Masterpiece: Autumn, 1573 by Giuseppe Arcimboldo
Pronounced: Gee-you-she-pay Ar-cheem bowl-doh Keywords: portrait, texture, collage Grade: Kindergarten Month: November Activity: You are what you eat…
Meet the Artist: He was born in Italy in 1527 to an influential family.He eventually becoming well known for his paintings. Many famous and wealthy people paid him to paint their portraits, or pictures of themselves. With time, he became a very odd portraitist. He adopted an odd and short lived style called mannerism. This style was in insult to the High Renaissance painters of the day, but he still got work. He became particularly famous after his series called seasons. Summer is one of them. This series shows a man made up of whatever that season had to offer. So, in Autumn, the man is made up of fruit from the fall, such as apples, grapes, and pumpkins. In Winter, The man is made up of a tree that has shed all of it’s leaves. He chose specific textures in the plants to portray people. His work resembles modern art. It could easily be a collage, or a painting made up of pieces of paper, put together to create art. He lived a busy and full life, dying in 1593.
Possible Questions: o What items can you identify in Autumn? o Does it look textured to you, does it look like you could feel the skins of the fruit and vegetables? o Does it look like a painting that is several of hundreds of years old, or does it look like it could be an illustration in one of your books? o Do you like it? Why? Why not? o Do you think it is creative? o Would you like a portrait made of you in this style? Masterpiece: Autumn, 1573 by Giuseppe Arcimboldo
Activity: You are what you eat…
Materials Needed: White paper, food color copies, scissors, pencils, glue sticks
Process:
1. Place supplies on all of the tables. 2. Talk to them about what a collage is. (Images put together to make a picture. In this case, pictures of food put together to look like a person) 3. With their pencils, have them lightly draw an outline of either their face or their whole body. 4. They can then look through the images, finding foods that they eat, and placing them in places that can create a self-portrait. 5. Help them with examples, brainstorm! 6. When done, have them creatively find a place to sign their names and to give it a title. 7. If time permits, let them share within their groups as to why they made their self-portrait the way they did. Masterpiece: Autumn, 1573 by Giuseppe Arcimboldo
Type of Work: Painting, Sculpture, Poetry Born: 1530 Died: 1593 Nationality: Italian Style/Movement: Mannerism Best Known For: Portraits of heads made up of a variety of objects, from fruit and leaves to flowers and vegetables. Important Works: Summer, Fall, Winter, Spring (each painted in 1573; each located in the Louvre, Paris)
Spring Summer
Autumn Winter