Category Archives: Art History

A History of New York City, in 870,000 Photographs

Over 870,000 photographs of the municipal operations of New York City have been made public and tell the history of the city through a unique medium. Some of the photographs date back to the mid 1800s and highlight the unique physical and cultural evolution of the city – highlighting the construction of various important buildings and structures, the rise and fall of celebrities, and even grisly gang-land murders.

The publication and availability of these photographs is a move by the Department of Records to make these records more readily accessible via the internet.

“We all knew that we had fantastic photograph collections that no one would even guess that we had,” Kenneth Cobb.

The database, while impressively large, still has some prominent gaps that the city is consistently working to fill – and it is growing daily.

To learn more about the project, read the article at MSNBC (or the Photoblog here) or search the archives yourself at the NYC Department of Records.

1914 - Painters Suspended from the Brooklyn Bridge

1936 Babe Ruth and his Second Wife Signing Autographs for the Crowd

1918 Police Investigate the Homicide of Gaspare Candella

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AP Art History – Blogging in the Classroom (an Update)

A few months ago, I posted an article “Using Blogs in Class – AP Art History.” I felt that it was time for a quick update to the project. As with any lesson plan, I’ve modified it over the course of the year. I still find it to be one of the most effective exercises for my students. A quick review, the students are required to choose one image from the most recent chapters we’ve covered (usually they choose from 2-3 chapter sections). No two students may do the same project – the first one to post to the blog has ‘legitimate claim,’ thus they have to check online to see what’s happening. Here are the formal written instructions (changes in bold):

Instructions: Select one image from either Chapter x, y, or z (only one student may do each image, first call first serve).

Written Portion:

  • On the Class Blog Write the Title of the Work, Artist, and Date
  • Write a brief physical description of the image
  • Write a brief description of the image’s historical and social context
  • Minimum 100 words
  • Spelling & Grammar Count
  • Include a brief Works Cited at the end (MLA format), you should include at least 2 sources (including your textbook)
  • Be sure to put your name in the Tag

Oral Portion:

  • One Power Point Slide
  • Include a copy of the image
  • Include the Title of the Work, Artist, and Date
  • Indicate five principles of design, at least three most from the assigned chapter reading.
  • Prepare a two minute (minimum) discussion of the piece, its significance, and its history (this information should not be written on the slide).
  • Save the PowerPoint in DropBox at TVS Art History Share –> Student Projects –> Project 2.Last Name.ppt

As you can see, the biggest changes that I have made are requiring that they use five principals of design (not just three) and that three of those most come from the chapter, to reemphasize new vocabulary. Now, it’s Spring Semester so some of my Senior have gotten a bit of “Senioritis” but overall, they’re still putting forward some great work. Again, I reemphasize the usefulness of DropBox as a tool here for the students to all store and have access to the work – when the AP test rolls around, I hope that they will use these slides as a set of ‘flash-cards’. Here is what their shared folder looks like:

They also have the opportunity to meaningfully comment on another students work to earn a few extra credit points. Here are some examples of their latest work:

Greek Austerity Measures Spell Danger for Antiquities

© MSNBCWith the debt crisis and pending austerity measures in Greece, one of the great losers in this could be the Antiquities of Ancient Greece. Already plagued with deficiencies in conservation, preservation, guarding (as highlighted in the recent armed theft at Olympia), Greek antiquities face further cuts. Greek authorities are reaching out to private investors and philanthropists, but without much success.

To read more about the campaign to preserve Greek Antiquities, see the article at MSNBC.

On this day: Happy Pi Day (3/14)!

Reblogged from ARTstor Blog:

Click to visit the original post
  • Click to visit the original post

Happy Pi (∏)Day! Today is 3/14, the first three decimals of ∏ (3.14). To celebrate, here is a 16th-century woodcut of the Greek letter ∏ from The Illustrated Bartsch.

Too dry? Try these pies from Pop artist Wayne Thiebaud, courtesy of the Museum of Modern Art: Painting and Sculpture.

Not enough? Visit this site from the University of Exeter to see pi to the first 1,000,000 digital places!

Read more… 103 more words

Happy Pi Day!

Did Leonardo da Vinci Copy his “Vitruvian Man?”

Leonardo da Vinci’s Vitruvian Man is one of his most recognized and admired works. However, new evidence suggests that it was not the artist’s original work. Architectural historian Claudio Sgabari believes that the piece may have been copied from Leonardo’s friend and contemporary Giacamo Andrea de Ferrera.

In Leonardo’s writings, he mentions “Giacomo Andrea’s Vitruvius” — seemingly a direct reference to the illustrated Ferrara manuscript. Secondly, Leonardo had dinner with Giacomo Andrea in July 1490, the year in which both men are thought to have drawn their Vitruvian men. Experts believe Leonardo would have probed Giacomo Andrea’s knowledge of Vitruvius when they met. And though both drawings interpret Vitruvius’ words similarly, Leonardo’s is perfectly executed, while Giacomo Andrea’s is full of false starts and revisions, none of which would have been necessary if he had simply copied Leonardo’s depiction, rather than the other way around. (Scientific American)

Other Art Historians agree with the argument and believe that the origins of the Vitruvian man may be more involved and intricate than previously believed. To read about this story in more detail, see the article in Scientific America, MSNBC, and FoxNews.

AP Art History Students Enjoy their Thanks from Google

A couple months ago, I took my AP Art History students on a field trip to the Dallas Museum of Art and the Nasher Sculpture Center. I decided to employ a bit of an experiment with them using Google Goggles - just to play around with the program and explore its potential for application in the classroom. I posted it in a blog post: “Field Trip Experiment – Kids Using Google Goggles at the Museum.”

That post was picked up by Google and I was contacted by their development team who was interested in how we applied this and where we saw it going. It was a great experience to talk with them. As a thank you, Google sent us some shwag to enjoy.

 

 

Field Trip Experiment – Kids Using Google Goggles at the Museum

Recently, my AP Art History kids and I took a field trip to the Dallas Museum of Art and the Nasher Sculpture Center. I decided that it would be a great opportunity for the students to play with Google Goggles - we could see how it works in practice and I could bug my students for input on the best ways to employ this tool for school. If you’re not familiar with Google Goggles, check out this video below:

I gave them the opportunity to earn extra credit and encouraged those without Smart Phones to share. I gave them the assignment to use Google Goggles on a minimum of two (2) pieces (they could do more if they wanted) and to answer the following questions:

Were the results quick? 

Were the results accurate? 

Does the information appear thorough?

What type of resources does Google locate? 

Does it solely return secondary resources or primary as well? 

Any other observations of note?

I also encouraged them to include pieces that did *not* pull up on on Google Goggles, as we want to see its breadth. The students were eager to use the tools on the trip – borrowing each other’s and even my own phone to try it out. We noticed some stark differences between sculpture and paintings, as well as Modern Art and “Classical.” Sculpture would often not pull up, unless you took the photo from a very specific angle (and even then, you had to take two or three pictures). Paintings were more readily able to be found via Google Image search – the exception being Modern Art with more saturated colors (such as a Rothko). As per usual, I was thoroughly impress with what my students produced.

Here are a few examples of their findings (some with pictures):

Overall, the students found Google Goggles easy (and even fun) to use. However, it does need some further development. Still, they almost universally told me that they would be using it on all future museum visits to learn more about the art around them. One also mentioned that she would be going to Europe with her family during Spring Break and that she planned on giving it a whirl in Italy with the monuments.

The Devil’s in the Details… of a Giotto

Thank you to my friend Mike Carano for bringing this story to my attention. Art Restorers working on a Giotto of the Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi have uncovered the details of a ‘devil’ figure hidden in the cloud at the top of the fresco.

To learn more about this discovery, read the article at Reuters.

Da Vinci Forgery is Authentic – Worth Millions

Art Historian and Oxford Professor Martin Kemp has officially declared his belief that “La Belle Principessa,” once believed to be a stunning da Vinci forgery, is in fact an original piece by the famed artist. The piece purchased in auction for a little over $20,000 may in fact be worth millions.

To learn more about the piece Kemp’s research, see the article on BBC News.