The History of the Elements and Principles of Art

The History of the Elements and Principles of Art

In a conversation with my husband who is in higher ed, I looked up the wiki for the elements and principles of art (design) in an effort to find out who originally wrote them. Surprisingly, the article does not have that information. Just a couple of lists and definitions and citing to recent texts.

I have now been making an effort to find this information out to possibly update the wiki, but also to help me understand what the original intent of the elements and principles was. I bet that knowing the origins of them will help me understand the best way to use them in the classroom.

So far, these are the texts I have found that I need to read. I will be adding blog posts reviewing each and seeing if they lead me to any others.


1857  -  Elements of Drawing by John Ruskin (stones of Venice)

1900 - Line & Form by Walter Crane

1920 - Composition: Understanding Line, Notan & Color