I had a fantastic art history teacher in high school. He was this old guy named Jim Russell, and he had been teaching at MUS for something like 40+ years. He was the one who ignited my passion for art history. Ok, my trip to Italy in 8th grade ignited the passion, but Mr, Russell reignited the long-smoldering coals of my passion for art history.
Last semester I took a class called Animals in Art, which looked at the depictions of different animals in different time periods of art. But the class I took this semester was called British Art: Medieval to Modern. It was one of the most eye opening classes I've taken. My high school art history course was a basic survey course, going over all the major time periods and works. And the Animals in Art class was similar. But Brit Art was the first class I'd taken that dealt specifically with a certain culture and looked at the entire history of its art.
I was astounded by not only the sheer number of works but of the history within them. I guess I hadn't really considered that fact that a hundred years is a long time, and a lot can happen, historically speaking. The class gave me a greater appreciation for British history and history in general. There is a lot more to the human story than just the major events we hear and learn about. The life story of a person in the most obscure portrait painting can be just as important as a war-winning battle.
I think this post is really cool. I agree that we can learn a lot from a person's life and from the small details in the past. I always learn more when I look at things more closely and I think this is kind of on the same lines.
ReplyDeleteBut the cool part about this post to me is you came to your conclusion through something you are passionate about. I love that when people study and learn about what they have passion for, they can end up learning a lot more than what they expected.