Getting to Know the World’s Great Artists

1. Getting to Know the World’s Great Artists Tulsa Public Schools – Fifth Grade Visual Arts Assessment

2. Getting to Know the World’s Great Artists Oklahoma Fine Arts Standard Two: Visual Art History and Culture

3. Getting to Know the World’s Great Artists Oklahoma Fine Arts Standard Two: Visual Art History and Culture The student will recognize the development of Visual Art from an historical and cultural perspective doing the following: Describe and place a variety of significant art objects by artist, style, and historical and cultural context. Identify historical themes and cultural purposes of works of art and artifacts. Demonstrate a basic knowledge of several fields of art such as painting, sculpture, drawing, computer graphics, printmaking, architecture, and fiber arts. Identify how visual art is used in today’s world including the popular media of advertising, television, and film.

4. Getting to Know the World’s Great Artists Oklahoma Fine Arts Standard Two: Visual Art History and Culture You will look at the work of three artists from a long time ago. They painted in the 19th and 20th Centuries. Their names are Vincent Van Gogh, Pablo Picasso, and Edward Hopper.

5. Introducing the Art Work of Vincent Van Gogh Self Portrait. (1889). Oil on Canvas.

6. Vincent was an artist for whom things never went right. He never smiled in his self portraits. Yet, the paintings he made are loved the world over.

7. Van Gogh was born in Holland in 1853, but he didn’t become a painter until he had grown up. He had many other jobs first. He was even a minister.

8. The Wheat Field (1880). Oil on Canvas.

9. He loved his home country of Holland and made many beautiful paintings of the landscape, the windmills, and the common people at work. Do you see the smoke from the factory in the background?

10. Vincent always tried his best at whatever he did. For a while he worked in an art gallery and then a bookstore. Finally, he studied to become a minister. None of these professions made him as happy as when he was painting.

11. The Potato Eaters (1885). Oil on Canvas.

12. Van Gogh’s first paintings were dark in color and showed the life style of the poor people he was helping as a minister. In this painting, the family was so poor they had only a few potatoes to eat for dinner.

13. The dark colors of Van Gogh’s early paintings gave people the message that the lives of the poor people were hard. He kept using the dark colors until he discovered Japanese artwork. He loved the bright colors of the Japanese artists.

14. Bedroom at Arles (1888). Oil on Canvas.

15. In 1886 Vincent moved to Paris, France. It was the center of the art world then. He met many painters there. His best friend was another artist, Paul Gauguin.

16. His friend convinced him to move to the South of France, a city called Arles. Here is a picture he painted for his landlord of his own room. He had no money to pay the rent, so the landlord kept the painting.

17. The Starry Night (1889). Oil on Canvas.

18. The Starry Night is probably the most beloved of all of Van Gogh’s works. It has been made into cards and posters all over the world. The singer Don McClain even made a song about it.

19. Why do we love this artwork so much? Everyone has different reasons. Some like the swirling colors; some like the way the stars glow; some like the way the little town looks so cozy and safe.

20. Van Gogh belonged to a group of artists called the “Post Impressionists.” The characteristics of their art movements included: • Studying the way changing light would change • colors • Working out of doors quickly so as to capture the • changing light • Painting scenes of the common man • Using small dabs of color placed side by side and • allowing the human eye to blend them • Using intense colors to draw out emotion

21. Does this painting look like it is moving? How did Van Gogh make this landscape look like the wind was blowing?

22. Sunflowers (1888). Oil on Canvas.

23. Van Gogh usually put his paint on very thick. Sometimes he painted so fast he didn’t even mix his colors. He used paint right out of the tube (which was a new invention at that time)—in the past artists had to blend paint from power pigment and oil. Van Gogh used so much paint he was always running out. He had to give up buying other things so he could afford to buy his paint.

24. Hardly anyone was interested in Van Gogh’s work while he was alive. He sold only a few drawings and maybe one or two paintings. Today his work sells for millions of dollars to collectors around the world. The colors are so intense in this painting that you can almost smell the flowers or feel the bright sun.

25. Maybe more than any other artist, Van Gogh’s feelings came out in his paintings. That’s why he is one of the world’s greatest artists.

26. You may find Van Gogh’s art work in many museums in the United States. You can really see the brush strokes in person. This is a picture of a museum in Holland called the Van Gogh Museum. The only art work on display is Van Gogh’s!

27. Here is a finger puppet that is sold on the internet….can you guess who this is?

28. Introducing the Art Work of Pablo Picasso Self Portrait (1896). Charcoal.

29. Pablo Picasso was born in Malaga, Spain in 1881. He was just a teenager when he made this self portrait In charcoal. He would go on to become one of the most famous artists of our time.

30. Picasso’s father was an art teacher at the local art institute. Picasso was a lively child. He learned to walk so that he could reach his favorite cookies. He learned to draw at an early age with help from his father.

31. When Picasso became a teenager, he went off to art school in the Spanish town of Barcelona. He was one of the top students there.

32. Self Portrait (1901). Oil on Canvas.

33. Picasso graduated from Art School in Barcelona and headed for Paris. For him the city was alive with energy. He almost instantly found the art community and made many friends.

34. While in Paris, he lived in poverty but produced many art works. He had many young friends who were poets and artists. They inspired and supported one another.

35. The Old Guitar Player (1902). Oil on Canvas.

36. For three years Picasso painted works that were mostly in shades of blue. His subject matter was the miserable lives of people shunned by society: the poor, the sick, and beggars. Most of these paintings are of people who look sad.

37. The Family of Saltimbanques (1905). Oil on Canvas.

38. For two years Picasso painted his Rose Period paintings. These paintings are mostly done in tones of pink with delicate lines. The mood is less serious than the Blue Period paintings.

39. These people are circus performers. They are chosen by Pablo Picasso to symbolize his feelings about the artist’s condition. In French, “saltimbanques” are buffoons.

40. The Three Musicians (1921). Oil on Canvas.

41. This is a painting from Pablo’s Cubism period. This period is considered to be the most revolutionary development in the 20th Century. It is a completely new way of representing reality.

42. What are the characteristics of Cubism? • The painting appears flat without any depth that perspective • might give. • The viewer is able to see several sides of an object all at one • time. • The painted objects often appear fragmented or geometric. • Geometric patterns are highlighted. • Often artists used words collaged (pasted) from the • newspaper.

43. In this painting there are three figures, masked and costumed. The three musicians are seated next to each other, behind a table. From left to right they are a pierrot (holding a wind instrument), a harlequin (holding a guitar), and a monk (holding a music score). There is a dog under the table.

44. Guernica (1937). Oil on Canvas.

45. On April 26, 1937, during the Spanish Civil War, an aerial attack by Nazi bombers acting as allies of the Spanish fascists completely destroyed the Basque town of Guernica in North East Spain. The horror of the event was described by Picasso in his painting entitled “Guernica.” The work reveals Picasso’s deeply held belief in freedom for all, which led him to take the part of the oppressed and victims of violence.

46. The painting does not contain any specific details that tie it to the actual bombing of Guernica. It is a symbol of the devastation caused by all war. It has a universal message: all war is madness.

47. Here is an advertisement for a Citroin (a French made car). This model is called Picasso. What message is the car maker giving by naming it after Picasso?

48. Picasso was a revolutionary artist who changed many traditions in painting. He lived to be a very old man and produced hundreds of painting during his life time. Most cities have museums that own a Picasso. Philbrook Museum had an exhibit a few years ago that displayed some of his work.

49. Introducing the Art Work of Edward Hopper Nighthawks (1942). Oil on Canvas.

50. Edward Hopper was born in Nyack, New York, in 1882. He was one of America’s greatest artists and was known as an American Realist painter.