American Art, Underrepresented in Textbooks

America has a rich artistic tradition that is underrepresented in ART HISTORY survey textbooks. Perhaps it is because the American WESTERN artistic tradition is a few hundred years old compared to millions of years in Europe.

Through the course of the AP Art History survey in high school we journey through time and across continents to learn about the artistic production of people that have come before us. Some art was created for functional means. Some art was created for purely aesthetic means. Some artworks serve both functions. Artistic production, as evidenced through the artifacts that remain of bygone eras, gives contemporary viewers a lens into the world at the time of its creation. Art reflects society. One learns HISTORY through looking at ART.

The APAH journey is transformational. I picked a series of images by American Artist Thomas Cole that represent the journey through the APAH survey course. Thomas Cole's The Voyage of Life Series (Childhood, Youth, Manhood, and Old Age - shown below) located at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC. show the transformation of a person through maturation. The lens in which one views the world is shown to change as one physically changes. The world, viewed as a landscape, transforms from ideal, through real, and back to ideal. As one commences a journey through APAH, one may view art as idea. The more one studies, the more one understands the creative process is a business and not always just a means to make something that looks "good". As one nears the end of the course, one realizes they have gained knowledge that will sustain them on a lifelong journey of art appreciation and respect for cultural differences.

For a review of American Art...visit the National Gallery of Art

in Washington, DC.