Abstract
Henry Moore 1898-1986
Henry Moore was a sculptor who liked smooth, rounded edges. We used a simple design to create a Henry Moore effect.
Cubism
George Braque 1882-1973
Braque took us into the world of Cubism. He liked experimenting with geometric shapes in layers to form abstract and unusual designs. The children combined a collage with painting to copy Braque's unique style.
Pablo Picasso 1881-1973
Picasso had a personal style of painting called the Blue Period which had a loneliness and despair focus. This was the succeeded by his Rose Period which was brighter in mood and colour.
We also looked at his Cubist work and tried it for ourselves by painting a portrait, fracturing it and turning parts upside down.
Dadaism
Marcel Duchamp 1887-1968
Personally, I found Dadaism a ridiculous amount of fun and I wasn't even really participating! Duchamp was a French painter and leader of the Dadaists. His belief in 'happy accidents' led to his favourite art technique of dropping string and recording the curves. The kiddies loved our version of this.
Hans Arp 1887-1966
Similarly Arp dropped torn paper to form a new type of collage. The surprise of where they would land was the reason for Arp's love of this technique.
Meret Oppenheim 1913-1985
Hooray! A female! Oppenheim's famous fur-covered cup and saucer inspired our art where old junk creates something which defeats the purpose of its intended use.
A watch with no clock face.
A vase of non-flowers.
Scissors which don't open and a spanner with no useful ends.
A fishing rod which will electrocute you when it goes near water!
Surrealism
Rene Magritte 1898-1967
Magritte transformed everyday objects into magical images. The children created an imaginary world with tiny people living in shoes.
Salvador Dali 1904-1985
"Surrealist belived that the unexpected and the unbelievable could happen in art. Dali called his paintings, 'hand painted dream photographs'." The children used magazine cut outs to create images where rules such as gravity didn't apply.
Frida Kahlo 1920-1954
Kahlo painted many self portraits and portraits of others surrounded by things they loved or were important to them. The children used mirrors to draw themselves. I think they did a fabulous job :)
We looked at her work online and The Boy recognised one of her paintings in his art book.
Folk Art
Grandma Moses 1860-1961
Folk Art is the title given to work depicting real life by people with no formal training. Anna Mary Robertson started painting only in her eighties and filled her paintings with lots of detail. The children tried to replicate this by drawing a busy scene with lots of people.
Realism
Georgia O'Keefe 1887 - 1986 and Andrew Wyeth 1917-2009
We combined O'Keefe's love of up-close flower drawings with Wyeth's simple, natural, realistic and detailed art to create these beautiful twig paintings. I love how the children studied and painted with great care and attention to colour and shape.
Photo-Journalism
Dorothea Lange 1895-1965
Photography! Technology in art! Lange's photos highlighted the plight of people around the world, motivating others to make a difference. The children took photos to tell a simple story, as Lange did with her camera.
Margaret Bourke-White 1906 - 1971
Bourke-White became one of the first photographers for Time Magazine in 1929. The children took photos around the village (Bourke-White took hers around the world) of letters, to use in the title of a series like their next artist.
Heat
Light
Jacob Lawrence 1917-2000
Lawrence was the first African-American artist to have his work featured in the Museum of Modern Art in New York. The children copied his series of paintings idea with simple but similar drawings of their baby sister.
Abstract-Expressionism
David Smith 1906-1965
Another American artist, Smith, sculpted with metal and his constructions were large and geometrical. The kiddies used wooden blocks and cylindrical bases to recreate his balancing block ideas.
Jackon Pollock 1912-1956
F.U.N.!! We took Pollock's technique of action painting outside. He liked to use his entire body to create movements with his paintbrushes. The kiddies had immense fun with this one.
Pop Art
John Chamberlain 1927-
A new and contemporary form of art uses metal junk and machinery parts to create reliefs of design forms. We went BIG like Chamberlain and made some fun pictures.
Andy Warhol 1930-1987
Warhol's work often depicted famous people in repeat: images that were similar but not quite. The children used photos of themselves and edited them to recreate a Warhol piece of art.
And that's it! We did it!
Impressionism, Post-Impressionism, Expressionism, Abstract-Expressionism, Abstract, Cubism, Dadism, Surrealism, Photo-journalism, Folk Art, Realism and Pop Art!
