Amongst the subjects that epitomize Charlotte Mason’s philosophy of education, picture study – otherwise known as artist study or art study – offers so much scope for us to consider how classical education can benefit from a deeper understanding of Mason’s methods. When we think about the classical tradition, we often focus on the great books, from the classics of the ancient world to the literary and philosophical masterpieces down through the ages. Yet, the tradition of the visual arts has generated masterpieces of a different sort, and in some cases of greater esteem that the written tradition.
The Visual Arts in the Classical Tradition
The visual arts have encompassed everything from painting and sculpture to architecture, tapestry, furniture, pottery, and more recently photography. The visual arts have been a part of the human experience since prehistoric times, with cave paintings being some of our only means of understanding the earliest civilizations, since the visual arts predate written language. In fact, wherever civilizations have emerged, the visual arts have been produced. We often think of the sculpture of ancient civilizations such as Greece and Rome. Included amongst these ancient works are artifacts from Eastern civilizations such as China, the Middle East such as Egypt and Babylon, and the Americas such as the Aztecs, Incas and Mayans.
In the Western tradition, the guilds that developed during the Middle Ages shaped our understanding of the visual arts. In order to become a master who could take on apprentices, artisans would have to produce a “chef d’oeuvre” or a masterpiece (also referred to as a magnum opus). By the time of the Renaissance, this masterpiece idea led to advancements in architecture and painting, particularly through the application of mathematical formulas that enabled the building of taller structures, such as the dome on the Florence Cathedral, and the discovery of linear perspective by Brunelleschi in the early 1400s. Virtuosity became the litmus test for true masters, and artists continued to push the envelope of effects that could be created on the canvas. Painting in particular took on epic proportions in part due to the promotion of the great artists in Vasari’s publication of Lives of the Most Eminent Painters, Sculptors and Architects (1550). Art history was now created and the personalities of individuals such as Leonardo da Vinci and Michaelangelo came to dominate the landscape of painting for generations to come.
In and amongst this personality-driven approach to art history, the creation of works of enduring beauty and significance were produced in a succession of art movements down through the centuries. What gives these creations such significance is the fact that they are idea-driven works with religious and philosophical insight. For instance, the famous Creation of Adam by Michaelangelo is simultaneously a religious interpretation of Adam’s creation by God showing an intimate connection between God and his creation. At the same time, we can see the philosophical humanism of the Renaissance in the details of the painting, such as the depiction of God in human form, an outline of the human brain behind God, and an idealized depiction of Adam.
Picture study, then, becomes this valuable treasure trove of idea-rich artifacts that have historical significance as the means by which some of the most important aspects of Western culture are handed down through the ages. Through works of art, we encounter truth, goodness and beauty in ways that can cultivate the affective domain. They say a picture is worth a thousand words. I’m not certain one can create some sort of equivalency between art work and the written word. That being said, a classroom and a course of study ought to incorporate the visual arts alongside all the other areas of the curriculum from literature to history and from science to mathematics.
How to Do Picture Study
Our ability to teach a picture study lessons does not rely on any expertise we bring to the subject, but on a clear and consistent method of interacting with works of art. In fact, picture study can be approached just like reading a text, only the “text” we are “reading” happens to be of a visual nature. I cannot stress this point enough, as there ought not to be the thought that one must have studied art history or gained some competency as an artist in order to teach picture study. If you find yourself lacking in expertise, great! You get to encounter works of art alongside your students, growing in your own appreciation of artists and their works.
Charlotte Mason spells out what picture study looks like in her sixth volume, A Philosophy of Education:
We recognise that the power of appreciating art and of producing to some extent an interpretation of what one sees is as universal as intelligence, imagination, nay, speech, the power of producing words. But there must be knowledge and, in the first place, not the technical knowledge of how to produce, but some reverent knowledge of what has been produced; that is, children should learn pictures, line by line, group by group, by reading, not books, but pictures themselves. A friendly picture-dealer supplies us with half a dozen beautiful little reproductions of the work of some single artist, term by term. After a short story of the artist’s life and a few sympathetic words about his trees or his skies, his river-paths or his figures, the little pictures are studied one at a time; that is, children learn, not merely to see a picture but to look at it, taking in every detail. Then the picture is turned over and the children tell what they have seen,––a dog driving a flock of sheep along a road but nobody with the dog. Ah, there is a boy lying down by the stream drinking. It is morning as you can see by the light so the sheep are being driven to pasture, and so on; nothing is left out, the discarded plough, the crooked birch, the clouds beautiful in form and threatening rain, there is enough for half an hour’s talk and memory in this little reproduction of a great picture and the children will know it wherever they see it, whether a signed proof, a copy in oils, or the original itself in one of our galleries. We hear of a small boy with his parents in the National Gallery; the boy, who had wandered off on his own account, came running back with the news,––”Oh, Mummy, there’s one of our Constables on that wall.” In this way children become acquainted with a hundred, or hundreds, of great artists during their school-life and it is an intimacy which never forsakes them.
Charlotte Mason, A Philosophy of Education, 214-215.
Let’s break this down into some clear steps. First, notice that the interest students bring to picture study is innate and universal. Children are predisposed to bring their own intelligence and imagination to the task of viewing works of art. All we need to do is place before them a healthy diet of various great paintings and they devour the meal quite readily. Second, the children encounter the works of art themselves by way of prints. Today we have access to so many via the internet. We can print out copies on printer paper, or can purchase postcard sized reproductions. Hanging great artwork on the walls is another means of placing these works of art in front of them.
With this philosophical framework in mind, let’s turn to the method itself. The lesson begins with a short reading about the artist and the artwork. This shouldn’t be too lengthy, only enough to spark interest in the painting to be looked at in the lesson. Then the students look at one painting at a time. This is a full-focused immersion in the painting. Mason has the children “look at it, taking in every detail.” They can spend several minutes just looking at the print, noticing quite a number of highly specific details. Once the print has been looked at, students turn the picture over and narrate what they have seen. Notice how narration occurs just like we would expect of students reading a literary or historical book. They tell back the details they have noticed: colors, people in the picture, obscure items in the background, little details we ourselves may never have noticed. We will take a look at how we can develop art vocabulary in a moment, but for those just beginning, children can use simple descriptive language to tell back what they see.
I generally have students turn the picture back over to do another round of observations. This time they will notice items shared by other students. Sometimes debates emerge as to what some of the obscure objects might be. At other times, a teacher can focus their attention on key details, such as the source of light, the nature of the subject, the use of color, the development of perspective, and a host of other topics that helps develop their understanding of art.
A lesson of this sort – a short reading, focused attention on one painting, narration, and discussion – does not take very long. In fact, such a lesson is a great one to have in hand on days where there’s only a short amount of time between other classes. If you have a good set of prints, it is easy to distribute a set and encounter another new painting by the artist being studied. The simplicity of the method means that over the course of weeks and months, the student accumulates a good number of paintings of a single artist. The students develop a sense of the artist’s style and immediately notice similarities between paintings studied according to this method. Over many years, as they encounter numerous other artists, they develop a sense of differences in style.
Formal Elements of Art
I myself never studied art in any formal way. There has always been an appreciation, but my own study of art began when I started teaching picture study in the way outlined. It has become one of my favorite subjects to teach, and along the way I have fallen in love with the landscapes of William Turner, the works of Caravaggio still move me, and the philosophical ideas of Eduard Manet still compel me. One of the best ways to help students (and sometimes ourselves) to encounter art is to develop their art vocabulary. Here I’ll lay out the basic or formal elements of art: line, shape, space, texture, color, light.
Taking the first three together – line, shape, space – these are essential to the way an artist conveys three dimension in two-dimensional representation. We can find lines, whether well articulated or implied in the work of art. Sometimes the lines are straight, angled, curved or otherwise. Many times the lines move our eyes throughout the painting or focus our eyes on the subject. With shape, we are looking at the basic shapes being used – such as circles and triangles – and how they are arranged. All of these exist in the space depicted on the canvas. Are the shapes of flowers, vases and fruits placed on a table? Do ships sail on a rolling sea? Is there a window behind a lady in a portrait that gives a sense of the setting? All of these questions point to the use of space.
Texture, color and light are effects that play with our perception of what is happening in the picture. Artists use these effects to create visual realism or to trick the eye through impressions. Texture gives the sense of roughness or smoothness. Even without touching the painting, the eye gets the impression that there is a tactile aspect to the painting. As to color, even a basic understanding of the color wheel can help students see the use of contrasting colors – such as blues and oranges – or the use of warm and cold colors – red hues versus blue hues. The concept of light pertains to the way a source of light plays off of objects, so that there are faces that appear brighter and faces that appear darker. You can often look for shading to identify where the source of light is located.
As you prepare lessons for your students, bringing in these formal elements can open new lines of observation. I recommend choosing one or two formal elements per painting during the second round of observations. I might say, “Okay, this time when we look at our painting, look at the way our artist has used color.” Then I would have students tell back what colors they found, where they are located, contrasts they see, interesting or odd uses of color, and so forth.
Art Movements and Artistic Techniques
Mason recommends reading from a biography of the artist being studied. There are many biographies that can be found for the most prominent artists throughout history appropriate for whatever age level you are working with. The goal with these readings is to understand the personal life of the artist, perhaps their early years, where they studied art, breakthrough moments in their career. Most biographies will indicate what sort of art movement the artist contributed to or was reacting to. For instance, Claude Monet was a prominent figure in the impressionist movement in France during the late nineteenth century. Unpacking what impressionism was as a movement gives a sense of the historical setting as well as the techniques used by artists associated with that movement.
Using impressionism as an example, we know that it was a movement that was reacting to the art of the establishment which has become very staid and formal. Eduard Manet expressed the philosophical concept that “art is artifice,” an idea that inspired a controversial new art scene to emerge. There’s a sense of rebellion amongst the impressionists. As a movement, the artists of this scene contributed to a cultural revolution associated with the modernism of the late 1800s. We can trace some of the tendencies to break with tradition in later art movements to the ideals of impressionism, such as the depiction of everyday life scenes rather than classical or historical subject matters. The irony is that today impressionist art is looked upon as some of the most beautiful artwork ever produced, but in its day the original audiences of these works of art were scandalized by much of what was produced during this era.
The techniques associated with impressionism are tied to the philosophical ideas these artists espoused. For instance, the quick and unblended brush strokes create blurred effects where they eye perceives objects in the painting, but can also see splashes of paint and brushstrokes. In some cases, the canvas itself is left untreated and peaks out amongst the brush strokes. When observing these paintings in a museum, you will often find people standing very close to the painting to see the individual brushstrokes and then moving away from the painting to more clearly see the subject matter of the painting. The brushstroke techniques used by impressionist painters gives a sense of lightness and energy to the paintings, in part because the activity of the artist remains visible in the completed work.
As you read about artists, there will emerge a strong connection between the historical setting of the artist and their works as well as specific techniques that artist used and developed over the course of a career. These readings enable students to see items in the paintings they observe and provide even more language for them to describe what they are noticing.
Hopefully this exploration of picture study has inspired you to incorporate paintings into your classroom or school. No matter what subject you teach, works of art can make lessons come alive.
