Introducing Models of Teaching for Visual Art Criticism Courses

Art criticism, defined as informed dialogue about the work of art, and an attempt to elucidate its meaning, is an activity based on principles, methodologies, procedures and theoretical frameworks which altogether make the practice of criticism possible. There are various, and mainly subjective, approaches to the art criticism practice. This variety makes it remarkably difficult to elicit and define inclusive and practical models for teaching art criticism systematically. Although educators still disagree about the nature and methods of teaching art criticism, they have nevertheless developed a number of valuable and functional models. With a descriptive approach, this article examines four major models for teaching art criticism, all developed in the U.S. Universities, and mostly based on the tradition of analytic philosophy. Edmund Burke Feldman’s model includes four stages of description, formal analysis, interpretation and evaluation. With an emphasis on personal and emotional encounter with the work of art, Tom Anderson defines his model based on seven interrelated procedures: reaction, representation, formal analysis, formal characterization, personal interpretation, contextual analysis, and synthesis. In Inductive method of teaching art criticism, Robert D. Clements suggests a scientific approach in which the main phases are observing main facts, devising a hypothesis, and testing the hypothesis against the new evidence. Noël Carroll’s model, in an endeavor to expand and augment Feldman’s, comprises stages of description, categorization, elucidation, analysis, interpretation and evaluation. He places evaluation at the top of critical operation. Although teaching visual art criticism as a creative act cannot be reduced to prescriptive formula, a systematic methodology might pave available the grounds for the sparks of imagination as well as the development of critical thinking skills.