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Masterpiece: I Saw the Figure 5 in Gold, 1928 by Charles Demuth

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Masterpiece: I Saw the Figure 5 in Gold, 1928 by Charles Demuth I Saw the Figure 5 in Gold, 1928 Charles Demuth Pronounced: Charles Day-MOOTH Keywords: Cool Colors, Cubism, Precisionism, Realist, Warm Colors Activity: Color Block Painting Keywords Defined: • Cool colors - Colors are often described as having temperature -- They are often associated with water, sky, spring, and foliage, and suggest cool temperatures. They appear on one side of the color wheel, bordered by the neutral colors, and opposite the warm colors. • Cubism - One of the most influential art movements (1907-1914) of the twentieth century, Cubism was begun by Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque in 1907. They were greatly inspired by African sculpture, by painters Paul Cézanne and Georges Seurat and by the Fauves. In Cubism the subject matter is broken up, analyzed, and reassembled in an abstracted form. Picasso and Braque initiated the movement when they followed the advice of Paul Cézanne, who in 1904 said artists should treat nature "in terms of the cylinder, the sphere and the cone." • Precisionism - A style of early twentieth century painting which depicted scenes of industrial architecture or objects. Precisionists typically depicted mechanical and industrial subject matter, such as smokestacks, steel foundries, or grain elevators. These subjects were usually reduced or simplified to geometric forms and rendered in bright and clear light, by a combination of abstraction and realism. • Realist – A Realist attempts to re-create the colors, textures, shapes and arrangements of actual objects. • Warm Colors - Warm colors are those with Red or Yellow in them such are red, yellow, orange and pink, they are colors that remind people of warm things. Meet the Artist: • He was born in 1883 and grew up in Pennsylvania. He had a lonely childhood since he had many illnesses. • Eventually, he finally got official art training at a university and started to travel to learn about art. • He developed a style later titled Cubist-Realist. A Cubist arranged their artwork using geometric (circles, squares, triangles, etc) shapes in various colors and textures. A Realist painted art that looked like it would really appear. He combined these 2 art styles in a very unusual and bold way. • He liked to take an “ordinary and unattractive object and make it a work of art”. • He used many symbols in his art. A symbol is an object, shape or color that has special meaning. • His artwork also displays value. Value is the lightness or the darkness of a color. • He traveled extensively and found friends that appreciated his artwork. He was received well by the New York art world in his lifetime. • After a lifetime of illnesses, including diabetes, he succumbed in 1935 at the age of 53, after creating over a thousand works of art. This piece of art was inspired by a poem by William Carlos Williams: The Great Figure Among the rain And lights I saw the figure 5 In gold On a red Fire truck Moving Tense Unheeded To gong clangs Siren howls And wheels rumbling Through the dark city. Possible Questions: o What is the poem about, and how do you think Demuth incorporated that into his painting? (A moving fire truck, racing to an emergency. In the painting, his 3 number 5s appear to be moving towards the audience. This was his way of making it appear to have depth and movement.) o Do you see anything else in the picture that is written? What is it? (The name of the poet in different places as well as his initials and the poet’s initials are intermingled within the painting.) o Value is the lightness or the darkness of a color. How many values can you find of gold? Red? Black? o The number 5 is made up of both straight lines and curved lines. Can you name other numbers from 1-9 that are like that as well? In some fonts, 2, 3 and 9 all can be made with both straight and curved lines. o Do you think the painting fits the poem? Think of the painting as “I Saw a Fire Truck”. Does that change how you see the painting? o Would you give it a different title? Activity: Color Block Painting Materials Needed: Drawing Paper Desk Covers Glue Rulers or similar straight edge Pencils w/ erasers Black Markers Egg Cartons or Paint Trays Paper Towels Brushes (medium bristle) Tempera Paints (Blue, Green Violet & Yellow) Process: 1. Give each child one piece of Drawing Paper, pencils, eraser & straight edge. 2. Instruct them to write their names on the back and on the front, lightly draw a large numeral of their choice in the center of the paper. This is the “Skeleton number”. 3. Draw around the skeleton number on both sides to turn the skeleton into a solid shape. Try to stay the same distance away from the skeleton all the way around. Keeping the Number about 1” – 1 ½” wide. 4. Erase the Skeleton Number. 5. Starting at the edge of the number, have the students use their rulers to draw lines straight off the edge of the paper. Space these lines out around the number. 6. Talk about the Cool Colors. These are Blue, Green and Violet. They represent Cool, Calm and peaceful subjects such as a lake, green lawn etc… Pass out Paints, Brushes, Water Dishes and Paper Towels. 7. Have Students Paint the Background areas with the Cool Colors. They may mix them on their papers, but should try to keep each area a separate color with the lines crisp. Be sure they do not paint into the area drawn out for their numbers. 8. You may want to talk about the Warm Colors for a minute now while everyone catches up, and let the pictures dry for a few minutes. 9. Instruct Students to Paint their Numbers with the Yellow Paints. Point out how the cool colors look as if they recede (go back into the picture). Yellow is a warm color, and looks as if it Pops Out of the picture. 10. You may have them outline the numbers in a dark color paint (a bit messy) or you may wait until they dry and outline them in black markers to really make the colors “POP”… your choice… samples of each are included in the binder.. 11. Attach Parent Letters on the back of the finished Pieces and display! 12. Please sign the Lesson Completed sheet at the back of the Lesson Binder. .
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