Time Travel: Art History

The idea of time travel and getting the chance to meet artists throughout history piques my imagination.

Imagination makes us aware of limitless possibilities. How many of us haven't pondered the concept of infinity or imagined the possibility of time travel? In one of her poems, Emily Bronte likens imagination to a constant companion, but I prefer to think of it as a built-in entertainment system.
Alexandra Adornetto

Just imagine being able to travel back in time to meet Leonardo da Vinci while he was working on the Mona Lisa or  to paint beside Renoir along the Seine River in France. What can we learn from all the artists throughout history...

• What inspires an artist to create?
• What stories are they telling?
• How did they chose to create art work?
• What did their studio or tools look like?

Art History inspires artists to see all the potential in telling visual stories, capturing events, sharing emotions, and expressing thoughts about our big, wonderfully diverse world.

"Art Box" is my version of the Tardis "Time And Relative Dimension In Space" which is the time machine in the TV series Doctor Who

One of my favorite clips from the show Doctor Who was when the time lord-Doctor Who character brings Vincent Van Gogh into the future to see how his art work has impacted others. Van Gogh painted over 9,000 paintings but only sold one in his life time. He never truly knew the inspiration he would have on others or how loved his work would become by the art world.

I love to share a variety of artists with my student to allow them to explore how others have created art. Each student can explore and choose from a variety of time periods, styles, cultures, mediums and find what might inspired the next great master piece. My classroom has access to a variety of tech resources and my students can be guided to explore a variety of online websites. I created a ThingLink image that has embedded links to a variety of my favorite online resources for art history time travel and exploration.

ThingLink -

Websites are linked to the image below. Hover your mouse over the image and you can visit a few of my favorite web resources to help time travel through the world of art.

What are your favorite web resources are for sharing art history and artists with your students?
What artists, cultures or time period would you travel back in time to visit? What would you want to learn or experience? I would love to hear your time travel dreams!

Until next time... stay smART!