Useful collection of art-history resources; can be dry/dreary without focus/interactive associated activity/limits

Submitted 10 years ago

Community Review for Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History

John D.
John D.
My Rating
Pedagogy
Supports

My Take

I love how the slideshows are organized. You could really do a whole college course if you had the self-discipline and interest. For 9-12 grades, some fences and targets are necessary. And as always, this is not a complete resource: movements are missing, ethnic art is grouped in ghettos-- but of course art history has traditionally been Euro-centric. All in all, I'm very grateful for the resource as a teaching and learning tool, but the high school teacher has work to do to make the human history of art focused and relevant and engaging. Small bursts!

How I Use It

This was great in small, focused bursts: giving students specific search terms or targeted explorations is the way to go. You can't, alas, just turn students loose on the site to read and learn from the slides. I like to give a very general overview of a period, movement, or style, and the turn students loose on a site like this to find a work that inspires them or that (less ideally) they could copy.

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Chris H.
Chris H. Alternative Education, Art Integrated Multi-Subject Classroom, Teacher Consultant - Great Valley Writing Project
November 4, 2014

User-friendly exploration of the world of fine art

There are many fine art resources on the web, and I find this to be a real stand out. The ease of use is key to its success. It makes a difference when it is easy to explore and find new things. That, coupled with just the right amount of information about the artist, the work itself, the movement perhaps, connections to like items, and the historical context makes the site a home run. The site is a great source of art for art's sake, but an efficient and thorough tool for any secondary classroom.
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Lisa L.
Lisa L. Teacher
August 2, 2014

Wonderful interactive extensive art history website

The website - Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History - sponsored by the Metropolitan Museum of Art is a tool that I would use with my more advanced teens in my classes. Some of the photographs and artwork could be used for writing prompts, or as supplemental materials for my developmentally disabled students but they would struggle with the reading level of the thematic essays and explanations of the artwork. This website would be extremely useful for art history classes, and advanced art studies. Social studies teachers would also find this to be useful and an extensive resource for their curriculum. At the top of the home page, there are links to lesson plans, and resources for adults, teens, and kids. Most of them are tied to visiting the Museum in NY City, but after I reviewed their links, I did see a few lessons that could be abbreviated for mini-lesson usage (depending on your subject level).
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