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Museum
Educator-led Programs
Pre & Post Visit Resources
Expressions
of Culture (second floor, permanent painting galleries)
Grades
6 - 12
Scroll
down the page to find items on the menu below or click on a link
to jump to an item.
During your
visit
click
here for printable version
Things
You Don't Want to Miss
Discussion Questions
Activities
Go
to Expressions of Culture Gallery Page
Before and
After Your Visit
click
here for printable version
Important
Terms and Concepts
Activities
Print
and Web Resources
Things
You Don't Want to Miss
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A
Mother Watching Her Sleeping Child, 1814, by Washington Allston.
After national independence in 1776, American artists sought
to define an artistic voice to best represent the young nation.
Some artists turned to the traditions of European art for
inspiration. The 'mother and child' in this painting is inspired
by the Bible. Historical subjects, images from the Bible,
or from classical literature were considered by some artists
to be fitting subject matter for a nation striving to be culturally
sophisticated.
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Hunter
in the Winter Wood, 1860, by George Henry Durrie.
Other American artists turned toward simple subjects, such
as this depiction of country life, to represent subjects uniquely
American. Images like this one were made into prints and widely
distributed by companies such as Currier and Ives.
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Shuffleton's
Barber, 1950, by Norman Rockwell
Norman Rockwell became one of the most popularized artists
in America. He was famous for celebrating everyday American
life, as idealized in this painting of town folks playing
music in the back room of a barbershop. His work, shown for
example on the covers of the Saturday Evening Post, was familiar
in almost every household in the nation.
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Discussion
Questions
Here are some
questions for teachers, chaperones and students to think about while
visiting the exhibit.
- Which paintings
in the exhibition seem more "real" and why? How would
you distinguish between what is "realistic" and what
is the artist's interpretation?
- How do formal
elements, such as color, shape, composition, and scale, inform
us of the artist's point of view? For example, look at the scale,
or in other words the proportion/sizes of the Native Americans
in relationship to the forest in Redwood Forest painting by Albert
Beirstadt. What kind of feeling do you get? Some describe the
forest as a kind of cathedral, and the image as being one in reverence
to Gods wonder in Nature. By contrast, look at the painting by
Bougeraeu of the Two Sisters. What kind of scale does the artist
use to depict these two girls in relationship to nature? What
and how does this picture make you feel about man in nature?
- Can you
connect any of these images to your own lives? How?
Activities to Do in Expression
of Culture
The
Poetics of Landscape
The natural beauty of New England and other landscapes throughout
America inspired many of the Hudson River painters. Pick one of
the paintings in the Expressions of Culture Gallery and pretend
your were writing a poem that was inspired by the picture. What
would your poem be about? What would you title your poem? Click
here for worksheet.
19th Century
Life
Many of the paintings in the Expressions of Culture gallery have
people in them. Imagine what it would have been like to be a young
boy or girl in the nineteenth century living in rural New England.
Using the 19th Century Life Worksheet answer some questions about
what you think life would have been like in the 1800's.
Riddled
Art
Choose an artwork in the Expression of Culture Gallery and write
a series of clues that would describe this painting, giving only
details that your classmates can see! As a group or in pairs, exchange
your clues and find each other's artworks!
Important Terms and Concepts
You may
want to familiarize your students with the following terms before
your visit to the museum.
Arcadia
Bucolic
Composition
Contemporary
Historical
Hudson River School
Idyllic
Landscape
Luminism
Modern
Pastoral
Primeval
Romantic
Rural
Scale
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A
landscape or region offering rural simplicity and contentment.
Characteristic
of the countryside or its people, rustic.
A work
of music, art or literature that combines distinct parts or
elements to form a whole.
Current
or modern.
Based
on events in history.
Two
generations of American landscape painters active from about
1825 to 1875 whose works, influenced by European Romanticism,
depict the beauty and grandeur of images of America's wilderness.
Serenely
beautiful and happy.
An expanse
of scenery that can be seen with the eye. In art, a landscape
is a painting, drawing or photograph of this type of scene,
usually a rural one.
The
American landscape painting style of the 1850s-1870s. It was
characterized by effects of light in landscapes, poetic atmosphere,
often sublime, many times using an aerial perspective, and
hiding visible brushstrokes.
Relating
to recent times or the present.
A literary
or artistic work that portrays a rural life, usually in an
idealized way.
Belonging
to the earliest age or ages, something that is original or
ancient.
Imaginative
but impractical; visionary. A spirit or feeling of adventure,
excitement.
Objects
that are characteristic of the country or people who live
in the country.
A proportion
used in determining the dimensional relationship.
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Activities:
Before and After Your Visit
Berkshire
Picture Gallery
Hudson River Artists painted scenes that they felt inspired and
moved them. Make a drawing or collage of one of your favorite landscapes
in Berkshire County, the mountains, the desert, snow, autumn, etc.
On a separate sheet, write an essay about your favorite place. Include
in your information who you go there with, what is special about
the place, and explain what you do when you are there. Use descriptive
words about what you see, hear and feel. Attach your story to your
painting/drawing. Make an exhibition in the classroom of everyone's
artwork.
Picturing
the Past
Have students look at a postcard or picture reproductions of paintings
from the 18th or 19th century. Through historical and art historical
research, write a short story that creates the setting for your
character. To search for 19th Century art click here to visit Artcyclopedia.
Travel Diary
Some artists made visual documents of places they had traveled so
that others could see what faraway places looked like. Imagine that
you are traveling to Berkshires for the first time. Write your own
travel diary for your trip to the Berkshire Hills. Your travel diary
should include written descriptions as well as drawings and sketches
of the places and sights that you enjoyed the most.
American
Romanticism
Research American Romanticism, focusing on either the artists or
writers of this period. Once you have completed your research create
a written or visual art piece that would have fit into the ideals
of American Romanticism in the 1800's.
Suggested Web and Print Resources
All print resources listed are available though the Central/Western
Massachusetts's Library System.
Use the Berkshire
Athenaeum's on-line catalogue to search for these print
resources in Western Massachusetts.
Print and Materials For Students
Schaeffer,
Allyn S. The Big Book of Painting Nature in Pastel. New
York: Watson-Guptil Publications,1993. With description and
full color pictures this book guides readers through the process
of using pastels to create landscape paintings. The Big
Book of Painting Nature in Watercolor is also available.
Wolfe, Gillian.
Look! Zoom in on Art. New York: Oxford University Press,
2002. This book presents a variety of painting styles and aims
at showing younger students how to look for various artistic styles
within a painting.
Print Materials
For Educators
Carlson,
John F. Carlson's Guide to landscape Painting. New York:
Dover Publications, 1973. This book covers all aspects of landscape
painting, angles, perspective, light, etc. This is a good book
for anyone who wishes to understand the intricate way landscape
artists paint their work.
Marshall,
Megan. The Peabody Sisters: Three Women who Ignited American
Romanticism. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2005. The Peabody
Sisters played a pivotal role in the development of American Romanticism,
this biography follows their lives and they intersect with some
of the most brilliant writers artists of the time.
Web Materials
For Students
Artcyclopedia
A fine art search engine in which students and teachers can
browse by artists, movements, mediums, and subjects.
Index
of Hudson River School Painters
This page is part of the Desmond Fisher Library website and
allows you to search dozens of Hudson River School Paintings.
The site includes pictures of the paintings and information about
them.
Web Materials
for Educators
American
Romanticism (or the American Renaissance)
This page is kept by Virginia Commonwealth University and gives
a good introduction to the American Romantic period.
Artcyclopedia
A fine art search engine in which students and teachers can
browse by artists, movements, mediums, and subjects.
Smithsonian
Education
This Smithsonian website contains information on landscape
paintings and provides lesson plans and additional resources.
 The
Institute of Museum and Library Services, an independent Federal
grant- making agency dedicated to creating and sustaining a nation
of learners by helping libraries and museums serve their communities
supports the Berkshire Museum.
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