Art Posters for Schools
Turn a classroom into a museum and unlock the lessons art has to teach us with art posters. Posters from a museum's collection or reproductions of famous art from exhibitions create spectacle in a classroom and make complex subjects and concepts more accessible. In addition, students who may not be able to visit museums gain familiarity with the iconic art of their culture and learn about other cultures through art. Many museums have special poster collections available to educators free or at minimal cost.
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Study a Period of History
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Art posters are rich sources of visual material about various periods in history. A collection of posters of great works of Renaissance art will enliven a classroom as students examine the clothing styles, personal relationships, architecture and domestic life, religious iconography and other data available when a work of art is deconstructed. The Philadelphia Museum of Art offers educators sets of posters depicting the Middle Ages, the American Colonial period through the early years of the nation and the arts of Japan and Mexico, among other cultures and historic periods.
Study an Artist
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A series of posters of one artist's work makes a dramatic statement about the arc of a career, the changing point of view or the experiments of a creative artist, even the deterioration of an artist as contrasted with or reflected in the work. Picasso's is a lively collection to trace through the images of exhibition posters and postcards of his paintings, murals and sculptures. Mary Cassat's work reveals as much about her spirit and the social conventions of her times as it does about her own talent and vision. Van Gogh's desperate attempt to find serenity and stability in his surroundings so he could continue to work is there in the brush strokes and colors of his self-portraits and landscapes.
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Study Art History
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A series of posters depicting a single concept or mythological figure throughout history shows the development of various art forms and the changes art undergoes over time. A Rembrandt with its shadowy chiaroscuro emphasizes very different qualities of experience than a giant close-up of a flower or a sun-baked skull painted by Georgia O'Keeffe. The chemicals of the paints are different; the use of color and light is different; the personal convictions are dramatically different. And yet both painters were revolutionary in their times, inspired numerous imitators and left behind important visual legacies. Another way to look at art history development is to compare a subject like war over time. "Washington Crossing the Delaware", painted by Leutze in 1851, is an heroic view of war in complete contrast to Picasso's "Guernica", painted in 1937 during the Spanish Civil War.
Study Poster Propaganda
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Posters were created as original artworks to deliver messages about political and social movements. There are often identifiable styles such as the propaganda art of mid-twentieth century China under Mao. Some posters have singular identities specific to one event or time, like the famous Shepard Fairey posters of Barak Obama that were widely used during the 2008 Presidential campaign. And other iconic posters started out as advertising and worked their way into the national consciousness. Posters that sell a product or an idea are fruitful jumping-off points for examining societies.
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References
- Photo Credit oil paint 01 image by Undy from Fotolia.com
