Art History Teacher in Mt Eden

Mediant Studies

Art History Lessons

Bruce Baker

M.A., B.D., L.T.C.L., L.MusT.C.L., Dip.Teach., C.L.T.A., A.I.R.M.T.

MISSION STATEMENT
To foster an appreciation of artworks of various types and styles
and
To help school students to analyse and describe artworks in a way that shows understanding and critical depth.

I aim to help students to understand and appreciate works of art, whichever form they may take - such as painting, sculpture, prints, ceramics, and photography. I show them how artworks reflect social conditions and popular ideas of the period in which they were created. I explain what artists wanted to express in their works, and what contribution each artist made to the development of artistic style. When it is appropriate, I show how the development of art relates to movements in history and society. For exam students, I place special emphasis on learning to write effective essays that respond appropriately to exam questions.

As far as possible, I adapt my teaching to suit what students want to learn.

In general, my teaching includes the following:

The development of artistic style from the Renaissance to the modern age.
Western sculpture, from its Greek and Hellenistic roots to the twentieth century.
A range of genres, especially painting, sculpture, architecture and prints
The meaning and significance of abstract art.
The background, lives, styles and works of leading artists
Social, historical, scientific, literary and musical developments that influenced or were influenced by art.

When appropriate, I explain what lay behind the various "schools" of art that emerged in quick succession between 1860 and 1960 - a period often referred to as "modernism". I help students to answer some of the questions that artists during this period were asking:

What is art?
Can we call something "art" if we do not think it is beautiful?
Need an artwork represent a scene, object or person - or can it be completely abstract?
Is it OK to change or copy a work of art?
Does an artwork have to be created by an "artist" - or in fact by any person?

I have produced a range of materials to use with students. These are planned to boost general understanding and appreciation of art, although some are particularly geared to help students answer exam questions. Most are one-page summaries, in simple language, with illustrations of typical artworks, and suggestions of sources for further study. These include:

Descriptions of leading artworks, explaining their background, meaning and significance
Explanations of artistic styles, with examples of leading artists and artworks
The lives, styles and major works of leading artists.
Notes about general features of art
Model essays about aspects of art

Where possible, I link my teaching to other forms of western culture, such as music and literature. While changes in these disciplines did not always happen in the same way or at the same time, there are many parallels. Understanding these can help us understand the significance of artworks.

Andy Yang
Auckland
19 December 2016

Artworks Illustrating the development of Art from the Renaissance to Post-Modernism links together these elements, providing examples of artworks which represent each of the leading styles and artists, with brief explanations of each. The artworks include paintings, sculptures, prints, and other forms of art, and are in chronological order, so it is easy to see how artistic style developed as time went on. It refers to other files which give more detail about artists, styles, etc. It is available separately (as a printed booklet or electronic file) or in a DVD which contains all of these files. Please contact us to ask for more detail or to order a copy.

Please do not hesitate to discuss with me how I can help you achieve your goal - whether it is to learn to understand art, or boost your enjoyment of art, or to perform better in school or other examinations .

I learnt English from Bruce before I started art history with him. Never had I realised the extent of Bruce’s knowledge in art, until I asked him if he could teach art history. The breadth art period that Bruce’s has is incredible from the Renaissance all the way to Post-Modernism. The great thing about learning from Bruce is that knowledge he has gaps in, he quickly fills its up and produces a document about the topic and almost becomes an expert in that particular topic. Countless resource documents are also available on every topic, all carefully made by Bruce himself. Most importantly learning art history with Bruce is that he is able to bring literature, music, history, art all together, which brings a new perspective to art works. I would recommend Bruce to anyone doing NCEA LV 3 art history, NZQA scholarship art history or anyone who is keen to learn about art.

I teach at my studio in Mt Eden in Auckland.

Lessons can be adapted to suit the needs of students from years 11 to 13 (including NCEA Scholarship)

As a teacher with a wide range of qualifications and experience, I charge $70 per hour ($35 per half hour).

Preparation

When appropriate, it would be helpful if school students could bring samples of their written work to their first lesson.

Terms of Teaching

Click here to see the Terms of Teaching. If you decide to take lessons, it would be helpful if you could fill this in, and either email it to me or bring it to your first lesson