Practise Languages with Our Dear Teacher, These Art-Chat Cards Will
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Dear teacher, Practise languages These art-chat cards will help you and with your class practise language skills based our on selected works in the collection of the Museum of Fine Arts Ghent (MSK). Art and design teachers can also use the cards to art initiate dialogues on art-related themes. You and your students can talk about everyday subjects from clothes to hobbies, parties to vacations, the five senses or anything else that comes to mind. What’s more, this is a great way to become acquainted with art and the MSK collection. The art-chat cards are a tool intended to spark lively discussions. The concept is chat simple: look at the work of art on the card, take inspiration from the example questions, and engage each other in conversation. The art-chat cards serve as a stepping stone between experiencing art and learning language skills. Since they are designed for use with no need for help from museum staff or a guide, you and your class can use them in any way you like. Have fun looking and chatting! cards MSK Ghent Notes for teachers Information → Look through the cards → Print the art-chat cards and → The art-chat cards are available beforehand and select the art, decide how you want to display in Dutch, French, English and topics and questions that are the images: printed, on a German. You can download them most suitable for your class, for computer screen, projected? from our website for use in the example based on the level or the → Choose a discussion format, for classroom. amount of time you have. You can example with the entire class or → The works of art depicted on the also opt to change or leave out in smaller groups. cards can all be found on our certain questions or themes, or → Ask students to look carefully at website. to add your own. Try to formulate the work of art, and then to read open questions, which will the questions to each other out Want to see the art encourage students to come up loud. ‘for real’? with a more extensive response → Give everyone a chance to speak, You are very welcome to visit the than simply ‘yes’ or ‘no’. and take time to look at and listen MSK. Entrance is free for everyone → Each work of art is accompanied to each other. aged 18 and younger. For those aged by a brief explanatory text with → Make sure everyone has the 19 to 25, a ticket costs €2. You can background information. same amount of speaking time. come to the museum with your → The following themes are Mistakes are allowed! class, but you can also come alone covered: hobbies, parties, love, → You can also ask students or with friends or family. music, childhood, portraits, the to come up with additional city, seasons, the senses, food questions for each other based → Complete visitor information and drink, vacations, art, school, on the works of art or the themes. for the MSK can be found at clothes, stories and animals. Encourage them to formulate www.mskgent.be. open questions. → If you have any questions, comments or suggestions regarding our art-chat cards, please let us know. You can reach us at [email protected]. Museum voor Schone Kunsten Gent Fernand Scribedreef 1 9000 Gent, België mskgent.be Guidelines for classroom use → Look at the work of art and read → Try to make sure everyone gets the questions to each other out just as much time to speak. loud. Everyone should have a Mistakes are allowed! chance to answer. → Want to find out more about the → You can also think of extra work of art? Read the short text questions. Try to formulate open with background information. questions that encourage more of an answer than just a ‘yes’ or ‘no’. → Take time to look at and listen to each other. Hobby What do you see? What is your hobby? What else can you say about it? What colours do you see? How often do you What is the woman practise your hobby? doing? Where do you practise Which room is she sitting your hobby? in? How can you tell? What title would you give Do you like to read? this painting? What kind of books do you enjoy reading? Torajiro Kojima, word for ‘wild beasts’, Fauvism Woman Reading, 1921 is a style of art that features bold colours, or fauves. While he Japanese artist Torajiro Kojima was in Europe, Kojima collected was enchanted by the city of paintings by his contemporaries Ghent and its mediaeval buildings. in Paris and his friends in Ghent. From 1909 to 1912 he studied at The paintings he took back to the Ghent Academy for Fine Arts, Japan – by artists including Claus, where he met an artist who had Delvin, Monet, Matisse, Marquet a significant influence on him: and Rodin – formed the basis of the Emile Claus (see The Kingfishers). collection of the first museum for Various European movements modern Western art in Japan, the inspired Kojima, including Ohara Museum of Art in Kurashiki, Impressionism and Fauvism. which opened in 1929. Taking its name from the French Party What do you see? What do you celebrate? What colours do you see? What is your favourite celebration? Why? Who What kind of celebration else is there? is this? How can you tell? What was your favourite What are they eating? birthday party? Have you ever been to a What title would you give wedding? this painting? How do you like to celebrate? Pieter Brueghel the Younger, leaning back with a jug in his hand? The Wedding Feast, 1616 Bagpipers play music, and in the foreground a child laps up a bowl of This work, set in a barn, shows porridge. Above right, two bundles a 17th-century Flemish peasant of corn and a hoe are symbols of wedding. The bride is positioned a fruitful harvest. This painting is in the middle, in front of the white a copy of the original one by the cloth on which her paper bridal artist’s father, Pieter Breughel the crown is pinned. Traditionally, Elder. In this later version a courting only the bride was allowed to wear couple has been added, half hidden her hair loose during her wedding in the hayloft at the left. The peasant celebration. It is not entirely clear wedding is a genre piece: a which man is the groom. Is he the representation of day-to-day life. one seated opposite the bride, Love What do you see? What do you think is most important in a What colours do you relationship? notice? What colour represents How does this painting love? make you feel? What flower represents Have you ever been in love? love? Think of five words What does love mean for associated with love. you? What title would you give this painting? Léon De Smet, Interior, also turns up in other paintings by or The Lovers, 1911 Léon de Smet. Here, the painter has used refined colour and A smitten couple seem to melt careful composition to create an into each other in this painting. atmosphere of space and light. An We see light from outside falling interesting detail is his use of the on the wall above the pair, which painting technique of pointillism, suggests a window. As he often did, in which paint is not mixed on the the painter has depicted two of his palette but applied to the canvas own works in this painting, one on as dots of pure colour. When we each side of the chimney. There is look at them, our brain registers also a reference to George Minne in them as areas of colour, which the form of one of his best-known means we see them as if they were sculptures, The Little Relic Bearer, blended together. on the mantelpiece. This sculpture Music What do you see? What kind of music do you like to listen to? Who What is the woman is your favourite artist? doing? What do you enjoy about listening to their music? How does this painting make you feel? Have you ever been to a concert or a festival? When do you listen to What did you think of it? music? Do you play a musical When do you turn up the instrument? volume? What title would you give What does music mean this painting? to you? Fanny Paelinck-Horgnies, ages. In this painting we see her Saint Cecilia, 1829 playing the harp, which became increasingly popular in the early Most of the paintings in the 19th century. This is a typical museum were made by men, example of neoclassical painting, but this one is by a woman. It a style inspired by classical Greek depicts Saint Cecilia, one of the and Roman art. A typical feature most popular Roman martyrs is the clear representation of of the second century AD. Saint reality, achieved through the use Cecilia has been the patron saint of powerful lines. of music since the late middle Childhood What do you see? What toys did you have? What did you most enjoy What colours stand out? playing with? How does the girl feel? Do you have sisters or brothers that you played How does this painting with? What do you still do make you feel? together now? What is your favourite What title would you give memory from your this painting? childhood? Felice Casorati, Girl of childhood and the future, on a Red Carpet, 1912 her adulthood. The unexpected combination of red and bluish- Ada Trentini was the model for violet adds to the dreamy mood this painting.