When studying art, students often think that all art exists in a bubble. Picasso and Rembrandt are both very famous artists, they must've known each other, right? Within my lessons, I always try to make my students stop and consider WHEN a piece of art was made. Rembrandt died over 200 years before Picasso was born (to the shock of my students!). A helpful tool to give your students some context on the Timeline of Art History is Dipity.com. It is full of interactive timelines for any and every subject- from the life of Steve Jobs, to a timeline of the events of World War II. I often show my students this one: Smarthistory -- An Art History Timeline. You can zoom in for a smaller intervals or zoom out for an overall snapshot, click on various works of art for more information, and see a visual progression of art throughout the ages. Click on over and check it out!
