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Sunday, January 22, 2012

Students Report on Art

Students at Mary McGuire Elementary School sixth graders in Mrs. Carroll’s and Mrs. Walter’s class reported on the works of various artists. Each had been given a postcard with a painting by a well known artist. They researched facts about the artist and how they felt about the image they had been given. They told about what they liked and/or disliked about their picture.

Below are some of the comments, in no particular order. Artist and painting are in parentheses.

Bobby: (Auguste Renoir, Le Pont Neuf) “I like this painting because it was painted at the right time, on the right day, and is a very classic work of art that shows what a fine day it was that time in Paris.”

Dakota: (Winslow Homer, Early Morning after a Storm at Sea) “This painting makes me think of a storm rolling in over the sea with gloom, despair, and the feeling that life has NO meaning.”

Audrey: (Marguerite Gerard, Jeune Femme) “What I like about this picture is she put two girls. One of the girls she drew was sitting down. The girl was little like a toddler standing on the older lady’s lap.”

Addison: (Stuart Davis, Report from Rockport) “The picture isn’t realistic. It looks cartoonish and real abstract. It seems like the right of the picture is more scribbles but the way they are arranged makes the art look really cool.”

Danny: (Claude Monet, Torrent, Creuse) “The design is like a wavy snake. It also has pretty much all the colors. This picture looks virtual. It also has the elements of design. It has wave length to it.”

Haley: (Thomas Cole, The Course of Empire: The Savage State) “The light on the one side looks like it’s rising and the cloudy night is going away. It’s the perfect amount of light showing. It’s a great piece of artwork and it has a great feel to it.”

Shailyn: (Jasper Francis Cropsey, Shad Fishing on the Hudson) “What I like about this painting is that beaming sun at the river and how the river is a nice blue green to it and how the colors seem to really interesting.”

Gabby: (Stuart Davis, Report-Rockport) “At the age of 16, Davis dropped out of high school to study with Robert Henri at the artist’s school in New York. His parents weren’t the least bit worried over his decision.”

Bailey: (Stuart Davis, Artists against War and Fascism) “I like this picture. I like it because it brings out an inner child as though watching an old cartoon. Stuart Davis paints abstract that is one of my favorite kinds of painting. I have learned that can be all different types.”

Hailey: (Adelaide Labille-Guiard, Portrait de Femme) “I also like how the light is shining on her face. It makes if look more realistic. The background is black and it makes it focus more on the (face).”

Erica: (Paul Cezanne, House of Pere Lacroix) “I would like to look at other paintings by Paul Cezanne. I like the way he paints. This place is peaceful. I would like to go to this place but not for long because it would get lonely being in the woods all alone.”

CJ: (Edward Hopper, New York Office) “I like this painting. It is painted with oil paints. I like how a lot of his paintings are done in oil. I think it kind of gives like a glow more than regular paint. I also like the setting in New York.”

Austin: (Edward Hopper, Talbot’s House) “The thing that catches my eye when I first look at it si the red/orange chimney. The picture is mostly bright colors. I like this painting. It reminds me of my friend’s big house.”

Zeek: (John Sloan ,The City, from Greenwich Village) “What I don’t like is that there is like a sunset sky in one area, with a little empire. I think the whole sky should be black, so the lights in the city would stand out more.”

Ty: (Camille Pissarro, The Climbing Path) “If I were in this picture I would think it’s calm and relaxing and warm to play outside or take a hike or a walk because if looks really nice out….I had fun doing the research and finding cool things about people that I didn’t know about until now.”

Devin: ( Stuart Davis, Terrace) “ I like this piece because it’s colorful and wild and it’s abstract which is my favorite kind of art.”

Caleb: (Georges Braque, Peonies) “My eye is attracted to the sphere fruit on the table first. I think I’m attracted it that part first because they’re a bright color and they are right in the foreground of the picture.”

Austin: (John George Brown, View of the Palisades) “The colors of this painting really grab your eye. I think that it applies the rule of ninths. This is beautiful oil on canvas. The middle of this painting is towards the boats. There is one that’s really close to the middle of the painting.”
Eryana: (Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Young Girl at the Piano) “The painting is oil on canvas. It’s very bright in some parts, and he is reusing some of the colors in different places.”

Rebecca: (Worthington Whittredge, The Old Hunting Grounds) “I feel I can relate because my gma and I went hunting before.”

Cody: (Winslow Homer, The Signal of Distress) “I really like the painting. It was of the sea. I feel like fishing and swimming.”

Alex: (Samuel Colman, Storm King on the Hudson) “Where was the artist born and where? Portland, Maine in 1832. When did the artist make the painting? 1866.”

Eric: (Winslow Homer, Weatherbeaten) “When I look at this painting I feel like there is a storm going on. I don’t like it because it’s just weird because it’s just water and logs.”

Jade: (Frederic Edwin Church, Twilight in the Wilderness) “The painting is pretty and makes me feel the comfort of wide open spaces of the woods.”

Megan: (Berthe Morisot, Mme. Boursier and her Daughter) “I don’t like this picture because I like pictures that have a lot going on and this is too simple. When I look at the picture I feel bored because there isn’t a lot to look at.”

Morgan: (Thomas Chambers, View from West Point) “The painting makes me feel happy and relaxed because everything in the painting is so peaceful looking. The water looks so still and the sail boats are passing through.”

Amber: (Frederic Edwin Church, Winter Landscape from Olana) “I feel sad because he used a lot of white and dark colors. I like the painting because it looks real and the snow looks like real snow.”

Bryan: (Mary Cassatt, Mother and Child) “The painting “Mother and Child” was made in 1900. The painting made me feel at home when I looked at it.”

Bryan: (Thomas Doughty, View of Highlands from Newburgh, New York) “Did you like the painting? Explain. Yes, because it makes me calm and relaxed and it makes me feel as if I was there.”

Lillie: (Albert Bierstadt, Seal Rock) “When I look at this picture I feel calm but at the same time excited. I feel calm because the seals are just lounging around and I feel excited because there is a huge wave about to crash down on the rock where the seals are. I like this picture because it combines my two favorite things: water and animals.”

Lacy: (Thomas Cole, Sunny Morning on the Hudson River) “When I look at this painting I feel like I’m there looking over the landscape. I think this is because the artist used enough details to make it seem as though you are actually there.”

Cheyenne: (John Sloan, The White Way) “When I look at this painting I feel cold and calm because the snow on the ground is very cold and the city looks empty.”

Corey: (Worthington Whittredge, Crossing the Ford, Platte River, Colorado) “Whittredge was born in a log cabin near Springfield, Ohio in 1820. He painted landscapes and portraits as a young man in Cincinnati before traveling to Europe in 1849 to further his artistic training.”

Joe: (Stuart Davis, Terrace) “Davis’ shift to abstraction was not an immediate one. He tool time…to become a ‘modern’ artist. He explored both Post-Impressionism and Fauvist canvases.”

Jullian: (John Frederick Kensett, Lakes and Mountains) “I really like this painting because it’s a beautiful nature landscape. When I look at it, I feel calm because the water looks calm and it’s pretty.”

Jasmine: (Frederick Edwin Church, West Rock, New Haven) “When I look at the painting I see the country and I live in the country so I can relate to the picture. I feel at peace and relaxed, it is like I am on a cloud.

Emily: (Edward Hopper, The Mansard Roof) “I feel sad when I look at the picture because if just looks dreary and gloomy to me. I like the painting because you can see his brush strokes and there is lots of detail.”

Kayla: (Marguerite Gerard, Jeune Femme et l’Enfant) “I feel sad with this painting because it makes you cry if you lost family…The mother looks worried that something bad might have happened.”

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