Classroom use of the art print.

Classroom use of the art print. Joan Miro (Spanish; 1893-1983). Self-Portarit (Young Man in a RedShirt), 1919 Oil on canvass; 28 1/4 x 23 1/8. Musee Picasso, Paris. THINGS TO LEARN * In order to appreciate the art of Joan Miro, students need toknow something about the art movement called Surrealism surrealism(sərē`əlĭzəm), literary and art movement influenced by Freudianism and dedicated to the expression of imagination as revealed in dreams, free of the conscious control of reason and free of convention. . Surrealism began about 80 years ago soon after the horrors of WorldWar I had ended. Instead of painting objects in the world around them,surrealist artists found their inspiration in dreams, and those feelingsand emotions that people have deep inside them. Their goal was toachieve a greater truth from these ideas and feelings than was possiblefrom looking at the everyday world. The word, "Surrealism,"comes from the idea of super-reality or sur-reality. Some of the leadingsurrealist artists were Giorgio de Chirico Noun 1. Giorgio de Chirico - Italian painter (born in Greece) whose deep shadows and barren landscapes strongly influenced the surrealists (1888-1978)Chirico , Salvador Dali Noun 1. Salvador Dali - surrealist Spanish painter (1904-1989)Dali , Yves Tanguy,Rene Magritte, Joan Miro and Jean Arp Noun 1. Jean Arp - Alsatian artist and poet who was cofounder of dadaism in Zurich; noted for abstract organic sculptures (1887-1966)Arp, Hans Arp . * Students should study as many examples of Joan Miro's art aspossible so they can recognize his work when they see it. Doing thiswill enable them to get a more complete idea of what his life'swork looks like than is possible from this self-portrait, which waspainted early in his career. School and local libraries are good sourcesfor these images. A more lasting record of his work that may also help other studentscan be collections of photocopies of his work that students particularlylike, together with notes about each artwork. * The reproductions to be found in art books provide some idea ofwhat his artworks look like, but they give very little idea of howproductive he was. Miro worked continuously. In 1968 alone, he produced60 paintings, 28 graphic prints and 30 pieces of sculpture--mainly castin bronze Cast in Bronze is a traveling carillon, consisting of 35 cast bronze bells, played by Frank DellaPenna with fists and feet. The total weight of the instrument is 4 tons. . In many ways he was as productive as another famous Spanishartist, Pablo Picasso. * We are accustomed to seeing artworks with titles, but Mirodidn't like putting titles to his creations. To get around thisproblem, he often wrote lines of poetry in place of titles to helpviewers get a feeling for what the artwork was about. on the other hand,he gave names to sets of artworks that were done at about the same time,such as "Barcelona Suite," "Constellations" and"Savage Paintings." * In addition to painting pictures, Miro made lithograph prints,engravings and ceramics. Lithography is a way of printing done with agrease-marker on stone or metal. Engraving is done by scratching adrawing with a sharp tool (burin) on a metal sheet and then making aprint from the scratched lines. Miro's ceramics were made with claythat was baked in a kiln to make it permanent. They were then paintedwith a powdery pow��der��y?adj.1. Composed of or similar to powder.2. Dusted or covered with or as if with powder.3. Easily made into powder; friable.Adj. 1. liquid, which turned into a kind of glass (glaze glaze, in potteryglaze,translucent layer that coats pottery to give the surface a finish or afford a ground for decorative painting. Glazes—transparent, white, or colored—are fired on the clay. ) whenthey were baked a second time in a kiln. THINGS TO DO * Find the birthplace of Joan Miro on a map of Europe. The city ofBarcelona is the capital of the province of Catalonia in the easternpart of Spain on the shores of the Mediterranean Sea Mediterranean Sea[Lat.,=in the midst of lands], the world's largest inland sea, c.965,000 sq mi (2,499,350 sq km), surrounded by Europe, Asia, and Africa.GeographyThe Mediterranean is c.2,400 mi (3,900 km) long with a maximum width of c. , close to theborder with France. Miro thought of Catalonia as his home throughout hislife even though he lived for long periods in other places. * Paint or draw a face in the style used by Cubist artists.Students may use this portrait to guide them or look at Cubist facesmade by other Cubist artists found in library art books. The face may bea self-portrait or it may be of another student in the class. The purpose of this experience is for students to do what Miroattempted, which is to experiment with a new artistic style to create anoriginal artwork of their own. * Make a collection of photocopies of the art of the youngSurrealist artists Miro met when he went to live in Paris. Talk or writeabout how similar and how different these artworks are compared with thework of Joan Miro. * Using reproductions from art books about Joan Miro's laterart, make a mural on a large sheet of paper that resembles some of theart they saw. The mural may be copied from one of Miro's artworksor it may be an original idea. * Joan Miro thought deeply about the meaning of art and when he wasa young man he learned from other artists by talking with them. Somestudents in school may be ready for this kind of experience, where theymay talk together about art they think is important. While Miro is likely to have talked about painting, students todaymay prefer to talk about TV programs, motion pictures or photography.Discussions may or may not result in making art, althoughschool-produced photography, motion pictures and videos are quitepractical. * Miro's habit of collecting interesting objects in his studioas sources of ideas can be followed in school art rooms. Teachers andstudents may like to bring to school objects they think are interestingfor students to see and use, and in so doing, be following Miro'sconstant experimentation. Because of limited space, collections ofobjects in art rooms may have to be changed periodically and returned totheir owners to be replaced with new ones. * Art critics have described Miro's art as a mixture ofdifferent feelings including pessimism, violence and humor. Students maybe asked to try to decide which artworks of his they can find that areexamples of these three kinds of feelings. BUILDING A PICTURE FILE This painting may be used to illustrate various art-teaching needs.Potentially useful picture-file categories might include: "CubistArt"; "Color Variation: Red"; "Self-Portraits";and "Spanish Artists See List of Spanish artists (Born 1300-1500). See List of Spanish artists (Born 1500-1800). Born 1801-1850Vicente Camaron (1803-1864) Painter Rosario Weiss (1814 - 1843)Painter Bernardo Lopez (1801-1874) : Joan Miro." For ideas about collecting and retrieving pictures to help inteaching art and other subjects, readers are invited to write to: GuyHubbard c/o Arts & Activities, 12345 World Trade Drive, San Diego San Diego(săn dēā`gō), city (1990 pop. 1,110,549), seat of San Diego co., S Calif., on San Diego Bay; inc. 1850. San Diego includes the unincorporated communities of La Jolla and Spring Valley. Coronado is across the bay. ,CA 92128. Email: hubbard@indiana.edu.