Art Masterpiece: Family No. 1, by Charles Alston

Keywords: line, shape, color, Cubism Grade: 2nd Month: February Activity: Family Life drawing

Print: Family No. 1 (Whitney Museum, New York City) Date: 1955 Size: 48 ½” x 35 ¾”

Meet The Artist:

 Charles Alston (1907-1977), an African-American artist and teacher, was born in Charlotte, North Carolina. He and his family moved to New York City in 1914 when he was 7 years old. He won an art award while in grade school and continued to take art classes through high school. He graduated from Columbia University with a Master of Arts degree and taught Art at a college in New York City. He was also a painter, sculptor and muralist.  Alston began his career as a commercial artist – he worked on book jackets, record covers and magazines. In 1950, he entered a painting in a competition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and it was one of the few that were chosen for purchase. It was then that he decided to freelance so that he could pursue a more personal form of artistic expression.  Alston also directed art programs and community centers in New York. He received many awards during his career.  Alston’s artistic style defies categorization and definition. His work ranges from realism to abstract. His later work was influenced by African sculpture.

Background info on the painting: Alston paints in a style called Cubism, where the shapes are more important than the details. It is surprising that Alston took a realistic subject and painted it as a cubist design. He did not pay very much attention to the faces of the people. You can still see that they are a close family group by the way he has presented the figures. They are arranged in a circle, the father standing behind the mother, who is seated, and two children, a boy and a girl, standing before them. Notice the gestures of the family members toward each other. The members of this family are bound together by their placement and gesture. The little girl is facing her brother. The father has his hand on his son’s shoulder. The children stand close beside the mother. The Art Masterpiece: Family No. 1, by Charles Alston mother is strong and solid, her sturdy legs are outlined beneath her apron. Perhaps this is the artist’s way of showing us that the mother of this family is a strong woman.

NOTE: You may want to wait to tell the students the name of the painting until after the discussion.

Possible Questions:

 Who are the people in the painting? (a family) How many people are there? Do you think they are close? Why? Do they have facial features?  How are they arranged? (in a circle – the Father is standing behind the Mother, who is seated, and two children, a boy and a girl, standing before them).  Do they look realistic? (no, simple shapes). The style is called CUBISM; a style of painting that shows fragmented geometric shapes. The shapes are more important than the details.  Where do you see LINES? Can you find straight and curved lines? Are there repeated lines? Explain that all art begins with lines, and lines form to makes shapes.  Where so you see SHAPES? Can you find round shapes and square shapes? (large, flat shapes)  What COLORS do you see? How would you describe them? Are they bright or dull? Strong or weak? The dark, muted shades are shadowy, patchy and transparent.

Activity: Cubist Family Portrait

Materials: white construction paper, various colors of construction paper, pre-cut construction paper shapes, markers.

1. Have students write their name and room number on the back of the white construction paper. 2. Have the students cut out simple, geometric shapes from the colored paper to construct a family portrait. Pass out several pre-cut shapes at each table for use, especially circles. 3. Outline the shapes with markers.