Picture Study: Monet's "The Garden at Sainte Adresse"
We began our picture study of Claude Monet's works with the painting The Garden at Sainte Adresse, a copy of which hangs in our living room. This is the third day of our picture study.
Preparation:
- If I don't already own a print, I download the prints from online.
- I write Artist Name, Year of work, Name of work into my planner, if I don't already have it.
- We go to the library and check out books with prints of the artist in them.
- The prints I kept in a place where the students can look at them whenever they want.
- During our assigned Picture Study time, I get out the prints and:
- Day One: Give any background information I feel is appropriate. This could be information on the artist or about the style of art. A Child's History of Art, or Lives of the Artists are good sources for this. Students narrate what I have just read and this is sometimes recorded.
- Day Two: We look at the print and discuss the details. I turn the print over and students narrate a description of the print or about anything they noticed. OR, sometimes students take turns, starting with the youngest and they narrate one thing they noticed/remember and we go around as long as we like.
- Day Three: I invite students to sketch the print while looking at it to include with their narration. This often prompts further discussion as they notice things in the picture when they go to sketch it that they hadn't noticed before. This is the sketching's purpose.
- Day Four: I invite students to do an art project related to the artist or the artist's style. This is not to replicate the print, but rather to immerse them in the art form in a tactile way. Another option would be to put together a jigsaw puzzle of the art piece. A great way to look at details.
- Day Five: I lay out all the prints we have done so far that year and we compare and contrast them.
- Future Days: We go to an Art Museum, especially if one is near by that has that artist's work. Any art museum is good, however, because they can compare and contrast works of art, whatever is there. We could instead go to a local artist's show, shop or home
- When we complete the Picture Study, I like to hang a print in the house, but this is not always possible.
