Masterpiece: I and the Village, 1911 by Marc Chagall
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Masterpiece: I and the Village, 1911 by Marc Chagall Keywords: Shape, Color, Line, Symbolism Grade: 6th Grade Month: September/October Activity: Above My Favorite City: A Dream Drawing Resist TIME: 1-1.25 hours Meet the Artist Marc Chagall was born in 1887 in a small Russian village named Vitebsk (VEE-tepsk), now Belarus. Chagall spent much of his childhood playing with his nine siblings, the village animals, observing strict Hassidic rites of his Jewish religion, writing poetry, and day dreaming. His father was a poor fisherman and owner of a small grocery store but managed to provide Marc with violin and singing lessons. When he was thirteen, he began grammar school and was immediately enrolled in the third grade where he showed his talent for art. After he finished school, Chagall briefly worked as a photographer’s apprentice and studied painting and drawing with Yehuda Pen, a well-known Russian artist and outstanding figure of the Jewish Renaissance. At age 20, Chagall moved from his beloved Vitebsk village to St. Petersburg, Russia to study art. His parents did not like this decision. He was not accepted into his first art school in St. Petersburg but managed to enroll in a school for Technical drawing. He earned money by giving private art lessons. He soon became disillusioned with the teaching methods at the school and transferred to another art school where he learned to paint close-up figures on bright backgrounds. He was regarded as the most talented colorist. At age 23, he moved to Paris where he discovered Cubist art and met other famous artists of the early 1900’s who inspired him to use more color and simple shapes to convey emotion in his work. Chagall created his own style of art called Fantastic Art which is similar to Surrealism in its dream-like quality, but includes elements of Cubism, Art Nouveau, and imagination. His paintings are clearly influenced by fond childhood memories of his strong faith, folklore, and country life in Vitebsk. His people and animals live in friendly unity, belonging to both the earth and the cosmos. Often his paintings seem like dreams, with a young man looking very much like Chagall floating in many of his works. He is best known for also creating large-scaled murals, stained glass, and theater scenes painted with bright color and a mixture of fantasy and abstraction. Possible Questions: Without telling student’s the name of this print, ask them the following questions: o What city is the artist in? What images immediately tell you, the viewer, the name of this city? o Where is the artist viewing the city? o What is the first image your eye is attracted to? What do you think this represents? o What are some of the other images? What do you think they represent? o What time of day is it? How can you tell? o What is real and what is fantasy in this painting? o Do you think the artist loves this city? o What is the dominant color and where is it used? Green was used by Chagall to convey respect for the person or animal. o How do you think the artist feels (i.e. his emotion) when he was painting this? o Why do you think he painted some people upside down or up in the air? If Chagall felt joy or that the person was happy he would place them up in the air or flying. o What other shapes do you see? (circles, triangles, rectangles, squares) o Does this painting remind you of a dream or a nightmare? Discussion: What is a “resist”? A resist in art occurs when the lines and shapes created with a waxy or oily medium such as pastels or crayon literally resist the paint wash. You can see that the diluted inks only soaked into the paper around the pastel lines. Activity: Above My Favorite City: A Dream Drawing Resist Materials Needed: 9”x12” heavy white paper, oil pastels (make sure there are black or dark pastels in box), watercolor set, small bowl for water, 1” paintbrushes, student’s own pencils. Explain Activity: Students will recall a favorite city and create a dream-like landscape from a bird’s eye view. They should incorporate personal subjects or symbols from dreams or childhood memories and use bright, primary colors. Process: 1. Hand each student a white paper and a box of oil pastels. Students should have their own pencils. 2. Write their name on back of paper. 3. Instruct students to write the words of Marc Chagall “…I am only in contact with the things I love” -or- “Great art picks up where nature ends” around the perimeter of their papers using a dark oil pastel. 4. Have students lightly divide their paper into four sections with their pencil by drawing an X line from one corner to the other. 5. Using the black oil pastel, have students draw the following in each section…encourage students to draw their images from different angles to show movement or floating: a. Themself with an icon from their favorite city (i.e. the Golden Gate Bridge, Eiffel Tower, etc.); b. themselves holding something they like or with family/friends; c. their favorite animal(s); d. a natural landscape with trees and/or flowers, have them include a sun or moon with a face; e. They may add any other supporting background that suits their images. 6. Once their paper is filled, color their images with oil pastels taking care to use lots of intense color just like Chagall. 7. When finished with the oil pastels, have students select a color from their watercolor set and lightly wash over their entire piece. Portrait of Marc Chagall and Other Works Marc Chagall, Paris, 1921 Feathers in Bloom, Rain, 1911 On the Roof of Paris, 19__ The Three Candles, 1938-40 View of Paris, 1969 The Stained Glass, 1964 Self Portrait with Seven Fingers, 1912-1913 Marc Chagall .