Last updated on 1 February 2026
Addressing art history with students aged 9-15 is not always simple. Art in Lines offers an original answer: a free site that brings together works, artists and activities in a path designed for school use, without unnecessary jargon or overload.
The site is primarily aimed at teachers, but remains accessible to anyone wishing to discover the art with children or teenagers. I love it.
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An art history site designed for the classroom
Created by Christophe Roux, a Swiss teacher, Art en ligne is the result of a collective project launched in the early 2000s under the name The Children's Museum. Over time, this work has been enriched to constitute a substantial set of exploitable resources: adapted texts, questionnaires, proposals for artistic creations, tour routes, games, glossary and writing activities around the works.
The bias is clear: priority for use in class, without aiming at an academic approach. The content is aimed at both teachers and non-specialist adults who want to help students discover the works.
A ‘metropainting’ to find your way around art
The originality of Art en ligne is based on a simple and original idea: to organise art history as a Subway map, baptized here metropainting. Eight thematic lines structure the route:
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L1 : Great Masters
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L2 : Religions
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L3 : Landscapes
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L4 : Around the world
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L5 : Portraits
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L6 : Movements
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L7 : Unclassifiable
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L8 : Rejoicing
Each artist or theme is voluntarily attached to a line, with a justification explained at the beginning of the course. This assumed ranking facilitates student orientation and provides you as a teacher with a legible frame to build consistent sequences.
This is reminiscent of the bibliometrography which I mentioned here some time ago.
Ready-to-use art history resources
When you click on an artist/station, you have access to a very complete file. Take a good look at the menu at the top of the screen. You can find a video showing the artist’s work, a gallery with many paintings, a biography or a whole series of small games (coloring, intruders, … puzzle) that allow you to have fun with the works.
The set makes it possible to build complete sessions or to enrich an interdisciplinary project (French, history, languages, visual arts).
3 ideas for classroom activities
Metro Art Quiz
Choose a line (e.g. L1 Grandmasters). Students explore three stations, answer questionnaires in pairs, and then place the works on a subway map to complete.
Writing workshop “Letter to the artist”
From an artist (e.g. Matisse), each student writes a short letter. Reading aloud and collective discussion.
Virtual Class Exhibition
Over two weeks, the class explores the line “Around the World”. Each group prepares a short slideshow from the site's resources. Final presentation and exchanges.
Welcome aboard the art metro
Sober, free, ad-free and rich in actionable content, the Site Art in Lines provides a solid basis for accompanying art history courses in the classroom, from cycle 3 to the beginning of high school.
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