Thomas Moran, Landscape Artist of the American West

Did you know Yellowstone was America’s first National Park? The watercolors of Thomas Moran helped convince Congress that the area surrounding the Yellowstone River was unique and needed protection. And in 1872 Congress passed the Yellowstone National Park Protection Act, which President Ulysses S. Grant signed into law.

 Let’s Learn about Yellowstone National Park

Yellowstone takes up 2.2 million acres in Wyoming, Montana, and eastern Utah. Millions visit to see grizzly bears, herds of bison and elk, wolves, and smaller creatures like beaver and river otters. The park has hot springs, mudpots, and over 500 geysers.

Minerva Terrace, Yellowstone, Thomas Moran, 1872, National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C., public domain

Reports of such phenomena reached the early explorers, Lewis and Clark, but they couldn’t investigate. Later, mountain men who trapped beaver in the Rockies, told of the wonders. But for many years people back east thought these were just tall tales.

Then in 1871 Thomas Moran borrowed money to travel west to join an expedition headed by F.V. Hayden to investigate the rumors. Moran’s watercolors and the photographs of William Henry Jackson provided pictorial documentation for the wonders of Yellowstone. These watercolors and photos were passed around Congress and helped lead to Yellowstone’s becoming America’s first national park.

Let’s Learn about the Artist

Moran photo by Napoleon Sarony, 1890-96, Library of congress, Washington, D.C.

Thomas Moran was born in 1837 near Manchester, England. His family were handloom weavers until the invention of power looms changed that industry. In 1844, to gain better opportunities for his children, Thomas’ father moved the family to America, settling near Philadelphia.

While still a teenager, Thomas apprenticed to an engraving firm. After 3 years he left to work in the art studio of his older brother, Edward, an up-and-coming marine artist. The brothers were drawn to the work of British artist J.M.W. Turner, and in 1861 traveled to England to study his paintings in the National Gallery. Moran’s art shows the influence of Turner’s coloring and style.

Sketches and watercolors made on the Yellowstone expedition brought Thomas many new commissions. His career really took off after he sold his huge (7X12 feet) oil painting, Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone, to Congress not long after they created the park. In 1873, Moran joined another expedition down the Colorado River and through the Grand Canyon. A year later, Chasm of the Colorado, (also 7X12 feet) was also bought by Congress.

Grand Canyon of the Colorado River by Thomas Moran, Smithsonian American Art Museum, public domain

Moran continued to travel all his life. He visited Europe several more times. He further explored the Grand Canyon and other areas of the West. He especially loved the Green River area of Wyoming, and a painting from there is in the White House’s collection. He produced large numbers of etchings, watercolors, and oils right into his 80s. He died in California in 1926, but his influence on American landscape art lives on.

Let’s Learn about the Painting

Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone by Thomas Moran, Smithsonian American Art Museum, public domain

The Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone that Congress bought is now in the Smithsonian, and I couldn’t find a good copy, but Moran made other paintings of the canyon, and this one gives you a good idea of his style. Moran was a 2^nd generation Hudson School artist, early landscape artist who desired to accurately show the beauty of nature and inspire viewers to see the hand of God in its grandeur.

Heart of the Andes by Frederick Edwin Church, Metropolitan Museum of Art, NYC, public domain

Like earlier Hudson River artists, Moran depicted nature with great detail and accuracy.

But Moran differed from them in seldom showing the presence of man, or if he did show them, they are dwarfed by the landscape. You can also see the influence of Turner on Moran’s landscapes.

Norham Castle, Sunrise, by J.M.W. Turner, 1845, Tate, Britain, public domain

Turner used watercolor techniques with oil paints, using thin washes to create light and changing atmospheric conditions. In this painting Moran uses Turner’s techniques to make it look like the water fall is pulling clouds right down out of the sky.

Unlike Turner, Moran painted details clearly and with scientific accuracy.

Let’s Enjoy the Painting Together

Before telling children too much about the painting, ask them to tell what they think is going on in it and what tells them that.

Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone by Thomas Moran, Smithsonian American Art Museum, public domain

1.Then you might like to ask them these questions for further exploration:

• How do you think the explorers who first saw this place felt?
• Would you like to visit this place?
• What sounds would you hear if you visited here?
• What colors do you see in the painting?
• What are the lightest parts of the painting? The darkest?
• Do you think Moran had to do some climbing to paint this scene? (he did)

2.In landscapes, it’s fun to find the horizon and the three distances—foreground, middle ground, and background. How does the artist show these 3 sections?

3.Ask children to follow the river as it falls from the cliff and winks in and out between rocks as it flows into the foreground.

A Little Inspiration from God’s Word

Moran continued to travel the West painting its sights. When he saw a photo by his friend William Henry Jackson of this mountain in the Sawatch Range of what is now Colorado, he knew he had to paint it.

photo of the Mountain of the Holy Cross, U.S. National Archives and Records Administration, public domain

The 14,011-foot Mountain of the Holy Cross is part of the Holy Cross Wilderness area near Vail, Colorado. Moran made a difficult climb to a neighboring mountain to paint the mountain. The mountain’s northeast face has deep crevices in the shape of a cross. When the mountain snows begin to melt, snow lasts longer in these crevices, making the cross very prominent.

Mountain of the Holy Cross by Thomas Moran, 1875, public domain

How amazing that this cross towers over scenes Moran painted that also show the wonder and majesty of our God.

Picture of Molly the Artsy Corgi

Ready for Spring

Before You Go

If you’d like more activity ideas for art, history, and nature, curriculum connections, and links to more resources, be sure to sign up for my newsletter and receive a free guide, 5 Ways Art Benefits Children’s Cognitive, Physical, Spiritual, and Social Development, You’ll also get a Few Fun and Easy Activities for each Benefit.

Visit Molly’s and my website where you’ll find free downloadable puzzles, how-to-draw pages and coloring pages for kids and an updated list of my hands-on workshops, chapels, and presentations for all ages.

 

 

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Shipwrecks and Lighthouses

It was nighttime, August 11, 1897, and a thick fog had closed in around the Howard W. Middleton, a 3-masted schooner carrying 894 tons of coal from Philadelphia to Portland, Maine. The schooner had just passed rocky Black Point, made famous by the stormy seascapes painted by American artist, Winslow Homer.

Rather than risk sailing farther, Captain Shaw decided to put into a harbor on nearby Richmond Island, but in the swirling fog he missed the island and wrecked his ship on a rock just off a mainland beach.

sunset over Higgins Beach, photo by author

The Middleton’s crew made it to shore, and eventually tugboats from Portland retrieved much of the coal. A lot of coal also washed up on the beach, and people came from miles around to gather it for the coming winter. But with a huge hole in her hull, the Middleton was declared a loss and left on the rock. That winter a storm broke up the ship and carried it onto the beach, where today,125 years later, its seaweed-draped keel and ribs still lie half buried in the sand. I’ve walked around it many times at low tide.

Howard W. Middleton shipwreck, photo by author

If the Middleton had been able to round the next headland,

headland at Two Lights, photo by author

 

rocks and waves at Two Lights, photo by author

Several lighthouses, including Two Lights

Two Lights, photo by author

and the iconic Portland Head Lighthouse, both often painted by Edward Hopper, could have guided her into Portland’s safe harbor.

Since ancient times ships have depended on lighthouses to help them navigate dangerous waters. After independence, in 1789, the new American Congress passed a law to provide for the maintenance of existing lighthouses and for the building of new ones. Edward Hopper is famous for his paintings of lighthouses.

In this post you’ll:

• Learn a little about Edward Hopper and his paintings of lighthouses
• Find helpful vocabulary
• Discover 3 activities to help you and your children explore and enjoy Hopper’s work
• See a cute photo of Molly, the Artsy Corgi

The Artist

Edward Hopper,photo in public domain

Edward Hopper (1882-1967) was born in a small town on the Hudson River north of New York City. By the time he was 12, Hopper was already 6 feet tall, making him feel out of place and lonely. After high school he studied at the New York School of Art,

Soon after graduation from art school, Hopper traveled to Europe. He wasn’t interested in the modern art movements such as cubism. Instead he was drawn to the work of the French Impressionists. Over the next few years he made 2 more trips to Paris, studying the Impressionist’s emphasis on light and nature, their lighter colors, the cropped compositions, and the buildings many painted.

For a while Hopper struggled. His art didn’t fit either type of art that was prominent in America in the early 1900s–gritty, city scenes or idealized paintings of rural America. By the 1930s, with the help of his wife, Josephine Nivison (also an artist), people began to appreciate his work. His landscapes, and paintings of houses, lighthouses, diners, and storefronts all have a similar style that has greatly influenced American art. Hopper painted in both oil and watercolor. His most famous painting, The Nighthawks, was painted during WWII and seems to show the darkness and anxiety many people felt during those war years.

The Nighthawks by Edward Hopper, 1942, Art Institute of Chicago, public domain

Vocabulary

These words, which will be in bold green the first time they come up, will help you and your children talk more easily about different parts of the painting.

• Impressionists:  artists who wanted to show the effects of changing light in their paintings. They also painted scenes of everyday life. Claude Monet was a leader of the French Impressionists.
• Geometric: when used in art–simple shapes showing squares, circles, triangles
• Mood: the way an artist uses color, shadow, and other aspects of composition to makes us feel a certain way.
• Composition: how colors, shapes, lines, etc. are arranged in a paintign to create a balanced work.

The Paintings

Hopper’s lighthouse paintings aren’t in the public domain, so I’ll use The Nighthawks and The House by the Railroad to explain his style and then give you links to see his lighthouses.

The House by the Railroad by Edward Hopper,1925, Museum of Modern Art, public domain

Like the Impressionists, Hopper liked to show the effects of light on objects and their colors. Part of this house is in bright sunlight, while the angles of the roof and windows produce sharp shadows—some of them very deep. Unlike the Impressionists, Hopper didn’t blur the edges of objects. He used a definite line and used lots of geometric shapes.

Hopper’s compositions are spare, with just enough detail to tell you the setting of the painting. Notice that in Nighthawks, the counter is almost bare, as are the walls and the windows across the dark street.  Many of his paintings look like snapshots.

Most of Hopper’s paintings have few, if any, people, and there is often a mood of silence and even loneliness in them. The diner lights in Nighthawks are harsh. Fluorescent lights were still new, and Hopper seems to have enjoyed the eerie mood they produced.

Here are links to 2 of Hopper’s lighthouse paintings:

The Lighthouse at Two Lights

Lighthouse and Buildings, Portland Head, Cape Elizabeth, Maine

Activities to Help You and Your Children further Explore Hopper’s Paintings

1. Ask children to tell what’s going on in the paintings, (at least with Nighthawks. The others don’t have much action!) and what tells them that. Enhance their observational and verbal skills by rephrasing words and adding new vocabulary.
2. Talk about mood, and what colors placement and actions of people, etc., give them the mood of Nighthawks and why the other paintings seem to be so quiet and lonely.
3. In the other paintings, ask children to find different geometric shapes. How many ovals, squares, rectangles, etc. and of what colors, can they find.

Before You Go

If you’d like more activity ideas for art, history, and nature, curriculum connections, and links to more resources, be sure to sign up for my newsletter and receive a free guide to 5 Ways Art Benefits Children’s Cognitive, Physical, Spiritual, and Social Development, with a Few Fun and Easy Activities for each Benefit

Visit my website where you’ll find free downloadable puzzles, how-to-draw pages and coloring pages for kids and an updated list of my hands-on workshops, chapels, and presentations for all ages. Add link

Here’s a photo of Molly with the canvas bag I always use to carry things back and forth to school. It has a picture of Hopper’s painting, Lighthouse and Buildings, Portland Head, Cape Elizabeth, Maine. Molly hopes you enjoyed learning about Edward Hopper and will join us next week for a devotion based on his lighthouse paintings.

 

 

 

 

“Preaching with his brush,” Henry Ossawa Tanner Painted Warm Scenes of Christ and His Mother.

Henry Ossawa Tanner once said he, “preached with his brush.” He won awards with his religious works and was one of the first African American artists to win international fame. He took several long trips to study and paint in the Middle East, because he wanted to show real people in authentic settings.

Many children will be heading back to their studies this month so Molly and I are back to our school year schedule, too. Here’s what you can expect most months:

1. Fun ways to learn about famous artists and their artworks.
2. Kid-friendly devotion based on the artwork
3. Art activity based on the artwork
4. Newsletter with curriculum connections to the artwork and reviews of related children’s fiction and nonfiction books. And freebies!
5. We also frequently do interviews with children’s authors. In fact, be sure to look at our Special Announcement at the end of this first school year blog.

On to our post about Henry Ossawa Tanner and his 2 beautiful paintings about Christ and his mother.

In this post you’ll:

• Learn a little about Henry Ossawa Tanner and his 2 paintings of Christ and His Mother
• Find helpful vocabulary
• Discover activities to help you and your children explore and enjoy the painting
• Be sure to check out a Special Announcement at the end about September’s blog that also has a cute photo of Molly, the Artsy Corgi

The Artist

Henry Ossawa Tanner by Thomas Eakins, public domain

Tanner grew up in Philadelphia, the son of a bishop in the African Methodist Episcopal Church. His mother, a teacher, had escaped from slavery on the Underground Railway.

When he was 13, Henry saw a landscape artist painting in a city park and decided to become an artist. He spent hours painting in the city zoo, but after high school went to work in a flour mill. The work made him so sick, he had to quit.

Tanner spent his recovery time painting, and in 1879 enrolled in the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, studying under Thomas Eakins. He was the only African American student. When Henry went out on his own, though, he found it difficult to succeed because of prejudice against African American artists.

Eventually, Tanner traveled to study in Paris as so many Americans did in the late 1800s. He loved Paris and its art and found more opportunity and less discrimination. He married and made Paris his home, only returning to America for visits.

Vocabulary

These words, which will be in bold green the first time they come up, will help you and your children talk more easily about different parts of the painting.

• Genre art  art that shows everyday events and people
• Portrait  a painting that focuses on one or just a few people. These may contain background landscape as in the Mona Lisa or a still life containing things that tell a little about the sitter

Tanner came to love the art of Rembrandt. He shared the Dutch artist’s faith and appreciated his portraits of Jesus and other biblical subjects. Tanner loved how Rembrandt used light and shadow to create drama, and how he showed the character of his subjects, giving dignity to everyday people and their work. Tanner continued to experiment with how to use light to create atmosphere and heighten a painting’s message.

There are 2 versions of this painting. One titled Christ and His Mother Reading the Scriptures (1909). The other called Christ Learning to Read (1910-1914). In these warm genre paintings, Mary and Jesus lean together as they both hold the scroll. Mary has her arm around her son, holding him close. Jesus is intent on his reading as his mother looks on with encouragement. From photographs, we know that Tanner’s wife and son were the models for both paintings.

Christ and His Mother Reading the Scriptures bu Henry O. Tanner, 1909, Dallas Museum of Art, public domain

Christ Learning to Read by Henry O. Tanner, 1910-1914, Des Moines Art Center, public domain

Both paintings also show the influences of Tanner’s studies in France, which led him to use lighter colors—cool blues and warm yellows and reds—and looser and more expressive brush strokes. We see the cool blues of her robes contrasted with the warm golds and tans of Jesus’ robes.

Though both paintings contrast light and shadow, the Learning to Read painting has more brilliant lights. It was painted after a trip to North Africa, where perhaps Tanner learned how to better show that bright Middle Eastern sunlight. In each painting, Christ stands out against the blue of Mary’s robes.

Activities to Help You and Your Children further Explore these 2 Beautiful Paintings

Before doing other activities, ask children to tell what’s going on in the painting and what tells them that. Ask children how Mary and Jesus feel about each other. What tells them that? Ask how they feel when they’re involved in activities with those they love. Enhance their observational and verbal skills by rephrasing words and adding new vocabulary.

Having 2 similar paintings by the same artist lends itself to a comparing and contrasting activity:

Encourage children to compare and contrast colors, shadows, items in the paintings, clothing, expressions, brightness, etc.

Ask them which painting they like better and why.

Before You Go

If you’d like more activity ideas for art, history, and nature, curriculum connections, and links to more resources, be sure to sign up for my newsletter and receive a free guide to 5 Ways Art Benefits Children’s Cognitive, Physical, Spiritual, and Social Development, with a Few Fun and Easy Activities for each Benefit

Visit my website where you’ll find free downloadable puzzles, how-to-draw pages and coloring pages for kids and an updated list of my hands-on workshops, chapels, and presentations for all ages.

Molly hopes you enjoyed learning about these two paintings of Christ and His mother and will join us next week for a devotion based on the paintings.

Special Announcement

Look what’s coming to Kathy the Picture Lady blog in late August through September!

Many wonderful new children’s books are releasing, so starting with the last post of August, I’ll be interviewing 6 children’s authors, and Molly will talk to some of the main characters in each of their new releases of picture books and board books!

Molly hopes you’ll join us to learn more about such fun characters as a mole, a rocking chair, frogs, animal daddys, pugs, and all the people and creatures that came to the manger when Jesus was born!

Here’s Molly with her special stash of books that she  hopes to add to very soon!

 

 

John James Audubon, Painter of American Birds

The spring shower ended soon after we arrived at our hotel in West Texas, so we went out for a walk. Hundreds of small birds fluttering at the edges of muddy puddles drew our attention. At first we thought they were bathing, but when we looked at the hotel, we saw mud nests in various stages of construction honeycombing its walls. Nests the birds were building one mud pellet at a time.

This first encounter with cliff swallows began my fascination with them. John J. Audubon’s first encounter with cliff swallows also fascinated him. Here are a couple excerpts from his account of it in The Birds of America:

“In the spring of 1815, I for the first time saw a few individuals of this species at Henderson, on the banks of the Ohio . . . . forming their nests and rearing their young. Unfortunately . . . the specimens were lost, and I despaired for years of meeting with others.”

“In the year 1819, my hopes were revived by Mr. ROBERT BEST, curator of the Western Museum at Cincinnati, who informed me that a strange species of bird had made its appearance in the neighbourhood, building nests in clusters, affixed to the walls. . . . I immediately crossed the Ohio to Newport, in Kentucky, where he had seen many nests the preceding season; and no sooner were we landed than the chirruping of my long-lost little strangers saluted my ear. Numbers of them were busily engaged in repairing the damage done to their nests by the storms of the preceding winter. ”

Audubon goes on to describe their building activities:

“About day-break they flew down to the shore of the river, one hundred yards distant, for the muddy sand, of which the nests were constructed, and worked with great assiduity until near the middle of the day, as if aware that the heat of the sun was necessary to dry and harden their moist tenements.”

You can find a fuller account of his experiences studying cliff swallows and other birds on the Audubon website,https://www.audubon.org/birds-of-america/republican-or-cliff-swallow#

Audubon gave as much attention to every bird he studied. It became his life’s work to find, paint, and describe the habits of as many American birds as he could.

Read on to:

• Find helpful vocabulary
• Learn more about John James Audubon and his life work
• See activities to help you and your children explore and enjoy Audubon’s paintings
• A cute photo of Molly, the Artsy Corgi

Vocabulary

These words, which will be in bold green the first time they come up, will help you and your children talk more easily about different parts of a painting.

• Ornithology (adj. ornithological), the scientific study of birds
• Engraving (v. engraved), a print made from a metal plate in which the lines of the image have been cut

The Artist

John J. Audubon was a naturalist and artist who came from France in 1803 at the age of 18 to farm in the United States. He neglected the farming to explore the countryside and study and sketch animals, especially birds. He spent hours observing their habits. One night he even squeezed inside a huge hollow tree so he could observe and count the thousands of swifts that roosted inside it.

Before modern-day banding was thought of, Audubon tied threads around bird’s legs and discovered that many birds came back to the same nesting spots each year. Audubon gave up farming and moved to Kentucky to open a store on the frontier. For a while his business was successful, but it failed in 1819, and after that he began taking long treks through the forests to study, sketch, and gather specimens.

European ornithological books didn’t contain many American bird species, so Audubon decided to publish his paintings and descriptions. No one in this country was willing to publish such an expensive work (Audubon wanted his birds to be as close to life-size as possible, and each of his watercolor paintings had to be engraved for printing and then hand-painted).

In 1826 Audubon sailed to England. He hired a printer and financed the project by selling subscriptions to the book, which came out 5 prints at a time. Wealthy patrons, including the queen of England and the king of France, bought subscriptions. At that time, the whole book of 435 engravings cost about $1,000. In 2000, with only about 100 of the original 176 complete books left, mostly in museums or libraries, one sold at auction for $8.8 million.

The Paintings

Birds in most paintings before Audubon’s time were drawn from stuffed specimens, and they looked it. Audubon’s early drawings looked similar, but as he studied the birds and practiced drawing and painting, he began to paint birds in much more natural poses. He also added plants from the bird’s habitat, and accurate portrayals of their nests as with the cliff swallows.

Cliff Swallows by Julius Bien after John J. Audubon, Smithsonian American Art Museum, public domain

Though Audubon’s paintings were also well-designed artistically, he never lost sight of the purpose of showing the birds accurately. Take these barn swallows. As required for a field guide, we can see their beaks, their feet, and their markings from every angle, but the dramatic design of the raised wing gives movement to the painting. And the two strongly forked tails mirror each other and contrast with the background.

Barn Swallows by Julius Bien after John J. Audubon, Smithsonian American Art Museum, public domain

Many of Audubon’s paintings have lots of drama. In this painting of Virginia partridges, a red-tailed hawk attacks the nesting birds. The partridges scatter in every direction, while the hawk’s wings form a dramatic pattern against the sky.

Virginian Partridge, plate 76 by John J. Audubon, public domain

Audubon wanted even the largest birds to be shown almost life-size, and fitting them on a page often produced some very modern-looking graphic designs. Look at the flamingo with its long neck echoing the bends of its legs to reach down to the water. It’s a design that catches our attention!

American Flamingo by John J. Audubon, Brooklyn Museum, public domain

Activities to Help You and Your Children further Explore these Beautiful Paintings

• Before doing any other activities, ask children to tell what’s going on in the paintings. Some birds are nesting, others are feeding or fleeing. Enhance their observational and verbal skills by rephrasing words and adding new vocabulary.
• These paintings by Audubon provide many opportunities to compare and contrast bird nests, beaks, feet and legs, and color combinations and patterns, and see how God fit each bird exactly right for its environment so it could find food, have materials for nesting and avoid predators. For example, the explosion of partridges from the nest could confuse the hawk, allowing many to get away.
• Ask them which painting is their favorite and why.
• Talk with them about the amount time Audubon must have taken to observe and create these accurate and colorful paintings. Do they think they’d have the patience for that kind of work?

Before You Go

If you’d like more activity ideas for art, history, and nature, curriculum connections, and links to more resources, be sure to sign up for my newsletter above and receive a free guide to 5 Ways Art Benefits Children’s Cognitive, Physical, Spiritual, and Social Development, with a Few Fun and Easy Activities for each Benefit

Visit my website where you’ll find free downloadable puzzles, how-to-draw pages and coloring pages for kids and an updated list of my hands-on workshops, chapels, and presentations for all ages.

Molly and I hope you enjoyed John James Audubon’s paintings. We hope you’ll come back for a devotion based on these next week! To be sure not to miss a post you can sign up for my blog above.

On the lookout for birds near the marsh last summer.

 

 

Lost and Found, The Icebergs by Frederick Edwin Church

How could The Icebergs, a 5-foot tall and 9-foot wide painting, be lost for nearly a hundred years?    In plain sight! That’s how.

Read on to:

• Find helpful vocabulary
• Learn a little about Frederick Edwin Church
• Learn the story of this once lost masterpiece
• See activities to help you and your children explore and enjoy The Icebergs
• A cute photo of Molly, the Artsy Corgi

Vocabulary

These words, which will be in bold green the first time they come up, will help you and your children talk more easily about different parts of a painting.

• landscape a painting of land, trees, etc. may have some people and buildings, but these aren’t the focus
• sketch a quick, non-detailed drawing or painting that artists use as studies for more finished works
• foreground, middle ground, background art words for the front, middle, and back parts of a painting.
• Horizon where the land or water meets the sky

The Artist

Frederick Edwin Church, (1826-1900) was one of the very few students of Thomas Cole, founder of the Hudson River School of landscape artists. (check out other posts I’ve written about the Hudson River artists)

Like others in the group, Church first painted landscapes along the Hudson River and in other rural areas of New York and New England. In 1857 he hit fame with his 7-foot-wide painting of the Horseshoe Falls of Niagara. Water rushing away from the bottom edge of the painting (which was set at floor level) makes viewers like they’re about to tumble over the falls. Church exhibited Niagara by itself in a gallery in NYC and thousands paid 25 cents to sit in front of it and view the rainbow, mist, and foaming waters.

Church’s interest in science and exploration soon took him to South America to climb mountains and trudge through tropical rain forests,

Heart of the Andes by Frederick Edwin Church, Metropolitan Museum of Art, NYC, public domain

to Italy and Greece to study ancient ruins, and to the Middle East to ride camels to reach the fabled city of Petra.

El Khasne, Petra by Frederick Edwin Church, Olana State Historical Site, public domain

From pencil and oil sketches in these places, he painted huge landscape masterpieces.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For The Icebergs, Church chartered a small sailing ship for a month-long summer expedition to the waters off the coasts of Newfoundland and Labrador. From the ship he used a rowboat to get closer to the icebergs so he could do pencil and oil sketches. The sailors thought he was crazy to go so close.

The Painting

The Icebergs by Frederick Edwin Church, Dallas Museum of Art, public domain

Church finished the final Icebergs painting and displayed it before crowds in NYC and Boston, just as he had Niagara. But the Civil War had just begun, and Church couldn’t find a buyer for the huge painting, so he sent it to be exhibited in London. After its successful exhibit, a businessman from Manchester, England bought The Icebergs and installed it in his country estate.

The estate was bought and sold many times over the years, eventually becoming the property of the City of Manchester. At different times the city used the house for a hospital and an orphanage. By 1978 it was a detention home for boys. Except for a short stay at a church that gave it back, The Icebergs remained with the property all those years, because no one knew its true worth. Though many art experts wondered what had happened to the painting, it hung dusty and forgotten, but in plain view, on a little-used stairway.

Then in 1978, the home’s administrator decided to sell the painting to raise a little money to buy some land. Suddenly the world rediscovered Church’s masterpiece. And it didn’t just raise a little money, it sold for 2.5 million dollars at auction (setting a record for American paintings) to an anonymous buyer who donated it to the Dallas Museum of Art, where it remains today, welcoming visitors to the American Art wing.

Activities to Help You and Your Children further Explore The Icebergs

Before doing any other activities, ask children to tell what’s going on in the painting and what tells them that. Enhance their observational and verbal skills by rephrasing words and adding new vocabulary.

• Help them notice how the foreground ice formation frames the iceberg in the middle ground.
• Point out how Church has highlighted that middle ground iceberg with sunlight.
• Encourage them to look way into the background at the distant horizon to see more icebergs.

Though we might expect a painting of icebergs to be mostly white, Church’s interest in science as well as his artistic training, helped him look carefully to see many colors reflected in the towering icebergs.

A friend of Church, who was a pastor, wrote this description of what he saw as he accompanied Church in the rowboat, “the steepled icebergs ,a vast metropolis in ice, pearly white and red as roses glittering in the sunset.” Pastor Louis Noble.

Go to this link to The Icebergs at the Dallas Art Museum and enlarge and scan around the painting,

• Encourage children to see the details. Have them call out or write down the colors they see.
• Older children might enjoy coming up with similes for the different colors and textures they see. For example, parts of the iceberg look like peaks of white frosting.

Before You Go

If you’d like more activity ideas for art, history, and nature, curriculum connections, and links to more resources, be sure to sign up for my newsletter and receive a free guide to 5 Ways Art Benefits Children’s Cognitive, Physical, Spiritual, and Social Development, with a Few Fun and Easy Activities for each Benefit

Visit my website where you’ll find free downloadable puzzles, how-to-draw pages and coloring pages for kids and an updated list of my hands-on workshops, chapels, and presentations for all ages. Add link

Pictures of Molly

Molly and I took some photos on a cold day here in Colorado a few days ago. It was so cold that frost and snow froze instantly on every surface! We hope you enjoy them

And we hope you enjoy this first post in a series about Frederick Edwin Church. Next week we’ll have a devotion based on the painting or Church’s life and work.

If you’re new to my blog, this is what you’ll usually find in each month-long series. One post will come each week, usually followed by a newsletter the last week:

Post 1 will engage your children’s minds in art appreciation activities. with background information about the artist and artwork with pictures and links for you.  Then I’ll give you some kid-friendly activities to help you and your children enjoy and appreciate the artwork.

Post 2 will engage your children’s hearts in a kid-friendly devotion based on the artwork.

Post 3 will engage children’s hands in an art activity based on the artwork. There are always suggestions to make the activities doable for a range of ages.

Post 4 may be related books to read or an interview with a children’s author. I include picture books as well as middle grade books.

In my end-of-month newsletter, you’ll find lots of ideas and links to help you make connections to other subjects related to the month’s artwork and artist. I hope this format will help you with games, lessons, and activities to engage your children’s minds, hearts, and hands in learning about and enjoying art.

Winslow Homer, Versatile Illustrator, Wartime Artist-Correspondent, and Seascape Painter

Long before he became known for his seascapes, Winslow Homer was a magazine illustrator. He also spent the 4 long years of the Civil War as a wartime artist and correspondent.

After the war, like most Americans, Homer wanted to put the tragedies of war behind him, get back to normal life, and look ahead to the future. What better way than to show children involved in everyday activities such as school?

In 1871 Winslow Homer painted The Country School, showing a moment in the day of a teacher and her students at a rural one-room school.

Before we look at the painting, let me explain that I usually do 4-part series about an artist and his or her work–one series per month. Starting this month you’ll receive one weekly post. Most will follow this format:

• Post 1: a short bio of an artist and 1 or 2 fun ways to enjoy the artwork with your children
• Post 2: a kid-friendly devotion related to the painting
• Post 3: an art activity related to the painting
• Post 4: an interview with a children’s author or reviews of books for children and other activities. These may or may not be related to the artwork.

For those who have been reading my blog for a while, the content hasn’t really changed. It’s just spread out over 4 weekly posts. (December and the summer months are usually exceptions to this format).

So here in Post 1 you’ll find:

• A short bio of Winslow Homer
• Activities to help you and your children enjoy and understand The Country School  (You don’t have to do them all. Pick the ones that fit you and your children)
  

The Artist, Winslow Homer

Homer was born in Massachusetts in 1836, and grew up in a rural area near Boston. He preferred outdoor activities to school but did have an interest in art. He first learned art skills from his mother, who was an accomplished watercolor artist. After high school Homer apprenticed to a printer, then began free-lance illustrating for magazines. He specialized in scenes of everyday life and people.

When the Civil War began Harper’s Weekly sent Homer to the front as an artist- correspondent. Homer’s sketches of battles and camp life helped people at home understand the life of a soldier. After the war, Homer turned some of his sketches into oil paintings which won awards and took him to Paris for a year.

Back home Homer continued painting ordinary people at the seashore,

Long Branch, New Jersey by Winslow Homer, 1869,Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, public domain

in the mountains, and on farms, as well as school scenes and the life of former slaves. He decided to return to Europe and spent 2 years living and painting in a small fishing village in England.

When Homer returned to America, he moved to the coast of Maine, where he lived and painted for the rest of his life. His studio still sits above rocky cliffs on a point that juts out into the Atlantic.

That’s the point as seen from across a tidal river. This is the gentler side of the point. The rocky cliffs are on the other side.

In Maine Homer painted his famous scenes of sea rescues and storm-tossed waves.

Sunlight on the Coast by Winslow Homer, 1890, Toledo Museum of Art, Ohio, public domain

During Maine’s cold winters, Homer often traveled south, painting marine watercolors that glow with light and color.

Homer took a few art lessons, but was mostly self-taught. He closely observed his subjects, whether people or landscapes. One time he walked backwards all the way home from a store so he could study a sunset. For his marine paintings, Homer carefully studied how the waves rolled in and broke on the rocks below his studio. He once said he didn’t like painting the ocean when it was too calm, likening it to a duck pond.

The Painting, The Country School

The Country School by Winslow Homer, 1871, St. Louis Museum of Art, public domain

In art a genre scene captures a moment in the life of ordinary people. The people in these scenes don’t pose, but go about their activities as if the artist isn’t there. A genre painting might show a young woman gathering eggs, or a farmer reaping grain.

Gathering Eggs by Winslow Homer, 1874, National Gallery of Art, Wash. D.C., public domain

The Reaper by Winslow Homer, 1878, public domain

 

Homer’s genre scenes of everyday life and people are warm and realistic. And although his career spanned the era of Impressionism, and he, too, filled his scenes with light, Homer didn’t dissolve the edges of people or objects, as the Impressionists did.

 

 

 

 

Activities to help you and your children enjoy and understand The Country School

Here’s a link to the St. Louis Art Museum where The Country School painting lives. Here you can enlarge the painting and move around it with your mouse.

Before doing any other activities, ask children to tell what’s going on in the painting and what tells them that. Enhance their observational and verbal skills by rephrasing words and adding new vocabulary. Here are a few things to help the discussion.

In The Country School, it’s as if we’re standing in the school’s doorway, looking in at a moment in the day of a teacher and her students. So, let’s do that. At first glance we see light streaming in the windows of a one-room school house onto the desks of girls on one side and boys on the other, with a teacher in the center.

Take your time. The blackboard naturally draws our eyes. Because it frames the teacher, we notice this calm and serious young woman right away. Even though her dress is also black, her white apron and bright face make her stand out against the black. She’s what is called the focal point or most important part of the painting.

The teacher’s gaze takes us to the boys, who are reading aloud. Did the little girl’s red sweater catch your eye? Homer used red on purpose so your eyes don’t get “stuck” with the boys. He wants you to look around and notice other details. Artists often use bright colors in this way, so let’s go on a scavenger hunt to find and talk about some of those details.

How many of these things can you find?

• A straw hat; whose is it?
• A girl in a red sweater
• The boy with a hole in the knee of his pants
• All the girls with striped socks
• 2 metal cans or pails on a desk, do you think these might be lunch pails?
• slates; these look a little like modern tablets, but are like small blackboards
• the slate on a bench with its attached writing tool hanging off the bench
• A bunch of flowers in a glass vase
• Another big bunch of flowers; who probably picked these?
• The flower that’s fallen on the floor
• sunshine making patterns on a curtain; what’s creating the pattern?
• 2 ink bottles; imagine having to write without a computer or ballpoint pens!
• A Bible; even public school teachers could read from the Bible in class at that time!
• A bell; what’s it used for?
• All the high black boots
• 2 barefoot boys
• A little boy who’s crying
• 2 girls sharing a book

This is also a great painting to spark discussion and stories. Here are some questions to get everyone talking:

• Why do you think the girls and boys are on opposite sides of the classroom?
• Everyone is reading together. Follow the teacher’s gaze to see who is reading aloud.
• Do the children look interested and attentive?
• Why do you think the little boy is crying?  This could be a good story-starter.
• Describe the clothing and hairstyles of the girls and boys. Do these children look wealthy?

Digging Deeper

Here are more ideas for discussion and/or written assignments:

The Country School by Winslow Homer, 1871, St. Louis Museum of Art, public domain

• What are some ways this classroom is like and unlike today’s?  Do you see any posters on the walls? What are the desks and chairs like? This would be a good way to spark interest in researching schools of the 1800s and writing a list or short essay comparing and contrasting schools then and now.
• Children could also research clothing styles and foods of the time.
• What are some of the sounds you would hear in this classroom?  (don’t forget the bell!!) Is it mostly quiet or loud?
• Write an acrostic poem using the letters from Country School to describe the sights and sound and smells of this classroom. Then write one about your present-day classroom.
• Choose one of these boys and imagine the chores he may have to do when he gets home from school. Then tell what he likes to do for fun.
• Choose one of the girls and write about her days as if she’s writing in her diary.

Winslow Homer has used careful observation to show us many things about The Country School and its teacher and students. Molly and I hope you’ll enjoy looking carefully to find all the details about the life of school children in the late 1800s.

Here’s Molly, the artsy corgi, enjoying the painting! Maybe in that second photo she can smell the lunches !!

If you write a poem or have any comments about The Country School, be sure to share them in the comment section.

We hope you’ll come back next week for a short devotion based on the painting.

Before You Go

If you’d like more activity ideas for art, history, and nature, curriculum connections, and links to more resources, be sure to sign up for my newsletter. Just click the sign-up  button above on the right. You’ll receive a free guide to making art museum visits a fun masterpiece for your whole family. Even if your family isn’t into museums, the quarterly issues have lots of fun stuff for kiddos!

Visit my website where you’ll find free downloadable puzzles, how-to-draw pages, and coloring pages. There’s also an updated list of my hands-on workshops, chapels, and presentations for all ages.