Art Around the World

Vincent van Gogh

In this lesson the student will: Analyze Sunflowers, by van Gogh, and learn how artists paint expressively; Identify warm colors, circular shapes, and rough texture; Mix red and yellow paint to create shades of orange; Draw round and oval shapes and straight and curving lines to make flowers and vases; Paint still life of flowers, using thickened tempera and impasto brushstrokes.

Wassily Kandinsky

In this lesson the student will: Analyze Lines of Signs, by Kandinsky, and discuss how artists use symbols and colors to represent objects; Identify symbols, geometric shapes, and horizontal lines; Draw designs and patterns with oil pastels; Paint washes of primary colors over their pictures; Use “magic white” technique to color hidden objects; Create abstract picture stories, using oil pastels and washes.

Native American Zuni Kachina

In this lesson the student will: Analyze a picture of a Zuni Kachina doll and learn how Kachina dolls are carved; Identify lines and patterns; Describe how symbols are used to represent ideas; Sketch faces in proportion; Cut and layer geometric shapes for facial features; Create cut-paper masks to represent nature spirits.

Pierre Auguste Renoir

In this lesson the student will: Analyze Renoir’s painting Children on the Seashore and learn how Impressionists showed light as it appears in landscapes; Identify realistic and impressionistic parts of Renoir’s landscape; Describe use of Impressionist-style brushstrokes, color, and expressive line; Mix blue and yellow paint to create green; Paint seascapes with expressive lines, using their fingers as tools.

Persian Art

In this lesson the student will: Analyze a Persian miniature landscape showing a polo match and learn how pictures illustrate stories; Identify patterns made by repeated lines and colors; Sketch stick figures; Draw horizon lines, houses, trees, birds, animals, and clouds; Create miniature landscapes that tell stories about their own adventures; Decorate borders with patterns and colors.

Byzantine Mosaic

In this lesson the student will: Analyze the Byzantine mosaic The Court of Empress Theodora and learn how mosaics with ceramic tessera were made long ago in the Byzantine Empire; Learn about reproductions of original art; Describe the repetition of lines and colors in a work of art; Sketch fish using contour lines; Arrange and glue down paper tessera in patterns; Create paper mosaics of fish.

Grant Wood

In this lesson the student will: Analyze Grant Wood’s American Gothic and his use of realism in portraits; Identify vertical and horizontal lines; Learn about time periods through portraits; Sketch facial features in proportion; Create portraits of family or friends, using oil pastels.

African Sculpture, Yoruba

In this lesson the student will: Analyze the carved picture on the African ivory box and learn about ivory and reasons for making decorative art; Identify the figures, patterns, and balance in the carved box; Describe the use of pattern and form in the ivory box; Sketch outlines of hands; Discover and explore the unique medium of clay; Create 3-D clay plaques with handprints and patterns.

Okajuma Toyohiro

In this lesson the student will: Analyze Toyohiro’s Four Accomplishments, No. 2 and learn about Japanese art and calligraphy; Identify vertical and diagonal lines, foreground, middle ground, and background; Describe repeated patterns; Sketch trees using vertical, horizontal, and diagonal lines; Use color to represent seasons; Print with corks and sponges; Create seasonal tree screens showing trees with leaves colored to represent the seasons.

French Tapestry

In this lesson the student will: Analyze a French tapestry and learn about the unicorn myth from the Middle Ages; Identify the materials used and learn how weaving is done on a loom; Describe the way lines, shapes, and colors are repeated to create a peaceful scene; Learn how to weave on a loom; Weave small tapestries, using repeated colors and patterns.

Henri Rousseau

In this lesson the student will: Analyze Rousseau’s Jungle Scene and imagine the story told in the jungle; Identify the horizon line, vertical lines, and contrasting colors; Describe the foreground, middle ground, and background and the use of overlapping shapes to create depth; Sketch leaf shapes; Draw landscapes with leaves, flowers, and jungle animals; Create chalk pastel and cut-paper landscapes with hidden animals.

Piet Mondrian

In this lesson the student will: Analyze Mondrian’s Composition #2 and learn about how he painted abstract compositions; Identify vertical and horizontal lines and rectangular shapes; Describe how Mondrian balanced shapes and colors; Balance lines and colored shapes; Create abstract collages in the style of Mondrian.