Impressionist and Post-Impressionist Art
Four classroom Lesson Plans and Activities
Mary Ann Popovich
I. LESSON GOALS:
The primary goal is to create connections between classroom curricula and the collection of The Cleveland Museum of Art. This plan will allow for the adaptation of activities, discussion, and the relation of art history to the teachers' subject areas and thus provide visual enhancement to the child's learning experience.
II. OBJECTIVES:
A. To increase familiarity with paintings that children can actually see and experience.
B. To better acquaint them with landscape as a genre in painting.
C. To enable the teacher to incorporate the works into their curriculum.
D. To introduce the students, through the great masters, to the basic elements of art. (Line, Texture, Color, Space and Shape.)
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SLIDE 11
LA MONTAGNE SAINTE-VICTOIRE, PAUL CEZANNE,FRENCH,
1839-1906. OIL ON CANVAS, ABOUT 1894-1900. BEQUEST
LEONARD C. HANNA, JR. CMA 58.21
PAUL CEZANNE (1839-1906)
Cezanne was born in Aix-en-Provence to a prosperous banker. His early childhood was rich in surroundings of museums, collections,and other opportunities for studying art. A childhood friend, Emile Zola, and Cezanne were schooled to become lawyers, both however, abandoned this endeavor for another career. Zola became a writer while Cezanne pursued his painting against the wishes of his family who had other aspirations for him. In 1861, Cezanne went to Paris to study at the Academy Suisse and it was then he turned to his close friend Emile Zola. It was the latter who put him in contact with Camille Pissarro whom Cezanne saw as his mentor. In addition, Pissarro was an influential figure on his career. Cezanne is considered one of the founding members of Impressionism and exhibited with them at the first show in 1874 and then again in the show of 1877. Both his work and his person were received with mixed emotions.The concepts behind his work were too advanced for his time and his arrogant and abusive manner alienated people. Cezanne actually transformed Impressionism to suit his own artistic needs, a blend of freedom and control. He created a new visual grammar which forged the way for art in the 20th century. Such movements as Cubism were to feel the effect of his ideas because Cezanne treated nature in terms of geometry; particularly cubes, cylinders and spheres.
LA MONTAGNE SAINTE-VICTOIRE
This subject was to dominate Cezanne's later works. He painted LA MONTAGNE SAINTE-VICTOIRE over twenty-five times in different light, different media and different weather conditions. In 1901 he constructed a studio on the hillside of Les Lauves to the north of Aix so he could paint his 'monument'. Cezanne never explained his intense interest in this mountain or why he painted it so many times. Cezanne's paintings were done from studies of nature in the Impressionists' manner, however he reacted against their ideas of capturing the fleeting views of the outdoors. For Cezanne, nature was only a starting point for his complex vision of form. In his composition one is aware of the geometric shapes and the use of color to create movement, distance and mass. Cool colors cause the mountain to recede although it is highlighted with warm colors. In the foreground warm colors are used to bring shapes forward. Cezanne also observed that objects in close proximity do not follow the laws of classical perspective.
DISCUSSION:
A. LA MONTAGNE SAINTE VICTOIRE is a monument to Cezanne.
Discuss with the students what they would select as a monument for an art work.
B. Identify with students which colors are warm and which are cool. What effect do warm and cool colors have on his composition?
C. Encourage students to look for different geometric shapes in the painting.
D. Discuss the use of space in this composition. Is the mountain close or far away from the viewer? How does Cezanne make this clear in the painting?
E. Talk about the difference in style between Monet's ANTIBES and Cezanne's painting.
ACTIVITIES:
A. Have students create a landscape using colored pieces of torn or cut paper. Place the cool colors in the middle of the page and the warm pieces in the foreground. Warm colors can be used to highlight. (This encourages young students to overlap their shapes.)
B. Draw or cut out shapes for a landscape using only geometric shapes.
C. Paint a landscape using only complementary colors (for example, red and green).
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ANTIBES, CLAUDE OSCAR MONET, FRENCH, 1840-1926
OIL ON CANVAS, 1888. GIFT OF MR. AND MRS. J. H.
WADE, CMA 16.1044
CLAUDE OSCAR MONET (1840-1926)
Born in Paris, Claude Monet was the son of a shopkeeper who moved to Le Havre when the boy was 5 yrs. old. At the age of 19 Monet went to The Academie Suisse in Paris where he met Camille Pissarro. After a period in the army in Algeria he returned to Le Havre and began to paint landscapes. In the 1860's Monet went to Paris to study in the atelier of Charles Gleyre with his classmates Frederic Bazille, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, and Alfred Sisley, Monet and these artists went to paint in the forest of Fontainebleau. It was through this group excursion that many of the fundamentals of Impressionism such as plein-air painting and light ground canvases were developed. Monet had some success exhibiting his work at the Paris Salon. This was important, because at that time in his life he had to support his mistress, Camille Doncieux, and a son. In addition, acceptance by the Salon was equal to public acceptance. In 1870, Monet went to London during the Franco-Prussian War, and it was there that he first saw the work of H. M.Turner whose influence profoundly affected his work in exploring the effects of light. However the full impact of this influence was not to occur until the 1890's. After returning to France and moving to Argenteuil, he painted IMPRESSION;SUNRISE (Musee Marmottan, Paris) the work that gave Impressionism its name. The goals of Monet were to explore and to analyze pure color. Even in these early paintings Monet had a sense of color structure. As Monet became more successful, due to the sale of his work in the 1880's, he was able to move to Giverny where he lived for the rest of his life. It was during this time that he continued to play with light and created many of his famous series paintings such as the Haystacks,(1890) Rouen Cathedral, (1892-3) and The Nympheas (waterlilies),(1890's) that were the essence of Impressionism. At Giverny Monet recreated nature in the gardens at his house to suit his own needs. One of his main preoccupations was to halt time and to portray the fleeting moment.
ANTIBES
In mid January of 1888, Monet went to Antibes on the Mediterranean Coast where he stayed until May. This was a popular seaside resort on the Cote D'Azur, so named because of its blue water. At first Monet wrote that the area left him feeling cold although it was beautiful. The financial possibilities may have persuaded him to stay. He did many color studies avoiding the use of black; instead, he used complementary colors to create shadows. He complained about the brilliant southern light that is evident in this composition. He commented to a friend how the colors, white, pink, blue, yellow, green and lilac floated in this magical air and how his pictures would reflect this environment. ANTIBES is characterized by free brushstrokes, light, and warm high valued pastel tones. Notice how the artist used blue and pink as opposing hues, blue acts as the shadow. After the base color was dry, a thick impasto was applied over the surface creating rhythmic pattern which elaborated or modified the colors beneath them.
DISCUSSION:
A. The cafe, for the Impressionists, was the social scene where they met friends and talked. Where today would there be this type of atmosphere?
B. Discuss the art element of texture. How does Monet create texture in this painting?
C. Have you been to the lake or sea on a bright sunny day? Talk about the intensity of light and what it does to color.
D. What is a series? Look at some of Monet's series paintings and discuss his objectives.
ACTIVITIES:
A. Do a melted crayon project building up layers of color.
B. Using pastels create the effects of light (high key colors) on a landscape or seascape.
C. Create a picture using low key colors. Compare the high key and the low key. What is the difference?
D. Write a story about a visit to a lake or the ocean.
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SLIDE 2
READING (LA LECTURE) BERTHE MORISOT, FRENCH 1841-1895
OIL ON CANVAS 1873 GIFT OF THE HANNA FUND 50.89
BERTHE MORISOT (1841-1895)
BACKGROUND:
Berthe Morisot was the daughter of a top-ranking civil servant at the Cour des Comptes.Her first exposure to art was through her father who taught her to draw. Formal lessons by Guichard, a friend of Corot also fueled Morisot's interest in art. Since it was not until the late 1800's that women were permitted to study in the French Academy of Art, Morisot and her sister trained as artists through private lessons. She would also make contact with Fantin-La Tour in 1859. On the advice of Corot,she and her sister, Edma, studied at Auvers and Fontainebleau. There,she met Daubigny and Daumier. In 1864, two of Morisot's paintings were accepted in the Paris Salon an unusual achievement for a woman. She continued to exhibit there until 1873. In 1868 she met Manet, they shared a mutual admiration. Morisot posed for his painting of THE BALCONY (1869; Musee d'Orsay). She encouraged Manet toward plein-air painting because of her great interest in landscape painting. Berthe married Eugene Manet, brother of the artist. Their daughter Julie, wrote a journal which was later published as 'Growing up with Impressionism'. The Journal stopped at Julie's marriage to Ernest Rouart,a pupil of Degas. As one of the founding members of the Impressionist group, Morisot participated in all of the Impressionists' exhibitions. This horrified her former teacher Guichard who felt she had compromised herself through her association with the Impressionists. This may be the reason that in 1880, she refused to have her name placed on the poster for the 5th Impressionists' exhibition. Yet, at her home in the Rue Villejust, she entertained many of the Impressionists and provided a warm meeting place for their discussions. She built a close relationship with Renoir, who was to play an important role in her latter life.
READING ( LA LECTURE)
The painting is an example of Morisot's relatively limited repertoire of subjects taken from her world of modern, upper-middle class women. Her subjects were chosen from her family and domestic circles and from the places familiar to her. Her work was marked with spontaneous brushstrokes that placed dashes of color at random places. This painting was exhibited in the first Impressionist show of 1874. It shows evidence of this brush-stroke technique especially in the grass below the skirt. This freedom of handling paint was not considered proper for a female painter during the 1880's. This painting also exhibits her style of broken edges which are created through fluttering brush-strokes. Notice also that the ground nearly matches the value and the hue of the edge of the dress. Furthermore, the Japanese influence on her work is apparent in the position of the figure placed close to the bottom of the composition, and by the Japanese fan lying near her.
DISCUSSION:
A. Talk about the position of women artists in history. What held them back?
B. Who from your circle of friends and family would you chose to place in a landscape painting.
ACTIVITIES:
A. Write a story about the woman in the landscape. What is she reading? What did she do before going to the meadows?
B. Select three words and then use these words to describe the painting.
C. Paint a picture incorporating a local park or your back yard and place one of your circle of friends or family in the work.
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SLIDE 13
LARGE PLANE TREES (LES GRANDS PLANTANES),
VINCENT VAN GOGH, FRENCH, 1853-1890. OIL
ON CANVAS, 1889. GIFT OF THE HANNA FUND 47.209
VINCENT VAN GOGH (1853-1890)
Van Gogh was born at Groot-Zundert in the Netherlands the son of a pastor. At age 16 he worked in the art gallery at the Hague. He decided to follow in his father's footsteps and so in 1875 Vincent became a lay preacher to miners in Belgium. However, by 1881 disappointed in the experience, he turned again toward the art world. His early letters to his brother Theo Van Gogh, discussed his great admiration for such artists as Millet and other English illustrators who were often concerned with the lives of the poor, a subject that held great interest for him. At the Antwerp Academy, he persisted in painting the lives of peasants. Van Gogh mentioned in a letter to his brother a group of artists known as the Impressionists. At this time he had no idea that they were liberating color and reacting against the classical themes of the academies and the emotional drama of the Romantics. While in Paris at the studio of a liberal teacher, Felix Cormon he was first introduced to Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Paul Gauguin, and Camille Pissarro. These artists, other Impressionist artists, and Japanese prints that provided the liberating force Van Gogh needed in his painting. He borrowed from Impressionism the technical skills of the use of color and directed this toward the expression of feeling rather than external phenomena. Although he did use the interest in contemporary life so common in Impressionist painting, he mixed these theories with the idealistic work of Millet. His concern for solid objects and drawing contours prevented him from being an Impressionist. In addition to this Van Gogh sought parallels between painting, music and literature. His prolific career ended on July 27,1890 when Vincent Van Gogh committed suicide.
LARGE PLANE TREES
Shortly after a time in the hospital at St. Remy in May of 1890, Van Gogh saw this scene and painted it. He had no ability to be calm and passive before nature. Short of funds as usual he painted this on his tablecloth rather than a canvas. The red threads from the cloth are still visible in several locations. One spot is located at the bottom of the painting near the edge of the road. Van Gogh is considered a cloisonnist. This is derived from the technique of cloisonne, an enameling process which separates the color through the use of wires. This is obvious in the painting with the black outlines, especially on the trees. The Japanese influence is very apparent in the position of the figures and the oblique angle of the trees,exaggerated lines and flat color. Van Gogh used bright accentuated strokes, and insistent arabesque rhythm, and bright colors. This created an emotional force and depth which he infused into the scene. These strokes were done with palette knife and the end of the brush. In some cases he squeezes the tube of paint directly onto the canvas. Line and texture are predominant art elements apparent in this painting. It is difficult to think of Van Gogh without visualizing the violent tones of pure color and rhythmic brush strokes. These techniques bear the imprint of his connection with Impressionism.
DISCUSSION:
A. Talk about at least three art elements, color, line and texture.
B. What season is it? How can you tell?
C. What technique did Van Gogh use to paint this picture?
D. What characteristics of this painting make it unique?
ACTIVITIES:
A. Have the students use twigs, and brush handles or any unconventional method to create a landscape. Suggestion use tempera paint, it is thicker.
B. Do a crayon resist.
C. Use yarn or string to recreate the brush strokes in the painting. Suggestion only do a small section of the painting or do a small subject.
* Lesson plans based on Impressionist/Post-Impressionist workshop at the National Gallery of Art.
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BIBLIOGRAPHY
Bonford, David, et. al. Impressionism. London: The National Gallery of Art and Yale University Press, 1990.
Denvir, Bernard. Encyclopaedia of Impressionism. London: World of Art Series, Thames and Hudson, Ltd., 1990.
Denvir, Bernard, ed. The Impressionists at First Hand. London: World of Art Series, Thames and Hudson, Ltd., 1987.
Fleming, William. Arts and Ideas. New York: Holt, Rinehart, and Winston, 1986.
Geist, Sydney. Interpreting Cezanne. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, 1988.
Gerstein, Marc S. Impressionism-Selections from Five American Museums. New York: Hudson Hills Press,1989.
Gotz, Adriani. Cezanne Paintings. Dumont Buchverlag, Cologne, 1993.
Herbert, Robert L. Impressionism: Art, Leisure and Parisian Society. New Haven and London: Yale Press, 1988.
Kendall, Richard. The History and Techniques of the Great Masters: Cezanne. New Jersey: Chartwell Books, 1989.
Kissick, John. Art Context and Criticis;m. Wisconsin: Brown and Benchmark, 1996.
Pickvance, Ronald.Van Gogh in Saint-Remy and Auvers. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1986.
Pool, Phoebe. Impressionism. New York and London: World of Art Series, Thames and Hudson, Ltd., 1985.
Rewald, John. The History of Impressionism. The Museum of Modern Art, New York, 1946.
Rewald, John. Post-Imopressionism from Van Gogh to Gauguin. The Museum of Modern Art, New York, 1978.
Rewald, John. Studies in Impressionism, London: Thames and Hudson, 1985.
Stuckey, Charles F. Claude Monet. The Art Institute of Chicage, London: Thames and Hudson, 1995.
Techniques of the Great Masters of Art. New Jersey: Chartwell Books, Inc. 1993.
Verdi, Richard. Cezanne and Poussin: The Classical Vision of Landscape. National Gallery of Scotland, Edinburgh, 1990.
VIDEOS:
In Brilliant Light: Van Gogh in Arles. The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
CHILDRENS'BOOKS:
Bjork, Christina. Linnea in Monet's Garden. New York: R and S Books, 1995.
Crispino, Enrica. Masters of Art: Van Gogh. New York: Peter Bedrick Books,1996.
Muhlberger, Richard. What Makes a Monet. New York: Viking Press.
Salvi, Francisco. Masters of Art: The Impressionists. New York: Peter Bedrick,1994.
What Makes a Van Gogh. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York: Viking Press. |