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Art Class Curator

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Art printables, worksheets, and powerpoints.

Inside: A collection of printable art worksheets, PowerPoints, and lesson plans to use in art class. (Most of them are FREE!)

Art class should be about more than just making art! Art lessons should introduce students to a variety of works of art and allow them to explore the process, the history, and their own personal connections to the artworks they encounter.

Keeping a class full of students engaged while looking at art takes practice, confidence, inventive activities , and a variety of approaches. But most of us weren’t taught how to talk about art with kids . That’s why I’ve gathered some of my best printable art worksheets and downloads in one place! Most of these art lesson plans can be used for any grade level and there’s enough variety to keep elementary, middle, and high school students interested and intrigued.

Free Printable Art Worksheets

My favorite go-to art lessons come from the Art Appreciation Worksheet Bundle .

It’s as easy as 1, 2, 3! 1. Pick an artwork 2. Print one of the Art Appreciation Worksheets 3. Watch with joy as your students connect with and interpret art

The bundle includes 25 printable art worksheets, but everyone who signs up for Your Weekly Art Break , my email newsletter full of art inspiration, gets six FREE art appreciation worksheets . Fill out the form below to receive your free art worksheets and weekly art inspiration.

Free Worksheets!

Art Appreciation Worksheets

In this free bundle of art worksheets, you receive six ready-to-use art worksheets with looking activities designed to work with almost any work of art.

Below, you’ll find a collection of the Art Class Curator posts that include art printables and downloads. These brains-on art activities will jump-start students’ critical thinking skills and breath new life into their  art projects . All of these art lesson plans are all free unless otherwise marked. Most are printable PDFs, but the ones containing PowerPoints are marked.

Free Elements and Principles Printable Pack

This pack of printables was designed to work in a variety of ways in your classroom when teaching the elements and principles of art. You can print and hang in your classroom as posters/anchor charts or you can cut each element and principle of art in its own individual card to use as a lesson manipulative. Click here to download the Elements and Principles Printable Pack.

Free Resource!

Elements & Principles Printable Pack

The Elements & Principles of Art are the foundation of every artwork, but teaching them can be a bore. Wake your students up and engage them with full color artworks, easy to understand definitions, and thought-provoking higher level thinking questions. This versatile resource can be hung in the classroom or used as an art manipulative.

Art Appreciation Printables

• Free Art Appreciation Printable Worksheet Bundle
• Art Appreciation Worksheet Bundle 25-Pack  
• I am… Dorothea Lange: Exploring Empathy
• Character Analysis Art Activity: Twitter Perspectives
• Haikus about Art
• I See, I Think, I Wonder
• “I Feel” Word Wheel: Learning Emotional Literacy in Art Education

Art Appreciation Activities & Art Appreciation Lessons

• Art Description and Drawing Activity
• Virtual Art Museum Field Trip
• Complete the Picture: An Easy Art Appreciation Game for Kids
• Interpreting the Power of the Kongo Nkisi N’Kondi

Artworks Printables

Artworks Worksheets & Artworks Activities

• Art, Horror, and The Sublime: Symbolism in Pablo Picasso’s Guernica
• Kollwitz & Cassatt: Two Views of Motherhood in Art
• Rosa Rolanda Jigsaw Art Learning Activity

Artworks Lessons

• Elements of Art Examples & Definitions
• Principles of Design Examples & Definitions
• Frida Kahlo’s The Two Fridas  Art Discussion Lesson
• Art Analysis Activity for John Gast’s American Progress
• Art Around the World in 30 Days – China
• Masterpiece Monday: Manifest Destiny Art

Art Criticism Printables

Art criticism worksheets.

• SPARK: 5 Art Criticism Steps for Inspired Art Connections and Conversations
• Art History Student Study Guide Worksheets

Art Criticism Activities

• 82 Questions to Ask About Art
• Photograph Analysis Learning Activities

Art Criticism Lessons

• 4 Steps of Art Criticism Lesson
• What is Art? – Aesthetics Lesson Bundle
• Classical Sculpture Analysis Lesson  
• Decoding Style: How to Teach Students to Read an Artwork  

Puzzles About Art Printables

Teaching students about  art and aesthetics  is a great way to make them think about art in a new way. Aesthetics puzzles ignite exciting, meaningful classroom art discussions  and flex students’ philosophical and critical thinking skills.

• Puzzles About Art: The Chimpanzee Painter
• Puzzles About Art: Call it Driftwood

More Art Printables

You can find more art lesson plans in the Art Class Curator store and on Teachers Pay Teachers . Sign up for  Your Weekly Art Break   to get six free art art worksheets and weekly art inspiration delivered to your inbox!

Get Art Inspiration To Your Inbox!

*free bundle of art appreciation worksheets*.

• Survey 1: Prehistory to Gothic
• Survey 2: Renaissance to Modern & Contemporary
• Thematic Lesson Plans
• AP Art History
• Books We Love
• CAA Conversations Podcasts
• SoTL Resources
• Teaching Writing About Art
• VISITING THE MUSEUM Learning Resource
• AHTR Weekly
• Digital Art History/Humanities
• Open Educational Resources (OERs)

Survey 1 See all→

• Prehistory and Prehistoric Art in Europe
• Art of the Ancient Near East
• Art of Ancient Egypt
• Jewish and Early Christian Art
• Byzantine Art and Architecture
• Islamic Art
• Buddhist Art and Architecture Before 1200
• Hindu Art and Architecture Before 1300
• Chinese Art Before 1300
• Japanese Art Before 1392
• Art of the Americas Before 1300
• Early Medieval Art

Survey 2 See all→

• Rapa Nui: Thematic and Narrative Shifts in Curriculum
• Proto-Renaissance in Italy (1200–1400)
• Northern Renaissance Art (1400–1600)
• Sixteenth-Century Northern Europe and Iberia
• Italian Renaissance Art (1400–1600)
• Southern Baroque: Italy and Spain
• Buddhist Art and Architecture in Southeast Asia After 1200
• Chinese Art After 1279
• Japanese Art After 1392
• Art of the Americas After 1300
• Art of the South Pacific: Polynesia
• African Art
• West African Art: Liberia and Sierra Leone
• European and American Architecture (1750–1900)
• Eighteenth and Early Nineteenth-Century Art in Europe and North America
• Eighteenth- and Nineteenth-Century Sculpture
• Realism to Post-Impressionism
• Nineteenth-Century Photography
• Architecture Since 1900
• Twentieth-Century Photography
• Modern Art (1900–50)
• Mexican Muralism
• Art Since 1950 (Part I)
• Art Since 1950 (Part II)

Thematic Lesson Plans See all→

• Art and Cultural Heritage Looting and Destruction
• Art and Labor in the Nineteenth Century
• Art and Political Commitment
• Art History as Civic Engagement
• Comics: Newspaper Comics in the United States
• Comics: Underground and Alternative Comics in the United States
• Disability in Art History
• Educating Artists
• Feminism & Art
• Gender in Nineteenth-Century Art
• Globalism and Transnationalism
• Playing “Indian”: Manifest Destiny, Whiteness, and the Depiction of Native Americans
• Queer Art: 1960s to the Present
• Race and Identity
• Race-ing Art History: Contemporary Reflections on the Art Historical Canon
• Sacred Spaces
• Sexuality in Art

How to visit an art museum–a guide for students

First things first....

This resource is designed for students, but instructors may want to adapt it in developing guidelines or assignments for students to visit museums on their own. It offers background information that may be useful to individuals unfamiliar with art museums, and suggestions for how anyone—including experienced museum visitors–can make the most of their museum experience. Some of the topics covered include how to

• prepare for a museum visit;
• explore different areas of the museum;
• engage with the objects and exhibits on display;
• share thoughts about the museum visit with others;
• reflect on the experience of the visit and consider how it contributes to an understanding of art, art history, and art’s broader relationship to society.

Note to Instructors

These materials can be adapted to support course learning objectives related to

• object-based learning
• visual literacy and communication of visual phenomena  
• critical analysis of museum collection and exhibition practices

Before You Go . . .

Remember, there is no right or wrong way to visit a museum!  We developed these materials because, although museums are common in most cities, they are often big, sometimes crowded, and can be confusing, overwhelming, and even intimidating when you first walk in.  Below are some resources and suggestions to help you make the most of a museum visit, but you should feel free to adapt and alter our ideas based on your own interests, exploration, and discoveries while you’re there.

While museums share many common features, each has its own distinctive qualities.  These might relate to the mission of the museum, the history of the collection, or changing ideas about the museum’s role within the community.  The building itself can influence and shape your experience dramatically. Some museums were originally private homes; some were built in a Neoclassical style that resembles an ancient Greek or Roman temple; some are refurbished warehouses and factories; and others are pinnacles of modern architecture, often serving as works of art in themselves!

Click below for related resources on the history and background of museums

AHTR  created these short videos as an introduction to different structures and environments found at museums in New York City.  

Smarthistory.org 

• See   Tools for Understanding Museums   for a number of useful videos and essays on the history of museums
• Dr. Steven Zucker and Dr. Naraelle Hohensee, “Breuer, The Whitney Museum of American Art (now The Met Breuer),” in Smarthistory , June 12, 2017, accessed July 2, 2018, https://smarthistory.org/breuer-whitney/ .
• Dr. Beth Harris and Dr. Steven Zucker, “Zaha Hadid, MAXXI National Museum of XXI Century Arts,” in Smarthistory , December 15, 2015, accessed July 2, 2018, https://smarthistory.org/zaha-hadid-maxxi/
• Dr. Matthew A. Postal, “Frank Gehry, Guggenheim Bilbao,” in Smarthistory , November 21, 2015, accessed July 2, 2018, https://smarthistory.org/frank-gehry-guggenheim-bilbao/ .
• Dr. Matthew A. Postal and Dr. Steven Zucker, “Frank Lloyd Wright, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York City,” in Smarthistory , November 27, 2015, accessed July 2, 2018, https://smarthistory.org/frank-lloyd-wright-solomon-r-guggenheim-museum-new-york-city/ .

Visit the museum's website

When planning your trip, be sure to confirm the museum’s hours, location/directions, and admission cost.  This important information is often grouped under a “plan your visit” link on the museum’s home page.  Note that many museums have regular days they are closed to the public. This gives staff additional time for changing exhibitions, upkeep to the galleries, object conservation, and other important tasks that happen behind the scenes in museums . Some also schedule large school tours in the morning, which causes them to delay their public opening.   

Another important reminder: most museums offer free or discounted admission for students, children, and other special populations if you have appropriate identification. Many also schedule particular days or times when people can visit for free. There’s lots of other useful stuff on websites. In addition to schedules of upcoming exhibitions and programs like films, classes, lectures, concerts– even yoga and  meditation ), you can learn about the museum’s collections and highlights that you may not want to miss; view maps to help orient you to the space; and read about the museum’s mission, history, and the types of artwork it owns. 

As you peruse the museum’s collection online, keep an eye out for artists, objects, or topics that are interesting, and look for additional information about them on the museum’s website, your school’s or a public library, or other online resources. Just a little background reading or preliminary research done prior to your visit can make your experience even better! 

Once You're There . . .

There are a lot of strategies for visiting a museum and avoiding  “museum fatigue. ” ( Yes, it’s a thing! )  Consider the strategies below in planning your experience and then focus on the artworks that you want to spend time with.

Regardless of a museum’s size, you’ll get tired quickly if you try to look closely at  every  object displayed.   Likewise, most museums provide lots of information about the objects on view, so don’t try to read everything!  You’ll likely encounter (at least) two types of labels that may be helpful to read.

“Tombstone” labels  are very brief and provide facts about the artist, the dates they lived, their country of the birth or artistic activity, title and date of the object, and the media used to make it.   There may be an accession number , which the museum uses to catalog the object, usually according to when it became a part of the collection, and a credit line that indicates the donor, fund, or other institution that enabled the museum to show the object as part of its collection or exhibition. 

Object (or “Chat”) Labels are placed next to many objects. These are usually short texts of 100-200 words, intended to give viewers information about the artwork that is not always obvious from the object. The approach used to write museum labels has been much debated among art historians and museum professionals. See AHTR’s (forthcoming)”The Thing About Labels.”

It’s always a good idea to  stop by the information desk.   Ask for a map, or have museum staff suggest highlights in the collection or special exhibitions that you might want to see before you leave. Many museums have special tours, audioguides, or downloadable apps that point you to these objects and give you additional information, but don’t feel compelled to use them.  Some people love guided experiences, but others prefer to create their own pathways through the museum.

Some people recommend  setting a specific amount of time  for your visit (1 or 2 hours), or planning frequent breaks so you don’t get too tired in the  galleries  (the rooms where the art is displayed). In addition to benches in the galleries, most museums have a cafe, shop, sculpture courtyard or gardens where you can hang out and relax for a bit.

Others suggest  walking quickly through the entire building  (or a single floor or wing of a large museum) and then returning to objects that caught your eye. Note that these might not be artworks that you find appealing or like best. Whether positive or negative, a strong immediate reaction to a work of art can often lead to interesting new discoveries!  

If you’re fortunate to live near the museum,  consider returning frequently  to see what exhibitions may have changed, and if you notice different things from your previous visits.  

Check out these suggestions from The Art Assignment, and be sure to read (and add to) the comments!!!!

Enjoying the Art

Once you’ve honed in on a particular object, there are lots of ways to engage with it more closely. While museum labels can be helpful, don’t let them prevent you from exploring the work on your own, developing your own opinions, and considering how it contributes to your museum experience and understanding of art.  Below are several different strategies for looking at works of art that can help deepen your experience in the museum.  

Slow Looking

While there are variations on this engagement technique, slow looking is a strategy where the viewer focuses their attention on a single work of art for an extended period of time (15 minutes or more).  It’s important to eliminate distractions (ie: turn off your cell phone!) in order that to take in as much information about the object as possible. As your eye wanders over the work of art, you may find your ideas shifting as well to take note of the image represented, visual details, the technical elements and signs of how the object was made, and different possibilities of the object’s meaning, function, or cultural significance. You might also become more conscious of your surroundings or the object’s placement in the gallery–the lighting, space, etc.. 

• Burnham, Rika. “If you don’t stop, you don’t see anything.” Teachers College Record 95 (1994): 520-520.
• Elkins, James. “How Long Does It Take To Look at a Painting?” Huffington Post (blog), November 9, 2010 .
• Roberts, Jennifer. “The Power of Patience.” Harvard Magazine , December 2013 .

Recent years have seen a number of studies touting the benefits of drawing, so why not give it a go while visiting a museum! Regardless of one’s skill level, drawing and sketching can increase focus, relieve stress, and enhance memory and other cognitive processes of the brain. Many museums offer special programs to encourage visitors to draw objects in their collections, but really all you need is a sketch pad, a pencil, and some time in the museum galleries. Sketching can be a great complement to time spent slow looking and leaves you with a detailed record of your observations to refer to for subsequent reflection and related assignments.  

• Cain, Abigail. “Drawing Can Help Boost Your Memory–Here’s How,” Artsy, May 23, 2018.
• National Gallery of Art, “Sketching in the Museum,” Washington, DC
• Owen, Margaret. “Understanding Art Through Thumbnail Sketching” RISD Museum (Rhode Island School of Design) 

Guided Close Looking

Many museum visitors glance only briefly at a work of art before turning their attention to the label that provides additional information. While labels can be very helpful, try asking some of the following questions to encourage closer visual analysis BEFORE you read any supplemental text.

• What do I see going on in this work of art? Is there a story depicted?
• What details are visible? Are there details I can’t see, or which are difficult to understand?  
• What do any details of the image tell me about the subject?
• What might have been the original purpose or context of this object?
• What seems to be the most important things to notice about the object? 
• What choices did the artist make in creating the object?
• What materials were used? What techniques were used?
• How are different visual elements (ie: line, color, light, proportions, scale, composition, etc.) used to help make sense or lead my eye around the object?
• How does this object compare to other objects, stories, or ideas I already know about?  
• How does this object fit in this gallery? What relationships exist with other objects nearby?
• What choices did the museum make about the object’s display?
• If I were the curator, would I have displayed the object differently, or in another gallery? Why?
• If I were to tell a friend or family member about this object, what about it would I be sure to discuss?
• Stafne, Marcos. “ Working with Visual Thinking Strategies,” AHTRWeekly, April 19, 2013.
• Rice, Danielle, and Philip Yenawine. “A Conversation on Object-Centered Learning in Art Museums.” Curator: The Museum Journal 45, no. 4 (2002): 289–301.
• Shuh, John Hennigar. “Teaching yourself to teach with objects.” The Educational Role of the Museum (1999): 80-91. 

Look (and think) like an art historian

Chances are that you may have reached this site because you’re already studying art or taking an art history class. So, why not try practicing what you’ve learned so far?

Museums offer a wonderful chance to test your skills of visual analysis and your understanding of terms, techniques, and stylistic characteristics that are discussed in art history classes. One of the best lessons museums teach is that it’s not always easy to classify art into clear stylistic categories or art historical periods that seems to be the case with the canonical objects found in textbooks. Art historians in the wild (or in museums) must look closely to analyze unfamiliar objects for clues that help them situate them within their own knowledge of art history.

If you need a refresher on the tools for understanding art, check out these videos at Smarthistory.org . Test your understanding by looking for examples in the museum that demonstrate each of the concepts discussed.

Talking about art with others

When you visit the museum, consider taking a friend along!  While looking at works of art can be very personal, sharing your ideas with others can be a great way to deepen your understanding and experience with art. In a 2017 essay reflecting on his experience in museums, critic Adam Gopnik wrote, “ Talking in museums is one of the things that makes them matter.” Visitors in museums often incorrectly think they should whisper. Museums can be great places to have conversations about the art on display.

Engaging your friends in dialogue about a shared art experience can help you find words to communicate visual (and other sensory) observations, and it is a good opportunity to practice applying art vocabulary that you’ve read or learned in class. Moreover, conversations about an object’s purpose or meaning reveals that viewers bring many perspectives to make sense of works of art, and encourage us to think more deeply about objects, as well as other people in the world. Consider what Kate Baird, a museum educator in Springfield, Missouri, observed:   

[The visitor] prefaced her comments by saying she didn’t know much about art history or what the artist meant, almost seeming to apologize for what she was about to say. She then proceeded to share a very poetic and personal interpretation of the painting. . . After a period of silence, three other participants indicated that her words had opened up a new way of seeing a painting with which they were very familiar. It was arguably the speaker’s lack of art historical context that allowed her to look at the painting in the way that she did. No one left the conversation thinking that the painting had been explained or that artist’s intention had been revealed. But I believe we all left the conversation feeling that we had learned something about each other and about the ability of art to hold many possibilities.

From  Museum Questions: Reflections on Museums, Programs, and Visitors , February 13, 2017

• Murawski, Mike. “Reflecting on the Learning Power of Conversations in Museums, ” ArtMuseumTeaching.com. December 17, 2013.
• Myer, Melinda. “Scintillating Conversations in Art Museums.” In From Periphery to Center: Art Museum Education in the 21st Century , edited by Pat Villeneuve. Reston, Va.: National Art Education Association, 2007.

Using Technology

Although there are critics who dislike  the use of smartphones and digital technologies in museums as distracting or disruptive, these devices can be used effectively to enhance the museum experience and deepen engagement with the works of art on view.

Museums have begun to experiment more with augmented and virtual technologies that allow viewers to experience their collections in new ways. Some ( like the Cleveland Museum of Art ) have created digital installations that provide visitors the opportunity to curate their own self-guided tours, go deeper into the objects’ history and meaning, and explore new ways of knowing the artworks displayed in their galleries. Social media can also be a wonderful way to share your museum experience and capture moments that you want to reflect on later.  

Here are a few ideas:

• While in the gallery, use your smartphone to research more about the artist, place, or period of a work on view.  Use the image search function to find any similar or related objects to the one displayed.
• As you wander through the galleries, tweet your impressions about the objects you see using a hashtag and/or the museum’s Twitter account. Consider creating a theme (animals seen in the art) or question (how many objects are by female or POC artists?) to explore.
• Curate an Instagram exhibition by posting the objects you enjoy the most. Use a hashtag or the museum’s account to amplify your experience with others who visit the space.  
• Sophie Gilbert, “Please Turn on Your Phone in the Museum,”   The Atlantic,  October, 2016. 
• Mike Murawski, “Embracing a Digital Mindset in Museums,” ArtMuseumTeaching.com, October 23, 2014.
• Caroline A. Miranda, “Why Can’t We Take Pictures in Art Museums?” Artnews May 13, 2013.
• Arielle Pardes, “Selfied Factories: The Rise of the Made-for-instagram Museum.”   Wired. Sept. 27, 2017. 

After You Leave . . .

Here are some ideas to help you reflect on your museum experience and think about how cultural institutions shape our understanding of art and art history.  

• Write your own guide on “How to visit an art museum” based on what you now think makes for the best visit.  Use the #AHTRideas hashtag and share your guide on social media!
• Your expectations and perceptions of art museum before your visit. Compare how this experience reinforced or challenged your previous ideas about museums, and why you would (or wouldn’t) encourage your reader to go.  
• Focus on the spaces you encountered during your visit.  How did the galleries and public spaces you visited differ?  How did the museum’s architecture and way different objects were displayed contribute to your experience?  Which spaces did you enjoy most, or least? Why?
• Discuss the object you think you’ll remember most from your visit, explaining why it struck you as it did. Describe (or draw a picture) of what it looked like—be sure to include enough detail so your reader will have a clear mental image of the object.
• Find a digital image on-line of your object preferably from the museum’s website).   Write a 1 or 2 page essay comparing the digital image to the object you studied in the museum.  Consider any formal differences between the digital and real objects, which version provides more visual details, how your experience/other objects in the gallery impacted (or not) your understanding of your object.  

Useful Terms

Permanent collection:   These are objects owned by the museum.  Although museums own many more objects that the works on display, most are kept in storage (on or off-site). This is especially important for works on paper (photographs, prints, manuscripts) and other objects that can be damaged by too much exposure to light.

Special exhibitions:  Museums often dedicate some galleries to temporary exhibitions that showcase works related to a particular theme, artist, media, or art historical period. Special exhibitions may include objects from other museums, and sometimes travel to different museums in order to reach a broader audience.  

Galleries :  These are the rooms where most of the artworks are displayed.

Museum staff:   Although you’ll see some museum employees in the public spaces and  guards  in the galleries, most museum staff work behind the scenes.  Curators  and  registrars  research, manage, and organize the museum’s collections;  exhibition installers and designers  handle the art, displaying in on view or moving it to other spaces in the museum;  conservators  clean and restore works of art, and  educators  create programs for the public and provide tours, often with the help of museum volunteers called  docents . Museums also rely on  administrative staff  who are responsible for the business of day-to-day operations, fundraising, marketing, and producing publications about the museum and its collections.  

Based in Washington DC, Virginia B. Spivey (author) received her A.B. in art history from Duke University, and M.A. and Ph.D. in art history and museum studies from the joint program at Case Western Reserve University and the Cleveland Museum of Art. She has over 20 years teaching art history in museum and higher education settings, including MoCA Cleveland, UNC-Asheville, Georgetown University, and the Maryland Institute College of Art; and as an independent educational consultant, she developed expert content and learning resources for clients such as Smarthistory.org and Pearson-Prentice Hall’s Higher Education Division. Her professional service includes tenure as chair of CAA’s Education Committee and a member of ISSOTL’s Advocacy and Outreach Committee. 

Prior to her current position as Director of AP Art History at The College Board, she served on AHTR’s leadership collective as a contributing editor and editor in chief, and she spearheaded AHTR’s 2015 initiative to establish Art History Pedagogy and Practice , where she continues to serve as co-founding editor.   

virginiaspivey, "How to visit an art museum–a guide for students," in Art History Teaching Resources, July 20, 2018, accessed April 15, 2024, http://arthistoryteachingresources.org/lessons/how-to-visit-an-art-museum-a-guide-for-students/.

Art Museum/Gallery Visit Activity Sheet

• Word Document File

Description

Make your trip to a cultural institution interactive. I've used this activity sheet for trips to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in NYC, The Museum of Modern Art and the Whitney Museum of American Art and a local art gallery near my school. Students enjoy the opportunity to explore a gallery space independently. On a recent trip to the Met in May 2023, students explored several of the permanent collections. We began in two small galleries in the museum. I stayed in one gallery to teach about the collections and engage in Q&A. The teaching assistant was in the other gallery. After a small lecture, students selected a work of art to research and sketch. I moved into the next gallery. The teaching assistant walked around to provide positive feedback and support when needed. All were engaged as they looked at Greek Amphoras from the Geometric, Hellenistic and Classical Periods. Students discovered black figure painting, Olympic sports and other activities painting on a 3-D surface. The students also explored 19th and 20th century drawings and paintings. They were actively engaged in observation and recreation of the works of art they chose to draw. Usually one drawing is required, but most students request another sheet of drawing paper to sketch other works of art. This activity sheet has been successful for over 10 years. Students receive credit for their participation and their drawings are displayed in the art room on a bulletin board.

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  Plutenko's work has been shown many times over the last years, including the exhibitions in Moscow (from 1988), Stockholm and Helsinki at Interart 89 (1989), Chicago, USA (1990), Ulm, Germany (1991), London, UK (1996).

2019 HELIKON–OPERA, Moscow, Russia

2017 East West Fine Art Gallery, Naples, USA

2013 Henley Festival by Hay Hill Gallery, Henley On Thames, UK 2013 ArtMoorHouse by Hay Hill Gallery, London, UK

2002-2012 Hay Hill Gallery, London, UK

2011 The Central House of Artists supported by the Gallery “Vizit”, Moscow, Russia

2009 “ARTMANEG”, Manezh, Moscow, Russia

2008-2009 Gallery «Graal», 174 Bd de la République, Agen, France

2007 “ARTMANEG”, Manezh, Moscow, Russia

2006 The Biannual Forum of Contemporary Art ‘Art Miami’, Miami, USA

2005 ‘ARTMANEG', Manezh, Moscow, Russia

2005 The Central House of Artists supported by the Gallery “Vizit”, Moscow, Russia

2005 ‘Extravaganza Moscow 05’, Radisson Slavyanskaya Hotel, Moscow

2004 The Central House of Artists, Moscow, Russia

2003 “Golden Brush” competition, Maliy Manezh, Moscow, Russia

2003 Radisson Slavyanskaya Hotel, Moscow, Russia

2003 Museum of Contemporary Art, Madrid, Spain 2002 Exhibition of "Medici Haus", Tolyatti, Russia

2001 Gallery "Visit", Moscow, Russia

2000-2001 «Medici Haus» Zurich, Switzerland

1999-2000 Aspire Gallery, Moscow, Russia

1999 Moscow International Art Salon «CHA-99», Moscow, Russia

1998 Moscow International Art Salon «CHA-98», Moscow, Russia

1998 «Albatros» gallery, Moscow, Russia

1997 "Golden Brush". The Central House of Artists (CHA), Moscow, Russia

1996 Institute of Contemporary Arts, "ICA" Mall, London, UK

1992 "Golden Brush". The Central House of Artists (CHA), Moscow, Russia

1992 Exhibition in the Artists’ Union’s Central Salon, Ukrainsky Boulevard, Moscow, Russia

1991 «Gallery + Keramuk Baltiya» Ulm Donau, Germany

1989 «Art Russia», Helsinki, Finland

1989 «Seppe Gallery», Stockholm

RUSSIAN art has flourished in the heady atmosphere of freedom since the end of the communist era. Now a pair of amateur enthusiasts have beaten professional art dealers at their own game by bringing an exciting new talent to the attention of the West. The powerful works of Stanislav Plutenko went on sale in the West End of London last Thursday. The mainly British buyers of the paintings by Plutenko, 35, a fast-rising Russian artist with no specialist training who started his working life designing turbines, had a remarkable coup to celebrate. The coup's roots are in the early 1990s when Russia began to loom large in the careers of Alan Hendrickson and Geoffrey Roughton, who are businessmen, scientists and art collectors. The privately sponsored show of Plutenko's works at the Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA), The Mall, was their idea. They had set up a successful software business in Moscow which entailed monthly visits to the Russian capital, but as the business grew it made vastly greater demands on the time of Hendrickson and his colleagues. Luckily, there was still time for art. The two partners "discovered" Plutenko's works in a gallery named Arbat-34, in a district of Moscow where art, craft and antique shops proliferate, and immediately bought the three paintings by him on offer there.

"I bought them because I liked them, but I must admit I also thought the day might come when I would make a profit on them," says American-born Hendrickson, who enthusiastically changed his nationality as a gesture to Britain which gave him the opportunity to make his first million.

On subsequent visits to Moscow, Hendrickson and Roughton found themselves in keen competition with several other western private collectors who had also discovered Plutenko's work. The artist had one-man shows in Stockholm, Helsinki, Ulm in Germany, other exhibitions in Russia and at private galleries in America. His paintings invariably sold as quickly as they came off the easel, and the partners often arrived at the gallery in Moscow only to find there was nothing available. They eventually resorted to paying the gallery owner a "sight-unseen" reservation fee, and over three years managed to build up a small collection of Plutenko's paintings.

Meanwhile back at the dacha, Russian dealers are reported to be spending much more time and effort on home ground in Moscow and St Petersburg. This is believed to reflect the increasing confidence of an expanding group of Russian collectors who try to impress their colleagues with the symbols of success: the houses, cars, holidays in the West - and paintings such as glitzy 19th and 20th century works by Aivazovsk, Repin, Chepik and Shishkin: from a few thousand pounds to Pounds 150,000. James Butterwick, a well-travelled British dealer, said in Moscow: "People now realise that the market is here and prices are now almost on a level with those in the West."

In Britain the weekly Antiques Trade Gazette quoted a Russian banker at Sotheby's Russian auction last December. Asked why he had bought one particular portrait, the banker replied: "Because it was expensive."

He continues, “Inspiration comes like a hallucination or a vivid dream that only children have. With time, these dreams become bleaker, fainter, and disappear. First, I feel nostalgic, then the artistic drive takes over, I dissolve into the canvas, losing all track of time.”

“Cock Fight” is a representative example, recording Plutenko’s observations from India, Pakistan, and the Middle East. As he draws upon his love of Orientalism, we find an energetic group of men who crowd around a pair of cocks, their feathers raised in powerful, aggressive fashion. Despite the painting’s subject, the painting is — in fact — an intense study of emotion, individuality, culture, and expression. Plutenko writes, “This painting is an illustration of human passions and the human character. There are mixed emotions in this work — the excitement of the approaching victory, greed, cruelty, and disappointment. So many emotions at the same time — a treasure trove for genre painting.” Indeed, each onlooker is treated with astonishing sensitivity, their expressions, gestures, individuality, and emotions captured with clarity. The captivating composition and attention to each character recall the traditional works of Baroque masters and has a timeless quality.

“Christ in the Desert” is a fantastic modern reinterpretation of a traditional artistic theme. Sitting at center among piles of rubbish and debris, a weary Christ appears in worn white and green robes. Christ does not engage the viewer, but gazes downward with a saddened expression. “This painting is how I see the second coming of Christ,” writes the artist. “War and urbanizations have ravaged the land, physically and spiritually. Who should be saved? Who will listen to the truth?”

Especially fascinating is how open Plutenko is to his artistic communication, describing himself like a chef who has several key ingredients or spices at his disposal. He writes, “I am like a chef who has several spices (themes) in my arsenal — Romanticism and sugar, Surrealism and salt, Orientalism and spice, the grotesque and hot peppers. I mix everything and hope to nourish the world with the ‘soup.’”

Indeed, Surrealism comes to the fore in works like “Tree-Cloud,” which recalls the famous poetic tale  The Little Prince  by French poet  Antonie de Saint-Exupéry . The painting here shows an otherworldly escape in the clouds. Plutenko describes, “‘Tree-Cloud’ is my escape from the big world into a tiny, quiet and cozy world.”

In the future, Plutenko wants to continue pushing his artistic boundaries and working in a variety of mediums. “There are times that I wish to get away from the usual subject matter and paint a series of works that are uncharacteristic of my usual style,” he asserts. “Maybe someday I will do something under a pseudonym!”

Plutenko is currently represented through a number of galleries and private collections in the United Kingdom, Germany, Canada, Monaco, Finland, France, Switzerland, and the United States at  Gallery on Fifth  in Naples, Florida.

Ivan The Great

IVAN THE GREAT LESSON PLAN WORKSHEET ACTIVITY

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Teaching Lesson Printable Workshee Elementary Students Activities Teachers Learning Education School Theme Unit Free Resources Fourth Grade Fifth Grade Sixth Grade

About the Ivan The Great Lesson

Summary This lesson introduces students to Ivan the Great. Objectives • To be able to explain how Ivan the Great came into power. • To be able describe some of Ivan?s accomplishments. Suggested Grades 4th Grade 5th Grade 6th Grade

Excerpt A Russian prince named Ivan III took the throne in Moscow in 1462 after his father, Basil II, died. Ivan III ruled from 1462-1505 and became known as ?Ivan the Great.? Ivan became the grand duke of Russia without being confirmed by the Mongol Khan. At the time of Ivan?s rule, Russians were concerned about building up their nation and freeing themselves from the Mongols. These Mongols were also sometimes called Tartars.

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GCSE Art Gallery Visit

Subject: Art and design

Age range: 14-16

Resource type: Worksheet/Activity

Last updated

14 May 2023

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GCSE Art Gallery Visit Resource for teachers to share with their students.

• Created for my Y10 GCSE Art students ahead of our gallery visit to find artist inspiration for their Y11 Personal Portfolios.
• The first page gives space for details on arrival/departure times and student/teacher groups.
• The second page is a site-specific map of the Tate Modern.
• The third page details the Personal Portfolio task to be completed whilst visiting the gallery.
• The fourth page, includes guidance and questions to help students consider the art on display and how it may influence, impact their final coursework project.

Editable PDF to help students make the most of their gallery visit.

This version is tailored to the Tate Modern, London but could be adapted to another venue.

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