Reading Materials Part 4

article
Escher, M.C.
This article is a great introduction to the work of M.C. Escher. Students love his work and will also enjoy learning more about his life.  Students will be able to gain some relevant biographical information from this article. This biography page comes from Scholastic, which also features a number of other artist biographies. Each is a brief overview of the artist, written for younger readers. Students should have little difficulty with the language presented. 

This would be a good place for students to start with researching Escher, or they could use this site to research the artist of their choice.


Jecman, G. D. (n.d.). Escher, m.c. Scholastic ART, Retrieved from http://www.scholastic.com/browse/article.jsp?id=3754395


website
Edward Hopper - Whitney for Kids 

Edward Hopper is an artist that students might not be familiar with, although many will recognize his most famous work, "Nighthawks." The Whitney for Kids site features a number of artists, including Hopper, in a format that is appealing to young audiences. The site is laid out in a pleasing fashion, with bright colors, pictures and text boxes. There are links to definitions of difficult words in the entries for each artist. Students will gain insight into the style and personality of this artist, as they explore his works. 

The Whitney for Kids site will be one that I highly recommend to students as they complete the computer portion of their research.



(n.d.). Retrieved from http://whitney.org/ForKids/Collection/EdwardHopper


video
Maurice Sendak on his work, childhood, inspirations  

Students love Maurice Sendak's books, and they will love this video of him. This is a longer video at around ten minutes, but it is very engaging. Sendak has a great deal to say about his own childhood and his work. Students will like the style of this video. It features interview clips of Sendak, interspersed with photos of him as a child and images of his work. This video will give students an understanding of Sendak's personality and artistic style. 

This will be another supplemental resource for students working on the computer or at-home portion of their artist project.

 (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mZTQib7G2Hs




book
Picasso (Getting to Know the World's Greatest Artists) 
From author Mike Venizia comes another of the "Getting to know the world's great artists" series. This book tells the s tory of Pablo Picasso, arguably the most famous artist of the 20th century. Students will enjoy Venezia's writing style. This will be an independent read for most 7th graders, but the book is still loaded with facts, biographical information, and information about Picasso's style. Particularly the book explains Cubism with clear language which is helpful, as it is a difficult concept for art students. 

This book will be helpful as a research tool for students while completing their artist study. 

Venezia, M. (1999). Picasso. New York: Grolier Publishing.

Reading Materials for Students Part 3

A great website!

Artists for Teens
This is a wonderful resource site for students beginning their research on an artist. It features links to several different reputable pages that will give students a wealth of information about artists. Of particular note are the links to the various gallery pages, and also the databases of artist information.Students will be able to begin here and follow links to find the information needed for their research. The page layout is not terribly interesting but it does have some nice links to games and other resources. Of particular note are the individual artist pages as well as the PBS link.

I will recommend this site to the computer teacher to make available to the students when they come to the lab. Also I may be able to use the projector and visit this site with an entire class sometime. I may take a class period to show students all the available information they can access by using this site as a starting point. 

Art history for teens. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://kids.usa.gov/teens-home/art/art-history/index.shtml 



This book is terrific: 
Henri Rousseau
This book is from the Getting to Know the World's Greatest Artists series. Author and illustrator Mike Venezia writes in simple language that even many young students would understand and enjoy. This book gives an excellent overview of the life of Henri Rousseau, including some information about his childhood. The language is plain enough for younger students to understand. Students always enjoy learning about this artist and his jungle paintings. Numerous reproductions of Rousseau's paintings are included in this book, along with descriptions of the works. Students will enjoy the comic-style illustrations as well.

For the artist biography project I will be making this and several other books from this series available to students to use as a resource for their project. Additionally I teach a unit to 5th grade about Rousseau and I believe this book would be appropriate for them as well. 

Venezia, M. (2002). Henri rousseau. New York, NY: Scholastic.



A good video: 

Andy Warhol
This is a quick but very informative little video about the life of Andy Warhol. Famous for his influence in the Pop Art movement, Warhol is an artist that many students are not necessarily aware of but whose style they would likely enjoy. From this video students will learn about Warhol's childhood in Pittsburgh, as well as his rise to fame in New York, and finally his super-stardom throughout the remainder of his life. Several of Warhol's works are shown in this interview-style documentary. It presents the information in a way that will be interesting to students. They may discover that they have known about Warhol's works without realizing it.

 This will be another video that I provide to my students who would choose Warhol as the artist that they want to study. It is a great overview of the artist and would be a good starting point for their research.

(2012). Andy warhol. (2012). [Web Video]. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oPIEcihvDBw 


Here is another article:
 Q & A With Tim Burton
 Students love Tim Burton movies, and they will enjoy this interview article from Scholastic News. The interview goes into details about Burton's childhood and adolescence. He discusses his life in middle school, who his inspirations were (teachers!), and also how he came to find his personal style.  This article is nicely written in a way that students will understand and the questions are such that they will really relate to Burton and find some similarites in their own lives. I know I did! 

Students will enjoy reading this article if we work on a project about animation. The last time I taught an artist biography project, a student approached me and asked if she could do her report on Tim Burton. I was delighted with her request, and her subsequent report, so I am adding him to the list of choices.


Welty, T. (2012). Q & a with Tim Burton. Scholastic News, Retrieved from http://www.scholastic.com/browse/article.jsp?id=3757576

More Reading Materials for Students

Here is another great video:

Alexander Calder's "Circus"




This video is short but very fun. It is a five-minute video of Calder himself working with his sculptures, or as some would say, playing. Students will see a performance of Calder's "Circus," a collection of wire and metal sculptures made by Calder, that were almost like puppets. Every year my 6th graders learn about Calder. We watch an hour-long video and make a mobile in his style. One of the favorite parts of the video we watch is the small section that touches on the circus works. Students will love getting to see the complete production here. Students who choose Calder as their artist would get to reference this video in creating their imitation work for class. One important thing they will learn watching this video is that Calder's wire sculptures were meant to be played with or move in some way. 

Students will get a chance to view this video as 6th graders this year, perhaps, when I teach the Calder lesson in the spring. 7th graders, if they choose Calder, will be encouraged to watch this video during their computer class time or on their own at home. They'll enjoy seeing the circus in action and it will hopefully inform their work on the artist project.

Whitney Museum. (2008, October 23). Alexander Calder performs his "Circus" - Whitney Museum [video file]. Retrieved from http://youtu.be/t6jwnu8Izy0


Check out this website: 

Artcyclopedia.com

This website has an incredible amount of information that is well-organized and suited to all ages. Students will love the easy access to a wide variety of information about art history.  Searchable by artist and title, as well as by art museum, this site is a resource for anyone looking to learn basic information about artists and their works. Students can look up the name of their chosen artist and view a number of his or her works. Short descriptions are included on every page, about the particular work and the artist's life. Additionally students will find a section titled "Art Movements" which gives brief overviews of various styles and periods in art history. This is a great resource for art students of all levels. 

All of the 7th grade students will be encouraged to view this site to gain information for their artist project. They will be able to find answers to fill in their artist info worksheets as well as view the works of those artists. They may even gain some insight into the works themselves. 

(http://www.artcyclopedia.com)

You might like this book: 

Linnea in Monet's Garden

 This book is written from the point-of-view of Linnea, a young girl who goes to Paris on vacation. While there, she visits Monet's garden and learns about Monet as well as about Impressionist art. It includes colorful illustrations and a "scrapbook" look. Reproductions of his work are included as well as photos of the original source locations. It will help students to connect his style to what the places really looked like. Through this, they will gain an understanding of the Impressionist movement. This will be a quick read for older students but it has lovely illustrations and gives good information in a unique way. Students will enjoy the first-person perspective and gain an understanding about Monet through the eyes of the character Linnea.

I have a copy of this book in my classroom for any student who wishes to read it.  If I were to teach a lesson on Monet I would probably like to read selections of this book to my class. Any 7th grader choosing Monet as his or her artist for this unit would be encouraged to read this book independently to get some information for their artist project.

Bjork, C., & Anderson, L. (1992). Linnea in Monet's Garden. (6th Printing ed.). New York: Farrar, Strauss and Giroux.

This article is interesting:  

A Mural's Story

This article tells of a mural that was painted by artist Maurice Sendak. Sendak is most famous for Where the Wild Things Are, but this mural was completed two years before then. Students will enjoy learning a little about an artist and author who is both well-known and well-loved. Also included on this page is a video of Sendak himself. Sendak is most well-known for being an author but he also illustrated his work. Students choosing Sendak as their artist of choice will be encouraged to read many of Sendak's books to gain an understanding of his artistic style.  This article is a way for them to see beyond what Sendak is known for, books, to realize that he was also an artist in his own right. 


I would encourage students to read this article together before we began a project on "Wild Things", a project that I like to do in the fall for Halloween. Any 7th grader who chooses Maurice Sendak as an artist to study for class would be given a link to this article to read on their own during computer time, so they could also view the supporting materials and complete their research. 


Retrieved from http://www.timeforkids.com/news/mural’s-story/10866

Reading Materials for Students

Here is a great video: 

Diego Rivera - Biography

Diego Rivera was a Mexican artist working in the 20th century. He was famous during his time, not just for his own work but for his tumultuous marriage to fellow artist Frida Kahlo. This brief video is an excellent overview of Rivera's life and work. The video incorporates interviews, photography, and film to give students the flavor of his life and times.  Students will see clips of Rivera himself, his home and his family. They will also get to see some of his artwork in context of location, as Rivera is most famous for mural work. The site also contains further information about Rivera's life and paintings. Additionally, www.biography.com features a number of excellent and student-appropriate entries for various artists throughout history.

As a teacher I would definitely show this video to a class if we were learning about Diego Rivera, Mexican art, or mural art.  I plan to show students some of the other mini-biography videos on this site as well. This will be a site I recommend to my students as they progress through their artist project.


Retrieved from http://www.biography.com/people/diego-rivera-9459446


  These books look great for students:

 Vincent Van Gogh: Portrait of an Artist

Vincent Van Gogh was a Dutch artist working in the late 19th century. This book, for young adults, tells of his life from the time he was a child.  It goes into details about his life before becoming an artist, as well as his troubled career as a painter, and his death. One interesting detail students will like is that it includes letters from Vincent to his brother Theo, as well as letters from Theo. Vincent's brother was a large part of his story and was Vincent's only fan for a long time. This  book is available for Kindle as well! Students will love to learn more about Van Gogh with this book, complete with glossary, reproductions of his work, and other resources.  The author  has written a number of artist biographies students might want to check out if they like the style of this one!

In addition to making this book available to older students to read, I would read selections of the book to  younger children if it was useful to the lesson. For the artist project I hope to be able to suggest a list of books by these authors as they come highly recommended by Amazon reviewers. It would be excellent to incorporate the students' reading class into the project and give them an opportunity to read a longer book about their artists.

Greenberg, J., & Jordan, S. (2003) Vincent Van Gogh: Portrait of an Artist. New York, NY: Yearling.


Janson's History of Art for Young People

This book is a classic. The above link is for Amazon but some edition of this book should be available in any public library. Janson has been writing textbooks about art history for decades and his books have been used in schools for just as long.  This book takes the same information from the college level texts and presents it in a way that makes it much more accessible to younger readers.  History of Art for Young People has been in print for 40 years. It is arguably the best art history book available. Unlike what the title suggests, people of all ages have used this book to learn about art.

I would love to have some reference materials in the classroom that are more suited to a younger audience. I have the Janson's History of Art books but the language is too heavy for most elementary-middle students.For the Artist project I will not be able to provide this book but I will suggest it on the library books list, and will provide the History of Art Vol. I and II that I do own for students to use for visual reference during class.

Janson, A.F. (2003) History of Art for Young People (Trade Version) (6th Ed.). New York, NY: Random House.

Here are some awesome websites:

National Gallery of Art Collection 

This is the digital collection of the National Gallery of Art. Students can search the collection by the artist's name, the name of the artwork, or both. Each artwork page gives a description of the work, and a bit of information about it.  This is a tremendous resource as students can see many works by the same artist. They will easily be able to get a sense of what an artist's style was like by viewing each artist's collection.  The site has many features beyond the title and keyword search. Artworks are also grouped by type, including new arrivals. Another feature is the "Web Tour of the Week," where students are able to learn about featured groups of artists and art work.

This is a site that I often like to use in class with the projector. It is a great resource for teachers as well as students.  I will be providing this as a resource for students to use for their research on the artist project, to inform their classwork on the artwork component.

 National gallery of art. (2011). Retrieved from http://www.nga.gov/collection/index.shtm 


This article is really interesting:

  Flea-Market Renoir Was Stolen 
This article from the Washington Post on 9/27 is just fascinating.  It tells about a Renoir painting that was recently bought at a flea market for $7. Although the painting was purchased in West Virginia, this story has a Baltimore connection which makes it even more exciting.  It turns out the painting was stolen from the Baltimore Museum of Art, over 60 years ago! While the article may not provide background on the artist Renoir, it is still a great reminder that we are all part of art history every day.  Students that choose Renoir as their artist will be encouraged to read this article to get inspired to do further research on Renoir. Depending on how the rest of this story unfolds, possibly in the future, they will get a chance to go to the BMA and view the painting.

 I enjoy knowing about current events in art as well as art history. This story is both, plus it has a local connection. I would be able to tie this story in to my conversations with students, and possibly spark their interest in visiting the art museum.

Shapira, I. (2012, September 28). Flea-market renoir allegedly was stolen from baltimore museum; auction canceled. Retrieved from http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/flea-market-renoir-was-allegedly-stolen-from-baltimore-museum-of-art/2012/09/27/193d6162-08bd-11e2-a10c-fa5a255a9258_story.html

Unit of Study Information

Unit of study - Artists and their Art

Grade level: 7th

Content to be studied: Artist biographies and artworks
 
Prior to getting started on their reading for this project, students will choose an artist from a provided list. Some reading materials will then be issued to students (Scholastic Art Magazine), as well as a list of suggested and required sources. Students will use their library time in school to research their particular artist  using the books available. During computer class students will be able to access the websites, online articles, and videos suggested. Further reading will be suggested for students to pursue at their public library or online at home. 


 List of artists:  (under construction)

Diego Rivera
Tim Burton
Andy Warhol
Alexander Calder
Maurice Sendak
Henri Rousseau
Claude Monet
Vincent Van Gogh