Abstract

The abandonment of the requirements of historical distance and objectivity in art historical research has increased various “crowdsourcing” approaches in art history, in which the present visual culture and experiences that arise in observing works of art are used as perspectives in discussing art history. The conceptual distinction of the dual contexts of art history—that of making works of art and that of interpreting them—has led numerous art historians to conceptualize the discipline as a dialogue between the present and the past, as well as between various cultures. The aim of this small-scale research is to explore what kinds of study experiences are generated when art history is taught and studied through the methods of drawing, painting, and sculpting, and to discuss these experiences in the framework of art history as a dialogue. Twenty-five students majoring in Visual Expression in a Finnish vocational college participated in the research and produced data in writing by reflecting on their study experiences. The data was analyzed qualitatively using content analysis and discourse analysis. The results show that visual teaching methods generated a number of experiences in which art historical topics, as well as various times and cultures, were related to each other. This seemed to make art history meaningful not only in terms of increasing students’ knowledge of visual cultures and training them in skills of visual expression, but also in terms of their self-knowledge.