Marc Chagall

The artist I have chosen for July is Marc Chagall.

He was born July 7, 1887 in Russia (which is now Belarus). He was the oldest of 9 children in a poor Jewish family. He had a happy childhood and studies art against his father’s wishes.



He is one of the most well known Jewish artists of our times. I think when you look at some examples of his art work you will see he liked bright colors. He spent some time in Paris and eventually went back there to live. The only time he left Paris was during WWII. He stayed in the United States until the end of the war. He died on March 28, 1985 at the age of 97 in France.



He lived through many art periods, but I think his use of strong bold colors and his dream like compositions put him strongly in the Surrealism period. He combined fantasy, nostalgia and religion in his paintings. He painted images from his childhood and his faith.



This painting is called "The Green Fiddler." Play the movie below to see how someone took this painting and the music from "Fiddler on the Roof" and combined technology with Chagall's painting.



Also one of my most favorite paintings is called "I and the Village."



This painting is at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City. This shows that both the animals and people were important to village life. Look at the seeds flying out from the plant or tree at the bottom. This may depict one of Chagall's childhood memories.

Chagall did all kinds of paintings, drawings, stained glass windows, etc. But the paintings above are some of my favorites. Could you paint a memory from your childhood as if it were a dream? Would you use bright colors? Why don't you create one now?

Christo and Jeanne-Claude

Our June artists are Christo and Jeanne-Claude.

They are contemporary artists who met and married and worked as a team until Jeanne-Claude’s death on November 18, 2009. They met in Paris, France in October 1958.

They both were born on the same day - June 13, 1935. Christo Vladimirov Javacheff was born in Gabrovo, Bulgaria. Jeanne Claude Denat de Guillebon was born in Casablanca, Morocco to French parents. They decided to just use their first names as artists.



I guess you would say they were environmental artists. They lived in New York City for many years of their lives. They are considered American artists. They wrapped things. That is the best way I can describe most of their work. By things, I mean motorcycles, buildings, bridges, islands, etc. They did large installations in public places that took years to plan, finance, and construct. After a short period of time then their art is gone.





Think about everything involved in planning an art piece of this nature. First you should know that they don’t accept sponsorships for their projects. So they raise all the money themselves selling sketches, souvenirs, etc. To give you an idea of the scope of their work consider the following. They created “The Gates, Central Park, New York, 1979-2005.” It cost $21 million to construct 7, 503 saffron colored fabric gates in Central Park in N.Y.C. It took from 1979 to 2005 to raise the funds, get the workers necessary, get the correct permits, build the exhibit, etc. The project was up from Feb. 12th to the 27th in 2005. Then it was taken down.





We only have sketches, pictures, or videos of their work.

What do you think? Could we make a similar project at school? What could we wrap? Christo and Jeanne-Claude wanted the viewer to have a new way of seeing a familiar landscape. Do you think they succeeded?

Click here to see a short video of several of their projects.

Keith Haring - 1958 - 1990

Keith Haring is our artist for May. He is one of our own Pennsylvania artists.
He was born in Reading, Pennsylvania on May 4, 1958.

Keith was raised in nearby Kutztown, Pennsylvania where he developed a love for drawing at a very early age. His bio page on his official website states that he learned basic cartooning skills from his father and from popular artists such as Dr. Seuss and Walt Disney.


After high school he went to art school in Pennsylvania, but dropped out.
He moved to New York City and enrolled in the School of Visual Arts there.
While in NYC, Keith became very interested in public art - art for everyone.

He soon found a medium that allowed him to communicate with the public audience he desired. He figured out how to make art work that everyone would be able to see.
While in the subway one day, he noticed the many unused advertising panels covered with matte black paper.

He decided to start drawing on these and created hundreds of drawings in white chalk throughout the subway system.
These public drawings in rapid rhythmic lines became what he was known for in the art world. The subway travelers would stop and talk with him while he worked.
He had his first solo exhibit in NYC in 1981.

Dancing Dogs
Through out his career, he devoted much of his art to public works.
You can look at some of his art ideas and coloring sheets by clicking on HaringKids and see if you like them or not. He died at a very young age, 31 but his art lives on with us forever.

Victor Vasarely

Since we study Op art in 4th grade, I thought it would be good to explore the art of Victor Vasarely. So I have chosen him as our April artist. He was born on April 9, 1906 in Hungary. He moved to Paris, France in 1930. He created many geometric abstract paintings, prints, and sculptures during his lifetime. He lived to be 90 years old.

He is considered the founder of Op art. If you forgot the definition of Op art, it is a style of abstract art that was popular in the 1960s that used positive and negative space and/or colors and contrasts to create visual effects that fooled the viewer's eyes.

Take a look at some of his art that I really like.
This is one of his earlier pieces of art. Can you tell what they are?



They are Zebras. Do you see them both?




This one really causes my eyes problems. No color - just positive and negative space and lines. It looks very simple to make, but it is harder than you think.



I love this one - just black and white shapes reversed. It is called Cassiopee II and was painted in 1958. I think I could come up with a simple design using just shapes in black and white. Do you think you could too?



I think we could definitely make an op art projects using just circles and squares. See this one by Vasarely. Is it simple or complicated? I think we would have to study color and the color wheel to make a composition just using squares and circles that was also an optical illusion.



This final example is also in color and really makes you think it is coming up off the surface. Do you see the sphere? Is it coming toward or away from you?



Click on the video to see a nice collection of Op art by Vasarely and some other Op artists.

Michelangelo

Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simon was born March 6, 1475 in Caprese, Italy. He was the son of a local magistrate who returned to Florence, Italy soon after Michelangelo’s birth.

He was an Italian Renaissance artist who was both a painter and a sculptor.

One of his most famous projects is the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel ceiling.



It took him four long years of labor and was nearly 68 feet off the ground. Think how hard it would be to lay on your back and paint a ceiling that high.

He also did many sculptors. Imagine taking a big block of stone and carving it into a person. Watch this short video I found on YouTube to see some of his sculptures.



He lived a long life and influenced the development of art in the western world.
He died on Feb. 18, 1564.

Grant Wood

Grant Wood is the artist I would like you to investigate for the month of February.

He was born on Feb. 13, 1891 and lived until 1942. His father was a farmer in Iowa and Grant was born on the farm. He painted an "all American" style of art that people loved. He painted the farmland of Iowa and the Midwest of the United States. He also painted many American subjects.



This is a painting of Stone City, Iowa. Grant painted many paintings of his life in Iowa. He painted people and places just as he pictured them in their everyday lives.

One very famous painting is called "American Gothic" and was painted in 1930. People loved his art work because it was easy to understand.



I also like the "Midnight Ride of Paul Revere" because he painted it as he imagined it as a child. His trees sometimes remind me of broccoli. His landscapes make me smile.



Click on Midnight Ride of Paul Revere to learn more about this painting.

Grant Wood began his career with a Crayola contest. Wood later commented that winning the contest gave him the encouragement he needed to pursue a career in art.

He also painted this painting entitled "Daughters of the American Revolution." It reminds me of my grandmother and her friends.



Grant Wood painted Americana and the places and things he loved. These are evident as well as the regionalism of the 1930’s in his paintings.

Here is a coloring page and information about "American Gothic."

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.