Humanites Software Index | next |

Humanities Software Evaluation

Art Gallery

Copyright Date

1993

Publisher

Description

Art collection of the National Gallery in London with color, animation, and sound. Learn facts behind paintings, witness techniques through animation, read biographies, explore historical, geographical and social contexts.

Disciplines

History, Humanities, Art

Type of Program

x Single            |     x Mac
  One of a Series   |     x IBM

Suitable for:

Individual Instruction, Pairs, Small Groups

Vendor

Software City

Cost

$37.00 Academic

Instructional Characteristics

Instructional Techniques

  Game
  Tutorial
  Simulation
x Informational
  Problem Solving

Documentation Available (Y=yes, N=No, NA= Not Applicable)

N  Student worksheets/Supplentary Material required
N  Student worksheets/Supplentary Material provided
N  Reference Manuals Required

Quality 1 (low) to 5 (high)

4  Content Characteristics
3  Instructional Characteristics
3  Technical Characteristics

Recommendations

I would use this program, but with some reservations or changes

Comments

The table of contents allows the viewer to find information using four broad categories: Artists' Lives, Historical Atlas, Picture Types, and General Reference (an illustrated glossary). In addition, there are four narrated guided tours that are designed to teach some aspect of art, e.g. 'Composition and Perspective', or 'Paintings As Objects.' Needless to say, one of the limitations of the program is that only items in the collection of the National Gallery in London are discussed and shown. Coverage of some of the 'great' artists is, therefore, limited while some lesser known artists are covered in greater depth. I thought the coverage of Rembrandt is excellent. Twenty-five of his paintings are available and several are accompanied by quite detailed discussions of the composition of the works and analysis of details. In addition, several portraits done by imitators of Rembrandt are shown and analyzed in comparison to Rembrandt's works. For a class discussing the history of art and different stylistic periods, I think Encarta, the multimedia encyclopedia has better coverage. I expected the colors in some of the paintings to be more vivid and the images sharper; others, however, met my expectations; therefore, I'm not sure if the problem is in the software program or in the original work.