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American Gothic

by Grant Wood

1930

American Art

Gallery 263

There isn't just one way to look at a painting. Sometimes we need tolook up close, far away, and even from the side to see what the artistwants us to see. Let's start from far away and see what we can spot.

Looks like a sunny day, but I can still see several umbrellas. How manycan you count? (There are at least seven.)

The animals seem to be enjoying the weather, too. What kind of animalsdo you see?(There are three dogs and a monkey. The little yellow spots inthe center are butterflies.)

Everyone seems to be so still. Do you see anything looks like it is mov-

ing?(The little girl in the red dress is skipping and the small dog appears to

be on the lunge, but everyone else looks like they are not even breathing.)

Let's move closer and see what we spot. (Dots and spots! Seurat placeddots of color next to each other instead of blending them before he painted.From far away the eye blends the colors together to make the picture.)

The artist painted another shape over and over. Can you find it? (Circles are repeated in thebuttons and broach on the clothing. The glasses are round and the dress has a circle pattern.

Even the faces have a oval shape)

Can you find the artists name? (Grant Woods signature and the date are signed on thefarmers pocket.)

A Sunday on La

Grande Jatte

by Georges Seurat

1884

Medieval to Modern

Gallery 240

What do you think the painter thought was the most important partof the picture? (Grant Wood was first interested in painting the housein the background. He added the farmer and his daughter after paintingthe house with the pointed window.)

What do you think these people are thinking? Do they seem mador just serious? (Some people think they look very unpleasant, almostangry, but Wood said he painted typical Americans who were strong

and steadfast. The woman is actually Woods sister and the farmer ishis dentist.)

How many straight pointy lines can you find? (The pitchfork isprobably the first pointed object your see, but look closer. The farmersclothes have many straight lines, including the piping on his overallsthat looks just like a pitchfork. The roof and window are pointed andthere is even a pointed spire way off in the distance. Dont miss thespiky cactus on the porch.)

Let's look at this painting one more way before we go. First find the biggest thing in the

picture. Why do you think this lady and gentleman are so much bigger than everyone else?

Let's look at the painting from an angle.(Move to the right corner of the painting and look from a

45 degree angle. This was the angle from which the artist wanted the painting to be viewed, so the

people look to be the right size from that perspective.)


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The Childs Bath

by Mary Cassatt

1893

American Art

Gallery 273

How many people do you see? What do they seem to be doing?Do you think they know one another? (There are four people. Oneof them is a server and the others seem to at least have something to

drink. The man and the woman facing us seem to know each other, astheir hands are close together. Otherwise, they all seem like strang-ers.)

What do you think these people are saying? What do you thinkthey are feeling? (The people could be talking, but it seems as thoughthey are all lost in their own thoughts. Every person in the picture isslumping and appears to be sad and lonely. Hopper started paintingthis picture right after the attack at Pearl Harbor, so maybe he was feel-ing sad too)

From where is all the light in the picture shining?(The bright lightsfrom the diner are the only lights in the picture. Everything else is dark.The diner has fluorescent lights, which had just been invented.)

Where do you see straight lines? Where do the lines seem to point? (The lines in themothers dress point towards the bath tub and the toes. If you draw two imaginary lines from the

noses, they also point towards the bath tub. The artist wants to make sure you dont miss thebath tub.)

Where do you see round shapes? (The faces are both round, as is the tub and the pitcher.The round shapes give a soft feeling to the painting.)

The Night Hawks

by Edward Hopper

1942

American

Gallery 262

How do you think these people feel about each other? Whamakes you think that? (The mother and child certainly love eachother. You can tell from the closeness of their heads and the gentleness of their hands.)

Is this bath time the same as your bath time at home? (Baths havechanged a great deal since the end of the 1800s. One of the reasons

that Cassatt painted this subject was to encourage people to begin tobathe more and be cleaner. It was not uncommon for people to onlybathe once a month!)

What is the first thing you notice when you look a this pictureThis is the focal point. (The two dark heads against the pale skin aremost noticeable.)

Of course, it is night, but what time of night do you think is shown in this painting?(It seems to be

very late at night, as there is no traffic on the street and the area around the diner is completely de-

serted.)

Would you want to go in this diner? How do you think you would get in? How do you think

these people will get out? (There do not seem to be any doors in our out. Everyone in this pic-

ture is trapped. Even you are trapped. You can see inside, but there is no way in.)


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The Herring Net

by Winslow Homer

1875

American Art

Gallery 171

Whose bedroom is this? Can you guess what this person does fora living? Does it seem to be a person who is rich or poor? (This isVan Goghs bedroom in Arles and because he was quite a poor painter

it is furnished simply. You cannot guess from his room that he is apainter, as there are no paintbrushes or other supplies. You can seeVan Goghs hat and cloak that he would have used daily as he paintedoutside.)

What color do you see the most? What color pops out at youwhen you look at the painting? What happens when you cover upthe red bedspread. (The majority of the colors are muted blues,browns, and greens. The red bedspread is the one color that standsout among the others. Without the red bedspread, the painting looksdepressed, but the red gives the picture a happy feeling.)

What do you think is outside the window?(You cant see outsidethe window, but there seems to be lots of light and color.)

What do you think the weather is like in this picture? What clues does the painter use totell you about the weather? (The foggy, gray sky and giant waves tell us that the fishermen arefishing in windy or stormy weather. The cool colors (blue, grey) give the painting a feeling of

coldness.)

What feeling do you think the painter wants us to feel when looking at this painting? Howwould this feeling change if it were a sunny, calm sea? (The painter wants us to feel respectfor the dangerous job of fishing. A sunny sky and sea would give us the feeling that fishing wasan easy or a fun job.

The Bedroom at Ar-

les

by Vincent Van Gogh

1889

Medieval to Modern

Gallery 241

How many people do you see? How many boats do you see?(There are two people fishing in the boat and there appears to be aleast four schooners in the distance and one dory in the front.)

What part of the painting is closest to you? What part is furthesaway? (The man and boy fishing in the boat are in the foreground andthe schooners are in the background.)

Can you see where the land and the sky meet? (The waves and thesky meet in the background. This line is called the horizon line.)

What things do you see hanging off of the small boat? (The youngboy with his net and the net full of herring are hanging off oppositesides of the boat. In real life, these two things keep the boat balancedand they also help the painting to feel balanced.)

Why are his belongings in pairs. How many pairs can you find?(There are two chairs, pil-

lows, washbowls, two drawings, two paintings, and two doors. Van Gogh began painting this se-

ries of paintings when he was expecting Gauguins visit. Perhaps he was looking forward to friend-

ship and partnership.)


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Walking Man II

by Alberto Giacometti

1960

Contemporary Art

Gallery 398B

How many people do you see? Count the number of eyes. Do youthink you can stand the way that these people are standing. (Thereare four people in the carving-three large people and one very small

person. The Egyptians had a special style of art called frontalism inwhich the shoulders are turned to the front, but the feet, hands, andhead are facing the side. Only one eye is shown)

Why do you think three people are so big and one person is sosmall? (The three large people are adults, one is Thenti and the othertwo are his wife and son. The smallest person is a child, his grand-daughter . Children were always shown much smaller than adults.This child also has her finger in her mouth, another common way toshow Egyptian children in art.

Do you see any animals in this carving? Look closely.(The carvingis surrounded by Egyptian hieroglyphs which are picture symbols thatmake up the Egyptian language. Snakes and birds are two of the hi-eroglyphs that are shown in the carving.)

Have you ever seen a sculpture like this before? What makes this sculpture differentfrom other sculptures? (Most sculptors start with a large block of stone or other material and

subtract pieces until they make the shape that they want. Giacometti worked in the oppositeway. He started with a thin frame and then added bits of clay until he built up the shape that hewanted to create. This is called additive sculpture.)

Wall Fragment from

the Tomb of Thenti

Old Kingdom Dynasty

Ancient and

Byzantine Art

Gallery 154

Who is this man? (Its hard to tell much about this man. We cant tellwhat he is feeling or thinking. His face and body seem frozen in time.)

Where do you think he is going? (He seems to be going somewhere,but he is definitely not moving. He is frozen with one foot in front of theother.)

What do you think it would feel like to touch this sculpture? Howdoes the texture of the sculpture make you feel? Would you feeldifferently if the sculpture was smooth and shiny? ( The sculptureis rough and jagged and would feel sharp to the touch. The rough tex-ture gives a harsh feeling to the sculpture.

What words would you use to describe this man? (Skinny, hungry,thin, broken, decayed, bumpy, stick figure, etc)

What are these people doing and why are they doing it?(Thenti and his family are eating a

feast. The table is piled with mountains of bread. The Egyptians created pictures for their tombs

that would show them doing all the things that they would do in life, so that they could continue to

do them after death. This painting would be a way for Thenti to enjoy eating a feast with his family

even after his death.

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