High School Art History Curriculum: 25 Artist Studies and 5 Method Units
High School Art History Curriculum: 25 Artist Studies and 5 Method Units
For a high school art history semester or year, the High School Art History Curriculum gives you 30 units in one download: 25 artist studies from Dürer, Rembrandt and Friedrich to Monet, van Gogh, Kahlo, Picasso, Warhol, Kusama, Ai Weiwei and Banksy, plus five method units on analyzing a painting, perspective, color theory, sculpture and graphic novels. It costs $179.99; the parts separately total $749.70.
Browse the 30 art history unitsThe High School Art History Curriculum ($179.99) is a collection of 30 units for Grades 10–12. Twenty-five are artist studies, including Dürer, Rembrandt, Caspar David Friedrich, Monet, Seurat, van Gogh, Kandinsky, Kollwitz, Kahlo, Picasso, Warhol, Beuys, Kusama, Cindy Sherman, Ai Weiwei and Banksy. Five method units teach painting analysis with vocabulary and exam training, perspective, color theory, sculpture analysis and graphic novels and comics in art.
The resources
High School Art History Curriculum, Grades 10–12
30 resources in one download: $179.99 instead of $749.70 bought separately.
Start with the first resource; the others are optional add-ons. Open any cover for the full contents and price.
High School Art History Curriculum | 25 Artists from Dürer to Banksy + 5 Analysis Units | Grades 10–12
Art Complete – Ready-to-Use Curriculum for High School Art (Grades 9–12)
Complete Art Education Bundle for High School Teachers
Elementary Art & Music Units Bundle | Rhythm, Singing, Instruments, Color Mixing & Printing | 5 Units | Grades 3–5
The real problem
Building an art history course one artist at a time
Many high school art teachers are trained to teach studio work, then get asked to add art history: a semester elective, a block inside Art II, or a written component for older students. The challenge is not finding images. It is turning a famous painting into a lesson where students actually analyze something instead of copying facts from a slideshow. Students need a method first: how to describe what they see, which vocabulary to use, how perspective and color work, and how to move from description to interpretation. Without that, every artist lesson starts from zero. The second challenge is range. A course that stops at the Impressionists leaves out photography, video art, installation, street art and the political art students tend to be most curious about. Covering Rembrandt and Banksy in the same course means preparing very different material. Then there is writing. Art history asks students to argue about meaning and intention, which many studio-focused classes rarely practice. Teachers want analysis tasks that build that habit gradually. A ready collection that pairs a method with many artists lets you design the course around your students rather than around whatever you managed to prepare last weekend.
Why it fits
How 30 units support an art history course
The method units give students tools, and the artist studies give them plenty of work to apply those tools to.
- Analysing a Painting – Method, Vocabulary and Exam Training sets up a repeatable approach to any artwork.
- Perspective and color theory units, from Itten to practical use, explain how artists build space and mood.
- Sculpture and Statuary teaches students to analyze three-dimensional work alongside paintings.
- Studies of Bernd and Hilla Becher, Andreas Gursky and Cindy Sherman bring photography into the course.
- Kollwitz, Otto Dix, Ai Weiwei and Banksy give students political and social art to argue about in writing.
- Graphic Novel and Comic in Art Lessons connects analysis to forms many teenagers already read.
Getting started
A suggested semester structure
Treat this as one possible arrangement for a semester. For a full year, add more artist studies to each block and slow the pace.
- Teach the method firstOpen with Analysing a Painting, then Perspective and the representation of space, then Colour theory. Students learn the vocabulary and steps they will use in every later artist study.
- Old masters and RomanticismStudy Dürer's self-portrait and printmaking, Rembrandt's portraits and chiaroscuro, and Caspar David Friedrich's Romantic landscape. Students apply the method to works where technique and light carry the meaning.
- From light to abstractionMove through Monet, Seurat, van Gogh, Kirchner and Die Brücke, and Kandinsky. Students trace step by step how painters moved away from realistic depiction toward color, expression and abstraction.
- Art, war and societyTeach Käthe Kollwitz, Otto Dix, Picasso's Guernica and Hannah Höch's Dada collage. Pair the units with an argumentative writing task about what art can say about its own time.
- Contemporary practiceClose with Warhol, Beuys, Kusama, Christo and Jeanne-Claude, Ai Weiwei, Banksy, the photographers and Nam June Paik's video art. Each student picks one artist for a final presentation.
What to buy
Art history collection or studio curriculum?
Choose the High School Art History Curriculum at $179.99 if analysis and artist studies are the center of your course; the 30 parts bought separately cost $749.70. If you teach mostly studio art in Grades 9–12, Art Complete – High School (from $149.90) is the better base, with analysis and interpretation alongside drawing, painting, mixed media, design and conceptual work. The Complete Art Education Bundle for High School ($59.90) is a lower-cost option for general high school art material. For younger students, the Elementary Art & Music Units Bundle ($74.99) covers rhythm, singing, instruments, color mixing and printing in Grades 3–5.
Honest limits
Limits to keep in mind
This is a collection of 30 units, not a fixed course with a set calendar, and it is not aligned to AP Art History, IB or any state's visual arts standards. Check it against your course framework. The artist list is weighted toward European and US artists, with Kahlo, Kusama and Ai Weiwei among the exceptions, so add other traditions if your course requires them. Art supplies are not included. If your art department wants to share the collection, send Teach Lessons a short message first. If it does not suit your course, exchange it within 7 days for store credit of equal value; there are no cash refunds.
Good to know
Frequently asked questions
Will it work for AP Art History or my state's visual arts standards?
It is not an AP or IB course, it is not endorsed by the College Board, and it is not aligned to or approved under any state's visual arts standards. The analysis units and artist studies can still support those courses as extra material. Compare the 30 unit topics with your course framework or exam outline before deciding how to use them.
Which artists are included?
The 25 artist studies cover Dürer, Rembrandt, Caspar David Friedrich, Monet, Seurat, van Gogh, Kirchner and Die Brücke, Kandinsky, Käthe Kollwitz, Otto Dix, Hannah Höch, Picasso, Frida Kahlo, Louise Bourgeois, Joseph Beuys, Andy Warhol, Nam June Paik, Christo and Jeanne-Claude, Bernd and Hilla Becher, Gerhard Richter, Cindy Sherman, Andreas Gursky, Yayoi Kusama, Ai Weiwei and Banksy.
Is there exam-style writing practice?
Analysing a Painting – Method, Vocabulary and Exam Training includes exam training as part of the method. Students practice describing, analyzing and interpreting a work with the right vocabulary. You can then reuse that structure for written responses on any of the artist studies, which gives students the same frame all semester.
Can I teach it to Grade 9?
The collection is listed for Grades 10–12. A strong Grade 9 class may manage the method units and well-known artists such as van Gogh or Warhol with extra support. For a younger or mixed studio class, Art Complete – High School covers Grades 9–12 and balances analysis with hands-on practice.
Are there studio projects too?
The focus is analysis and artist studies. Some units deal with techniques such as printmaking, collage or pointillism, which you can turn into short studio tasks, but supplies are not included and the collection is not a studio curriculum. Check each unit's own page, linked from the bundle page, for its exact contents.
How do I receive 30 units?
All 30 parts arrive as digital downloads right after purchase. You get a link by email, and the files also stay in your customer account under Orders. Each part is also sold separately and linked on the bundle page, which makes it easy to find a specific artist later in the year.
From Dürer to Banksy, ready to teach
Open the product page, scan the 30 units and sketch your semester around them.
Browse the 30 art history units