My parents encouraged my art. They were supportive, but I’m not sure they knew how to teach me about art. In school, and I’m talking about early elementary school, they devoted time to art. I remember standing in front of an easel in a smock, painting in Mrs. Barnes’ kindergarten class.
I think school not only made me more interested in art, it made art possible. I don’t remember anyone instructing me early on, but they made the materials and time available.
As time went by, art class became more structured. It was one of the more enjoyable subjects I studied, if not the only one.
By the time I was in Art School in the early 1980’s, I was fascinated by art history. We’d sit in a darkened classroom early in the morning looking at slides and listening to the teacher talk about ancient civilizations. I had my notebook and a thermos of coffee, and I absorbed the information with a sense of wonder while other students put their heads on their desks and slept. Sometimes snoring.
Like those ancient Egyptians, Minoans and Etruscans, I like to think that future generations will be looking at art by people like me.
Art from all eras is important, because we are informed by what came before us. We don’t have to invent things like perspective, foreshortening or color theory. Our predecessors have figured that out for us. Art history gives us a huge head start. Also, art is subjective. Can we really say that da Vinci is better than an ancient cave painter, or that Van Gogh is better than Rothko? It’s not a contest. Not a competition. Certain artists are remembered, and represent their time period for us today. Then I see mosaics by unknown artists from places like Pompeii. Beautiful images from another time. From a lost world. A few are remembered by name. Were they the best? Maybe. Maybe not.
They were people. People like you and me, creating art. They passionately expressed their creativity from their own perspective in their own time and culture.
It’s worthwhile to teach young people about traditional ways of creating artworks. I hate to use the word rules, but you have to know the rules before you can break them.