Children at the FSA (Farm Security Administration)

Zoom-In Inquiry Designed for a Middle School Art Class Students should have prior knowledge of the Elements and Principles of Art Children at the FSA (Farm Security Administration) Camelback Farms inspect the photographer's camera, Phoenix, Arizona Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division.

What Might Primary Sources Tell Us About Art? Determine what you see and what questions you might ask to…. “get the BIG picture” Gas ration stamps being printed, Bureau of Engraving & Printing Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division.

Do you see a texture? Can you describe it in words?

Identify any new Elements of Art that were used by the artist. Make a hypothesis about what the complete art work will look like.

Do you think your hypothesis is right? If you said no, why did you change your mind? What color scheme did the artist use?

What do you think this woman is doing? Did the artist use contrast in their work? How?

What does the white object represents?

Did the artist use pattern in their work? • What was repeated? • Line • Shape • color

Can you see the second object in white? What do you think it is?

Was your original hypothesis correct?

What is the center of interest? How does the artist use emphasis to draw your eye first to the center of interest?

What type of balance has the artist used in their work? • asymmetrical • symmetrical • radial

Are the objects in the art work in proper proportion to one another?

Was the artist successful in making the art work have the feeling that everything works together and looks like it fits. • What is this principal of art called? • variety • pattern • unity

Would this painting be as interesting if any of the elements or principles of art we discussed were missing? Elements of Art Color Form Line Shape Space Texture Value Principles of Art Balance Contrast Emphasis Proportion Pattern Rhythm Unity Variety Understanding the Big Picture! What makes a great work of art?

Understanding Goal • Artists often follow the elements and principles of art in order to create great works of art.

Mary Cassatt The fitting 1 print : col. dry point, soft-ground etching and aquatint 37.5 x 25.7 cm. (1891) Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division.

Additional information about Mary Cassatt is on the following slides. • Teachers may choose or choose not to incorporate it in as part of the Zoom-In Inquiry activity.

How are these two art works the same? How are the Elements and Principles of Art similar in both works?. Do you think Mary Cassatt was influenced by Japanese art?

Based on the clues on this slide were you correct about the Japanese influence in Cassatt’s art work?

Art Trivia Question What was Mary Cassatt's favorite subject for her art work?

Does this help?

Women and children were her favorite theme Maternal caress Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C. 20540 USA

Art Work by Mary CassattLibrary of Congress Prints and Photographs Division. In the omnibus, 1891 Mother's kiss / Mary Cassatt The bath Gathering fruit

Mary Cassatt (1844-1926) is an artist of surprises--mostly small, but often subtle and profound. Known to this day as a "painter of mothers and children," a sobriquet given in her lifetime, she approached this, her favorite subject, with the surprisingly unsentimental but sympathetic clarity she used to address all her subjects. Born into a well-to-do, fairly conventional American family, Cassatt became a genteel rebel, traveling and living alone, partaking of the bohemian life in Paris while developing a magnificent painter's eye and businesswoman's head. She was the only American (and one of only three women) to exhibit with the Impressionists in Paris--becoming close friends with some of them--but moved very much in her own direction after that group splintered, coming to draw on such disparate inspirations as Symbolism and Japanese prints. Mary Cassatt: Modern Woman and its accompanying catalogue show the many sides of this remarkable woman: an artist--and an independent artist at that--at a time when no "respectable" woman would consider that possibility; a strong-willed, tough-cored businesswoman and influential tastemaker; and an expatriate who nonetheless always remained identified as an American.

Differentiated Performance Art Assessments • Create a one color block print of a mother and child. Incorporate the use of at least one element and one principle of art • Create a one color block print of a mother and child based on inspiration from a Japanese print. Incorporate the use of at least two elements of art and two principles of art. • Create a multi-color block print of a mother and child based on inspiration from a Japanese print. Incorporate the use of at least three elements and three principles of art.

National Standards for Arts Education Content Standard #5: • Reflecting upon and assessing the characteristics and merits of their work and the work of others Content Standard #4 • Understanding the visual arts in relation to history and cultures

Useful Links • http://www.sanford-artedventures.com/index.html • http://www.ibiblio.org/wm/paint/auth/cassatt/ • http://www.nga.gov/collection/gallery/cassatt/cassatt-main1.html • http://www.metmuseum.org/explore/cassatt/html/index.html • http://www.artchive.com/artchive/C/cassatt.html • http://www.tfaoi.com/newsmu/nmus1d.htm • http://www.whitehouse.gov/kids/dreamteam/marycassatt.html • http://www.nmwa.org/collection/Profile.asp?LinkID=128

Children at the FSA (Farm Security Administration)