‘Art is not what you see, but what you make others see.’ Edgar Degas
If you’re interested in studying A level FIne Art, start finding out more about the subject by discovering more about the work of other artists, Art history and what is happening in the world of art now. The museums and galleries might be closed but you can still see and learn a lot by visiting gallery websites and the art pages on newspaper websites.
Online:
Smarthistory https://smarthistory.org/
The Art Assignment https://www.youtube.com/user/theartassignment/videos
You could also visit the AQA website – there’s a lot of useful information about what you’ll be studying and how you’ll be assessed.
Galleries:
Tate Modern and Tate Britain https://www.tate.org.uk/
Tate Modern - “Britain’s spectacular museum of modern and contemporary international art”.
Tate Britain - “The country’s main gallery of British art”.
National Gallery https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/
“An outstanding collection of Old Masters from the early Renaissance to 1900”.
Victoria and Albert Museum https://www.vam.ac.uk/
“The world’s largest collection of decorative and applied arts”.
The Hayward Gallery https://www.southbankcentre.co.uk/venues/hayward-gallery
“One of the biggest temporary art exhibition centres in the world”.
National Portrait Gallery https://www.npg.org.uk/
“The history of British portraiture from its beginning, through to the edge of abstraction”.
The most comprehensive portrait gallery in the world.
Saatchi Gallery https://www.saatchigallery.com/
“Contemporary art by largely unseen UK artists and established international artists rarely exhibited in the UK”.
Other useful sites
200, 000 paintings to view
Promoting computer art in its many forms, current exhibitions and archiving the work of leading artists in the field
Tate site which provides support for exam themes including commentary linking the artists’ ideas to the theme and to one another.
A resource for finding fine artists and photographers. There are sections focused on different media which you can browse through. Alternatively there is a search function, though you have to donate to the site to gain access to this.
This website focuses on modern and contemporary artists. It has a great, clear layout making it easy to use. Analysis of artists’ work and context is set-out alongside relevant biography.