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Topics

Art

  • Summary
Cleveland Sketching Club at Work
Image credit: Middlesbrough Institute of Modern Art, mima

Cleveland Sketching Club at Work

Charles W. Richardson (c.1865–after 1913)

Middlesbrough Institute of Modern Art, mima

Many sketches and studies survive to show how artists worked. They have also often painted the life-room or their own studios and workshops, giving us a fascinating insight into their working environments. There are many views of private art collections, museums and academies in which artists celebrate their profession and flatter their patrons.


Perhaps all art is about ‘art’, that is, how to record experiences and ideas in physical materials.

Read more
Art consists of the skills and techniques needed to do this, but also the meanings and emotions that lie behind the image. Some abstract art is purely about ‘art’. It creates an alternative reality and is often as interested in the process of making as in the resulting image.

Artworks

  • Study for Self Portrait
    Study for Self Portrait Francis Bacon (1909–1992)
    National Museum Cardiff
  • David Brown
    David Brown Jean Brown
    Southampton City Art Gallery
  • Untitled
    Untitled Maggi Hambling (b.1945)
    Southampton City Art Gallery
  • Self Portrait
    Self Portrait Eric Meadus (1931–1970)
    Southampton City Art Gallery
  • Gilbert and George
    Gilbert and George Ger van Elk (1941–2014)
    Southampton City Art Gallery
  • Alfred Wolmark (1877–1961)
    Alfred Wolmark (1877–1961) Henri Gaudier-Brzeska (1891–1915)
    Southampton City Art Gallery
  • Self Portrait
    Self Portrait William D. Dring (1904–1990)
    Southampton City Art Gallery
  • 1,866 more

Stories

  • Charles Saumarez Smith explores the Royal Academy's collections and Art UK as a ‘Museum without Walls’

    Charles Saumarez Smith

  • Portrait photograph of French sculptor Auguste Rodin (1840–1917) at Meudon
    Breathing life into clay: Rodin and modern sculpture

    Julia Carver

  • How to make the most out of a visit to an art gallery: what to look for and take part in

    Helen Cobby

  • A brief history of women at the Royal Academy

    Helen Record

  • Degas to Picasso
    'Degas to Picasso: Creating Modernism in France' at the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford

    Agnes Valenčak

  • Line into contour: John Flaxman's drawing in practice and theory

    David Bindman

  • 'Christopher Wood: Sophisticated Primitive' at Pallant House Gallery

    Katy Norris

  • Mary Cameron: a neglected Scottish 'hispagnoliste'

    Kenneth McConkey

  • Patterns in the sky: the mysterious landscapes of Sidney Herbert Sime

    Jade King

  • Solved! Art Detective’s first and longest-running discussion

    Rachel Collings

  • Behind the scenes at Art Detective: more discoveries

    Jade King

  • Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery: an artist’s take on the art of copying

    Leo Stevenson

  • Discovering British art at The Cooper Gallery, Barnsley

    Jemma Conway

  • Interior of a Picture Gallery with the Collection of Cardinal Silvio Valenti Gonzaga
    The art hoarder: clutter and compulsive collecting

    Jon Sleigh

  • Arnold Bennett: 'popularizer of high art and educator of public taste'

    Katey Goodwin

  • Cataloguing oil paintings in Northern Ireland

    Alison Mitchelson

  • Tricks of the trade: some aspects of illusion and reality in paintings

    Andrew Greg

  • A surprise behind the canvas

    Hazel Buchan Cameron

  • Collection in focus: The Barber Institute of Fine Arts

    Robert Wenley

  • Four highlights from The Potteries Museum & Art Gallery

    Jean Milton

  • Beverley Art Gallery: the Champney Bequest and an enormous number of Elwells

    Gerardine Mulcahy-Parker

  • Malcolm Drummond's '19, Fitzroy Street (Walter Richard Sickert’s Studio)'

    David Buckman

  • E. H. Shepard and the First World War

    James Campbell

  • A look at the UK's early public galleries

    Sarah Fletcher

  • Practical copyists of Old Masters: the value of copies in art

    Jonny Yarker

  • Art lovers: do you know these British artist couples?

    Imelda Barnard

  • Johann Zoffany's 'Charles Townley and Friends in His Library at Park Street, Westminster' at Towneley Hall Art Gallery and Museum

    Andrew Graham-Dixon

  • Revolution in the studio: women artists in eighteenth-century France

    Hannah Williams

  • Samuel John Peploe: the success story of a Scottish Colourist

    Alice Strang

  • Design for 'Brighton Pier'
    Edward Bawden's tips for creating a great linocut

    Emma Frith

  • Collection in focus: Newlyn Art Gallery

    Kathy Hill

  • The National Trust's modernist marvel: Ernő Goldfinger's 2 Willow Road

    Lucy Ellis

  • Sitting for Lucian Freud

    Sue Tilley

  • The naked muse: to see or be seen?

    Kelley Swain

  • Breaking Up of the Blue Stocking Club
    Who were the Bluestockings?

    Lydia Figes

  • A fascination with still life

    Hazel Buchan Cameron

  • Vandalised 'Rokeby Venus', 1914
    Fighting for representation: suffragettes and art vandalism

    Victoria Ibbett

Learning resources

  • words-art-star-steer-preview-1.jpg
    Lesson plan
    Words into art: Ian Hamilton Finlay's visual poetry
    • KS2 (ENG)
      KS2 (NI)
      CfE L2 (SCO)
      PS3 (WAL)
      KS3 (ENG)
      KS3 (NI)
      CfE L3 (SCO)
      KS3 (WAL)
  • 3c-ania-bas725px-thumbnail-1.jpg
    Activity
    Make a colour sculpture and tell a story!
    • KS1 (ENG)
      KS1 (NI)
      CfE L1 (SCO)
      PS2 (WAL)
      KS2 (ENG)
      KS2 (NI)
      PS3 (WAL)
      CfE L2 (SCO)
  • esx-pscc-ps46-1-001-1.jpg
    Round-up
    Drawing resources
    • KS2 (ENG)
      KS2 (NI)
      CfE L2 (SCO)
      PS3 (WAL)
      KS3 (ENG)
      KS4 (ENG)
      KS3 (NI)
      KS4 (NI)
      CfE L3 (SCO)
      CfE L4 (SCO)
      KS3 (WAL)
      KS4 (WAL)
  • lw-boa-boa-14-002-1-1.jpg
    Round-up
    Anti-racism resources
    • KS2 (ENG)
      KS2 (NI)
      CfE L2 (SCO)
      PS3 (WAL)
      KS3 (ENG)
      KS3 (NI)
      CfE L3 (SCO)
      CfE L4 (SCO)
      KS3 (WAL)
  • edii-rsa-2018-068-001-1.jpg
    Lesson plan
    Changing landscapes: collage your future environment
    • KS3 (ENG)
      KS4 (ENG)
      KS3 (NI)
      KS4 (NI)
      CfE L3 (SCO)
      CfE L4 (SCO)
      KS3 (WAL)
      KS4 (WAL)
  • acc-acc-acc5-2001-001-1.jpg
    Round-up
    Sculpture resources
    • KS2 (ENG)
      KS2 (NI)
      CfE L2 (SCO)
      PS3 (WAL)
      KS3 (ENG)
      KS3 (NI)
      CfE L3 (SCO)
      KS3 (WAL)
  • nti-lln-548090-001-thumb-1.jpg
    Activity
    Make an abstract artwork from 2D shapes
    • KS1 (ENG)
      KS1 (NI)
      CfE L1 (SCO)
      PS2 (WAL)
      KS2 (ENG)
      KS2 (NI)
      CfE L2 (SCO)
      PS3 (WAL)
  • abd-aag-abdag013515-001-thumb-1.jpg
    Lesson plan
    Investigate 3D shapes
    • KS1 (ENG)
      KS1 (NI)
      CfE L1 (SCO)
      PS2 (WAL)
  • lsw-sgh-170987-283-001-thumb-1.jpg
    Lesson plan
    Investigate 2D shapes
    • KS1 (ENG)
      KS1 (NI)
      CfE L1 (SCO)
      PS2 (WAL)
  • LSE_HOM_1994_351iii-001.jpg
    Round-up
    Art and design from around the world
    • KS2 (ENG)
      KS2 (NI)
      CfE L2 (SCO)
      PS3 (WAL)
      KS3 (ENG)
      KS3 (NI)
      CfE L3 (SCO)
      KS3 (WAL)
      KS4 (ENG)
      KS4 (NI)
      CfE L4 (SCO)
      KS4 (WAL)
      CfE Sen. (SCO)
  • gac-gac-18305-thumbnail-1.jpg
    Lesson plan
    Teachers' Toolkit: how to use Curations
  • draw-five-inspirational-objects725px-1-1.jpg
    Activity
    Draw five inspirational objects with Bob and Roberta Smith
    • KS1 (ENG)
      KS1 (NI)
      CfE L1 (SCO)
      PS2 (WAL)
      KS2 (ENG)
      KS2 (NI)
      CfE L2 (SCO)
      PS3 (WAL)
  • PH18_DO_S070-006.jpg
    Activity
    Write a haiku inspired by the seasons
    • KS2 (ENG)
      KS3 (ENG)
      KS4 (ENG)
      KS5 (ENG)
      KS2 (NI)
      KS3 (NI)
      KS4 (NI)
      KS5 (NI)
      CfE L2 (SCO)
      CfE L3 (SCO)
      CfE L4 (SCO)
      CfE Sen. (SCO)
      PS3 (WAL)
      KS3 (WAL)
      KS4 (WAL)
      KS5 (WAL)
  • edii-nmus-k-2000-621-f-001-1.jpg
    Lesson plan
    The Superpower of Looking Kit
    • KS2 (ENG)
      KS2 (NI)
      CfE L2 (SCO)
      PS3 (WAL)
  • screenshot-2021-06-23-at-12-43-56-1.png
    Video
    Sculpture in focus: 'Work No. 88' by Martin Creed
    • KS3 (ENG)
      KS4 (ENG)
      CfE L3 (SCO)
      CfE L4 (SCO)
      KS3 (NI)
      KS4 (NI)
      KS3 (WAL)
      KS4 (WAL)
  • hs7-1-katiesfan-725px-1-1.jpg
    Activity
    Curate your very own exhibition
    • KS2 (ENG)
      KS2 (NI)
      CfE L2 (SCO)
      PS3 (WAL)
      KS3 (ENG)
      KS3 (NI)
      CfE L3 (SCO)
      KS3 (WAL)
  • mcca-gmiii-mcag-2020-9-001-1.jpg
    Lesson plan
    Martin Creed and Conceptual Art
    • KS3 (ENG)
      KS4 (ENG)
      KS3 (NI)
      KS4 (NI)
      CfE L3 (SCO)
      CfE L4 (SCO)
      CfE Sen. (SCO)
      KS3 (WAL)
      KS4 (WAL)
  • csbh-hepworth-three-forms-1.jpg
    Activity
    Carve a sculpture like Barbara Hepworth
    • KS1 (ENG)
      KS2 (ENG)
      KS1 (NI)
      KS2 (NI)
      CfE L1 (SCO)
      CfE L2 (SCO)
      PS2 (WAL)
      PS3 (WAL)
  • air-monet-painting-1.jpg
    Activity
    Artists in Residence: art, craft and design resources
    • EYFS (ENG)
      FD (NI)
      CfE EY (SCO)
      PS1 (WAL)
      KS1 (ENG)
      KS1 (NI)
      CfE L1 (SCO)
      PS2 (WAL)
      KS2 (ENG)
      KS2 (NI)
      CfE L2 (SCO)
      PS3 (WAL)
      KS3 (ENG)
      KS3 (NI)
      CfE L3 (SCO)
      CfE L4 (SCO)
      KS3 (WAL)
  • nwm-tbg-tenbm-2022-0027-001-1.jpg
    Audio
    Audio description of 'Augustus John (1878–1961)' by Fiore de Henriquez
    • KS5 (ENG)
      KS5 (NI)
      CfE Sen. (SCO)
      KS5 (WAL)
      KS4 (ENG)
      KS4 (NI)
      CfE L4 (SCO)
      KS4 (WAL)
  • abd-aag-ag002913-thumb-edited-1-1.jpg
    Round-up
    Wellbeing resources
    • CfE L2 (SCO)
      PS3 (WAL)
      KS2 (ENG)
      KS2 (NI)
      CfE L3 (SCO)
      KS3 (WAL)
      KS3 (ENG)
      KS3 (NI)
  • screenshot-2021-04-13-at-16-02-33-1.png
    Video
    Sculpture near you: 'Flat Time House' by John Latham
    • KS3 (ENG)
      CfE L3 (SCO)
      KS3 (WAL)
      KS3 (NI)
      KS2 (ENG)
      KS2 (NI)
      CfE L2 (SCO)
      PS3 (WAL)
  • esx-hat-14-003-1.jpg
    Activity
    Make your own pet from junk
    • KS1 (ENG)
      KS1 (NI)
      CfE L1 (SCO)
      PS2 (WAL)
      KS2 (ENG)
      KS2 (NI)
      CfE L2 (SCO)
      PS3 (WAL)
  • cww-lead-image-thumbnail-1.jpg
    Lesson plan
    Activities for exploring creative writing through art
    • KS4 (ENG)
      KS4 (NI)
      CfE Sen. (SCO)
      KS4 (WAL)
      KS5 (ENG)
      KS5 (NI)
      KS5 (WAL)
  • nti-pnw-1175989-1-001thumn-1.jpg
    Lesson plan
    Write on Art
    • KS4 (ENG)
      KS4 (NI)
      CfE L4 (SCO)
      KS4 (WAL)
      KS5 (ENG)
      KS5 (NI)
      CfE Sen. (SCO)
      KS5 (WAL)
  • 19-end-result-hybrid-creature-2-1-1.jpg
    Activity
    Create a wire hybrid creature
    • KS2 (ENG)
      KS2 (NI)
      CfE L2 (SCO)
      PS3 (WAL)
      KS3 (ENG)
      KS3 (NI)
      CfE L3 (SCO)
      CfE L4 (SCO)
      KS3 (WAL)
  • cor-2017-17-thumbnail-1.jpg
    Lesson plan
    Poetry, art and landscape
    • KS3 (ENG)
      KS3 (NI)
      CfE L3 (SCO)
      CfE L4 (SCO)
      KS3 (WAL)
  • WAR_NMAG_2012_13_1-003.jpg
    Audio
    Audio description of 'Francis Fawcett' by John Letts
    • KS5 (ENG)
      KS5 (NI)
      CfE Sen. (SCO)
      KS5 (WAL)
      KS4 (ENG)
      KS4 (NI)
      CfE L4 (SCO)
      KS4 (WAL)
  • make-paper-1.jpg
    Activity
    Make paper to sculpt with
    • KS3 (ENG)
      KS3 (NI)
      CfE L3 (SCO)
      KS3 (WAL)
      KS2 (ENG)
      KS2 (NI)
      CfE L2 (SCO)
      PS3 (WAL)
  • paper-sculpture-1.jpg
    Activity
    Cut, fold and experiment with paper
    • KS3 (ENG)
      KS3 (NI)
      CfE L3 (SCO)
      KS3 (WAL)
      KS2 (ENG)
      KS2 (NI)
      CfE L2 (SCO)
      PS3 (WAL)
  • experimental-painting-1.jpg
    Activity
    Experimental painting with eggs
    • KS1 (ENG)
      KS1 (NI)
      CfE L1 (SCO)
      PS2 (WAL)
      KS2 (ENG)
      KS2 (NI)
      CfE L2 (SCO)
      PS3 (WAL)
  • hmps-scag-56-1992-001-1.jpg
    Activity
    Experimental drawing
    • KS3 (ENG)
      KS3 (NI)
      CfE L3 (SCO)
      KS3 (WAL)
      KS2 (ENG)
      KS2 (NI)
      CfE L2 (SCO)
      PS3 (WAL)

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® is a registered trade mark of the Public Catalogue Foundation.
Art UK is the operating name of the Public Catalogue Foundation, a charity registered in England and Wales (1096185) and Scotland (SC048601).