John Singer Sargent

John Singer Sargent is considered an American painter (by birth-right). He was born in Florence, Italy on January 12, 1856 to American parents. He loved America but spent most of his life in Europe traveling extensively throughout European countries.

He was excellent at doing portraits but he also devoted much of his time to landscape painting, watercolors and public art. Since we are studying different types of compositions, particularly portraits, I thought you might like to see some of his works.



His parents moved from America to Europe because of his mother’s health. His father was an American doctor who lived in Philadelphia. John Singer Sargent did not set foot in the United States until right before his 21st birthday to retain his citizenship.

Below is a painting of generals from World War I.



He painted many famous and wealthy people.



He painted children.



Many people wrote journals but John painted in his journals. He painted anything and everything he found interesting. He died on April 14, 1925.

Paul Klee

"To paint well is simply this: to put the right color in the right place." -- Paul Klee

The poster hanging by my art room door is by Paul Klee (you pronounce his name like the word clay). I thought he would be a good artist to explore this December. Read the information about him and look at some of his art work. I have picked some different pieces from different periods in his life.

Paul Klee was born in Switzerland on December 18, 1879. He died June 29, 1940. He loved cats. He was an accomplished musician who played the violin for a time with the Bern symphony orchestra. In his artwork, he used simple lines and strong colors. He also used simple shapes. Klee painted in many styles, but a lot of them were in the Primitive and Surrealist styles.


He is considered a Swiss-German artist known for his fine lines and playful geometry in his childlike watercolors and illustrations.


Look at some of his art work and see if you agree with his quotes below.

He once said, “A drawing is simply a line going for a walk.”
And he also said, “A line is a dot that went for a walk.”

His mother was Swiss and his father was German, and Klee was raised in Switzerland but spent most of his adult life in Germany, where he studied art. Because of his father's nationality, Klee was also considered German. He was a skilled illustrator and respected teacher at the Bauhaus in Germany. He produced around 10,000 works in a variety of materials, but he is best known for his watercolors.




Click on the words coloring page to see and color one of Klee’s early works.

Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec

I want to show you some art work by Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec. He is our November artist and is best known as a painter, illustrator, and printmaker.

He was born on November 24, 1864 in the southern part of France. History places him in the Post Impressionist art period and he was friends with many other artists who enjoyed the Paris artist scene.

Here is a painting he did of one of his artist friends, Vincent Van Gogh who also became famous after his death.

He was very good at capturing people in their working environment. Here is one of his self portraits.

As a child he had broken both of his legs and they did not heal properly and stopped growing. He never grew taller than 5 feet. He was often sick and only lived to be 36 years old.
In 2005 one of his paintings sold for 22.4 million U.S. dollars. I like his posters the most. Here are two.



What do you think of his art work?

N. C. Wyeth

Newell Convers Wyeth is the artist I would like to introduce you to this month. He was known as N. C. Wyeth and was an American illustrator and artist. He illustrated many books. He was born on a farm in Needham, Massachusetts on October 22, 1882.



He moved to Pennsylvania to study with an artist named Howard Pyle. He settled in Chadds Ford, PA (that is close to Philadelphia), married, and raised five children. N. C. Wyeth worked very hard as an illustrator in order to give his family the financial freedom to follow their own pursuits.

His son, Andrew Wyeth is considered one of America’s best artists who painted realistic scenes from American life. The Brandywine River Museum is a great place to visit and see art work by both of these artists as well as other members of the family.

N. C. Wyeth loved the idea of Christmas and Santa. In 1925 he created this image of Santa.
Since he was a very large man himself, N.C. liked to dress up as Santa for his children every year.

Look at some of his illustrations. Do you see the pirate? Do you think pirates looked like him? How about Paul Revere on his horse? Do you think you would like to be an illustrator?





I love to read books with great illustrations. N. C. Wyeth and Norman Rockwell are two of my favorite American illustrators. Since watercolor is one of my passions I also loved Andrew Wyeth, N. C.'s son.

Grandma Moses

"Grandma Moses" was born Anna Mary Robertson Moses on September 7, 1860. She was considered an American folk artist and one of America's best-known primitive painters (artists who did not receive a formal art education).



She is a great example of a life long learner. She began a career in the arts at an advanced age. She became a painter in her seventies when embroidery became too difficult because of arthritis.

Grandma Moses painted mostly scenes of rural life. Some of her many paintings were used on the covers of greeting cards. I tried to find several paintings that would show the different seasons of the year.

"Grandma Moses" lived to be over 100 years old and died on December 13, 1961. She painted over 1600 paintings in a little over two decades.

Robert Indiana

For our September artist, I have chosen Robert Indiana. He was a painter, sculptor, and graphic design artist.
He was born Robert Clark in New Castle, Indiana on September 13th, 1928. He loved everyday symbols along roadside America that he saw as a child growing up in Indianapolis. Examples like “Route 66”, “EAT” at roadside diners, gas station signs, etc. inspired him in his later art work.

He created geometric art like the examples you see here. Robert Clark adopted the name of his native state and became known as Robert Indiana. His art work gave new meaning to familiar everyday words such as eat, love, and hope.

Since we study Pop art in 5th grade, he is a pop artist worth investigating. Pop art was and is an art movement that emerged in the 1950s. Pop art was and is characterized by themes and techniques drawn from popular mass culture, such as advertising, comic books, everyday objects, and popular people.

Henry Moore

I have chosen Henry Moore as our artist for July. Here he is pictured with his daughter.

Henry Spencer Moore was born on July 30th, 1898 in Castleford, Yorkshire, England. He is considered by many to be England’s greatest sculptor. He is known for his large organic abstraction sculptures. These sculptures were often in bronze and can be found around the world as public works.

He came from a large family and both parents were strong and supportive. He had a happy childhood but his parents didn’t want him to be a sculptor. So he became a teacher. But after WW1 he decided to go back to school and investigate art. I am glad he did.

Below are some of his sculptures. Do you agree that they are abstracted and modern art?

He did many sculptures of families. Here is one he worked on from 1945 to 1949.


You can find Nuclear Energy (1967) at the University of Chicago.


I like Helmet Head No. 2 (1950). I think it would make a great cartoon character or someone in an animated film.


Here are two pictures of Moore working on some his sculptures. These give you a better idea of the size of his works.

Henry Moore once said, “The observation of nature is a crucial part of an artist’s life.” Do you agree or disagree?

Click on: the case of the mysterious object to investgate a sculpture from beginning to completion.