The Heckscher Museum of Art

Transcription

1 The Heckscher Museum of Art EXHIBITION RESOURCE GUIDE FOR TEACHERS Fairfield Porter, Elizabeth in a Red Chair, 1961 [detail]. Heckscher Museum of Art; Gift of the Family of Fairfield Porter. Before Selfies Portraiture through the Ages April 25 - August 9, Prime Avenue Huntington, NY Education Department WHAT S INSIDE About the Exhibition...1 Exhibition-Related Web Resources...2 Exhibition-Related Vocabulary...2 Museum to Classroom...3 Select Images...7 Everything You

2 ABOUT THE EXHIBITION Before the advent of the camera and the digital age, artists captured the physical appearance of their sitters in drawings or paintings, or in marble and bronze sculptures. Before Selfies features over four dozen works from the Museum s Permanent Collection that present various approaches to conveying a subject s likeness. Leon Levinstein, Rockefeller Center, Heckscher Museum of Art. Gift of Mr. Geoffrey B. West. Self-portraits and images of fellow artists, family, and friends reveal the artist s world, while images of public figures, unidentified sitters, and character types describe our collective experience. Thematically, this exhibition addresses society s changing concepts of beauty, diverse approaches to male and female subjects, and modern life. ARTISTS IN THE EXHIBITION Edwin Austin Abbey Thomas Anshutz Alex Guofeng Cao Charles Emile Auguste Carolus-Duran William Merritt Chase Frederic S. Church Edward Sheriff Curtis Thomas Eakins Gertrude Fiske Gabriela Gonzalez Dellosso Red Grooms Bertram Hartman N. Jay Jaffee Bernard Karfiol Emmanuel Leutze Leon Levinstein Edward Dalton Marchant Mark Markov-Grinberg Reginald Marsh Henri Matisse Richard Thorpe McLean William Sydney Mount Hans Namuth Henry Varnum Poor Fairfield Porter Rhoda Sherbell Helen Farr Sloan Esphyr Slobodkina Florine Stettheimer Altoon Sultan Joseph Szabo Helen Torr Rembrandt van Rijn Stokely Webster Julian Alden Weir James Abbott McNeill Whistler Christian White Robert Winthrop White Gladys Wiles Garry Winogrand - 1 -

3 EXHIBITION-RELATED WEB RESOURCES Dove Real Beauty Sketches: You re more beautiful than you think Video illustrating the startling differences between sketches based on women s descriptions of themselves compared to other women s descriptions (3 min.) URL: Alex Guofeng Cao, Artist s Website URL: The Photography of Joe Szabo, Inc., Artist s Website URL: Hans Namuth: Portraits, A history of the life and career of Hans Namuth URL: artrepublic: Selfies and the history of self-portraiture A short history of self-portraiture. URL: EXHIBITION-RELATED VOCABULARY background: In a portrait, the setting in which the sitter is placed. documentary photograph: A photograph that chronicles significant historical events and everyday life. gaze: Where the subject of the painting is looking. group portrait, family portrait: A portrait depicting two or more people (referred to as a family portrait when the sitters are related). model: A person who poses for an artist to paint. mood: In a portrait, the emotional outlook of the sitter in the painting, or the feeling the viewer gets from the work of art as a whole. portrait: A work of art depicting a person or animal. pose: The position of the figure s body in the painting. sitter: The person who sits, or poses, for a portrait. subject: The main theme, content, or topic of a work of art. three-quarter view: The representation of a sitter posed about halfway between frontal and profile views

4 Museum Classroom Before Selfies: Portraiture through the The Heckscher Museum of Art Thomas Anshutz (American, ) Portrait of Rebecca Whelan, c Florine Stettheimer (American, ) Portrait of Louis Bouché, Fairfield Porter (American, ) Elizabeth in a Red Chair, 1961 N. Jay Jaffee (American, ) Self Portrait, NYC, Artist: Title: Your Selfie Here 2015 Alex Guofeng Cao (American/Chinese) MARILYN vs. MONALISA, 2009, with detail of right eye

5 Museum Classroom Before Selfies: Portraiture through the The Heckscher Museum of Art 1. What is a portrait? What is the purpose of a portrait? Do you think the purpose of creating portraits has changed over time? 2. Medium (plural: media) refers to the material(s) an artist uses to create artwork. How has the media artists use to create portraiture changed over time? Why do you think this is? 3. Artist and Sitter Relationship Look at Fairfield Porter s Elizabeth in a Red Chair (cover). What do you think the artist s relationship was with the sitter? How can you tell? How would you describe Elizabeth s mood? Now look at Florine Stettheimer s Portrait of Louis Bouché (page 10). What do you think the relationship was between Stettheimer and the sitter? Do you think they were strangers or friends? How can you tell? 4. Self-portrait vs. Selfie Look at N. Jay Jaffee s Self Portrait, NYC (page 11). Do you think a single work of art could be considered both a self-portrait and a selfie? Do we see ourselves the way others see us? Explain. 5. As part of Generation Z (born from the early to mid-2000s, after the Millenial Generation), do you think selfies will become part of the history of self-portraiture? Why or why not? - 4 -

6 Museum Classroom 6. Look carefully at Alex Cao s portrait MARILYN vs. MONALISA (page 8). How do you think the artist created this work of art? Why do you think he chose these women? What do they tell us about the definitions of beauty over time? 7. Watch Dove Real Beauty Sketches: You re more beautiful than you think (URL on page 2). What does this video tell us about self-image? If you were to create a self-portrait and compare it to a portrait another artist created of you, what might be different? Why do you think this is? How does a self-portrait reflect the artist s self-image? 8. What do you think might be the next style of portraiture? How do you think portraiture might progress in the future? Explain. The exhibitions Before Selfies and Poised Poses and provide many opportunities for interdisciplinary learning. The classroom activity on the next page is one example of how to incorporate close looking, critical thinking, writing, and creativity into an art history activity. Choose any two portraits provided in this guide to complete the classroom activity on the following page. Where are you from? What kind of instrument is that? - 5 -

7 Exploring Portraits at The Heckscher Museum of Art 2 Prime Avenue Huntington, NY Education Department Step 1: Choose one portrait. Answer questions 1 to 4. Step 2: Choose another portrait. Answer questions 5 to Artist: 5. Artist: Title: Title: 2. Describe the physical appearance of the person. 6. Describe the physical appearance of the person. 3. Give this person a name, or a new name if he/she already has one. 7. Give this person a name, or a new name if he/she already has one. 4. How is this person feeling? What is he/she thinking about? 8. How is this person feeling? What is he/she thinking about? Step 3 9. Imagine these two people were to meet. What would they talk about? If they are from different time periods, what would they share about life during those times? - 6 -

8 SELECT IMAGES Before Selfies Portraiture through the Ages April 25 - August 9, 2015 Thomas Anshutz, Portrait of Rebecca Whelan, c Heckscher Museum of Art; Museum Purchase

9 SELECT IMAGES Before Selfies Portraiture through the Ages April 25 - August 9, 2015 Alex Guofeng Cao, MARILYN vs. MONALISA, 2009, with detail on right. Heckscher Museum of Art; Gift of Timothy S. J. Heckscher

10 SELECT IMAGES Before Selfies Portraiture through the Ages April 25 - August 9, 2015 Henry Varnum Poor, The Disappointed Fisherman, n.d. Heckscher Museum of Art; Gift of the Baker/Pisano Collection

11 SELECT IMAGES Before Selfies Portraiture through the Ages April 25 - August 9, 2015 Florine Stettheimer, Portrait of Louis Bouché, Heckscher Museum of Art; Gift of the Baker/Pisano Collection

12 SELECT IMAGES Before Selfies Portraiture through the Ages April 25 - August 9, 2015 N. Jay Jaffee, Self-Portrait, NYC, Heckscher Museum of Art; Gift of Paula G. Hackeling. N. Jay Jaffee

13 Everything you EXHIBITION RESOURCE GUIDES for TEACHERS Visiting the Museum? Prepare your students before their trip. Looking for new lesson ideas? Use the guides as inspiration any time! Guides are developed on a rolling basis and are available free of charge. Resources include exhibition-specific information such as the following: Artist biographies Exhibition summaries Full-color artwork images Vocabulary words Pre- and post-visit activities SHARE YOUR STUDENTS ARTWORK! Have you taught your students a lesson inspired by artwork on view in the Museum? Share it with a broader community in the Museum s Visitors Online Art Gallery. Submit your students artwork (.jpg files) to Kristina Schaaf at schaaf@heckscher.org. 2 Prime Avenue Huntington, NY Education Department