides of the plat- Zapotec and Maya. form at the base of the pyramid. During nearly 700 years, the Olmec Because of the individualized features created monumental sculpture, of each sculpture, scholars believe that 6 Chapter 1 Davis/Sculpture/TEch1.3 3/9/04 4:13 PM Page 7 the individual, and their works became Fig. 1–8. The Maya G Art History increasingly naturalistic, yet highly ideal- erected huge stelae, The Maya were one of the elaborately carved stone ized. Following the decline of the Roman great early Mesoamerican images of their rulers. civilizations. Between 300 Empire during the third and fourth cen- They were carved with and 900 AD they devel- tury AD, the Byzantine empire flourished stone tools because metal oped writing, a form of was not used at this time in Constantinople, and present-day arithmetic, a calendar, and in Mexico. Notice the Europe saw the migration of nomadic the corbeled arch. They amount of detail the artist also built some of the tribes across the continent. Much of the was able to achieve. finest architecture in art of these migratory peoples is small, Honduras, Copan, Stele H, Mexico. The upright stone portable metal sculptures, often with ani- The Ruler Eighteen Rabbit, slab, or stele, was one of c. 782 AD. mal themes, that were used for personal their most important adornment or as weapons. Later, during Stone with traces of pigment. Courtesy Davis Art Images. sculptural formats used the period known as Romanesque, sculp- during the Classic Period ture once again became closely tied to (200–600 AD). Mounted in religion, and sculptors created expressive open squares between sacred buildings and pyr- stone reliefs and large-scale figures for amids, they were erected the interiors and exteriors of churches. to commemorate the At the same time in the Americas, passing of time and the native cultures were thriving. Distinct ascension of a new ruler. sculptural traditions developed through- They were carved in low out both continents; most artists chose relief and decorated with images of Mayan rulers and Art History gods. The Maya’s maize god was a sacred symbol often found on their art and held great significance because they represent portraits of Olmec maize was the main food rulers. Not only are these sculptures staple of Mesoamerica. heavy and huge—weighing more than Interdisciplinary ten tons and nearly ten feet tall—they Connection are also made of basalt, one of the Social Studies—Have hardest stones. The Olmec transported students choose two cul- the boulders almost sixty miles, proba- tures mentioned in this bly on rafts navigated downstream. chapter and research the Basalt is very difficult to carve, yet the funerary or burial cus- toms of these cultures. Olmec were able to create sophisti- What types of art were cated sculptures using only stone and associated with their bur- jade tools. ial customs? Are there Olmec sculpture, both utilitarian any similarities between and ceremonial, features animal as the customs of the two well as human themes. Carved jade cultures? What are the differences? figurines have been found in burial sites. Monkeys, serpents, and jaguars are also popular subjects and likely had important symbolic and religious meanings. But perhaps most impor- tant, Olmec sculptors decorated their Fig. 1–7. The objects with signs that were found to Olmec carved huge basalt sculptures of the faces of their gods and rulers. This be a form of writing. The decipher- carving tradition greatly influenced the ment of these inscriptions has pro- Maya, who also decorated their cities vided valuable insight into this with stone portraits of rulers and gods. fascinating culture. Mexico, Olmec, Colossal Head, c. 200 AD. Basalt, 305 cm high. Courtesy Davis Art Images. Introduction to Sculpture 7.
Recommended publications
  • Artist: Period/Style: Patron: Material/Technique: Form
    TITLE: Apollo 11 Stones LOCATION: Namibia DATE: 25,500-25,300 BCE ARTIST: PERIOD/STYLE: Mesolithic Stone Age PATRON: MATERIAL/TECHNIQUE: FORM: The Apollo 11 stones are a collection of grey-brown quartzite slabs that feature drawings of animals painted with charcoal, clay, and kaolin FUNCTION: These slabs may have had a more social function. CONTENT: Drawings of animals that could be found in nature. On the cleavage face of what was once a complete slab, an unidentified animal form was drawn resembling a feline in appearance but with human hind legs that were probably added later. Barely visible on the head of the animal are two slightly-curved horns likely belonging to an Oryx, a large grazing antelope; on the animal’s underbelly, possibly the sexual organ of a bovid. CONTEXT: Inside the cave, above and below the layer where the Apollo 11 cave stones were found, archaeologists unearthed a sequence of cultural layers representing over 100,000 years of human occupation. In these layers stone artifacts, typical of the Middle Stone Age period—such as blades, pointed flakes, and scraper—were found in raw materials not native to the region, signaling stone tool technology transported over long distances.Among the remnants of hearths, ostrich eggshell fragments bearing traces of red color were also found—either remnants of ornamental painting or evidence that the eggshells were used as containers for pigment. Approximately 25,000 years ago, in a rock shelter in the Huns Mountains of Namibia on the southwest coast of Africa (today part of the Ai-Ais Richtersveld Transfrontier Park), an animal was drawn in charcoal on a hand-sized slab of stone.
    [Show full text]
  • Installation Art in India: Concepts and Roots
    [Aaftab *, Vol.4 (Iss.10): October, 2016] ISSN- 2350-0530(O) ISSN- 2394-3629(P) IF: 4.321 (CosmosImpactFactor), 2.532 (I2OR) Arts INSTALLATION ART IN INDIA: CONCEPTS AND ROOTS Mohsina Aaftab *1 *1 Research Scholar, Department of Fine Arts, A.M.U., Aligarh, INDIA DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.164831 ABSTRACT Present study focuses on the new media Installation Art in India, its present scenario, and backgrounds. Essentially installation art has taken its heritage from conceptual art, which came into prominence in 1970s, when the concept or idea was prominent – when an artist uses a conceptual form of art which means that all of the arrangement and conclusion are made previously and the implementation is an obligatory concern. So, spontaneously idea became a machine that makes the art. An idea suddenly pops in his mind and he just implemented it, in his very own way. This kind of art does not narrow itself to gallery spaces and can refer to any materials intervention in everyday public or private spaces. After India became independent, art began to change here. considerately several movements and group bounced up all over the country headed by ambitious young artists with vision of bringing modern art to India. Now the art of India is totally changed. Contemporaries are not bound to use paper and canvas, wall or any other art surfaces. They are not bound to make mythological paintings or sculptures but they are free to do anything, they are free to use any medium, material and space they want. After a European artist Marcel Duchamp’s “ready-mades artist” started exploring the margin of art, trying to eliminate the contrast between art and life.
    [Show full text]
  • Yoruba Art & Culture
    Yoruba Art & Culture Phoebe A. Hearst Museum of Anthropology University of California, Berkeley Yoruba Art and Culture PHOEBE A. HEARST MUSEUM OF ANTHROPOLOGY Written and Designed by Nicole Mullen Editors Liberty Marie Winn Ira Jacknis Special thanks to Tokunbo Adeniji Aare, Oduduwa Heritage Organization. COPYRIGHT © 2004 PHOEBE A. HEARST MUSEUM OF ANTHROPOLOGY AND THE REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. PHOEBE A. HEARST MUSEUM OF ANTHROPOLOGY ◆ UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA AT BERKELEY BERKELEY, CA 94720-3712 ◆ 510-642-3682 ◆ HTTP://HEARSTMUSEUM.BERKELEY.EDU Table of Contents Vocabulary....................4 Western Spellings and Pronunciation of Yoruba Words....................5 Africa....................6 Nigeria....................7 Political Structure and Economy....................8 The Yoruba....................9, 10 Yoruba Kingdoms....................11 The Story of How the Yoruba Kingdoms Were Created....................12 The Colonization and Independence of Nigeria....................13 Food, Agriculture and Trade....................14 Sculpture....................15 Pottery....................16 Leather and Beadwork....................17 Blacksmiths and Calabash Carvers....................18 Woodcarving....................19 Textiles....................20 Religious Beliefs....................21, 23 Creation Myth....................22 Ifa Divination....................24, 25 Music and Dance....................26 Gelede Festivals and Egugun Ceremonies....................27 Yoruba Diaspora....................28
    [Show full text]
  • AP Art History Unit Sheet #21 Romanticism, Realism, and Photography
    AP Art History Unit Sheet #21 Romanticism, Realism, and Photography Works of Art Artist Medium Date Page # 27‐1: Napoleon at the Plague House at Jaffa Gros Painting 1804 754 27‐2: Coronation of Napoleon David Painting 1805‐1808 757 27‐4: Pauline Borghese as Venus Canova Sculpture 1808 759 27‐6: Apotheosis of Homer Ingres Painting 1827 761 27‐7: Grande Odalisque Ingres Painting 1814 761 27‐8: The Nightmare Fuseli Painting 1781 762 27‐9: Ancient of Days Blake Painting 1794 763 27‐10: The Sleep of Reason Produces Monsters Goya Painting 1798 763 27‐11: Third of May, 1808 Goya Painting 1814‐1815 764 27‐13: The Raft of the Medusa Gericault Painting 1819 765 27‐16: Liberty Leading the People Delacrois Painting 1830 768 27‐19: Abbey in the Oak Forest Friedrich Painting 1810 771 27‐21: The Haywain Constable Painting 1821 772 27‐22: The Slave Ship Turner Painting 1840 773 27‐23: The Oxbow ColePainting1836 773 27‐26: The Stone Breakers Courbet Painting 1849 775 27‐27: Burial at Ornans Courbet Painting 1849 776 27‐28: The Gleaners Millet Painting 1857 777 27‐30: Third Class Carriage Daumier Painting 1862 779 27‐31: The Horse Fair Bonheur Painting 1853‐1855 780 27‐32: Le Dejeauner sure l’herbe Manet Painting 1863 781 27‐33: Olympia Manet Painting 1863 781 27‐35: Veteran in a New Field Homer Painting 1865 783 27‐36: The Gross Clinic Eakins Painting 1875 783 27‐37: The Daughters of Edward Darley Boit Sargent Painting 1882 784 27‐38: The Thankful Poor Tanner Painting 1894 785 27‐40: Ophelia Millais Painting 1852 786 27‐43: House of Parliament, London Pugin/ Barry Architecture 1835 788 27‐44: Royal Pavilion, Brighton Nash Architecture 1815‐1818 789 27‐45: Paris Opera Garnier Architecture 1861‐1874 789 27‐48: Still Life in Studio Daguerre Photography 1837 792 27‐51: Nadar Raising Photography to the Height of Art Daumier Lithograph 1862 794 27‐53: A Harvest of Death, Gettysburg, Pennsylvania O’Sullivan Photography 1863 795 27‐54: Horse Galloping Muybridge Calotype 1878 796 CONTEXT ­ Europe and France 1.
    [Show full text]
  • Chapter 12. the Avant-Garde in the Late 20Th Century 1
    Chapter 12. The Avant-Garde in the Late 20th Century 1 The Avant-Garde in the Late 20th Century: Modernism becomes Postmodernism A college student walks across campus in 1960. She has just left her room in the sorority house and is on her way to the art building. She is dressed for class, in carefully coordinated clothes that were all purchased from the same company: a crisp white shirt embroidered with her initials, a cardigan sweater in Kelly green wool, and a pleated skirt, also Kelly green, that reaches right to her knees. On her feet, she wears brown loafers and white socks. She carries a neatly packed bag, filled with freshly washed clothes: pants and a big work shirt for her painting class this morning; and shorts, a T-shirt and tennis shoes for her gym class later in the day. She’s walking rather rapidly, because she’s dying for a cigarette and knows that proper sorority girls don’t ever smoke unless they have a roof over their heads. She can’t wait to get into her painting class and light up. Following all the rules of the sorority is sometimes a drag, but it’s a lot better than living in the dormitory, where girls have ten o’clock curfews on weekdays and have to be in by midnight on weekends. (Of course, the guys don’t have curfews, but that’s just the way it is.) Anyway, it’s well known that most of the girls in her sorority marry well, and she can’t imagine anything she’d rather do after college.
    [Show full text]
  • Janson. History of Art. Chapter 16: The
    16_CH16_P556-589.qxp 12/10/09 09:16 Page 556 16_CH16_P556-589.qxp 12/10/09 09:16 Page 557 CHAPTER 16 CHAPTER The High Renaissance in Italy, 1495 1520 OOKINGBACKATTHEARTISTSOFTHEFIFTEENTHCENTURY , THE artist and art historian Giorgio Vasari wrote in 1550, Truly great was the advancement conferred on the arts of architecture, painting, and L sculpture by those excellent masters. From Vasari s perspective, the earlier generation had provided the groundwork that enabled sixteenth-century artists to surpass the age of the ancients. Later artists and critics agreed Leonardo, Bramante, Michelangelo, Raphael, Giorgione, and with Vasari s judgment that the artists who worked in the decades Titian were all sought after in early sixteenth-century Italy, and just before and after 1500 attained a perfection in their art worthy the two who lived beyond 1520, Michelangelo and Titian, were of admiration and emulation. internationally celebrated during their lifetimes. This fame was For Vasari, the artists of this generation were paragons of their part of a wholesale change in the status of artists that had been profession. Following Vasari, artists and art teachers of subse- occurring gradually during the course of the fifteenth century and quent centuries have used the works of this 25-year period which gained strength with these artists. Despite the qualities of between 1495 and 1520, known as the High Renaissance, as a their births, or the differences in their styles and personalities, benchmark against which to measure their own. Yet the idea of a these artists were given the respect due to intellectuals and High Renaissance presupposes that it follows something humanists.
    [Show full text]
  • Sculptors' Jewellery Offers an Experience of Sculpture at Quite the Opposite End of the Scale
    SCULPTORS’ JEWELLERY PANGOLIN LONDON FOREWORD The gift of a piece of jewellery seems to have taken a special role in human ritual since Man’s earliest existence. In the most ancient of tombs, archaeologists invariably excavate metal or stone objects which seem to have been designed to be worn on the body. Despite the tiny scale of these precious objects, their ubiquity in all cultures would indicate that jewellery has always held great significance.Gold, silver, bronze, precious stone, ceramic and natural objects have been fashioned for millennia to decorate, embellish and adorn the human body. Jewellery has been worn as a signifier of prowess, status and wealth as well as a symbol of belonging or allegiance. Perhaps its most enduring function is as a token of love and it is mostly in this vein that a sculptor’s jewellery is made: a symbol of affection for a spouse, loved one or close friend. Over a period of several years, through trying my own hand at making rings, I have become aware of and fascinated by the jewellery of sculptors. This in turn has opened my eyes to the huge diversity of what are in effect, wearable, miniature sculptures. The materials used are generally precious in nature and the intimacy of being worn on the body marries well with the miniaturisation of form. For this exhibition Pangolin London has been fortunate in being able to collate a very special selection of works, ranging from the historical to the contemporary. To complement this, we have also actively commissioned a series of exciting new pieces from a broad spectrum of artists working today.
    [Show full text]
  • Reconstructing Slave Perspectives on the Grave Stele of Hegeso Alexis Garcia*, Art History and Cultural Anthropology
    Oregon Undergraduate Research Journal 18.1 (2021) ISSN: 2160-617X (online) blogs.uoregon.edu/ourj Silent Slaves: Reconstructing Slave Perspectives on the Grave Stele of Hegeso Alexis Garcia*, Art History and Cultural Anthropology ABSTRACT The Grave Stele of Hegeso (400 BCE) depicts a ‘mistress and maid’ scene and preserves valuable insights into elite iconography. The stele also explores the experiences of wealthy Athenian women in their social roles and domestic spaces. The slave attendant, if discussed at length, primarily functions as a method of contrast and comparison to her elite master. While the comparison between elite and non-elite women is a valuable interpretation for studies of gender and class in classical Athens, more can be done in regard to examining the slave attendant on the stele, and as a result, examining slave figures in Greek art. Slaves made up a sizeable portion of classical Athenian society and were present in both elite and poor households. However, due to a lack of material and written evidence, the field of classics has not explored the concept of Greek slavery to its full extent. In addition, what little does remain to modern scholars was commissioned or written by elite voices, who were biased against slaves. The remaining elite perspective does provide insight into the role of slaves in classical Athenian households and can be reexamined to find subversive interpretations. This paper explores potential reconstructions for slave perspectives and narratives on the Grave Stele of Hegeso by drawing upon the Attic funerary practices and literary tropes of the Good Slave and Bad Slave in Athenian theater and Homeric epic.
    [Show full text]
  • China's Nestorian Monument and Its Reception in the West, 1625-1916
    Illustrations iii Michael Keevak Hong Kong University Press 14/F Hing Wai Centre 7 Tin Wan Praya Road Aberdeen Hong Kong © Hong Kong University Press 2008 ISBN 978-962-209-895-4 All rights reserved. No portion of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any information storage or retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the publisher. British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. Secure On-line Ordering http://www.hkupress.org Printed and bound by Lammar Offset Printing Ltd., Hong Kong, China. Hong Kong University Press is honoured that Xu Bing, whose art explores the complex themes of language across cultures, has written the Press’s name in his Square Word Calligraphy. This signals our commitment to cross-cultural thinking and the distinctive nature of our English-language books published in China. “At first glance, Square Word Calligraphy appears to be nothing more unusual than Chinese characters, but in fact it is a new way of rendering English words in the format of a square so they resemble Chinese characters. Chinese viewers expect to be able to read Square Word Calligraphy but cannot. Western viewers, however are surprised to find they can read it. Delight erupts when meaning is unexpectedly revealed.” — Britta Erickson, The Art of Xu Bing Contents List of Illustrations vii Acknowledgments xi Prologue The Story of a Stone 1 1 A Stone Discovered 5 2 The Century of Kircher 29 3 Eighteenth-Century Problems and Controversies 61 4 The Return of the Missionaries 89 Epilogue The Da Qin Temple 129 Notes 143 Works Cited 169 Index 187 Illustrations vii Illustrations 11.
    [Show full text]
  • After the Battle Is Over: the Stele of the Vultures and the Beginning Of
    To raise the ofthe natureof narrative is to invite After the Battle Is Over: The Stele question reflectionon the verynature of culture. Hayden White, "The Value of Narrativity . ," 1981 of the Vultures and the Beginning of Historical Narrative in the Art Definitions of narrative, generallyfalling within the purviewof literarycriticism, are nonethelessimportant to of the Ancient Near East arthistorians. From the simpleststarting point, "for writing to be narrative,no moreand no less thana tellerand a tale are required.'1 Narrativeis, in otherwords, a solutionto " 2 the problemof "how to translateknowing into telling. In general,narrative may be said to make use ofthird-person cases and of past tenses, such that the teller of the story standssomehow outside and separatefrom the action.3But IRENE J. WINTER what is importantis thatnarrative cannot be equated with thestory alone; it is content(story) structured by the telling, University of Pennsylvania forthe organization of the story is whatturns it into narrative.4 Such a definitionwould seem to providefertile ground forart-historical inquiry; for what, after all, is a paintingor relief,if not contentordered by the telling(composition)? Yet, not all figuraiworks "tell" a story.Sometimes they "refer"to a story;and sometimesthey embody an abstract concept withoutthe necessaryaction and settingof a tale at all. For an investigationof visual representation, it seems importantto distinguishbetween instancesin which the narrativeis vested in a verbal text- the images servingas but illustrationsof the text,not necessarily"narrative" in themselves,but ratherreferences to the narrative- and instancesin whichthe narrativeis located in the represen- tations,the storyreadable throughthe images. In the specificcase of the ancientNear East, instances in whichnarrative is carriedthrough the imageryitself are rare,reflecting a situationfundamentally different from that foundsubsequently in the West, and oftenfrom that found in the furtherEast as well.
    [Show full text]
  • Conceptual Art: a Critical Anthology
    Conceptual Art: A Critical Anthology Alexander Alberro Blake Stimson, Editors The MIT Press conceptual art conceptual art: a critical anthology edited by alexander alberro and blake stimson the MIT press • cambridge, massachusetts • london, england ᭧1999 Massachusetts Institute of Technology All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form by any electronic or mechanical means (including photocopying, recording, or information storage and retrieval)without permission in writing from the publisher. This book was set in Adobe Garamond and Trade Gothic by Graphic Composition, Inc. and was printed and bound in the United States of America. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Conceptual art : a critical anthology / edited by Alexander Alberro and Blake Stimson. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-262-01173-5 (hc : alk. paper) 1. Conceptual art. I. Alberro, Alexander. II. Stimson, Blake. N6494.C63C597 1999 700—dc21 98-52388 CIP contents ILLUSTRATIONS xii PREFACE xiv Alexander Alberro, Reconsidering Conceptual Art, 1966–1977 xvi Blake Stimson, The Promise of Conceptual Art xxxviii I 1966–1967 Eduardo Costa, Rau´ l Escari, Roberto Jacoby, A Media Art (Manifesto) 2 Christine Kozlov, Compositions for Audio Structures 6 He´lio Oiticica, Position and Program 8 Sol LeWitt, Paragraphs on Conceptual Art 12 Sigmund Bode, Excerpt from Placement as Language (1928) 18 Mel Bochner, The Serial Attitude 22 Daniel Buren, Olivier Mosset, Michel Parmentier, Niele Toroni, Statement 28 Michel Claura, Buren, Mosset, Toroni or Anybody 30 Michael Baldwin, Remarks on Air-Conditioning: An Extravaganza of Blandness 32 Adrian Piper, A Defense of the “Conceptual” Process in Art 36 He´lio Oiticica, General Scheme of the New Objectivity 40 II 1968 Lucy R.
    [Show full text]
  • Past Looking: Using Arts As Historical Evidence in Teaching History
    Social Studies Research and Practice www.socstrp.org Past Looking: Using Arts as Historical Evidence in Teaching History Yonghee Suh Old Dominion University This is a comparative case study of how three high school history teachers in the U.S.A. use art in their practice. The following research question was investigated: How do secondary history teachers incorporate the arts—paintings, music, poems, novels, and films—in their teaching of history and why? Data were collected from three sources: interviews, observations, and classroom materials. Grounded theory was utilized to analyze the data. Findings suggest these teachers use the arts as historical evidence roughly for three purposes: First, to teach the spirit of an age; second, to teach the history of ordinary people invisible in official historical records; and third, to teach, both with and without art, the process of writing history. Two of the three teachers, however, failed to teach historical thinking skills through art. Keywords: history, history instruction, art, interdisciplinary approach, thinking skills, primary sources. Introduction Encouraging historical thinking in students is not a new idea in history education. Since the turn of the 20th century, many historians and history educators have argued that history consists of not only facts, but also historians’ interpretation of those facts, commonly known as the process of historical thinking, or how to analyze and interpret historical evidence, make historical arguments, and engage in historical debates (Bain, 2005; Holt, 1990; VanSledright; 2002; Wineburg, 2001). Many past reform efforts in history education have shared this commitment to teach students to think historically, in part by being engaged in the process of historical inquiry (Bradley Commission on History in Schools, 1988; National Center for History in the Schools, 1995).
    [Show full text]