Art Masterpiece-Ritratto Di Dora Maar, 1937 by Pablo Picasso
Art Masterpiece-Ritratto di Dora Maar, 1937 by Pablo Picasso
Pronounciation: Pa-bloh Pee-kahs-so Keywords: line, shape, color, Cubism, portrait, profile line: an element of art; a continuous path of a point as it moves across a surface. A line can vary in length, width, direction, curvature or color. Shape: an element of art; the outline, edge or flat surface of a form as a circle or a square. Color: an element of art; the hue, value and intensity of an object Cubism: characterized by the reduction and fragmentation of natural forms into ab- stract, often geometric structures usually rendered as a set of discrete planes. portrait: any work of art showing a person. Portraits usually emphasize just the face but can include part or all of the body. Profile: A side view of an object or structure, especially of the human head Grade: 4th Grade Activity: Fractured portrait
Meet the Artist: (5 min) · Picasso was born in Spain in 1881. His father was also an artist who taught at a uni- versity. He was encouraged at an early age to pursue his artistic talents and was sent to art school by the time he turned 11. · His artworks changed significantly through his career. He started out with the un- canny ability to paint realistically. Then, after moving to Paris, he started in his blue period, where much of what he painted was sad. He fell in love and it appeared that that was the reason for the start of his rose period, where everything he painted was with warm tones and were more upbeat than the blue period. · He married (twice) and had 4 children. When they were younger, he was a fantast- ically fun dad. He would draw on tablecloths, did magic tricks and would prepare birthday dinner celebrations made up entirely of chocolate. · He ended up being known for his Cubist paintings. Cubism emphasized line, shape and color. It was a modern art style that isn’t realistic in nature, but geometric. It started out with neutral colors, but eventually became a very colorful style. From cubism, abstract art was born. · He was very eccentric. He never threw anything out, hated the telephone, and re- fused to dust his studio. He moved houses often. He loved keeping an odd assort- ment of pets, including goats, reptiles, a monkey and always some Afghan Hounds. He loved any publicity and made sure he was always reading something about him- self. · He was a prolific painter, and even in his 90th year, he painted 200 paintings. He was still working on the day he died, at 92, of heart failure.
Discussion: (10 min) o What do you see in the painting? o Which direction is the person in the painting facing? Is it a portrait or pro- file? o What things do you recognize in this painting? o Why do you think Picasso painted this painting? What do you think inspired it? o Describe the lines. What shapes do they make? o Describe the colors, are they mainly warm or cool colors. Or, are they bal- anced? o What title would you give this painting? o What grade would you give it?
Activity: Fractured Portrait Materials Needed: white 10’x15” construction paper, 12 x 17” black construction paper for mounting black felt tip pens-class set oil pastels-class set glue-6-8 bottles
Advance Preparation: Cut the white construction paper to 10 x 15” Cut the black construction paper to 12 x 17”
Mini Lesson: (5 min) Students will practice drawing a profile. Have students pair up and practice drawing a profile (side view) of their partner on scratch paper. Point out that a profile begins with constructing a forehead, nose, lips and chin, then add an eye. When one has completed their drawing, they should switch and let the other partner draw a profile.
Process: (30-40 min)
Starting with their paper situated vertically, students should begin by sketching a face in the profile position (forehead, nose, mouth and chin) that begins in the up- per center of the paper and takes up the left side of the paper (facial profile will be facing right). Sketch the other half of the head beginning in the middle and filling the right side of the paper. Add an eye facing forward .
Add hair (sample some fun shapes and ideas) Add a neck and then big shapes for the arms (really emphasize that anything goes here, except scribbles). Draw a body but don’t worry about proportion. Remind them to think of using geometric shapes to create and decorate their drawing like Picasso did. Add hands then add a chair or background detail. When the complete drawing is sketched out, the students should go back and trace their masterpiece with black pen, then use oil pastels to add color. They can use unusual, vivid colors to color in the body parts like Picasso. Sign and mount their masterpiece.