Getting to Know the World’s Great Artists

Tulsa Public Schools-Third Grade Visual Arts Assessment

Getting to Know the World’s Great Artists

Oklahoma Fine Arts Standard Two: Visual Art History and Culture

Getting to Know the World’s Great Artists

Oklahoma Fine Arts Standard Two: Visual Art History and Culture

The student will recognize the development of Visual Art from an historical and cultural perspective.

•Describe and place a variety of specific significant art objects by artist, style and historical and cultural contest

•Identify themes and purposes of works of art and artifacts in history and culture

•Demonstrate a basic knowledge of several fields of art such as painting, sculpture, drawing, computer graphics, printmaking, architecture, and fiber arts

•Identify how visual art is used in today’s world including the popular media of advertising, television, and film

Getting to Know the World’s Great ArtistsYou will look at the work of three artists from a long time ago. They painted in the 15th, 16th, and 17th Centuries. Their names are Leonardo Da Vinci, El Greco and Rembrandt Van Rijn.

An Elephant. 1490. Pencil on Paper.

Ginerva de’ Benci. 1474. Tempera on wood.

Introducing the Art Work of Leonardo Da Vinci

Leonardo Da Vinci was born in the small Italian town of Vinci in 1452. He kept the name of his

town for his own last name.

When he was little, he drew pictures of plants, insects, flowers, animals, and birds. He drew what

he saw in the countryside near his home.

He drew during a period time that we call the Renaissance. In Europe during this time people

became interested in art.

Many people say that the backgrounds he painted looked like a science fiction or fairy-tale world.

Mona Lisa. 1503. Tempera and Oil.

You have probably heard people talk about the Mona Lisa. No matter where you stand, her eyes are looking into your eyes. Do you think her smile is mysterious?

Leonardo was a great artist, but he became famous because he was able to do so many other things

too. He was an architect, a musician, sculptor, scientist,

inventor, and a mathematician.

He designed beautiful things for churches, bridges, and even whole

cities.

He used what he learned from nature and science to make his

paintings look real.

Woman with Ermine. 1488-1490. Oil on Canvas

Da Vinci used dark shadows and light colors to make what he was painting seem to come toward you.

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When he was a teenager, his father took him to Florence, Italy, to learn about being an artist. It

was one of the greatest art cities in Europe.

When he was twenty years old, he helped his teacher finish his paintings.

Leonardo painted beautiful portraits. He used what he learned about nature and science to

make animals and backgrounds to look realistic.

It is hard to see a brush mark on his canvas.

The Last Supper. 1495-1497. Fresco.

Leonardo’s greatest work was done for the wall of a dining room that was used by the monks at a church in Milan, Italy.

The special way he placed the men around the table gives them a feeling of movement that had never been seen before.

Today parts of The Last Supper are hard to see because the paint is chipping off. Leonardo was always experimenting with and making his own

paint. The paint he made for this painting did not work well.

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There is only one Leonardo Da Vinci painting in the United States. It is in

the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D. C.

However, many people are still enjoying his work through books,

posters and movies.

Introducing the Art Work of “El Greco”

Mater Dolorosa. Oil on canvas.1604.

Domenikos Theotokopoulos was born on the Greek island of Crete in 1541. He traveled to Italy to study art and then to Spain. He was called “El Greco.”

Many of El Greco’s (Spanish for “The Greek”) paintings are

based on religious stories from the Bible. People liked to

collect these artworks for their churches and homes.

Very few people at this time could read, but they enjoyed the

stories that showed scenes from the Bible.

View of Toledo. 1597. Oil on Canvas.

When El Greco first arrived in Spain he stopped in the city of Toledo. He fell in love with the city. Do you think he painted it in a mysterious and rugged way?

Light from the stormy, swirling sky seems to make Toledo glow like the surface of the moon. El Greco often

included scenes of his favorite city in the backgrounds of other paintings.

Things went well for El Greco in Toledo. Right away, he was asked to

make a large painting.

The king of Spain heard about El Greco’s work and asked him to do a

painting for his new palace in the nearby city of Madrid.

Saint Peter. 1600. Oil on Canvas.

He used crackling, electric colors, and mysterious lighting that seemed as if it came from another world.

El Greco was able to create a feeling of wonder or fear or

excitement or love in his paintings. He did this by sometimes twisting and stretching out his figures to

create movement.

El Greco was one of the first artists to use oil paint. When he worked in

Italy, he used watercolors.

Saint Francis. 1600. Oil on Canvas.

El Greco died in his favorite city of Toledo at age 74. That was very old for that time period.

A Café in Tokyo-Can you see the Japanese lettering in the lower

right corner?

Today many people still think of the mysterious and exciting work of El Greco. There are many buildings named after him.

You may see some of El Greco’s paintings in the United States in Chicago, New York, Washington D. C., and Philadelphia.

Night Watch. 1642. Oil on Canvas.

Introducing the Art Work of Rembrandt Van Rijn

Rembrandt was born in Holland in 1606. He was well known for his use of light and dark paints. His use of dark paint helps him make the light colors stand out. Do you think the light and dark values of paint look dramatic?

The Night Watch is one of Rembrandt’s most famous paintings. A group of soldiers asked him to make a big painting of them all together. He painted them doing things like marching, playing the drum, and drawing out their swords.

At first they did not like the painting because it was so different. In the past, everyone else would line up for a portrait. Here some faces are in the shadows. Those people in the shadows felt like they were not seen as important.

The Mill. 1650. Oil on Canvas.

Rembrandt is best known for his paintings of people, but he also did paintings of scenery. These paintings are called landscapes. All landscapes have a foreground, middle ground, and background. Here in the foreground are the small people and the boat. The middle ground is the windmill, and the background is the sky.

Rembrandt lived his life near the city of Amsterdam, Holland. There were many windmills back then. In fact, Rembrandt’s father owned a windmill. Rembrandt probably had lots of fun when he was growing up.

Self Portrait. 1658. Oil on Canvas.

Even though there were no cameras in Rembrandt’s time, we know what he looked like because he was always painting pictures of himself. This painting was done when he was 52

years old.

Sometimes he would use his family members or himself to make a portrait. When you make a portrait of yourself, it is called a “Self Portrait.”Rembrandt painted over 500 pictures; many of which were portraits of rich people, his family or religious people from Bible stories.

You might ask why people wanted their portraits painted? People did not have cameras then.

Often when people were painted they asked that something important to them be painted into the picture.

Sometimes a learned person would hold a book, or a soldier would hold a sword.

What would you put in a portrait of you?

The Philosopher at Meditation. 1636. Oil on Canvas.

One of the most important things about Rembrandt’s paintings is that he painted people in dramatic settings. Can you just imagine a story to

go with this painting?

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People today still think of Rembrandt’s art work and how he used white to highlight and call attention to things.

It’s much better to see a real Rembrandt painting

than a picture of one.The Rembrandt paintings in the United States are in New York, Chicago,

Boston, and Washington D.C.

Let’s think about Art

If you were to make a drawing or a painting in the style of one of these artists what would you include?

•Would your background or landscape have a dramatic or mysterious feeling?•Would you create a portrait of someone and use darks and lights to emphasize something?•If you did a portrait, what personal items would you include so you could tell a story about that person?

Think about one of the three artists and make either a portrait or a landscape. The portrait can be a self-portrait.

The EndMany thanks to the Visual Arts Assessment Committee:

•Carole Odierno-Memorial High School•Carol Dvorak-Carver Middle School•Fran Kallsnick-Byrd Middle School•Joe Sizemore-Nimitz Middle School

•Linda Barnett-Wright Elementary School•Janet Gillis-Carnegie Elementary School

•Janet Lefler-Key Elementary School•Ann Tomlins-Fulton