Louise Nevelson

Louise Nevelson was born on September 23, 1900 in Kiev, Russia. Her family moved to the United States when she was very young. Louise grew up in Rockland, Maine and spent most of her younger years there. She married Charles Nevelson after she graduated from high school in 1918. She studied art during the years of her marriage, but this met with disapproval by her husband. After her divorce in 1931, she really began to study and create art.

Her sculptures were first shown in the 1930s. She is associated with several art periods, but became well known after embracing Abstract Expressionism. Louise began creating large, predominantly wooden "found object" pieces or assemblages typically painted jet black. Later she painted some in white and some in gold. Louise loved to use found objects or things that others threw away in her sculptures. She died on April 17, 1988 in New York City, New York where she had spent most of her adult life.

Look at the sculptures below by Louise Nevelson and see if you think you could find some found objects or recycle some materials to create your own relief sculpture or free standing one.




Mrs. N's Place


Night Leaf


Sky Cathedral


City on the High Mountain

Hale Woodruff

Hale Aspacio Woodruff was born on August 26, 1900, in Cairo, Illinois so he is one of our American born artists. I picked Woodruff as our artist for August because I just loved the painting below. It is called "Poor Man's Cotton."

Hale Woodruff was an African American artist known for his murals, paintings, and prints. He moved to and grew up in Nashville Tennessee. While in high school Hale was the cartoonist for the school newspaper.

After his art training he contributed to the development of African American art as an artist and a distinguished art educator. He was a leading artist of the Harlem Renaissance (an African American cultural movement of the 1920s and early 1930s that was centered in the Harlem neighborhood of New York City).

He died September, 1980 in New York City. His art work depicted his heritage. When painting, he used an abstract style and his prints were often made from woodcuts. Below is an example of one of his prints. This print is called "Returning Home."


Why don't you create a picture called "Returning Home?" You can do it in color or black and white and use your favorite art tools and materials.

Rembrandt

There are so many visual artists who have their birthdays in July; it is always difficult to pick just one for you to investigate. I think Rembrandt is who I will highlight this year.

Rembrandt van Rijn was born on July 15, 1606 in Leiden, Netherlands. He died on October 4, 1669 at the age of 63. He was a Dutch painter and etcher (that’s a special kind of printmaker). He is considered the most important painter and printmaker in Dutch history. Let me show you some examples of his work.

The Night Watch is one of Rembrandt’s most famous paintings because it is very large (11’ 10” X 14’ 4”), shows the perception of motion and the use of light and shadow. Let me introduce to an art term: chi•a•ro•scu•ro (kee-ahr-uh-skyoor-oh). This is the use of light and shade to show feelings or share drama. Rembrandt was a master of chiaroscuro.

He also did self-portraits every so many years during his life. I picked out three for you to study.
1628


1655


1658

If you want to learn more about Rembrandt van Rijn and create your own self-portrait click on the following and read the information provided.
http://www.nga.gov/kids/rembrandt-is.pdf

Maurits Cornelis Escher

Maurits Cornelis Escher was born in Leeuwarden, Netherlands on June 17, 1898. He is one of the world's most famous graphic artists. M. C. Escher is known for his often mathematically inspired woodcuts, lithographs, and mezzotints. The reason I chose him as our June artist is because I love the impossible constructions, explorations of infinity, architecture, and tessellations in his work. As a printmaker he combined his love of art and mathematics in his work. His art is enjoyed by millions of people all over the world, and I am one of them.

Click on his name below to learn more about the man and his art.
M. C. Escher

Click on the word tessellation to reach several more sites about Escher.

Some of my favorite Escher works are below:
Ascending and Descending

Sky and Water I

Drawing Hands

Metamorphosis


Do you have a favorite? Can you try and make a tessellation and create an M. C. Escher type design?

Henri Rousseau

Tiger in a Tropical Storm (Surprised)
Henri Rousseau was a French artist born in 1844 and died in 1910.
He was self taught and often painted jungle scenes and animals.
His paintings were almost always bright and colorful.
In order to learn more about Henri Rousseau click on the title of the tiger painting above. You can also get some great ideas for “Rousseau” inspired art projects that you can do over summer break. You can see many of his paintings too.

This is a picture of a "Rousseau" inspired jungle scene I created. What do you think of it? Do I have a foreground, middleground, background, and sky? Did I show lots of different values of green?


You can create a jungle scene too! Click on the word "JUNGLE" to go to the National Gallery website to start your scene.
You must have Adobe Shockwave to create your own.

Leonardo da Vinci

Leonardo da Vinci was born on April 15, 1452 and died on May 2, 1519. He was a great Italian Renaissance painter, sculptor, architect, engineer, inventor, and scientist. He is my chosen artist for April. If you want to explore more, click on Leonardo da Vinci.

Also click on Mona Lisa to really play with her face and warp it into a really wierd looking Mona.

If you check out my older post from 2008 you can do a timed Mona Lisa puzzle too.

Piet Mondrian

Piet Mondrian was a Dutch artist who was born March 7, 1872. He died Feb. 1, 1944. He is most famous for his non-representational paintings. Learn more about one by watching this short video.