Millet
to Matisse Lesson Plan: Middle School Level
Content
Area: Visual Arts
Lesson
Plan “M2M Still Life Paintings”
Grade
Level: 8th Grade
Introduction
The Millet to Matisse exhibit spans the innovative styles
and techniques of the 19th and early 20th centuries. Art is not
created in a vacuum, and the many artistic styles within the exhibition
are testament to the various cultural changes occurring during
that time period. Photography, the influence of non-European cultures,
and societal changes instituted by the Industrial Revolution all
contributed to an artistic revolution against the prevailing styles
of the first part of the 19th-century.
These artistic
styles are represented within the Millet to Matisse exhibition:
In the 1850s
Realism reacts to the subjective Romantic and idealized
Neo-Classical styles. This shift is brought about by the artists’
need to respond to the invention of photography and to reconsider
their role as “artists”. Realism portrays its subject
matter honestly: an “unidealized portrayal of reality.”
The invention of paint tubes (pig bladders used to hold oil paint)
allows the artist to go outside and paint en plein air. It also
depicts the social climate and the new democratic principles espoused
by the time. The elements art and principles of design are explored
in a new way: for example, texture as paint is applied, not just
implied.
During the1870s
Impressionism studies the effects of sunlight on color.
Those artists further expand en plein air painting. Their official
theory was that pure, unmixed color should be applied to the canvas
to create an impression of the subject. In that way, the actual
theme of the artwork was color. Their landscapes are painted to
reflect the effect of light on color, and often their subjects
were painted several times to illustrate the differing light at
various times of the day.
The influence of Japanese woodcut prints by Hokusai is evident
in the works of Impressionist artists Claude Monet, Edgar Degas,
and Mary Cassatt. Cropped, diagonal compositions add a new energy
and perspective to the arrangement of the picture plane. The harmony
and order of the Renaissance is replaced with unbalanced, dynamic
points of view.
By the 1880s
Post-Impressionism or Neo-Impressionism evolves from Impressionism
into personal, almost obsessive explorations of color and composition.
Some of these artists, like Seurat, explore the effects of one
color on another in the optical mixing of pointillism. Others,
such as VanGogh, pursue an expressive use of color and line. Cézanne
searches past color to space and differing points of view to flatten
and abstract the picture plane.
In the 1890s
the Nabis (Hebrew word for “prophets”) painters
further reflect the influence of Japanese printmaking on western
art. As with Van Gogh, they pursue a personal use of color, but
couple it with their own aims with art for a new age.
Fauvism
(meaning “Wild Beast”) comes into being in the first
years of the 20th-century, and was influenced by the Post-Impressionists
and their personal use of color and . Those artists were “invested
in the strong expressive reaction to the subjects they painted”
with its bright use of color which seemed to explode on the canvas.
Other members of the group included Derain and Vlaminck.
The creation
of the Cubism style around 1907 was greatly influenced
by Paul Cézanne’s abstraction of space by altering
the points of view by which a landscape or still life is seen.
Analytical cubism (to 1912) developed by Georges Braque and Pablo
Picasso is characterized by fragmented points of view in which
all views of an object are seen simultaneously. Synthetic cubism
fuses these disparate viewpoints and develops collage as a visual
art medium.
Concept/Objectives
- Students
will demonstrate an understanding of still life as subject matter.
(AH M 4.1.39)
- Students
will demonstrate an understanding of personal expression as
a purpose for creating art. (AH M 4.2.32)
- Students
will create a still life using a 19th or early 20th century
technique. (AH M 4.2.34)
Questions
to Guide Your Instruction
- What are
the characteristics of Realism? Impressionism? Post / neo impressionism?
Fauvism? Cubism? How do they fit into the 19th & 20th century
art movements?
- How did
each style use the elements of art and the principles of design
to distinguish its style?
- How did
the culture of the times influence the artwork? What influences
were the most important to the development of Realism? Impressionism?
Post / neo impressionism? Fauvism? Cubism?
Core Content
for Assessment
|
AH M
4.1.31
AH M 4.1.31
AH M 4.1.33
|
AH M
4.1.34
AH M 4.2.31
AH
M 4.2.32
|
AH M
4.2.33 |
Vocabulary:
- Artists:
Millet, Breton, Pissarro, Courbet, Corot, Bonvin, Fantin-Latour,
Monet, Seurat, Bastien-Lapage, Vuillard, Cassatt, Picasso, Derain,
Braque, Bonnard, VanGogh, Matisse
- Art Styles:
Realism, Impressionism, Post /Neo Impressionism, Nabis, Fauvism,
Cubism (Analytical and Synthetic)
- Subject
Matter: Still life
- Japanese
artists: Hokusai, Hiroshige
- Composition
- Straightforward
view
- En plein
air
- Art elements:
Space (perspective, positive and negative), texture, value,
color (tint and shade), shape
- Principles
of design: Contrast, pattern, emphasis, proportion, movement
Materials:
- 12”x18”
80#+ paper (or larger)
- Tempera
or acrylic paint: red, yellow, blue, black and white
- Water and
water containers
- Brushes
- Collage
materials (magazines, newspapers)
- Glue
- Palettes
or large plastic container lids.
- Pencils,
Charcoal
- Erasers
- Scissors
Classroom
Activity:
Time Frame:
Three weeks
- Introduce
students to styles through the Millet to Matisse CD resource.
Have students examine and discuss representative works differ
in the ways that colors, contrasts, textures, space, balance,
and movement are utilized.
- Discuss
the purposes of art (ritual, imitate nature, expressive, and
narrative). How did the invention of photography and the introduction
of Japanese woodcut prints in the 19th century affect how and
why artists painted (the purpose of art)?
- Introduce
the art assignment whereby students will create and paint their
own personal still life. They will arrange the objects in an
active composition.
- Ask students
to make a list of 3-5 objects they have that reflect their own
interests and experiences. Mentally ask them to arrange (plan)
a composition with those objects that is asymmetrically balanced.
Remind them to consider both the positive and negative space
of the composition. Instruct them to activate each edge of the
page by either cropping an object, or having a table or drapery
to go off the page.
- Using only
pencil, ask students to arrange and draw from life the objects
they reflected on in class in a sketchbook or on typing paper
at home. Students shade-in their light and dark values and bring
the drawings to their next art class.
- Students
then research each artistic style, particularly examining how
the elements of art and the principles of design were used,
and identifying the main artists and the significant contributions
of the style
- Students
then choose to re-create their still life as a painting using
either a Realist, Impressionist, Post / Neo Impressionist, Fauve,
or Cubist stylistic approach.
- Once students
have completed their still life paintings have a class critique
of the finished works, focusing on how effectively the students
were able to re-create the style using the elements of art and
principles of design in their artworks.
Motivational
Tools and Sources:
Assessment
and Scoring Guide
Prompt Every stylistic art period represented
within the exhibition, (Realism, Impressionism, Post / Neo Impressionism,
Fauvism, and Cubism) greatly influenced subsequent art periods.
Each of these styles reacted against the accepted method and subject
matter of its time
Directions:
- Students
view Millet to Matisse CD rom.
- Students
understand 19th and early 20th century art periods and their
place in art history.
- Students
discover the purposes of art.
- Students
select and plan a composition of personal objects of their own
choosing.
- Students
create their own still life painting.
- Students
critique the finished paintings.
Scoring
Guide
4 - The
student completes a still life painting.
The student designs an effective painting that clearly reflects
an understanding of all the elements and principles of art in
the lesson.
The
project reflects the student’s best effort and effective
craftsmanship.
The student follows all directions and always asks questions when
uncertain.
The
student is an active participant in the class critique, whose
remarks reflect a clear understanding of the project.
3 -
The student completes a still life painting.
The student designs a somewhat effective painting that reflects
an understanding of most of the elements and principles of art
in the lesson.
The project reflects good effort and somewhat effective craftsmanship.
The student follows most directions and usually asks questions
when uncertain.
The student is a fairly active participant in the class critique,
whose remarks reflect a clear understanding of the project.
2 -
The student completes a still life painting.
The student designs an acceptable painting that reflects an understanding
of some of the elements and principles of art in the lesson.
The project reflects acceptable effort and craftsmanship.
The student follows a few key directions and doesn’t usually
ask questions when uncertain.
The student is an acceptable participant in the class critique
when called upon and whose remarks reflect a general understanding
of the project
1 -
The student completes a still life painting.
The student designs a painting that reflects a minimal understanding
of some of the elements and principles of art in the lesson.
The project reflects minimal effort and craftsmanship.
The student follows a few directions and doesn’t usually
ask questions when uncertain.
The student is an inadequate participant in the class critique
when called upon and whose remarks reflect a minimal understanding
of the project
0 -
The student doesn’t complete a still life painting.
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