Is an artist-teacher a mere professional who balances a career—or does the duality of making and teaching art merit a more profound investigation? Rejecting a conventional understanding of the artist-teacher, this book sets out to present a robust history from the classical era to the twenty-first century. Particular pedagogical portraits—featuring George Wallis, Walter Gropius, Johannes Itten, Victor Pashmore, Richard Hamilton, Arthur Wesley Dow, and Hans Hofmann—illustrate the artist-teacher in various contexts. This book offers a revelation of the complex thinking processes artists utilize when teaching, and a reconciliation of the artistic and educational enterprises as complimentary partners.
The philosophy of the artist-teacher is not a fresh phenomenon. In fact, many artists working within the Bauhaus, nineteenth century Schools of Design, and The Basic Design Movement all applied this method of thinking to their teaching. This book explores the facets of this methodology, and the various ways art has been taught over the centuries.