Art education with modern significance began to rise in our country at the beginning of the last century. It has developed for nearly a hundred years. During this period, it has experienced several stages of gradual rise, cessation, recovery and development. Now it has entered a period of prosperity and development. However, there are many problems in the development process of art education, which to a certain extent have affected the development of art colleges, art practitioners and art students.

1. Insufficient attention to art theory

In the development process of my country’s art world in recent years, there have been several major art trends, such as “85 Art” and “Cynical Art” , "Pop", "Gaudy" and so on. In the artistic wave in the art world, art practitioners have created many works of art with both Chinese and world characteristics. However, there are also cases of simple imitation of Western art. The reason why this phenomenon exists is that some artists have a weak theoretical knowledge foundation and have not formed a systematic understanding of the development of Chinese and Western art.

"Human beings usually cannot avoid making the same mistakes", this is Schopenhauer's famous saying. At this stage, some people in the art world believe that theory exists as an accessory to art creation. In their view, artists do not need theoretical support to create. What they need is emotional experience, hands-on skills, and creative inspiration. In fact, artistic creation cannot be separated from theory. Without the support of theory, the source of inspiration will be lost, and it will be difficult to create good works. Therefore, we must pay full attention to the current lack of attention to art theory and take measures to strengthen the study of theoretical knowledge.

To give a simple example, the author once met several freelance painters who graduated from art schools. They knew nothing about "Bada Shanren" and even thought that "the so-called Bada Shanren" They are the Eight Mountain Men.” From this, it is not difficult to see that the theoretical cultivation level of today’s art practitioners has reached a worrying level. The reason for this situation is closely related to the curriculum of art schools. Some professional art colleges in my country do not fully realize the importance of theoretical cultivation. When setting up the curriculum, they arrange less class hours for art theory courses, making it difficult to meet the needs of students for theoretical learning.

2. The significance of art theory from a Western perspective

According to the views of Gurnell and Eisner (Western essentialist artists), art is a part of human practice and culture. A very special part is that human art ability is formed through continuous learning and education, rather than natural development. Therefore, Genell and Eisner believe that art teaching, as an important part of popular modern education, should consist of four parts: art creation, aesthetics, art criticism and art history. In the process of art teaching, aesthetic theory occupies a large proportion. Therefore, it is not difficult to find that Western art educators attach great importance to the study of art theory and focus on cultivating students' art theory cultivation.

Aesthetics is closely related to the issue of life value. By setting up aesthetic courses, art schools allow students to form a systematic understanding of the types, essence and forms of beauty, and at the same time improve their ability to judge, perceive, understand and appreciate beauty. Art criticism is based on art appreciation and conducts value judgment and theoretical analysis of art phenomena and art works according to corresponding standards. For students, learning related knowledge of art criticism is of great significance, as it can cultivate students' high-level aesthetic judgment, artistic sensibility and logical thinking ability. The study of relevant knowledge of art history is also of great significance. For students of any major, they must understand the subject history of their major and form a systematic understanding of the development process and significance of their subject. "Reading history makes people wise." Therefore, by studying the development history of Chinese and Western art, students can grasp the development context and current situation of art, and can expand a new situation of art development on the basis of absorbing its essence.

3. The essence of art education and the significance of art theory

In modern times, the development of art education in my country depends on Cai Yuanpei. At the beginning of the last century, Mr. Cai put forward the slogan of "aesthetic education saves the country." At present, "aesthetic education to save the nation" is still of great significance, and it has far-reaching significance for the formation and development of the national aesthetic consciousness. Therefore, the essence of art education, which exists as a new force in popular education, is the education of aesthetic culture and art culture. In view of the current situation of people's increasing demand for beauty, as a socially responsible social education institution, the Academy of Fine Arts should train talents who are in line with the direction of social development and capable of conscious aesthetics; the talents it trains should serve the society. art lovers, art workers and art educators.

At this stage, the more scientific approach to aesthetic teaching in my country's higher art colleges should be an education method that combines theory and practice, and the dual cultivation of students' theoretical knowledge and practical ability is carried out. Specifically, professional theoretical knowledge cultivates students' spiritual quality; while professional practical education cultivates students' skills and skills. The two are indispensable and complement each other. Only by paying attention to both the study of students' professional theoretical knowledge and the cultivation of students' practical abilities can we cultivate qualified art talents needed by society.

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IV. Conclusion

Whether you are a creator who aspires to be an artist or a practitioner in the field of applied art, you need a corresponding art theoretical foundation. Fortunately, more and more people are gradually realizing the irreplaceability and importance of art theoretical knowledge. Finally, it ends with a famous quote: "In the field of art, the height of a person's ideology and theoretical knowledge determines the height of his vision and also affects his own development."