6th  Grade:  Lesson  3  (January)    

 

1911, Oil on canvas

Keywords: Symbolism, Shape, Color

Activity: “Visual Diary” Drawing

Meet The Artist:

• Marc Chagall was born is a small Russian village named Vitebsk (VEE- tepsk) in 1887.

• He spent much of his childhood daydreaming, writing poetry, drawing and spending time with animals in the village. He observed the strict Hassidic rites of his Jewish religion and enjoyed the Jewish folktales his family members told him.

Art Masterpiece: I and the Village (1911) by Marc Chagall

6th  Grade:  Lesson  3  (January)    

 

• When Marc was 13 years old, he saw his first painting, and knew he wanted to be an artist. Despite his parents’ disapproval, he went to art school in St. Petersburg, the capital city of Russia.

• In St. Petersburg, Marc discovered work by great Impressionistic artists like Monet, Cezanne and Van Gogh. At age 23, he traveled to Paris and discovered the cubist art of Picasso. These various artists inspired him to use more color and simple shapes to convey emotion.

• Back in Russia, Marc met and married his wife Bella in 1914. Marc and his wife lived in France and in the U.S.A. He died in France at age 97.

• Marc was famous for taking ordinary scenes and transforming them into dream-like worlds. Chagall created his own style of art called Fantastic Art. Fantastic Art is similar to Surrealism in its dream-like quality, but includes elements of Cubism, Art Nouveau, and imagination.

• His paintings are influenced by fond childhood memories of his strong faith, folklore, and country life in Vitebsk. His people and animals live in friendly unity. Often his paintings seem like dreams, with a young man that looks like Chagall himself floating in many of his works.

I and the Village: History and Interpretation

• I and the Village is one of Chagall's earliest surviving works, and is a “narrative self-portrait," featuring memories of Marc Chagall's childhood in the town of Vitebsk, Russia. The dreamy painting is ripe with images of the Russian landscape and symbols from Jewish folklore. In it, he ignored the laws of gravity. Objects are upside down, things appear to float, and the focus is on color, form and shape. The result is a very emotional work – a visual diary of Marc Chagall's life.

• The painting can be divided into five distinct sections. 1) The first section at the top right includes a rendering of

Chagall's hometown, with a church, a series of houses and two people. The woman and some of the houses in the village are upside down, further emphasizing the dreamlike quality of the work.

6th  Grade:  Lesson  3  (January)    

 

2) On the right side of the page, we see a green-faced man who might be Chagall himself.

3) At the bottom, we see a hand holding a flowering branch. 4) Next to that is a bouncing ball – perhaps a toy from Chagall's

childhood. 5) Finally, we see the image of a milkmaid layered atop the head of a

lamb – a motif common to Chagall. (Cows, bulls and lambs figure in many of Chagall's paintings as cosmic symbols).

Possible Questions:

• What colors do you see in the painting? Why did he use unrealistic colors? (Chagall would use green paint for things that were significant to him. Green symbolized a person of importance to him.)

• What kinds of shapes do you see? (circles, triangles, rectangles) • What other things do you see? (woman milking a goat, a man with a

scythe, a village with a church, an upside down woman) • Why do you think he painted some people upside down or up in the air?

(If Chagall felt joy or that the person he painted was happy, he would place them up in the air or flying.)

• Does the painting remind you of a dream?

Activity: “My Visual Diary“ Drawing

1) Pass out the white drawing paper, and challenge students to really think about their project before they start. It should reflect their thoughts, feelings, likes and dislikes, childhood memories and dreams. Overall, encourage them to use personal symbols and favorite colors, and to use the entire page for their drawing.

2) Using a pencil, have students draw their home or some other place they like to spend time (house, vacation spot, park, church, etc.).

3) Then have them turn their papers 90 degrees, and draw their favorite thing(s) (pet, sports, music, books, toys, etc.).

4) Then have the students turn their paper another 90 degrees and draw

6th  Grade:  Lesson  3  (January)    

 

something that represents a favorite memory (vacation, birthday, holiday, first day of school, etc.).

5) Somewhere on the page, have students include at least one face or representation of an important person in their lives. It could be a self-portrait, or it could be a family member or friend.

6) Once their paper is filled, have the students outline their images with black crayon. Please collect the black crayons before handing out the oil pastels (to avoid getting oil on the crayons).

7) Have the students fill in their illustrations with intense color using oil pastels, allowing the contrasting colors to divide it into sections like Chagall did.

8) Collect oil pastels; use wet wipes to clean hands and desk when finished.

ACTIVITY IDEAS – Significant events, people, places & things in my life.

1) PLACES: where you were born, where you live – past or present, church, school, recreation sites, vacation destinations.

2) THINGS: music, books, toys, sports, pets, etc. 3) SPECIAL MEMORIES: birthday, favorite vacation, holidays, first

time riding a bike, going to school, etc. 4) PEOPLE: parents, siblings, grandparents, other relatives, special

friends, teacher, etc.

Materials Needed:

• 9 x 12-inch white drawing paper • Pencils • Large black crayons • Oil pastels • Wipes for hands

6th  Grade:  Lesson  3  (January)    

 

Artwork Example: