What Do You See? A Child's First Introduction to Art, Volume One

How to Use This Art Curriculum

This curriculum is a gentle and easy introduction to art appreciation for children, ages 4-12. We teach children to look at a piece of art and evaluate it. We hope to spark in the child a love for the great works of art.

Students will learn:

1. How to identify questions to ask.
2. How to identify why the artist painted what he did.
3. How to identify details the artist placed inside his painting.
4. How they might try to paint something themselves.
5. How to pay attention to the artist and the history of the painting.

The students and teacher should spend time observing the painting and then answer the questions. We recommend that you ask the child to answer the questions orally, not with pencil and paper. We want to make the learning experience enjoyable for you and the children.

This first volume will introduce only one art principle — Center of Interest. A center of interest is the all-important part of a painting — that part of the picture where the artist wants you to look first and which attracts the mind. The center of interest often has the sharpest edges, the brightest colors, and the most detail. In addition, it often contains a color that doesn’t exist anywhere else on the painting. Keep in mind, though, not all paintings contain a center of interest, plus, unless the artist has told us what he intended his center of interest to be, there could be differences of opinion as to a painting’s center of interest.

Table of Contents

1. Little Red Riding Hood and Grandmother by Harriet Backer
2. The Dog Cart by Henriëtte Ronner-Knip
3. The Birthday Cake by Victor Gabriel Gilbert
4. Boy with Baby Carriage by Norman Rockwell
5. Feeding the Baby by Axel Theophilus Helsted
6. Elsie Cassatt Holding a Big Dog by Mary Cassatt
7. Carnation, Lily, Lily, Rose by John Singer Sargent
8. Cottage Girl with Dog and Pitcher by Thomas Gainsborough
9. A Child’s Menagerie by Eastman Johnson
10. Belshazzar’s Feast by Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn
11. Suggested Answers to Questions