Tate
Tate Kids: Memento Mori (Remember That You Must Die)
An interactive exploration of the universal themes of death and mortality, as depicted by a range of twentieth-century artists. Developed by the Britain-based Tate museum, this site combines art criticism with a survey of symbols that...
Jewish Museum
Jewish Museum: Action/ Abstraction: Pollock, De Kooning, and American Art
This resource provides information about abstract expressionism, its leading practitioners (especially Pollock and de Kooning), and its place in American art during the period from 1940-76.
Other
Poway Unified School District: How to Analyze Art
This tutorial will lead you through the steps on how to view and understand art. Great for all ages.
Arizona State University
Art Lesson: Should Art Be for Art's Sake?
A lesson plan where the teacher presents the five traditional theories of art (formalism, instrumentalism, imitationalism expressionism and institutionalism.) Students review Chicana/o and earlier protest art from an instrumental point...
Arizona State University
Chicana and Chicano Space: Inquiry
Provided by Arizona State University, this website is a comprehensive thematic, inquiry-based art education resource. Includes two interdisciplinary units of lessons.
Michigan State University
Michigan State University: Lets Net: Global Connection: The Language of Art
Art unit that integrates foreign languages. Students learn how to discuss and critique art in a foreign language and then write about a piece of artwork in that foreign language. Includes unit description, list of materials, and links to...
Boston University
Boston University: Putting Value Into Art
Andrew Ward decides to get into the middle of an argument between David Hume and Hume's critic Malcolm Budd about the standard for assessing the value of works of art upon the feeling of pleasure or displeasure. This topic will be a...
New York Times
New York Times: Arts Page
[Free Registration/Login Required] The features homepage of the "New York Times" for the arts. Includes reviews, arts news, a mix of multimedia slideshows on arts-related topics, and the like.
University of Michigan
University of Michigan: Notes on Imitation and Forgery
A site from the University of Michigan on various types of forgery in art from the Renaissance period to today. This site also covers website forgery and the internet.
University of California
Uc Berkeley Library: Mark Twain Takes on Art
A great look into the thoughts of Mark Twain and how he feels about certain pieces of art. Tongue-in-cheek, playful and fun. A great link between literature and fine arts for the educator!
San Francisco Museum of Modern Art
Sfmoma: Who Says It's Art?
A lesson that introduces your students to ready-made art and gets them discussing such topics as "What is Art?"
ArtLex
Art Lex: Art
Definition of "art" according to ArtLex, a dictionary of art terms. Includes links to other important terms, as well as a long list of quotations defining "art."
ArtLex
Art Lex: Sculpture & 3 D Design Unit
ArtLex provides a unit of lessons dealing with three-dimensional design. A quiz with questions on sculpture, art criticism, and qualities of art is included, centering on the sculpture "Vaquero" by Luis Jimenez. There are links to the...
ArtLex
Art Lex: Relief Sculpture
This site from Artlex is a wonderful site that guides students through the making of a relief sculpture after a brief history lesson. There are images from the 15th and 19th centuries and two lessons for the students. Follow the rubric!
PBS
Pbs Online News Hour: Jackson Pollock
A NewsHour interview with Kirk Varnedoe, curator of painting at the Museum of Modern Art, on the life, work, and influence of Jackson Pollock. The interview revolves around Pollock's breakthrough drip paintings and is interspersed with...
Other
Poetics by Aristotle
Well here it is, the basis for Art Imitating Nature! This site is all text translated by S. H. Butcher. 26 chapters on the subject. If you wondered about the origins of the concept, here it is.
Smithsonian Institution
Smithsonian American Art Museum: Director's Choice
The director of the Smithsonian American Art Museum applies her analytical skills in explaining the formal and aesthetic qualities of her favorite American masterworks from the Smithsonian's collection of American art.
Smithsonian Institution
National Portrait Gallery: Eye Contact: Beauford Delaney by Georgia O'keeffe
Fascinating observations of Georgia O'Keeffe's portrait of Beauford Delaney. Listen to Wendy Wick Reaves, a curator at the National Portrait Gallery, explain O'Keeffe's use of pastels.
South Carolina Educational Television
Etv: Artopia: Painting Critic: Race Horses at Longchamp by Edgar Degas
Explains how Edgar Degas painted impressions of things he saw in his painting, Race Horses at Longchamp. Also describes the content of the painting and gives a short biography of the artist. Students can answer questions about the...
Alabama Learning Exchange
Alex: Critiquing Art
Lesson plan for students to learn about the principles and elements of design and use them to critique art. (Note: Link to Sanford & A Lifetime of Color: Study Art does not work.)
Goshen College
Goshen College: Art Aesthetics and Art Criticism Handouts
Marvin Bartel, Ed.D., provides useful handouts for critiquing artwork and for assessing students' abilities to write and discuss art intelligently.
The Wharton Group
Discover France: Pablo Picasso
An insightful biography of Picasso (1881-1973 CE) by a museum curator, with critical analysis of several famous works interspersed throughout. Excellent discussion of Picasso's artistic influences. Includes reproductions of a few of his...
Other
Institutional Theories of Art and Instrumentalism
A ten part critical look at Instrumentalism by Julie C. Van Camp, Professor of Philosophy from California State University, Long Beach. This site provides theories of George Dickie, Arthur Danto and Marcia Eaton as well as examples and...
Other
Kindergarten Visual Arts: Mother and Child
Lesson plans about interpreting art aimed at kindergarden students. Uses portraits of mothers and children by Pablo Picasso and Mary Cassatt as insiration.