A Virtual Art Appreciation Text

Dear Art Appreciation Students,

The following list of links to web resources will serve you as a text for your art appreciation course. The links are organized by topic, and they include both readings and web-based videos. Although these assembled resources do not cover every topic completely, when read and viewed in conjunction with a well-designed art appreciation course they offer substantial and relevant supplementary content.

All resources have been chosen because of the quality of their content and their appropriateness for college students. For some topics where an overview is needed I have provided links to Wikipedia pages. In many cases, where the topics are extremely broad, I have provided links to a few works of art that will serve as examples of a style or movement.

Many of the readings and videos are from Smarthistory, which is an online multimedia art history text maintained by the Khan Academy. You will notice that the Smarthistory links lead to both embedded videos and readings. Also, you will see that Smarthistory will lead you to a variety of related articles and videos for each topic if you feel like learning more broadly.

To help you organize your time each reading has an estimated reading time based on the statistic that the average adult reads 300 words per minute. Viewing times for videos are also listed. Keep in mind that you are encouraged to pause videos for note-taking and that you may replay portions of videos to help you understand the topics presented.

This entire set of resources can be viewed and read by the average adult in about 10 to 12 hours. 

Please give these resources your full attention, just as you would to any college text. All of these resources are provided to you at no cost so that you can further your education and gain a deeper appreciation of art in using the best possible free resources.

  Last updated: July 22, 2016

INDEX:

Unit One: The Role and Value of Art 
Time to view and read: 14 minutes

Why look at art? (video - 1:56)

http://smarthistory.khanacademy.org/why-look-at-art.html

What good is art? The value of creative thinking (video - 3:16)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w4oK5SbK2so

Art Museums are for Everyone (video - 8:30)
https://youtu.be/CjcuXVogjYs

Unit Two: Looking at Art
Time to view and read: 45 minutes

Approaching Art in a Media Society by John Seed (video - 9:17)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W7AFImRYPns

The skill of describing (video - 3:42)

https://youtu.be/h_pWZBOR4ec

John Berger: Ways of Seeing, Episode I (video - 30:05)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0pDE4VX_9Kk

Unit Three: Visual Elements
Time to view and read: 17 minutes

Elements of art (Wikipedia) (reading, approx. 2 minutes)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elements_of_art

Basic Color Theory (reading, approx. 5 minutes)
http://www.colormatters.com/color-and-design/basic-color-theory

Understanding Formal Analysis and Elements of Art (reading, approx. 10 minutes)
http://www.getty.edu/education/teachers/building_lessons/formal_analysis.html

Unit Four: Design and Composition
Time to view and read: 30+ minutes

A series of short videos on design principles by Matt Kohr of www.ctrlpaint.com
Videos range from 3 to 5 minutes total: allow approximately 20 minutes to view the series

http://www.ctrlpaint.com/videos/principles-of-design-introduction

http://www.ctrlpaint.com/videos/principles-of-design-scale-and-proportion

http://www.ctrlpaint.com/videos/principles-of-design-rhythm-and-repetition

http://www.ctrlpaint.com/videos/principles-of-design-emphasis

http://www.ctrlpaint.com/videos/principles-of-design-balance

http://www.ctrlpaint.com/videos/principles-of-design-movement

http://www.ctrlpaint.com/videos/principles-of-design-unity

Elements and Principles of Design by John Lovett
http://www.johnlovett.com/test.htm

Unit Five: Evaluation and Criticism
Time to view and read: 26 minutes

Feldman’s Method of Art Criticism

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1b3CvtRMGtg (video - 4:15)

Christopher Knight, LA Times Art Critic, speaking at Superscript 2015 Conference (video - 11:07)
http://www.walkerart.org/channel/2015/superscript-2015-christopher-knight

Art and Context (Smarthistory)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2aUFB9hQncQ (video - 10:26)

Unit Six: Drawing
Time to view and read: 27 minutes

Drawings by Jean-Baptiste Greuze  (The Getty Museum) (video - 2:34)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RL7NmWVmSF0

How to Shade a Drawing (video - 12:01)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-dqGkHWC5IU

Portrait Drawing with Gary Geraths

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RiUfVKPEKxU (video - 12:22)

Unit Seven: Painting
Time to view and read: 32+ minutes

Oil paint (video - 6:37)

http://smarthistory.khanacademy.org/painting.html

Tempera paint (video - 11:47) 

http://smarthistory.khanacademy.org/tempera-paint.html

Art Terms in Action (set of 7 videos, approx. 10 minutes total)
Note: look on the left side of the browser to see links to all 7 videos. They are: Viscosity, Tint Shade and Tone, Enamel, Emulsion, Stain, Palette Knife and Turpentine Burn)
https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/art-history-basics/artists-materials-techniques/painting-materials-techniques/v/moma-art-term-tint-shade-tone

Duane Keiser paints a PBJ (peanut butter & jelly sandwich) wet on wet oil painting demo (video - 3:48)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_cIM5d7Hgs8

Unit Eight: Printmaking
Time to view and read: 20 minutes

Printmaking (Wikipedia) (reading, approx. 10 minutes)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Printmaking

Woodcuts and Etchings (focus on Durer) (video - 4:54)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C3DmiEsvs6U

Printmaking Processes: Lithography (video - 4:48)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JHw5_1Hopsc

Unit Nine: Photography, Film and Digital Art
Time to view and read: 45+ minutes

Early Photography (reading, approx. 3 minutes)

http://smarthistory.khanacademy.org/early-photography.html

Ansel Adams: Techniques and Working Methods (video - 3:05)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DQT_rzI1Xdw

A concise history of the origins of cinema (video - 25:57)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K_Sq_FNoMnY

Akira Kurosawa: Composing Movement (video - 8:24)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=doaQC-S8de8

Digital Art (Wikipedia) (reading, approx. 5 minutes)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_art

Unit Ten: Graphic Design
Time to view and read: 13 minutes

The Universal Arts of Graphic Design (video - 6:26)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sTi5SNgxE3U

The Art of Logo Design (video - 6:25)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x3jTSB2ez-g

Unit Eleven: Sculpture
Time to view and read: 30+ minutes

Bronze Casting (video - 10:25)
https://youtu.be/XZHLmG8DRbY

Quarrying and Carving Marble (video - 8:57)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MvMI2r1RS78

Equestrian Sculpture of Marcus Aurelius (video - 3:47)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D4nK5uXuPXM

Robert Arneson's Sculpture of Mayor Moscone (video - 4:35)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cpkocJ5kbEY

Richard Serra: Torqued Elipse #4 at MOMA (video - 3:11)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ilWo7eWY73M

Unit Twelve: Craft (Clay, Glass, Wood and Fiber)
Time to view and read: 20 minutes

Ceramics for Beginners: Throwing a bowl with Emily Reason (video - 5:55)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M9-hAJ8IrmU

Dale Chihuly in Seattle (Glass) (video - 5:30)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ojV25g7UiaA

Legendary woodworker Sam Maloof (Wood) (video - 5:22)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CsIDms7Ealg

Fiber artist Carol Ann Waugh (video - 2:17)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3g7fKxhrXEM

Unit Thirteen: Architecture
Time to view and read: 32+ minutes

The Pyramid of Khufu (reading, approx. 5 minutes)
http://smarthistory.khanacademy.org/pyramid-of-khufu.html

The Classical Orders (video - 11:07)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nrRJkzXl4a4

Cathedral of Notre Dame de Chartres (French Gothic) (video - 5:31)

http://smarthistory.khanacademy.org/Gothic.html

St Peter’s Basilica (Italian Baroque) (video - 4:28)

http://smarthistory.khanacademy.org/saint-peters-basilica.html

Frank Lloyd Wright’s Fallingwater (modern) (video - 3:08)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HuZ0x5Qkgzg

Gilbert’s Woolworth Building (reading, approx. 3 minutes)

http://smarthistory.khanacademy.org/gilberts-woolworth-building.html

Unit Fourteen: Paleolithic to Bronze Age
Time to view and read: 40+ minutes

Prehistoric Art: Paleolithic Origins (Reading 5 minutes)

http://smarthistory.khanacademy.org/origins.html

The Cave Art of Lascaux (video - 2:26, no narration)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qNwMvVB5LkI

The Venus of Willendorf (video - 4:20)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ENAZqOoOVaI (video - 4:19)

Ancient Near Eastern and Egyptian Art by Dr. Nancy Ross (video - 6:18)

http://smarthistory.khanacademy.org/ancient-cultures.html

Thutmose: Bust of Nefertiti (video - 4.00)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cZuYdIRAIAs

Mortuary Temple of Hapshetsut and Large Kneeling Statue (video - 7:36)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pZOUV_rTyj0

Harp Player (Early Cycladic) (video - 4:20)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7C7do85sfXA

Unit Fifteen: The Classical and Medieval West
Time to view and read: 40 minutes

Ancient Greece and Rome (video - 7:17 plus reading, approx. 2 minutes)

http://smarthistory.khanacademy.org/ancient-greece-and-rome.html

Polykleitos, Doryphoros (Spear Bearer) (video - 5:07)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EAR9RAMg9NY

Ancient Rome (reading, approx. 7 minutes)
http://smarthistory.khanacademy.org/ancient-rome.html

The Pantheon (video - 8:31)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KaY8zqYfQI0

A Medieval Textbook (video - 6:44)
https://youtu.be/okxU0GB2eCM

The Aminated Bayeux Tapestry (video - 4:24)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LtGoBZ4D4_E

Unit Sixteen: Renaissance and Baroque Europe
Time to view : approx. 45 minutes

Cimabue's Santa Trinita Madonna and Giotto's Ognissanti Madonna (video: 6:58)
https://youtu.be/DKnFvXmUlOI

Botticelli, The Birth of Venus (video: 3:59)
https://youtu.be/tdp22elrY7s

Michelangelo,  Sistine Chapel Ceiling (video: 6:46)
https://youtu.be/PEE3B8Fsuc0

Bronzino and the Mannerist Portrait (video: 10:29)
https://youtu.be/4mpFcaeElCs

Caravaggio's Calling of St. Matthew (video: 6:21)
https://youtu.be/SZF5K8epWko

St. Peter's Basilica (video: 4:27)
https://youtu.be/R5UK0dEFSoM

Bernini: The Ecstasy of St. Teresa (video - 7:32)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RKcJvjP9zgY

Unit Seventeen: Asian Art
Time to view and read: 35+ minutes

Arts of Asia: Ceramics – innovations in clay (video 8:14)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6qkg16A9SlA

The historical Buddha (reading, approx. 3 minutes)

http://smarthistory.khanacademy.org/the-historical-buddha.html

Bodhisattva (China) (video - 7:46) 

http://smarthistory.khanacademy.org/bodhisattva-from-china.html

The caves at Ajanta (India) (reading, approx 6 minutes)

http://smarthistory.khanacademy.org/ajanta-caves.html

The temple at Borobudur (Indonesia) (reading, approx. 10 minutes)

http://smarthistory.khanacademy.org/borobudur.html

Supplemental Reading:

South and East Asia (text and timeline)
http://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/art-asia

Unit Eighteen: Islamic Art
Time to view and read: 25 minutes

Introduction to Islam (reading, approx. 5 minutes)

http://smarthistory.khanacademy.org/overview-of-islam.html

Introduction to arts of the Islamic World (reading, approx. 10 minutes)

http://smarthistory.khanacademy.org/introduction-to-the-arts-of-the-islamic-world.html

Sinan's Rustem Pasha Mosque (video - 9:17)
http://smarthistory.khanacademy.org/sinans-restem-pasha-mosque-1561-63.html

Supplemental Reading:

Arts of the Islamic World - Khan Academy (text and timeline)
http://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/art-islam

Unit Nineteen: African Oceania and the Americas

Time to view and read: 25 minutes

Nkisi Nkondi figures (Africa) (reading, approx. 5 minutes)

http://smarthistory.khanacademy.org/nkisi-nkondi.html

Oceanic Art (Wikipedia) (reading, approx. 5 minutes)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oceanic_art

Classic Maya Portrait Stele (reading, approx. 5 minutes)

http://smarthistory.khanacademy.org/classic-maya-portrait-stelae.html

Pre-Columbian Cup (video - 4:43)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dRMGqKA5xKI

Great Serpent Mound (reading, approx. 5 minutes)

http://smarthistory.khanacademy.org/great-serpent-mound.html

Supplemental Reading:

Africa, Oceania and the indigenous Americas - Khan Academy (text and timeline)
http://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/art-africa-oceania-americas

Unit Twenty: Late 18^th and 19^th centuries
Time to view and read: 35+ minutes

1700-1800 Age of Enlightenment (reading, approx. 5 minutes)

https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/monarchy-enlightenment/rococo/a/a-beginners-guide-to-the-age-of-enlightenment

Gericault: Raft of the Medusa (video - 6:33) Romanticism
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XympPG5iD-Y

Jacques-Louis David: Oath of the Horatii, 1785 (video - 6:10) Neoclassicism
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mawq5PKRB6k

1848-1907: Turning Points in History: the Industrial Revolution  (video - 3:31)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Efq-aNBkvc

Becoming Modern (reading, approx 6 minutes)

http://smarthistory.khanacademy.org/becoming-modern.html

Unit Twenty-One: Early 20^th century
Time to view and read: 35+ minutes

Fauvism (reading, approx. 3 minutes)
http://smarthistory.khanacademy.org/fauvism.html

Matisse: Luxe, Calme et Volupte (video: 3:25)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7d6S8y2kYSg

Expressionism: Kirchner's Street (video - 9:54)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zfZu--psur8

Cubism: Picasso's Still-Life with Chair Caning (video - 13:35)

http://smarthistory.khanacademy.org/cubism.html

Futurism (reading, approx. 5 minutes)

http://smarthistory.khanacademy.org/futurism.html

Unit Twenty-Two: Between world wars
Time to view and read: 25+ minutes

Surrealism (reading, approx. 3 minutes) 

http://smarthistory.khanacademy.org/surrealism.html

Dali: The Persistence of Memory (video - 6:27)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6mp-fBJNQmU

German Art Between the wars: Otto Dix's Portrait of the Journalist Sylvia Von Harden (video - 7:57)

http://smarthistory.khanacademy.org/Neue-Sachlichkeit.html

Amerian Regionalism: Grant Wood's American Gothic (video - 6:19)
http://smarthistory.khanacademy.org/american-regionalism-grant-woods-american-gothic.html

Unit Twenty-Three: Postwar art
Time to view and read: 28 minutes

Abstract Expressionism: Pollock's Number One, 1950 (video - 7:34)

http://smarthistory.khanacademy.org/the-context-of-abstract-expressionism.html

Hans Namuth: Pollock Painting (video - 10:13)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KNwvUco146c

Warhol's Gold Marilyn Monroe (video - 3:14)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lXfzq27fGvU

Donald Judd’s “Untitled” (Minimalism) (video - 3:50)

http://smarthistory.khanacademy.org/minimalismjudds-untitled.html

Conceptual Art (reading, approx. 2 minutes)

http://smarthistory.khanacademy.org/conceptual-art.html

Unit Twenty-Four: Postmodernity and global art
Time to view and read: 37+ minutes

Art in the 21^st century (reading, approx. 5 minutes)

http://smarthistory.khanacademy.org/art-in-the-21st-century.html

Performance Art (reading, approx. 5 minutes)

http://smarthistory.khanacademy.org/performance-art-an-introduction.html

Smithson Spiral Jetty (Earthworks) (video - 3:44)

http://smarthistory.khanacademy.org/earth-artsmithsons-spiral-jetty.html

Eva Hesse: Untitled Rope Piece (video - 3:46)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-nrSCokEUXg

Cindy Sherman, Untitled Film Still #21 (video - 4:22)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0fPwsLeH8fA

Ai Wei Wei: Sunflower Seeds (video - 14:41)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PueYywpkJW8

For Optional Additional Study
Supplementary Video Series:

Art Through Time: A Global View (13 thirty minute segments)

http://www.learner.org/courses/globalart/

Robert Hughes: The Shock of the New (an 8 part series on modern art, each 60 minutes)

http://ubu.com/film/hughes.html

Modern Art History Videos by Parme Giuntini for Otis College (13 videos, varied lengths)

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL96CFB252D5F0A466

Art 21: Art of the 21st Century (An archive with episodes and excerpts from 7 seasons of video segments)
http://www.art21.org/films

An index of art videos/documentaries available online:
http://art.docuwat.ch/videos/?channel_id=0&skip=0&subpage=channel

Free Online courses in Art History:
http://arthistorylab.com/category/online-courses/