The Link between Higher Education and Art

Most people seek out a degree from a higher educational organization because they want to change careers or enhance their skills in their current career. But a college education also helps to awaken the spirit inside you that wants to know more about the world around you. That is why people who are educated tend to understand and appreciate all forms of art more than those people who did not continue their education.

A Knowledge of Art History Adds Truth to Art

History is becoming a popular topic with people pursuing degrees. Famous paintings all have a story attached to them that give insight into the reason for the painting and the inspiration behind it. The “Mona Lisa” is wrapped in myth about who the subject is and why Leonardo Da Vinci painted the portrait. Some people speculate it is a self-portrait of Da Vinci while others say it is a portrait of a woman he was intimate with.

Educated people know that it is a portrait that Da Vinci did of Lisa Gherardini at the request of her husband, Francesco del Giocondo. Educated people avoid wild speculation and can help keep a piece of art in the proper perspective.

A Knowledge of Psychology Helps Understand the Artist’s State of Mind

The art a person produces tends to give insight into the artist’s state of mind. An educated analysis of the painting titled “The Starry Night” by Vincent Van Gogh shows a painter who appreciated beauty but was tortured by his own demons.
Educated people can detect the subtlety in paintings that other people cannot, and that enhances the appreciation of all art.

A Knowledge of Sociology Adds Social Context to Art

Artists capture their surroundings in their art. It takes an education to read the works of Geoffrey Chaucer or William Shakespeare and understand the references the authors are making to issues in their own time. Most art has a deeper meaning than just its surface appearance. Geoffrey Chaucer was renowned as the finest political satirist of his day. But unless you take the

time to study politics in the 14th century, you will never get his deeper meanings of the pilgrim stories in The Canterbury Tales.

Visual art is the same way. Andy Warhol was famous for his desire to break political and social barriers with his art. Without an education, it is difficult to appreciate what art is really saying about society.

A college education can help you see the world in a completely different way. Works of art are not only beautiful, but they also tell a story. Through the course of gathering a college education, a student learns to appreciate those stories and can see the subtle messages that others consistently miss.