Using Art (Paintings, Drawings, and Engravings) to Teach Economics

Abstract

The authors provide a brief review of how economists have dealt with art in their research and more popular writings, and then consider the case that has been made for using art and other visual materials in general education and—in very few cases—to teach economics. A new Web site on Art and Economics is introduced that makes it easier for economics instructors to find and use art with their students. They discuss several different ways of using the art in classes, and provide a table with over 50 paintings from the Introduction slide show at the Web site to illustrate the range of economic concepts and issues that can be taught with art.

Keywords:

• art
• artists
• paintings
• teaching economics

JEL codes:

• A12
• A20
• A22
• Z11

Acknowledgments

The authors thank Jane Anderson, Mara Gallo, John Fasshnacht, and Robert Wakeland for their work with the Web site on Art and Economics described here. The Web site was developed with support from the Calvin K. Kazanjian Foundation for Teaching Economics. Jonathan Wight, Marc St-Pierre, and KimMarie McGoldrick provided helpful comments on earlier versions of the paper.

Notes

1. Watts (2003) and others made similar claims about literature and drama. Other economists have done the same for different kinds of cultural media, including feature films, documentaries, music, and animated films and videos. In his article on Adam Smith's use of the “noble arts,” Wight (2006, 156n) provides a long list of references on using all of these media to teach economics, with the notable exception of painting/art. This exception shows that, for the most part, using art to teach economics is untraveled ground. Zevin (1980) suggested using artifacts and visual images, including “art” (left at that generic level), to teach economics at the precollege level; but all of his specific examples feature artifacts, or drawings and advertisements of artifacts. In 2011, at the first national conference on teaching economics and research in economic education sponsored by the American Economic Association Committee on Economic Education and the Journal of Economic Education, Watts organized a panel discussion that featured presentations on the Web site on Art and Economics featured here, and papers by Bohanon (2011) and Cotti and Johnson (2012).

2. Both economists and art educators have also noted the importance of the rising quantity and value of leisure time versus time spent working, for example in Greenwood and Vandenbroucke (2005) and White (1975).

3. World history and geography textbooks, even at the precollege level, often use art to illustrate cultural and economic differences across time and nations.

4. Digital images for most of the art are available on other Web sites, such as Wikimedia Commons.

5. Optional text screens are now being added to the Web site slide shows to provide background information on the economic content shown in the art—especially for these “story pictures” and allegorical paintings—and on the artists and the works of art. Only the introductory slide show includes explanatory text slides as separate screens. The first software platforms used for the Web site, including standard wiki platforms, did not support the multiple optional text slides. After some customization by information technology (IT) specialists at Purdue University, the current platform will. Optional text slides are now being posted for the introductory slide show, and will be posted for the other slide shows over the next year as they are completed.

6. This kind of information will be provided in the slide shows using the optional text slides.