Art Criticism for Elementary

The Generic Art Game was created by Project Muse (Museums Uniting with Schools in Education), at the Harvard Graduate School of Education.

Grade(s)- Pre-K, Primary (K-2), Intermediate (3-5), Middle (6-8), Secondary (9-12)
Subject(s) - Language Arts, Art

Objectives

• Students will identify the basic elements of art in a work of art through discussion and writing.

• Students will have an enhanced understanding of art and observational skills.

Materials

• Art work (reproductions, or their own works)

• Journals

Procedure

1. Young children love this lesson and love discussing their work with classmates. With older students, hold a discussion critical of their art (try to keep it positive) or ask them to write responses to the following questions:

• Look at the art work in front of you. List the colors you see in the art work.

• What objects do you see in this art work? What is the main subject of this art? List what you find.

• Is there a story going on in this art? What exactly is going on? Write down what you see happening, no matter how small.

• Does anything in this art remind you of anything from your own life? List what you find in the art work that reminds you of this. (Colors, objects, or events) Why does it remind you? Write it down.

• Does this art look real or is it changed so that you pay more attention to feelings or stories?

• What ideas and emotions do you think this art expresses?

• How do you think the artist felt when they created this art work? Does the art work make you feel the same way the artist did?

2. If the class is looking at more than one piece of art work at once, you can ask:

• Take a look at the other works of art displayed in the room. Do any of them look alike? If so, what is the same? ( e.g. objects, feelings, events, and the way they are made) What is different?

• What title would you have called this work of art if you had made it yourself? Does the title of the work match what the artist was trying to say in their art?

3. Have students reflect on their observations.

• Think back on other times we've looked at art work in this class. Is there anything different from other times we've done this? Have you learned anything new about yourself or others?

• Do you like this work of art? Why or why not? Do you feel the same way about this that you did the first time you looked at it? Why?

More Art Criticism

Art criticism is the way people look at art. Everyone can tell if they love or hate a piece of art without being professional artists. It takes a little time to train your eyes to see things in art you normally don't pay attention to. Frequently, people aren't in touch with their feelings while examining art work.

Learning how to criticize artwork properly will allow everyone to better understand works of art and why some might be important. This is especially true with abstract art. More people wouldn't reject abstract art if they were able to get in tune with the message the artist was giving.

Art criticism involves four actions. They are: describe, analyze, interpret and decide.

Some guidelines to help you are below:

Describe - Tell us about the art work. What do you see? Where is the location of the subject in the art? What is the subject matter? What colors to you see? What style of art do you see?

Analyze - Look for the elements of art in the art work. How does the artist treat lines, shapes, textures, forms, space, and values? Look for the principles of design in the art work. How does the artist use balance, color, size, variety, proportion, pattery, and rythm.

How are the elements of art used in the art work? How are the principles of design used in the art work?

Interpret - What is the message or story the artist is telling you? What activities do you see going on?

Decide- After examining the art work, what do I think about it? Do I like it? Why or why not?

Do you think the artist was successful in conveying an idea or story?

If you are confused about the art work, it may help to take a look at the three common aesthetic theories below:

• Imitationalism/Realism - The artist drew, painted, or sculpted the images in a realistic manner. It is easy to make out the subject matter because of how much it looks like the object the art represents.

• Formalism/Composition - The artist used the elements and principles of design in the artwork very well.

• Emotionalism/Feelings- The artist did a good job of getting me to feel a certain way about the art. The message was an important message.