5 Tips to Buying Art

If you don't love art, and are simply considering buying art as an investment, the best advice is to find something else to invest in. Collecting and buying art should be a labor of love, not a cold-hearted financial calculation.

There are many factors that a serious art collector should take into account when buying art. Here are some of the main ones:

1. Know Your Own Tastes

Never buy something just because an "art expert" tells you that it is a beautiful, classic piece of art. If the art piece means nothing to you, it's not worth you buying it. Unless you're a professional trader, the art piece you buy is going to be something that you own and look at for years. So choose art that speaks to you. And to do that, you need to know what you like and what you don't like.

An important secondary benefit of knowing your taste is it gives you the ability to clearly state your desires to art dealers that you work with to help build your collection.

2. Know Your budget

No matter how much you like an art piece, don't put yourself in enormous debt to acquire it. If you can't afford it, so be it. Just let it go and wait for something to show up that fits your budget. No art collector in the world gets every piece he is attracted to.

3. Know Your Art Dealers

Once you know what kind of art you like, find the galleries that sell it. Introduce yourself to the gallery owners. Form a relationship with them. Let them know what types of art pieces you're interested in. Then when they get a new piece or art in, your name will be near the top of the list of people that they notify. This is an excellent way to get first crack at art pieces that normal people will never see, because they simply are never put up for sale.

Developing relationships with reputable art dealers also helps to protect you from scams. You can have faith that the art pieces you get are original pieces and not simply knock-offs.

Also, if you come to love the work of a particular artist, you may find that his or her work is carried primarily through a particular dealer. All the more reason to become friendly with as many art dealers as you can.

4. Negotiate the Price

Just because an art piece has a price tag on it does not mean that you have to pay that price. Art prices are not set in stone. Don't be afraid of dickering with dealers. In most cases it's even expected.

5. Insure Your Art

There are few things more devastating than losing your art treasures through fire or theft. But the financial losses can possibly even be worse.

Whenever you buy a piece of collectible art, call your insurance broker and make sure she includes it on your policy. If you have a good homeowners policy, it will probably already provide general coverage. But if you have art pieces that are documented collectible items, you want to definitely ensure that this is noted on your policy - even if you have to buy an additional rider for it.

It's also important to note that insurance will not only cover things like fire and theft, as mentioned above. It will also cover things like water damage, breakage, moving, and so on.

Now go out and start collecting. Good luck and much success in your art buying.

Art Teacher Interview Questions

When interview committees and principals interview art teachers, they're looking for someone who can connect with the entire culture of the school. They're looking for a person who empowers students to create beautiful artwork, has a presence in extra-curricular activities, and can effectively manage students in a classroom full of messy, sloppy supplies. An art program is often the proud centerpiece of a school's curriculum and schools want to fill that position with the most competent art teacher available.

Interviewing is stressful for any candidate. My best advice is to be prepared with a complete teaching portfolio and to practice common interview questions beforehand. While you don't need to rehearse what you'll say word-for-word, it's not a bad idea to prepare yourself by thinking about your responses to general questions that will be asked.

Art teacher candidates can expect the common, general teacher interview questions:

- Tell us about yourself.

- What are your strengths and weaknesses?

- How to you integrate technology into your teaching?

- How do you meet the needs of special education students?

- How do you communicate with parents?

But, when hiring art teachers, principals and interview committees have high expectations and often develop more specialized questions. Below are some common questions (and suggestions for answering them) for art teacher interviews:

1. Describe some ways you present and display student work throughout the school and throughout the community.

Whether you like it or not, the art teacher is often responsible for setting the decor of the entire school. You'll likely be responsible for keeping the halls full of student work and updating displays on a regular basis. You'll be the one they turn to when they want a mural painted on the gymnasium wall. They'll run to your room when it's time to set up the annual display in the district office building. And, when the community art show comes around, you'll be the one that is expected to coordinate it. When it's time to create the yearly district events calendar, you know they'll be turning to the art teacher for a collection of high-quality student work samples. Art teachers have a HUGE responsibility outside of general teaching. You need to reassure the interview committee that you're aware of these responsibilities and are excited to take on these challenges.

2. Show us pictures of your work as an artist.

You should have your teaching portfolio with you at an interview. Since you're an artist, your portfolio should include pictures of your own artwork, in addition to lesson plans and student artwork. Be sure the works you show the committee are appropriate for a school setting. Don't show them your latest nude sketch or a violent scene. Keep the content of the material in your portfolio light, upbeat, and positive.

3. Describe some of the art projects your students have loved.

This is a simple question. Describe your "best work" as a teacher. In other words, you're looking to tell them about project that was engaging to the students, educational in terms of artistic development, and well-received by others when it was displayed. Pass around some pictures of this lesson from your teaching portfolio!

4. How can you make the most of a small budget for art supplies?

Many school districts can't offer you huge amounts of money for art projects. Explain that you're a natural bargain shopper. You'll always seek out the best deals on art supplies.

You should remind the interviewer of your no-waste philosophy. You don't let kids throw away big scraps of paper that can be used again. You'll try to unclog those stuffed up glue bottles, rather than throw them away.

Also, let them know that you can make artwork from simple, everyday household objects. Maybe you know how to make Christmas ornaments from light bulbs or you can turn empty soup cans into lanterns.

5. How can you connect your activities in the art room into lessons taught within other subject areas?

You can easily connect art to Social Studies by teaching cultural art. Example: If students are learning about Australia, you can teach kids to make Aboriginal Dot Paintings in art. You can also connect art to historical themes by making connections with art history. You can also tie into Reading and Writing by teaching kids to describe and critique artwork.

6. Why do you think art is an important part of a child's education?

This answer, will of course, vary from person to person. Some things you might want to think about: Art is a small, but important part of a well-rounded education program. Art teachers stimulate students' imaginations, by encouraging them to express themselves creatively. Art teachers develop students' self-esteem, by allowing them to discover other talents they may have that go beyond the rest of the school's curriculum. And art teachers help students to better accept the world in which they live by inviting them to view things in different ways.

7. Art teachers have a unique set of classroom management challenges because you see so many kids for such a short time-- what would you do when a kid is off-task, unmotivated, or not participating in a lesson?

The most effective way of avoiding behavioral problems is to keep students interested, involved, and engaged from the moment they walk into your room to the moment they leave. It is essential to have classroom rules posted clearly in your classroom. Routines are important-- kids should know where to sit, when to get materials, what the clean up procedures are. As the teacher, you must enforce the rules and routines consistently each and every day.

Hopefully, you use positive reinforcement to encourage the best behaviors. You praise your students' efforts often, and you offer constructive criticism in a positive way. When kids do misbehave, it's best to handle situations on your own, when possible. (Only the most severe cases of disruption or violence should be sent to the office.) Taking away privileges or responsibility is often an effective method for managing classroom behavior problems.

8. Art is an elective, which means you'll have to promote student interest in your courses. How will you do this?

This question is for candidates that are interviewing for high school art positions. The simplest answer to explain how you engage students in worthwhile art activities. The final projects come out so beautifully that students are proud of their work, see their talent, and have a strong desire to create more!

Art Style, Movements and Influence Of Western Art

Art is always and everywhere the secret confession, and at the same time the immortal movement of its time – Karl Marx Since ancient age to modern art we have come across multiple art styles & movements. Most of them were new creation or transformation of one or other styles. Efforts by individual, group or brotherhood and schools lined up multiple art style in art history. This is my attempt to bring to light foremost & known art styles, movements and influence. If everything is not covered; its reference will be left for details.

If it is topic of art history then the most coined term would be an art style that covers the period of European history at the close of the middle ages and the rise of the modern world. An art style which born in 14th century and lived up to 17th century. An art movement which was later broken down in more than eight regional forms of development by historians. That means "rebirth" and was characterized by a radical development in the arts, medicine, politics and sciences in Europe.

That’s none other than Renaissance!! That was time in which individual expression and worldly experience became two of the main themes. Renaissance is Italian origin and later it was known as one of the most known European Art Movements. By region – Renaissance was identified by own regional movement in Italy, England, German, Northern Europe, French, Netherlands, Poland and Spain. By period it is known as Early Renaissance, High Renaissance, Harlem Renaissance and Northern Renaissance. The word Renaissance is now often used to describe other historical and cultural moments (e.g. the Carolingian Renaissance, the Byzantine Renaissances).

Leonardo da Vinci was the model Renaissance man representing the humanistic values of the period in his art, science and writing. Michelangelo and Raphael were also vital figures in this movement, producing works regarded for centuries as embodying the classical notion of perfection. Renaissance architects included Alberti, Brunelleschi and Bramante.

Renaissance Classicism sowed two different movements— Mannerism and the Baroque. Mannerism was a reaction against the idealist perfection of Classicism. The appeal of Baroque style curved deliberately from the amusing and intellectual qualities of 16th century Mannerist art to an intuitive appeal aimed at the senses. Baroque employed an iconography that was direct, simple, obvious, and dramatic.

Baroque art drew on certain broad and heroic tendencies in Annibale Carracci and his circle, and found inspiration in other artists such as Correggio, Caravaggio, and Federico Barocci nowadays sometimes termed 'proto-Baroque'. Although Baroque was antiquated in many centers by the Rococo style, beginning in France in the late 1720s, more than ever for interiors, paintings and the decorative arts, Baroque architecture remained a practical style until the arrival of ascetic Neoclassicism in the later 18th century. Ingres, Canova, and Jacques-Louis David are among the best-known neoclassicists.

Neoclassicism was nothing but a reaction against both the surviving Baroque and Rococo styles, and as a desire to return to the perceived "purity" of the arts of Rome & Ancient Greek. Neoclassicism was also solitary representation of the American Renaissance movement. As Mannerism discarded Classicism, Romanticism too refused the ideas of the Enlightenment and the aesthetic of the Neoclassicists. Romanticism movement turned world’s attention toward landscape and nature as well as the human figure and the supremacy of natural order above mankind's will. Hudson River School was highly influenced by Romanticism.

However Neoclassicism sustained to be a foremost vigor in Academic Art through the 19th century and beyond. Academic Art was a relentless antithesis to Romanticism or Gothic revival.

In 19th Century, after impacts of industrialization - Poverty, squalor, and desperation were to be the fortune of the new working class. Where Romanticism was optimism towards mankind; situation put art looking towards reality giving chance to Realism. Social Realism, Magic Realism, Photo Realism and Contemporary Realism are newer forms of Realism. Related movements were the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood and Arts and Crafts Movement.

Neo-classical movement rejected the extreme romanticism of Dada (that hunted the discovery of authentic reality through the abolition of traditional culture and aesthetic forms), in favor of control, religion and a dyed-in-the-wool political programme. Dada ignored aesthetics. Dada became an influential movement in modern art. It also influenced Surrealism, Pop Art and Fluxus.

Realism’s concept of seeing world by human eye gave birth to Impressionism. Use of bright color improving more visibility (as opposed to Academic art) and strokes that were mixed in viewer's eyes were key features of impressionism. The Group of Seven was strongly influenced by European Impressionism of the late Nineteenth Century.

Fauvism & Post-Impressionism followed Impressionism. Later Fauvism; modern art started shaping self in multiple new forms including Cubism, Expressionism, Abstract Art, Dada, Abstract Expressionism , Futurism, Naïve art, Op Art, Surrealism, Minimalism, Pop Art and other. Modern art and its forms itself needs separate discussion.