Art is one of humanity's great achievements and it should be experienced in a rounded, integrated way. It is important that children have experience of a wide range of art images and objects, at first hand where possible, or otherwise in reproduction. It is enriching to show slides or prints of art works that relate to the children's own work, or to focus on the work of an artist, or even on a single art work, forpure aesthetic enjoyment. Children should be helped to look at art works with openness, to appreciate and enjoy their inherent qualities, and to understand that there are no definitive answers in art. Openness and sensitivity to art are the basis for developing a critical faculty. Depth of experience is important too, rather than cursory encounters with art: children should have opportunities to question and reflect on what they see and to become more discriminating and critically aware. The emphasis, however, should be on appreciation and enjoyment.
As with making art, children go through a process in responding to art. Their initial response may be an aesthetic or felt response to what they see, and they should be given time to reflect on and interpret that response. Whether the subject is a painting, a sculpture, a building or a piece of craft work, they should not be asked immediately whether they like it or not, as this may invite them to categorise or dismiss it. It is best to suspend judgement until they have had time to look at the work receptively. A spirit of enquiry and a more objective response may be encouraged by posing questions such as
- how was the object or image made?
- what was it made from?
- who made it and what did he/she intend?
- where, when and in what social and cultural context was it made?
- what was it made for?
When dealing with history, literature or music, there may be opportunities to look at one or two paintings of the period. The visual arts can give important insights into social life, dress or customs, for example. This, however, is not the most important reason for looking at a good piece of art, although it may be the only interesting thing about an indifferent one.Works of art should be studied first of all for their own inherent qualities.
Looking at paintings
Questions such as the following would help children to look attentively at art works and to make a personal response to them. The first group applies primarily to representational art and the second to non-representational, but many of them could be applied to both.
Representational art
- What is happening in the picture? What is it about?
- What do you see? What else do you see?
- What kind of place is it?
- What kind of light is there? How do you know? Where is it coming from? How do you know?
- What time of day or year is it? Why do you think so?
- What part did you notice first?
- What colours stand out most? Why? What are the surrounding colours like? What colours are used more than once?
- Is the paint thick or thin, rough or smooth, creamy or runny?
- Does the surface look shiny and polished, or heavily textured?
- Can you see the brush marks the artist made?
- Are the edges of things clear and sharp, or soft and fuzzy?
- What is the mood or atmosphere of the picture? How is it created?
Non-representational art
- What part catches your eye most?
- What part is brightest, darkest, busiest, quietest?
- Do some parts seem closer and others further away?
- Which colours seem closer to you and which seem to move away?
- Do some shapes overlap?
- How does the artist suggest movement?
- Can you think of words to describe the edges of things?
- Does the whole painting look flat or does the artist suggest space?
- Is a mood created? What mood? How is it created?
Looking at sculpture
- Is it a compact block or do some parts stick out a lot?
- Is it made of metal, stone, wood, mixed media, ceramic?
- Is it composed of a number of units?
- Are there sharp jagged angles or smooth curves?
- Does it make you want to see what it is like on the other side? Can you imagine what it would be like on the other side? Tell me.
- Would you like to run your hand all around it? What would it feel like?
- Can you get into that position (if it is a figure)? Show me.
EXEMPLAR 24 - Looking and responding: 'The Singing Horseman' by Jack B. Yeats (infant classes)
EXEMPLAR 25 - Looking and responding: 'Surprised! (Tropical Storm with a Tiger)' by Henri Rousseau (first and second classes)
EXEMPLAR 26 - Looking and responding: 'The Ripe Field' by William Crozier (third and fourth classes)
EXEMPLAR 27 - Looking and responding: a study of two contrasting drawings (fifth and sixth classes)