ABSTRACT
Studying the work of artists help children to develop skills, understanding and knowledge they would otherwise miss. There is a narrow distinction between copying and working in the style of an artist. Copying is actually forgery, though much can be learned by the intense looking which is needed to make a copy of something. Art students throughout the nineteenth and twentieth centuries have copied in order to learn. The more creative act is to transfer some of this knowledge to original artwork and add something new. Evaluating artwork can be done by both teacher and child. Two further ways of enculturating children to the ways in which artists work are through gallery visits and visiting artists. The experience of gallery visit or visiting artist contrasts with the paucity of some school art activities. In particular, older children's art may be a diet of historical illustration in their humanities topic.
