California Through The Artist`s Eyes

Transcription

a curriculum guide for elementary school teachers
Confirmation Class (San Juan Capistrano Mission)
Fannie Eliza Duvall (1861-1934)
Oil on canvas
c. 1897
Bowers Museum Collection
From Sunland Looking Across Valley to Big Tujunga
13 1/2 x 19 1/2"
Marion Kavanagh Wachtel (1876-1954)
Watercolor
c. 1920
Dedication
This manual is dedicated to the Plein Air Art Council (PAAC)
of the Bowers Museum, co-founded in 2001 by Ruth Seigle,
member, Board of Governors and Ann Avery Andres,
devoted museum patron and volunteer. The mission of the
Plein Air Art Council is to support museum projects related
to the conservation, acquisition and exhibition of art in the
plein-air and Impressionist styles. The PAAC encourages
appreciation of this art form through lectures and field trips.
The PAAC provided generous support toward the
reinstallation of California, The Golden Years, in 2002, and
has purchased and donated several outstanding paintings to
the permanent collection at the Bowers Museum.
California Through
the Artist’s Eyes
a curriculum guide
for elementary school teachers
developed with selections from the Bowers Museum’s
permanent collection of California Impressionist
and plein air paintings from the exhibit
California, The Golden Years
2002 North Main Street
Santa Ana, California 92706
714.567.3600
www.bowers.org
Funded by The Boeing Company
Acknowledgements
Acknowledgements
Project Director
Executive Editor
Nancy Warzer-Brady
Principal Author
Priscilla H. Porter, Ed.D
Editor
Anne Olin, Olin Editorial Services
Project Consultants
Debbie Granger
Coordinator, History and Social Science
Orange County Department of Education
Jim Thomas
Coordinator, Visual and Performing Arts
Orange County Department of Education
Project Contributors
Jean Stern, Executive Director, The Irvine Museum
Meredith Wylie*
Sandy Whitcomb*
Mary Jane Schrader*
Jean Drum*
Bowers Museum Staff
Peter C. Keller, Ph.D., President
Vickie C. Byrd, Executive Vice President
Armand Labbé, Director of Research and
Collections; Chief Curator
Special recognition and thanks to
Peter C. Keller, President, Barry Waldman, Vice Chair,
Board of Governors and Carole Van Houten, Chair,
Education Committee, Bowers Museum, and Nancy
Lurwig, Manager, Community Relations, The Boeing
Company for their leadership and support of this
project; to Nancy Moure, curator of the original 1993
exhibition “Easels in the Arroyos” for her scholarship
and research devoted to the Bowers Museum’s plein-air
painting collection; to the Bowers Museum Docent
Guild for their dedication to educating students, teachers
and the public about California Impressionism and the
paintings in the museum’s permanent collection.
About the Author: Dr. Priscilla H. Porter, Professor
Emeritius of Education, California State University,
Dominguez Hills, is the former Director for the Center
for History-Social Science Education at that institution.
She has written numerous teacher manuals and publications, including the Southern California Indian
Curriculum Guide (Bowers Museum, 2002); the Early
California History: Exploration and Settlement
Curriculum Guide (Bowers Museum, 2004) and Social
Studies, 2000, a textbook series for K-6 grade, published
by Harcourt Brace Publishers and adopted by the State
of California in March 1999. She has recently completed
teacher publications for The Autry National Center in
Los Angeles. She can be reached at PrisPorter@aol.com.
Jennifer Miller, Executive Assistant to the
Vice President of Development Bowers Museum
Alice Bryant, Collections Manager/Registrar
Jennifer Ring, Collections Assistant/Assistant Registrar
Grace Montejano, Administrative Assistant
DESIGNER
Rob Sexton, S Design, Inc.
*Members, Bowers Museum Docent Guild
© 2004 by Bowers Museum
Permission is hereby granted to reproduce and
distribute this publication for educational and
research purposes.
Direct Inquiries to: Education Department
Bowers Museum, 2002 N. Main Street,
Santa Ana, CA 92706
Bowers Museum
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Acknowledgements
Appendices
Table of Contents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . i
I.
Painting the Sunshine in California . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
Introduction to California Through
the Artist’s Eyes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ii
II.
Art Analysis Worksheet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
Book your Bowers Museum Tour . . . . . . . . . . . . . . iv
IV.
Types of Paintings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
Curriculum Connections:
Content Standards for Visual Arts,
History/Social Science, Science and
English/Language Arts, Grades 3-4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . v
V.
Looking at Artwork . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
Impressionism in California:
An Overview, Essay by Mr. Jean Stern . . . . . . . . . . x
# 2 California Landform Regions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
Lessons to Prepare Your Students
III. Ways to Analyze a Work of Art . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
Handouts for Duplication
# 1 California Geography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
# 3 Relief Maps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
# 4 Census Population of Orange County,
By City, 1890-1970 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
1.
Landscape Painting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
2.
Seascape Painting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
3.
Art As Expression . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
# 5 Population of Orange County
Graph, 1890-1940 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
4.
California History Through the Artist’s Eyes . . . . 23
# 6 Then and Now Chart . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
5.
Portraiture, Figurative and Still Life Paintings . . . . 31
# 7 The Great Seal of the State of California . . . . . . . 55
Glossary of Terms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
# 8 Multiple Paragraph and
Oral Report Guidelines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
Resources for Students and Teachers . . . . . . . . . . 39
Transparency Set Text . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
“The inspirational beauty of California is the principal
reason that, from the middle of the nineteenth century to
the early decades of the twentieth century, painting in
California was characterized by a large number of lightfilled landscapes.”
~ from an essay by Mr. Jean Stern, Executive Director, The Irvine Museum
California Through the Artist’s Eyes Curriculum Guide
i
Introduction
Introduction
California Through the Artist’s Eyes...
Using the Curriculum Guide
is designed as a curriculum guide for elementary school
teachers, primarily in grades 3-4. The manual provides rich
materials and activities to foster understanding of the
cultural and historical contributions of the plein air
(out-of-doors) and California Impressionist artists. Several
key paintings from the permanent collection of Bowers
Museum, California, The Golden Years, have been selected
as exemplars of California Impressionism.
Pre-Visit and/or Post-Visit Lessons and Activities
The California Plein Air painting collection at the Bowers
Museum is a resource that enhances our understanding of
California’s geography and history, as well as the California
Impressionist movement, which is part of American
Impressionism. It also gives our volunteer docents and staff
the chance to engage you and your students while you are
in the museum, where learning can take place in exciting
and authentic ways. You and your students will enjoy
viewing and talking about some of these exquisite paintings of our California landscape as well as learning how
artists worked in the early 20th century.
Curriculum Connections: Academic
Content Standards – Grades 3-4
This manual supports the attainment of content standards
for California public schools in visual arts; history/social
science; English/language arts and sciences. Only the standards highlighted in each lessons are covered specifically.
The academic content standards and visual arts standards
for each lesson are outlined at the beginning of each lesson.
Suggested extensions for higher levels or grades 5 and 6 are
listed at the end of each lesson.
This manual contains lessons that include: objectives, grade
level focus, time allotment, a list of applicable academic
content standards mentioned above, lesson themes, recommended materials, vocabulary, background information,
procedures for the lesson activities, student handouts, evaluations, and extension activities for higher grades or
advanced students. For your convenience, we have put the
teacher background information in gray-shaded areas
throughout the lessons.
To facilitate an understanding of California impressionistic
painting for young students, the guide includes a story entitled “Painting the Sunshine in California,” to provide background information before your museum trip. You can
either reproduce copies for them to read, or you can read it
to them. The guide also includes a glossary of terms that
will help the students understand what they are observing.
Items such as a palette knife, miniature easel, prepared
canvas and tube of paint will be used in a “hands on”
manner to enhance learning
The focus in Lessons 1, 2 and 3 is on the visual arts.
Paintings from the Bowers Museum’s collection are viewed
and analyzed in terms of the formal elements of art.
Academic content connections are made to the geography
standards, earth sciences and to the properties of light.
Lesson 4 uses painted works of art as vehicles for learning
academic content, especially history. Artworks are used as
primary sources to foster the development of historical and
social science analysis skills and to visually document
events of specific time periods. Lesson 5 refocuses on the
visual arts, specifically portraiture, figurative painting and
still life.
Specific titles of lessons are as follows:
Lesson I: Landscape Painting
Lesson II: Seascape Painting
Lesson III: Art as Expression
Lesson IV: California History Through the Artist’s Eyes
Lesson V: Portraiture, Figurative and Still Life Paintings
This manual may be used in conjunction with the exhibit
or as a source of individual lessons independent of the
exhibit. We recommend that teachers who plan to visit the
exhibit with their class complete at least the first lesson or
a sampling of activities from several lessons prior to
attending.
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Bowers Museum
Introduction
Using the Accompanying Transparency Set
Educators are encouraged to use the transparencies and
accompanying notes available as a classroom tool with this
guide to prepare students to view the paintings before they
come to the museum for a field trip and docent-led tour.
This process will enrich the students’ first-hand encounter
with this wonderful art as well as inspire them to seek out
museum experiences throughout their lives. Learning
comes alive when students view a painting up close and
think about its composition, context and meaning.
Appendices and Resource Section
The Appendix section includes several useful references for
analyzing works of art, which the teacher may wish to use
frequently throughout the lessons. The references are used
throughout this manual, and are also useful for analyzing
other works of art. “The Ceiling of the Historic Bowers’
Auditorium” article (Appendix VI) provides background
information on the ceiling murals painted in 1932 by
Martin Syversten. For further study, the resource section
includes additional reference materials.
The California: The Golden Years Exhibit,
reinstalled September 2002
The fifty-six landscapes, figure pieces and still-lifes selected
for this exhibit from the Bowers Museum collection were
produced by California artists between 1875 and 1955 with
most coming from the period between 1915 and 1935.
Most of the works are landscapes that were painted
outdoors, on-site, placing them in the recently coined category of California “plein air” art, a French term meaning
“open air.” These paintings generally incorporate French
Impressionist broken brushwork, light colors and the goal
of capturing sunlight. In order to show the cohesive
aesthetics of this twenty-year period, a small group of
paintings produced before 1900 and after 1935, have been
placed at the beginning and end of the exhibit. These additions show how the lighter Impressionist-inspired works
replace the dark, richly painted scenes that preceded them
and how various forms of Modernism evolved after the
Impressionist period.
The majority of the paintings in this exhibit were produced
by Southern California artists with the reminder being
painted by artists living in Northern California. These
paintings have been selected from a collection of over 900
California “plein air” paintings owned by the Bowers
Museum. Most of the collection consists of several larger
donations. Over 300 works came from local landscapist
Evylene Nunn Miller. Approximately 350 works were
donated by the Antoon Heinsbergen estate and 30 works
by local impressionist Frank Coburn came from family and
friends. Several small works by artists were donated by
Laguna artist, Issac Frazee and several other smaller collections were given by other donors. The paintings in the
exhibit were chosen solely on the basis of artistic quality,
and many have been restored and framed especially for this
show. Most of the paintings have never previously been on
display.
The exhibition, originally entitled “Easels in the Arroyos”
and curated by Nancy Moure in 1993, was reinstalled at
the Bowers Museum in September 2002, in “California,
The Golden Years.”
…Our Wish For Educators and Students
The Board of Governors, President, education staff and
members of the Docent Guild of Bowers Museum, and its
sponsoring corporation, The Boeing Company, hope that
this curriculum guide will be a useful, relevant text for third
and fourth grade educators and interested parents and
adults who are teaching the history and culture and artistic
heritage of the region.
We look forward to having many groups of students and
teachers at all levels, as well as parents, grandparents, and
children coming to Bowers Museum to view the permanent
galleries and our visiting exhibitions, so that they may learn
about our historical legacy, together, through viewing great
works of art.
iii
Book your Bowers Museum Tour
Book your Bowers Museum
Plein Air Exhibition Tour Today!
School Tour and Art Class
Booking Information
Educator E-Mail List/
Ed Gram
This Curriculum guide was specifically designed to prepare
students for a tour of the Bowers Museum Plein Air exhibition. Our skilled docents will engage your students on a
one hour tour and directly reinforce the classroom lessons
found in this guide. In addition, cultural art classes, taught
by professional art instructors at Kidseum, in combination
with a museum tour, allow students to create artwork that
connects to their museum visit.
If you would like to be placed on our Education e-mail list
and receive updated information on our events designed
specifically for educators, please contact us at 714.567.3649.
Gallery tours and art classes are available at 9:30 a.m., 11
a.m., 1 p.m. and 2 p.m., Tuesdays - Fridays. For school tour
and art class booking please contact the Tour Office at
714.567.3680 or mette@bowers.org.
We want to hear from you!
The Bowers Museum offers curriculum guides aligned with
our permanent exhibitions including the First Californians
Gallery and the California Legacies Gallery, detailing early
California History.
Education Office: 714.567.3679
Bowers Museum: 714.567.3600
Bowers Kidseum: 714.480.1520
School Tour Booking Office: 714.567.3680
www.bowers.org
Kidseum, an interactive children’s museum, offers an array
of educational programs for all ages including art classes,
storytelling, after school and summer camp programs,
outreach classroom programs, cultural art trunks, and
educator workshops.
For more information please view our website at
www.bowers.org or call the Bowers Kidseum at
(714) 480-1520.
Painting Class, 1930
Laguna Beach, California
Photograph courtesy of The Irvine Musuem
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Bowers Museum
Curriculum Connections
Curriculum Connections:
California Academic Content Standards for Grades 3-4
Visual Arts, History/Social Science, English/Language Arts, Science
This manual supports the attainment of the following
standards for California Public Schools. Only the
specific standards highlighted in the lessons in this
manual are listed, and not all of the standards for each
grade level are covered.
Visual Arts Content Standards
1.0 Artistic Perception
Processing, Analyzing, and Responding to Sensory
Information Through the Language and Skills Unique
to the Visual Arts: Students perceive and respond to
works of art, objects in nature, events, and the environment. They also use the vocabulary of the visual arts
to express their observations.
Grade 3
1.2 Describe how artists use tints and shades in
painting.
Grade 4
2.5 Use accurate proportions to create an expressive
portrait or a figure drawing or painting.
2.6 Use the interaction between positive and negative
space expressively in a work of art.
2.7 Use contrast (light and dark) expressively in an
original work of art.
2.8 Use complementary colors in an original composition to show contrast and emphasis
3.0 Historical And Cultural Context
Understanding the Historical Contributions and
Cultural Dimensions of the Visual Arts: Students
analyze the role and development of the visual arts in
past and present cultures throughout the world, noting
human diversity as it relates to the visual arts and
artists.
Grade 3
1.3 Identify and describe how foreground, middle
ground, and background are used to create the illusion
of space.
3.1 Compare and describe various works of art that
have a similar theme and were created at different
time periods.
1.5 Identify and describe elements of art in works of
art, emphasizing line, color, shape/form, texture, space,
and value.
3.2 Identify artists from his or her own community,
county, or state and discuss local or regional art traditions.
Grade 4
3.3 Distinguish and describe representational, abstract,
and nonrepresentational works of art.
1.5 Describe and analyze the elements of art (color,
shape/form, line, texture, space and value), emphasizing form, as they are used in works of art and found
in the environment.
2.0 Creative Expression
Creating, Performing, and Participating in the Visual
Arts: Students apply artistic processes and skills, using
a variety of media to communicate meaning and intent
in original works of art.
Grade 3
2.1 Explore ideas for art in a personal sketchbook.
2.2 Mix and apply tempera paints to create tints,
shades, and neutral colors.
2.3 Paint or draw a landscape, seascape, or cityscape
that shows the illusion of space.
2.4 Create a work of art based on the observation of
objects and scenes in daily life, emphasizing value
changes.
Grade 4
3.1 Describe how art plays a role in reflecting life (e.g.,
in photography, quilts, architecture).
3.2 Identify and discuss the content of works of art in
the past and present, focusing on the different cultures
that have contributed to California’s history and art
heritage.
3.3 Research and describe the influence of religious
groups on art and architecture, focusing primarily on
buildings in California both past and present.
4.0 Aesthetic Valuing
Responding to, Analyzing, and Making Judgments
About Works in the Visual Arts: Students analyze,
assess, and derive meaning from works of art,
including their own, according to the elements of art,
the principles of design, and aesthetic qualities.
v
Grade 3
4.1 Compare and contrast selected works of art and
describe them, using appropriate vocabulary of art.
Grade 4
4.4 Identify and describe how various cultures define
and value art differently.
4.5 Describe how the individual experiences of an
artist may influence the development of specific works
of art.
5.0 Connections, Relationships, Applications
Connecting and Applying What Is Learned in the
Visual Arts to Other Art Forms and Subject Areas and
to Careers: Students apply what they learned in the
visual arts across subject areas. They develop
competencies and creative skills in problem solving,
communication, and management of time and
resources that contribute to lifelong learning and career
skills. They also learn about careers in and related to
the visual arts.
Grade 3
5.3 Look at images in figurative works of art and
predict what might happen next, telling what clues in
the work support their ideas.
1.4 Describe how artists (e.g., architects, book
illustrators, muralists, industrial designers) have
affected people’s lives.
Grade 4
5.4 Read biographies and stories about artists and
summarize the readings in short reports, telling how
the artists mirrored or affected their time period or
culture.
History/Social Science
Content Standards
Grade 3: Continuity and Change
3.1 Students describe the physical and human
geography and use maps, tables, graphs, photographs, and charts to organize information about
people, places, and environments in a spatial
context.
(a) Identify geographical features in their local region
(e.g., deserts, mountains, valleys, hills, coastal areas,
oceans, lakes).
(b) Trace the ways in which people have used the
resources of the local region and modified the physical
environment (e.g., a dam constructed upstream
changed a river or coastline).
3.3 Students draw from historical and community
resources to organize the sequence of local
historical events and describe how each period of
settlement left its mark on the land.
1. Research the explorers who visited here, the
newcomers who settled here, and the people who
continue to come to the region, including their cultural
and religious traditions and contributions.
2. Describe the economies established by settlers and
their influence on the present-day economy, with
emphasis on the importance of private property and
entrepreneurship.
3. Trace why their community was established, how
individuals and families contributed to its founding and
development, and how the community has changed
over time, drawing on maps, photographs, oral histories, letters, newspapers, and other primary sources.
Grade 4: California: A Changing State
4.1 Students demonstrate an understanding of the
physical and human geographic features that
define places and regions in California.
1. Explain and use the coordinate grid system of latitude and longitude to determine the absolute locations
of places in California and on Earth.
2. Distinguish between the North and South Poles; the
equator and the prime meridian; the tropics; and the
hemispheres, using coordinates to plot locations.
3. Identify the state capital and describe the various
regions of California, including how their characteris-
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tics and physical environments (e.g., water, landforms,
vegetation, climate) affect human activity.
4. Identify the locations of the Pacific Ocean, rivers,
valleys, and mountain passes and explain their effects
on the growth of towns.
5. Use maps, charts, and pictures to describe how
communities in California vary in land use, vegetation,
wildlife, climate, population density, architecture, services, and transportation.
4.3 Students explain the economic, social, and
political life in California from the establishment
of the Bear Flag Republic through the MexicanAmerican War, the Gold Rush, and the granting
of statehood.
2. Identify the locations of Mexican settlements in
California and those of other settlements, including
Fort Ross and Sutter’s Fort.
3. Compare how and why people traveled to
California and the routes they traveled (e.g., James
Beckwourth, John Bidwell, John C. Fremont, Pio Pico).
4. Analyze the effects of the Gold Rush on settlements,
daily life, politics, and the physical environment (e.g.,
using biographies of John Sutter, Mariano Guadalupe
Vallejo, Louise Clapp).
5. Study the lives of women who helped build early
California (e.g., Biddy Mason).
6. Discuss how California became a state and how its
new government differed from those during the
Spanish and Mexican periods.
3. Discuss immigration and migration to California
between 1850 and 1900, including the diverse composition of those who came; the countries of origin and
their relative locations; and conflicts and accords
among the diverse groups (e.g., the 1882 Chinese
Exclusion Act).
4. Describe rapid American immigration, internal
migration, settlement, and the growth of towns and
cities (e.g., Los Angeles).
5. Discuss the effects of the Great Depression, the
Dust Bowl, and World War II on California.
6. Describe the development and locations of new
industries since the turn of the century, such as the
aerospace industry, electronics industry, large-scale
commercial agriculture and irrigation projects, the oil
and automobile industries, communications and
defense industries, and important trade links with the
Pacific Basin.
7. Trace the evolution of California’s water system into
a network of dams, aqueducts, and reservoirs.
8. Describe the history and development of California’s
public education system, including universities and
community colleges.
9. Analyze the impact of twentieth-century
Californians on the nation’s artistic and cultural development, including the rise of the entertainment
industry (e.g., Louis B. Meyer, Walt Disney, John
Steinbeck, Ansel Adams, Dorothea Lange, John
Wayne).
4.4 Students explain how California became an agricultural and industrial power, tracing the transformation of the California economy and its
political and cultural development since the
1850s.
1. Understand the story and lasting influence of the
Pony Express, Overland Mail Service, Western Union,
and the building of the transcontinental railroad,
including the contributions of Chinese workers to its
construction.
2. Explain how the Gold Rush transformed the
economy of California, including the types of products
produced and consumed, changes in towns (e.g.,
Sacramento, San Francisco), and economic conflicts
between diverse groups of people.
vii
Historical and Social Sciences Analysis
Skills: Kindergarten – Grade 5
Chronological and Spatial Thinking
1. Students place key events and people of the historical era they are studying in a chronological sequence
and within a spatial context; they interpret time lines.
2. Students correctly apply terms related to time,
including past, present, future, decade, century, and
generation.
3. Students explain how the present is connected to the
past, identifying both similarities and differences
between the two, and how some things change over
time and some things stay the same.
4. Students use map and globe skills to determine the
absolute locations of places and interpret information
available through a map’s or globe’s legend, scale, and
symbolic representations.
5. Students judge the significance of the relative location of a place (e.g., proximity to a harbor, on trade
routes) and analyze how relative advantages or disadvantages can change over time.
Research, Evidence, and Point of View
1. Students differentiate between primary and
secondary sources.
2. Students pose relevant questions about events they
encounter in historical documents, eyewitness
accounts, oral histories, letters, diaries, artifacts, photographs, maps, artworks, and architecture.
Historical Interpretation
2. Students identify the human and physical characteristics of the places they are studying and explain how
those features form the unique character of those
places.
English/Language Arts
Content Standards
Reading: Grades 1-4
1.0 Word Analysis, Fluency, and Systematic
Vocabulary Development
Students understand the basic features of reading.
They select letter patterns and know how to translate
them into spoken language by using phonics, syllabication, and word parts. They apply this knowledge to
achieve fluent oral and silent reading.
2.0 Reading Comprehension
Students read and understand grade-level-appropriate
material. They draw upon a variety of comprehension
strategies as needed (e.g., generating and responding to
essential questions, making predictions, comparing
information from several sources).
3.0 Literary Response and Analysis
Students read and respond to a wide variety of significant works of children’s literature. They distinguish
between the structural features of the text and the
literary terms or elements (e.g., theme, plot, setting,
characters).
Writing: Grades 1-4
1.0 Writing Strategies
Students write clear and coherent sentences and paragraphs that develop a central idea. Their writing shows
they consider the audience and purpose. Students
progress through the stages of the writing process (e.g.,
prewriting, drafting, revising, editing successive
versions).
2.0 Writing Applications
(Genres and Their Characteristics)
Students write compositions that describe and explain
familiar objects, events, and experiences. Student
writing demonstrates a command of standard
American English and the drafting, research, and organizational strategies outlined in Writing Standard 1.0.
Written and Oral English Language Conventions:
Grades 1-4
1.0 Written and Oral English Language Conventions
Students write and speak with a command of standard
English conventions appropriate to this grade level.
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Bowers Museum
Listening and Speaking: Grades 1-4
Life Sciences: Grade 4
1.0 Listening and Speaking Strategies
Students listen critically and respond appropriately to
oral communication. They speak in a manner that
guides the listener to understand important ideas by
using proper phrasing, pitch, and modulation.
3.
2.0 Speaking Applications
(Genres and Their Characteristics)
Students deliver brief recitations and oral presentations
about familiar experiences or interests that are organized around a coherent thesis statement. Student
speaking demonstrates a command of standard
American English and the organizational and delivery
strategies outlined in Listening and Speaking Standard
1.0.
a. Students know ecosystems can be characterized by
their living and nonliving components.
b. Students know that in any particular environment,
some kinds of plants and animals survive well, some
survive less well, and some cannot survive at all.
Earth Sciences: Grade 4
4.
Physical Sciences: Grade 3
Light has a source and travels in a direction. As a basis
for understanding this concept:
a. Students know sunlight can be blocked to create
shadows.
b. Students know light is reflected from mirrors and
other surfaces.
c. Students know the color of light striking an object
affects the way the object is seen.
d. Students know an object is seen when light traveling
from the object enters the eye.
Life Sciences: Grade 3
3.
Adaptations in physical structure or behavior may
improve an organism’s chance for survival. As a basis
for understanding this concept:
The properties of rocks and minerals reflect the
processes that formed them. As a basis for understanding this concept:
a. Students know how to differentiate among igneous,
sedimentary, and metamorphic rocks by referring to
their properties and methods of formation (the rock
cycle).
Science Content Standards
2.
Living organisms depend on one another and on their
environment for survival. As a basis for understanding
this concept:
5.
Waves, wind, water, and ice shape and reshape Earth’s
land surface. As a basis for understanding this concept:
a. Students know some changes in the earth are due to
slow processes, such as erosion, and some changes are
due to rapid processes, such as landslides, volcanic
eruptions, and earthquakes.
b. Students know natural processes, including freezing
and thawing and the growth of roots, cause rocks to
break down into smaller pieces.
c. Students know moving water erodes landforms,
reshaping the land by taking it away from some places
and depositing it as pebbles, sand, silt, and mud in
other places (weathering, transport, and deposition).
b. Students know examples of diverse life forms in
different environments, such as oceans, deserts, tundra,
forests, grasslands, and wetlands.
d. Students know when the environment changes,
some plants and animals survive and reproduce; others
die or move to new locations.
ix
Impressionism in California, 1890-1930: An Overview
by Mr. Jean Stern, Executive Director, The Irvine Museum
California is a vast and picturesque region with a rich
variety of ecosystems. From the snow-capped peaks of the
sierra Nevada Mountains to the desolate splendor of the
Mojave Desert; from the flower-covered coastal hills to the
countless, secluded valleys; from the dazzling beaches of
the south to the rocky coves of the north; all these vistas
were ideal subjects for the landscape painters who came to
California over a hundred years ago. The inspirational
beauty of California is the principal reason that, from the
middle of the nineteenth century to the early decades of
the twentieth century, painting in California was characterized by a large number of light-filled landscapes.
Landscape painting is an integral aspect of American art.
Unlike many European countries, art in American was
nurtured in the absence of patronage by the church or the
monarchy, both of which were powerful determinants in
the progress of European art. American artists were
inspired to paint landscapes and genre scenes, paintings
that show the everyday character of American life.
Inevitably, landscape painting became the ideal vehicle for
expressing national spirit, as it created a metaphor of the
bounty and opportunity in rustic American. Moreover,
landscape painting afforded an avenue to express God and
Nature as one, an understanding of spirituality that
disavowed official religious patronage. When America
emerged on the world stage in the mid-19th century, it was
with an art tradition that reflected what was paramount to
American society: its people and its land.
Impressionism was born in France in the late 1860s amidst
scorn and criticism in Paris, and made its debut in the
United States sometime about 1885. By the time it had
made its way to California in the early 1890s,
Impressionism had already become an accepted part of
American art. Clearly, it was a modified and toned down
interpretation of the prototype French movement. Yet
Impressionism changed American art in two ways: in the
manner artists used color and in the adoption of the
distinct, loose brushwork.
The new color theories that characterized the movement
were well received by Americans, and the outcome
showed in paintings with brilliant and convincing effect of
natural light. The loose, choppy brushstroke distinctive of
Impressionist paintings was both the consequence of the
quick manner of paint application and the desire to produce
a brilliant surface covered with a multitude of small daubs
of bright color.
x
However, unlike their French counterparts, the penchant
for urban settings was championed by only a few
Americans and the socio-political quality of many French
Impressionist paintings is rarely seen in America. Likewise,
French Impressionism is often characterized by dissolved
forms, where visual elements of the painting seem to
soften away into the background in a maze of lively brushstrokes and color daubs. By contrast, American
Impressionism retained a solid sense of form, in keeping
with its tradition of directness. When one considers the
resolute sense of realism that has always prevailed in
American art, then perhaps the American experience with
Impressionism would best be described as “Impressionistic
Realism.”
In sun-drenched southern California, landscape painting
was by far the most popular subject among painters, with
nearly a complete absence of artists who painted urban
scenes. Where the French Impressionists yearned to capture
the immediate moment, or the temporal fragment of societal activity, California’s Impressionists instead sought to
catch the fleeting moment of specific natural light, as it
bathed the landscape. In fact, light is the true subject of
California impressionists. The clear and intense light of
California, which appears so often in these paintings,
defined the landscape. The biblical analogy of light as the
creative instrument is appropriate to the manner in which
the California Impressionists addressed the landscape, for
without that unique light, and the divine energy it represented, the land would not exist. Thus, the goal for the
California Impressionists was to capture this striking visual
sensation on canvas quickly, before the light changed. The
key to achieving this goal was to get out of the studio and
to paint outdoors, or en plein air, and to accentuate the role
of color to produce brilliant light effects.
By 1895 several Los Angeles artists were calling themselves
“Impressionist Painters” and applying the plein air
approach. One of the most notable and influential of these
artists was Benjamin C. Brown (1865-1942) who moved
from Arkansas to Pasadena in 1896 and became known for
his Impressionist paintings of the Sierra Mountains and
poppy-filled spring meadows surrounding Pasadena. In the
next decade more artists would be added to the growing
list of professional plein air painters in southern California,
including Granville Redmond (1871-1935), Hanson D.
Puthuff (1875-1972), Marion Kavanagh Wachtel (18761954), William Wendt (1865-1946) and Franz A. Bischoff
(1864-1929). Masters such as Jack Wilkinson Smith
(1873-1949), Jean Mannheim (1863-1945), Maurice Braun
Bowers Museum
(1877-1941), and Donna Schuster (1883-1953) moved to Los
Angeles and became permanent residents by 1913. The
following year, the illustrious Guy Rose (1867-1925) left his
artistic pursuits in France and permanently returned to his
native southern California.
At the end of the 1920s, the southern California art
community experienced a series of dramatic transformations. A new generation of artists turned to new styles,
characterized by a move away from the perceptual, toward
more conceptual approaches to painting. Furthermore, in
1929, the American economy suffered a terrible blow with
the onset of the Great Depression. Almost overnight, the
dynamic artist-dealer-patron relationship ground to a halt
as much of American’s disposable income vanished. The
Depression was an indiscriminate misfortune to all artists.
Modernists as well as Plein Air artists joined in the Works
Progress Administration programs, such as the Federal Arts
Project, which allotted mural commissions in public buildings. Additionally, the American character turned inward
and began a prolonged, restless period of self-examination.
The arts followed suit and artists applied themselves to
exploring the American experience in this time of solemnity. The bright, buoyant landscape paintings of the plein
air style were replaced with somber, comfortless views of
the cities and the farms, as exemplified by painters like
Edward Hopper (1882-1967).
With economic recovery in the late 1930s, Modernism
made its inroads, and by the outbreak of World War II,
most of the prominent names of California Impressionism
had died or had withdrawn from the public eye, and the
style itself became a nostalgic souvenir of a bygone era.
Worthy of attention is the fact that California plein air
painting has found resurgence among contemporary landscape painters. From about 1980, the number of artists who
choose to paint outdoors in the manner of their predecessors has increased dramatically, and once again artists have
found their inspiration in California’s light.
Laguna Beach Art Association, c. 1918
Photograph courtesy of John Bing, The Irvine Laguna Beach Museum Painting Class, and The Irvine Museum
xi
Trees They Are My Friends
24 x 32"
William Wendt (1865-1946)
Oil on canvas
c. 1931
Painting Plein Air
Photograph courtesy of DeRus Fine Arts
and The Irvine Museum
Lesson One: Landscape Painting
outhern California’s varied terrain was a painter’s paradise. Laguna
Beach offered a pretty, crescent-shaped beach, dramatic bluffs and
flows of black lava. The nearby San Gabriel mountains offered
pine trees and snow. The desert offered oases of palm trees and
stretches of sand or cactus-dotted plains. The Los Angeles basin
had numerous canyons and arroyos that contained picturesque
sycamores, river boulders, and meadows. The plains supported occasional
strands of eucalyptus or the native live oak and in the spring were carpeted
with wildflowers. By the 1920s, most artists could conveniently reach these
sketching sites by the newly popular automobile. Because of the pleasant
year-round climate, many of the paintings were completed in the field.
S
Selections from the Exhibit
Artist
Title
Date
William Wendt
1931
William Wendt
Looking Up the Canyon
1916
William Wendt
Sycamores
1918
Hanson Duvall Puthuff
The Hills of Home
1915
Hills of Santa Ynez
1915
Marion Kavanaugh Wachtel
From Sunland Looking Across…
1920
Conrad Buff
Ocean Vista (After Plein Air Movement)
1920s
Lesson One:
Landscape Painting
Grade Levels: Grades 3-4
Time: 1-2 class periods
Connections to Content Standards:
Grade 3 History-Social Science 3.1;
Physical Sciences 3.2
Grade 4 History-Social Science 4.1;
Earth Sciences Content Standard 4.5
Visual Arts Content Standards 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
Objectives
Students will be able to:
• View a landscape painting to describe what they see
and to use their senses to perceive the work of art
• Derive meaning from artworks through analysis, interpretation, and judgment
• Identify the visual structures and key characteristics of
California impressionist paintings using the language of
the visual arts
• Use artwork to foster the attainment of academic
content standards for history social science and science
• Select a landscape painting of California, find somewhere to sit down in the scene, and write a letter
home to tell their family about this place using the
senses of sight, smell, and touch to describe the environment (landscape)
Key Themes: artistic perception, aesthetics, landscape
painting, light, perspective
Vocabulary
Impressionism – a school of art using light and short
brush strokes to represent scenes as they appeared at an
isolated moment. The impressionistic style was characterized by the use of bright, clear colors. The ability to take
tubes of paint outdoors enabled artists to paint landscapes
in a new way, showing light and atmosphere in a fleeting
impression. California artists were known for their use of
natural tints, hues and shades of the sunny southland.
landscape – an outdoor scene popular with Impressionist
painters. Short brush strokes were used to give an indication of detail.
Plein Air Movement – From the French word meaning
“open air,” the term is often applied to painting produced
by California artists from 1915 to 1935. The Plein Air
Movement encompassed an impressionistic style characterized by bright, clear colors.
perspective – the technique in a painting or picture of
giving the effect of extension of the view or of distance.
Background
Most of the paintings in this exhibit were made in
Southern California and many represent the Orange
County area. From the 1870s on, Los Angeles began to
promote itself as a place to live with a beautiful terrain
and an attractive climate. Thus, it is not surprising that
the painters who settled here, beginning in the mid1880’s, painted primarily landscapes. Through the early
twentieth century, the number of painters and collectors steadily increased so that in the 1920s, when Los
Angeles was enjoying a post WWI boom, landscape
painters abounded. The 1920s was Southern
California’s great decade of landscape painting.
Focus Painting: Trees They Are My Friends (1931)
by William Wendt and/or other California landscape paintings. (For suggestions, refer to the
"Extensions" section at the end of this lesson.)
From Sunland Looking Across Valley to Big Tujunga
13 1/2 x 19 1/2"
Marion Kavanagh Wachtel (1876-1954)
Watercolor
c. 1920
2
Bowers Museum
Suggested Activities
1. Painting the Sunshine in California. To build some
background for your students prior to your study of
California Impressionistic paintings and to prepare them for
a visit to the Bowers Museum, read the story, “Painting the
Sunshine in California” found in Appendix I. It will give
students some information about painting in California in
the early 1900s. You can either read it to them, reproduce
copies for them to read, or select 5 students to read the
parts of Will, Mary, Mother, Father, and the narrator.
2. Prepare Your Students. To prepare your students for
analyzing and interpreting a work of art, display the transparency of Trees They Are My Friends by William Wendt
for 20 seconds only. Then remove the image. Tell students
you showed them the image for only 20 to 30 seconds
because that is close to what the average person spends in
looking at artworks in a museum.
Have students tell you what they saw or remembered
about the picture. Select a student to write the observations
on the board. Once students have shared their observations, they can categorize their responses. Determine with
the students what the categories should be. Some examples: subject matter, color. Ask students if they think they
saw everything.
Ask students what they will look for when they see the
image again. You can have students choose a category to
focus on when they see the picture.
Now show the image again and note the time on your
watch. Have the students share their additional observations.
Other students can write them on the board under the categories you have developed. When students feel they have
seen everything in the picture, then look at your watch again.
Tell them how much longer than 20 seconds they have spent
looking at the image. Have them also see the additional
responses that have been added to the board. Congratulate
them for taking the time to see so much in the picture!
3. Viewing the Painting. While still viewing Trees They
Are My Friends by William Wendt, ask students to, “Put
yourself in the picture and imagine seeing this scene using
your senses.”
• What sounds do you hear, what smells are there, and
what are some of the different textures you might feel?
What awakens your senses?
• Where are you standing or sitting in the scene? What is
surrounding you? (Students can describe the places
they chose and other students can guess their location.)
• What is the temperature? Is it warm, hot, cool, cold?
How do you know?
• Look far in the distance. What is farthest from you?
• What time of the day do you think it is? How can you
tell? What do you think this place looks like in the
early morning, late afternoon or nighttime? What time
of the year is it? How can you tell?
• Have you been to a place like this before? How was it
similar to this place?
California Impressionistic Painting
Artists such as William Wendt moved their easels outof-doors so that while they were painting, they could
feel the warmth of the sun and experience the wind
blowing through the trees. Impressionists painted
quickly to capture an “impression” of a brief moment
in time. They became known as California plein-air
(open air) painters who were more concerned with
conveying these sensations of the outdoors than delineating the actual details of flora and terrain.
Impressionists idealized southern California weather
into one perpetual clear, sunny day. Artists portrayed
California’s high peaks, lush valleys, clear lakes and
giant redwoods. Their paintings showed California as a
sort of paradise on earth – beautiful, uncrowded,
sunny, and filled with plants and animals. The paintings generally incorporate broken brushwork, light
colors, and the goal of capturing sunlight.
Have students do a “free write” to describe the things they
see, feel and smell.
Guided discussion questions about the elements of art in
this painting:
• Is the space big and expansive or is it small and
confining?
• Are the colors true to nature? If not, why? How many
shades of green can you count? Is the artist trying to
tell us something?
• Is the landscape safe, threatening or inviting? What
mechanism has the artist used to evoke this feeling?
Light/dark?
• What is our viewing angle? Are we looking straight
into the picture, from the side or from above?
• Is the picture two-dimensional, flat and shallow, or is it
three-dimensional so we can look into the distance?
• Do you see the use of perspective here? How? Is there
a feeling of depth?
• Is there a vanishing point? Where is it in the picture?
• How many different things are near you? What is
closest to you?
3
Featured Artist William Wendt was born on February
20, 1865, in Bentzen, Germany, and immigrated to the
United States in 1880, settling in Chicago where he
worked in a commercial art firm. In 1906, Wendt
moved to Los Angeles with his wife, sculptor Julia
Bracken. Already a successful painter, he quickly
became a leading member of the art community and
was a founding member of the California Art Club in
1909. He moved his home and studio to Laguna Beach
in 1912 where, in 1918, he was a founding member of
the Laguna Beach Art Association. Wendt preferred to
work outdoors, sometimes sketching and sometimes
making large, finished works. Only rarely did he
include people or animals in his landscapes. He found
great inspiration in the untouched beauty of nature,
and often went into the back–country, painting for
weeks at a time. His early works reflect the feathery
brush strokes and hazy atmosphere of Impressionism.
After about 1912, he employed a distinctive block or
hatch brushwork giving solidarity to natural forms.
Wendt died on December 29, 1946, in Laguna Beach.
Other guided discussion questions about the content of
Trees They Are My Friends:
• What kind of geographic location is painted here? Is
this natural scene a seascape, mountain view, forest,
valley desert, etc.?
• How has the artist invited us into this picture?
• Why do you think the artist choose the title, Trees
They are My Friends?
• How might this area look today?
4. Artwork and Earth Sciences.
Geographic Location Locate California on a United States
map, a world map and on a globe. Identify the local region
on a map of California.
Geographic Regions Divide students into four groups,
one for each of the major landform regions of California,
including the coast, mountains, central valley, and deserts.
(Refer to Handout 1, California: The Geography of Diversity
for an overview of each region.) Have students use maps,
charts, books, pictures, paintings, and internet resources to
describe how regions in California vary in land use, vegetation, wildlife, climate, and population density. Encourage
students to find samples of art that are illustrative of their
region of study. Student groups can create their own
museum to display their findings.
4
Geographic Landforms As mentioned above, the natural
landscape of California was a painter’s paradise. Work with
students to identify the geographic features found in
California and in the local region. Develop a “Map of Key
Landforms” for either Orange County or California.
Identify the location of and explain the reasons for the
growth of towns in California in relation to the Pacific
Ocean, rivers, valleys, and mountain passes. View a
number of California landscape paintings and identify the
geographic landforms illustrated. For a detailed listing of
landform regions, refer to Handout 2, California Landform
regions.
Physical Relief Maps After students have a clear understanding of California’s regions and the physical features of
each region, divide the class into small groups to make
physical relief maps of the state. (See Handout 3 for recipe
and procedure.) Students can show their knowledge of
California’s physical geography by labeling the state’s four
main regions on their maps.
Physical Sciences The use of light is a major factor in the
paintings of California Impressionists. View several paintings to look for the source of the light. In what direction is
the light traveling? Discuss the probable time of the day in
relation to the angle of the light. Can you find places in the
painting where the sunlight is blocked to create shadows?
Is the light reflected from any surfaces in the painting?
Look at the colors of the lighted area in relation to the
surrounding area. How are the colors different? The same?
How does the light affect the way the landscape is seen?
Earth Sciences Waves, wind, water, and ice shape and
reshape Earth’s land surface. Review a series of California
landscape paintings to look for changes in the earth that are
due to slow processes, such as erosion. Look for other
changes that are due to rapid processes, such as landslides,
volcanic eruptions, and earthquakes. Water erodes landforms, reshaping the land by taking it away from some
places and depositing it as pebbles, sand, silt, and mud in
other places. Look in the paintings for evidence of land that
has been reshaped by weathering, transport, and deposition.
The properties of rocks and minerals reflect the processes
that formed them. Differentiate among igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic rocks by referring to their properties
and methods of formation (the rock cycle). Look at paintings for evidence of rock formations.
Bowers Museum
Evaluation
Have each student select a landscape painting of California.
Write a letter home to tell your family about this place you
are seeing. Locate yourself somewhere in the picture and
think about what you can tell your family that will interest
them. Using the senses of sight, smell, and touch, describe
the environment (landscape) in your letter. Explain why
you think the artist selected this scene to paint.
The student should include details from the painting and
develop a point of view that includes the reader in the
experience of seeing the landscape.
Extensions
• View other landscape paintings from the collection of the
Bowers Museum. Note the similarities and differences
among the paintings.
• Using the book Paintings of California (University of
California Press: Berkeley, CA, 1993)
ISBN 0-520-21184-7, share paintings such as Where
Nature’s God Hath Wrought (William Wendt, 1925), Silver
and Gold (Granville Redmond, no date), Into the Sun
(Tom Craig, 1933), and California Poppy Field (Granville
Redmond, 1926).
• Using the book Orange County: A Photographic Collection
(Sunbelt Publications: San Diego, CA, 1996)
ISBN 0-932653-22-7 compare the photographs of the
landscape with paintings by different California
Impressionists. Of special interest are the photographs
showing an aerial interpretation of Bay Island and
Newport Harbor; of golden grasses and sycamore tree at
Caspers Wilderness Park; the open range and a cattle
drive at Rancho Santa Margarita; and, the view of this
new city.
• Read the books Mojave and/or Sierra by Diane Siebert.
Using the same lyrical prose format, create a class book
for either the coastal region or great valley of California.
First, brainstorm a list of physical landforms and natural
features for the region. Student groups can then write
prose to describe the region and then design paintings to
illustrate the text.
• Have students write a travelogue of a trip through
California or have students pretend to be a travel agent
who must plan a trip for a client to visit different regions
of the state while emphasizing the diverse geographical
and climatic conditions.
• Paint a scene outdoors – en plein air.
Note: Activities 2 and 3 of this lesson are adapted from
curriculum materials developed by The Oakland Art
Museum.
The Hills of Home
24 1/4 x 34 1/4"
(1875-1972)
Oil on canvas
c. 1915
5
Marine Scape
25 x 30"
Edgar Alwin Payne (1883-1947)
Oil on canvas
c. 1918
Edgar Alwin Payne
Santa Cruz Island, 1915
Photograph by George Hurrell
Courtesy of Evelyn Payne Hatcher and The Irvine Museum
Lesson Two: Seascape Painting
he abundance of plein air paintings of the sea and adjoining
shore attest to the overwhelming mystique of the Pacific
Ocean. Many artists focus on the solitary nature of the
California coast. The beauty of the rocky shoreline and the
power of the ocean with its breakers continually pounding
the cliffs, spraying the land and air, are equally appealing.
Scenic areas such as Laguna Beach are usually interpreted in gentler terms.
By the 1920s and 1930s sunbathing had become popular and many artists
found the interaction of the sun, sand, and water a perfect subject for
exploring the translucent, light-based medium of watercolor.
T
Artist
Title
Date
Edgar Alwin Payne
Marine Scape
1918
William Frederick Ritschel
Midsummer Night (California Coast)
1929
Joseph Kleitsch
Coastal Scene
Frank W. Cuprien
Radiance of the Night
Paul Dougherty
Marinescape
Early 1930s
George Gardner Symons
Sand Dunes
1920
Late 1920s
1920
Lesson Two:
Seascape Painting
Grade Levels: Grades 3 –4 (with extensions to grades 5-6)
Vocabulary
aesthetics – sensitivity to beauty and art
asymmetrical – having a visual balance not derived from
symmetry. Containing dissimilar sizes, shapes, colors, etc.,
on the opposite sides of an axis or middle line
canvas – a thick white cloth used to make oil paintings
Grade 3 History-Social Science 3.1; Physical Sciences
3.2; English/Language Arts: Writing Applications
light – in a painting or drawing, that part of a picture
which represents those areas upon which light is suppose
to fall, as opposed to those areas which represent shadows
Grade 4 History-Social Science 4.1; Earth Sciences 4.5;
English/Language Arts: Writing Applications
naturalistic – adhering closely to or copying forms as they
appear in nature
Grade 5 Earth Sciences 5.3
palette – (1) a small oval board with a thumb hole at one
end for holding it, on which the artist puts dabs of paint
that will be used and/or mixed to obtain the hue wished (2)
the set or range of colors used by an artist
Grade 6 Shaping Earth’s Surface Content Standard 6.1
Objectives
• View a seascape painting to describe what they see
and use their senses of sight, smell, sound and touch to
perceive the work of art.
• Recognize the visual structures and functions of art
through observation, comprehension, and application
of composition and design principles
palette knife – a small knife with a blunt edge which is
used to put oil paint on canvas.
seascape – a picture of the ocean
symmetric – containing a balance derived from the placement of equal or similar weights, colors, forms, and lines
on opposite sides of a certain line
technique – process by means of which an artist uses his
media to express creative concepts
the visual arts
• Derive meaning from artworks through analysis,
interpretation, and judgment
• Use artwork to foster the attainment of academic content standards
for history social science and
science
• Describe what light can do when it
strikes an object
Key Themes: artistic perception,
aesthetics, light, rhythm, line, composition
Focus Painting: Marine Scape (1918)
by Edgar Alwin Payne and/or other
California seascape paintings. (For
suggestions, refer to the “Extensions”
section of this lesson.)
Marinescape
25 x 30"
Paul Dougherty (1877-1947)
Oil on cradled panel
c. early 1930s
8
Bowers Museum
Coastal Scene
11 x 14"
Joseph Kleitsch (1882-1931)
Oil on canvas
c. late 1920s
Harbor Scene
Edgar Alwin Payne (1883-1947)
Oil on canvas
c. 1929
9
Background
Impressionism is an art movement, essentially realistic,
in which the painter attempts to depict the effects of
light as it is reflected from objects. Impressionistic
paintings are generally painted in out-of-door light.
While the works of art have shared aesthetic traits,
such as loose brushwork and a light-colored palette,
each artist produced an individual variant that is as
distinct as his or her own personality or handwriting.
Only around the turn of the century did artists begin to
appreciate the coast for its aesthetic beauty. The abundance of paintings of the sea and adjoining shore attest
to the overwhelming mystique of the Pacific Ocean.
Many artists focus on the solitary nature of the
California coast. The beauty of the rocky shoreline and
the power of the ocean with its breakers continually
pounding the cliffs, spraying the land and air, are
equally appealing. Scenic areas such as Laguna Beach
are usually interpreted in gentler terms. By the 1920s
and 1930s sunbathing had become popular and many
artists found the interaction of the sun, sand, and
water a perfect subject for exploring the translucent,
light-based medium of watercolor.
Artists such as William Wendt and Edgar Payne moved
their easels out-of-doors so that while they were
painting, they could experience firsthand the wind
blowing through the trees and the sun burning down
on the land. California plein air painters were more
concerned with conveying these sensations than in
conveying actual details of flora and terrain. Since the
cool weather of Northern California encouraged studio
work, artists there produced a greater proportion of
figural works.
• Where are you standing or sitting in the scene –
perhaps you are walking along the rocky shore or
standing high up on a cliff overlooking the sea. Maybe
you are offshore in a boat. What is surrounding you?
• Have you been to a place like this before? How was it
similar to this place?
2. Using the language of the visual arts, help students identify the visual structures and functions of art. Refer to Ways
to Analyze a Work of Art (Appendix III) for a listing of the
formal elements of art.
• How does your eye move when you look at this
picture? Fast? Slow? Bouncy?
• Does you eye end up at a certain place? Where is that
place?
• Look for texture in the painting. Texture is how something feels. How does the artist create a feeling of
rough or smooth?
• Vertical lines show action. Horizontal lines show rest.
Diagonal lines in a painting can cause drama. What
lines can you find here? How has the artist shown
motion?
• What is the mood of the painting? Is there a sense of
balance or symmetry? This evokes notions of order
and security. Is the picture asymmetrical? A lack of
balance can make us feel fearful or in danger.
• What similarities and differences do you see between
this painting and the landscape paintings of lesson 1?
• How would the environment pictured in this painting
affect the lives of people living along the coastline?
1. Take a Sensory Walk Through the Painting. As you
did in Lesson 1, ask students to, “Put yourself in the picture
and imagine seeing this scene using your senses.” As they
view Marine Scape by Edgar Payne, ask:
• What sounds do you hear, what smells are there, and
what are some of the different textures you might feel?
What awakens your senses?
Midsummer Night (California Coast)
20 1/8 x 24 1/8"
William Frederick Ritschel (1864-1949)
Oil on canvas
c. 1929
10
Bowers Museum
Featured Artist Edgar Alwin Payne, the artist who
painted Marine Scape was born on March 1, 1883, in
Washburn, Missouri. Essentially a self-taught artist, he
left home around 1902 at the age of nineteen. He traveled for a number of years throughout the United
States working, taking various jobs as a house painter,
sign painter, scenic painter, and portrait and mural
artist. Payne visited California in 1909 and spent some
time painting in Laguna Beach. He fell in love with
California and a young art student named Elsie Palmer
at almost the same time. He painted in oils and she
painted in tempera and watercolor. After many worldwide travels together, they eventually settled in Laguna
Beach where he became active in the art colony there
and was a founding member and first president of the
Laguna Beach Art Association in 1918. The peaks of
the Sierras were his great passion, but his second love
was the sea, from Laguna Beach to Carmel. Edgar
Payne died on April 8, 1947, in Hollywood, California.
2. California Impressionistic Painting – the Process.
Share information with students about the life of the
featured artist, Edgar Alwin Payne. Discuss the various jobs
Payne had as a house painter, sign painter, scenic painter,
and portrait and mural artist. Payne was the first president
of the Laguna Beach Art Association. Locate Laguna Beach
on a California map. Discuss its location and its influence
on Payne’s style of painting.
As you continue to view Edgar Payne’s Marine Scape, ask
students questions about how the work was created, the
process. Encourage students to develop a knowledge of a
variety of visual arts media and technical processes.
• What medium(s) did the artist use? Oil paint, tempera,
pencil, charcoal, pastels? Are these materials wet, dry?
• How did the artist apply the material? With a brush, a
palette knife?
• Did it take along time to create this work? A short
time? How do you know? What steps were involved?
• What color is the ocean? What other colors do you see
here?
• How is light used in this painting?
Discuss with students the following terms related to the
process used by artists in the creation of their work. As
possible, show samples of the type of equipment used by
artists.
• canvas – a thick white cloth used to make oil paintings
• palette – (1) a small oval board with a thumb hole at
one end for holding it, on which the artist puts dabs of
paint that will be used and/or mixed to obtain the hue
wished (2) the set or range of colors used by an artist
• palette knife – a small knife with a blunt edge which is
• technique – process by means of which an artist uses
his media to express creative concepts
• naturalistic – adhering closely to or copying forms as
they appear in nature
• light – in a painting or drawing, that part of a picture
which represents those areas upon which light is
suppose to fall, as opposed to those areas which represent shadows
Using the senses of sight, smell, sound and touch.
Developing an understanding of the visual characteristics of
artworks requires the use of the senses of sight, smell,
sound and touch. Viewing paintings of California impressionist painters evokes these senses, both in their visual
display and in the “open air” process by which they were
painted. The ways in which people perceive are shaped by
their individual experiences and the opportunities they
have had to educate their senses. Thus, during this study, it
is important to provide opportunities for students to look at
and touch nature.
Nature Collection. Encourage students to create nature
collections in the classroom. The designs on shells and tree
bark, shapes of stones and leaves, and the textures of these
treasures are inspirations for many informal appreciation
lessons. “Looking walks” may be taken as a class, with each
student given an assignment of nature items to find and
bring back to the classroom for the nature collection. Perhaps
three objects would be required – something smooth, something rough, and something with an unusual shape. Students
may also be asked to describe a visual experience they
enjoyed during the trip, such as the design of a puffy cloud,
the twisted form of an old tree, or the lacy pattern of new,
green leaves against a clear, blue sky. Note the color gradation in trees from the darker, older leaves to the lighter,
fresher greens of the new growth. Study the bark textures of
various kinds of trees, and feel the difference between old
and new bark. An esthetic appreciation of rocks, minerals,
trees, flowers, birds, and natural landscape forms may be
linked to the content of many impressionist paintings and to
the student’s study of physical and earth science.
11
Students learn to recognize the visual structures and
functions of art through observation, comprehension,
and application of composition and design principles.
Perceiving and understanding the components of the
visual arts requires an awareness and comprehension
of the language of the visual arts.
3. Artwork and the Earth Sciences
Geographic Location. Using a map of the world and a
globe, identify the absolute location of California using the
coordinate grid system of latitude and longitude. Note the
two poles, the equator, the prime meridian and the hemispheres. View the map of California Landform Regions
(Handout 2) or any map of the California coastal area.
Locate geographic features related to the coast. Discuss the
types of landforms typically found along the coast. Discuss
the reasons for the growth of towns in relation to the
Pacific Ocean.
Earth Sciences. As a companion to the above activity,
study the coastal areas of California to see how some
changes in the earth are due to slow processes, such as
erosion, and some changes are due to rapid processes, such
as landslides and earthquakes. Waves, wind, and water
continually shape and reshape Earth’s land surface. Discuss
the affects of moving water as it erodes landforms,
reshaping the land by taking it away from some places and
depositing it as pebbles, sand, silt, and mud in other places
(weathering, transport, and deposition). Beaches are
dynamic systems in which the sand is supplied by rivers
and moved along the coast by the action of waves.
Explain to students that most of the Earth’s water is present
as salt water in the oceans, which cover most of Earth’s
surface. On a globe, have students view the oceans in relation to the entire surface of the earth. Explain that water on
Earth moves between the oceans and the land through the
processes of evaporation and condensation. Water vapor in
the air moves from one place to another and can form fog
or clouds, which are tiny droplets of water or ice, and can
fall to Earth as rain, hail, sleet, or snow. The amount of
fresh water located in rivers, lakes, underground sources,
and glaciers is limited and its availability can be extended
by recycling and decreasing the use of water.
12
Artwork and the Physical Sciences – Properties of
Light Shadows. In a darkened room, place your hand in
front of a lamp to make a shadow on the wall. Make the
shadows move and change shape by moving your hand.
Explain to students that shadows move and change because
of the way light travels. Light travels in straight lines.
When you put your hand in front of the lamp, some of the
straight lines of light hit your hand. The shadow on the
wall shows where the light is blocked by your hand. When
you move your hand, the shadow moves because your
hand blocks different lines of light. Caution students that if
they try this experiment, they must be careful to avoid
being burned by the bright light. You might ask students to
investigate how they would shine a flashlight on a tennis
ball to produce a long shadow? (The flashlight should be
held horizontal to and at the same level as the ball.)
How long is my shadow? On a sunny day, take students
outdoors in the early morning. Observe and measure in
metric the shadows created. Note the direction the shadow
is pointing. Repeat this activity at mid-morning, at noon
and again at the end of the school day. Record the information on a chart like the one shown below. Discuss the
results of the investigation. Explain to students that when
you stand in the sun, you block some of the lines of
sunlight. As the sun moves in the sky, in the morning and
in the afternoon, your shadow is long. It points away from
the sun. When the sun is high overhead, your shadow is
short. If desired, have students draw their shadow at each
time period.
Time of Day
How Long My Shadow Is
8:00 A.M.
10 A.M.
Noon
2:00 P.M.
Mathematics – Sundials. The oldest device for measuring
time is the sundial. Historians believe this timepiece was
first invented in Babylon about 2000 B.C. A sundial uses
shadows to indicate time. Students can make their own
sundial. Have students insert a pencil through the center of
a piece of cardboard. Place the pencil and cardboard in an
area where the sun shines all day. Each hour, mark the
position of the shadow on the cardboard. After the dial is
completed, have students tell time on several sunny days.
Bowers Museum
Evaluation
Option 1: Grade 3 Standards – Writing Applications
2.2. Write Descriptions.
Select a seascape painting of California. Write a one-paragraph description of the seascape. Use concrete sensory
details to present and support a unified impression of the
place.
Option 2: Grade 4 Standards – Writing Applications
2.1. Write Narratives.
Select a seascape painting of California. Write a narrative
composition to describe your observation of the seascape
or your recollection of an event or experience, real or imaginary, which occurred in the seascape setting. Provide a
context to enable the reader to imagine the world of the
event or experience. Use concrete sensory details. Provide
insight into why the selected event or experience is memorable.
Students should write clear and coherent sentences that
develop the central idea. Their writing should show they
consider the audience and the purpose. Students should
progress through the stages of the writing process (e.g.,
prewriting, drafting, revising, editing, successive revisions).
Student writing should demonstrate a command of standard American English.
listed), Mist Over Point Lobos (Guy Rose, 1918), The Cliff
House and Seal Rocks (William A. Coulter, 1876), Sand
Dunes and Fog, San Francisco (William Keith, early
1880’s) and Highway #1 (Relja Penezic, 1992)
(Sunbelt Publications: San Diego, CA, 1996 ISBN 0932653-22-7) compare the photographs of the seascape
with paintings by California Impressionistic painters such
as Edgar Payne. Of special interest are the many photographs of the rugged coastline and cliffs of Laguna Beach
and Reef Point at Crystal Cove State Park in contrast to
the surf grass at Pelican Point, the waves at Huntington
Beach, the calm of Newport’s Back Bay, and the wet
sands below Newport Pier.
• Shadow Portraits. Pair students into groups. Using the
bright light from a projector, have one student at a time
stand sideways against the wall so that his/her shadow is
cast on the wall. Place a large sheet of white paper on the
wall at the location of the shadow. Have a partner trace
the outline of the student’s profile. The students then
takes his/her own shadow outline and shade it in with a
soft-lead pencil. Note: A slide projector, filmstrip
projector or movie projector are best but an overhead
projector will work. Adjust the location of the projector
to achieve the size portrait you wish to make.
Extensions
View other seascape paintings from the collection of
the Bowers Museum. Note
the similarities and differences among the paintings.
Help students derive
meaning from artworks
through analysis, interpretation, and judgment.
• Using the book Paintings
of California (University
of California
Press:Berkeley, CA, 1993.
ISBN 0-520-21184-7),
share seascape paintings
such as Mammoth Cove
(William Ritschel, no date
Radiance of the Night
Frank W. Cuprien (1871-1948)
Oil on canvas
c. 1920
13
Untitled (Redwoods)
59 1/2 x 36 1/2"
Joachim Ferdinand Richardt
(1819-1895)
Oil on canvas
c. 1885
Untitled (coastal mountains of California)
12 x 14"
Carl Henrik Jonnevold (1856-1930)
Oil on canvas
c. 1900
Lesson Three: Art As Expression
he great panoramas of California’s mountain scenery were
often idealized and sometimes dramatized by transplanted
Hudson River painters who remained faithful to the physical
reality of the landscape. Classic images of the western scenery
in postcard-perfect views were shown to nationwide acclaim
and which in turn helped to persuade Americans to preserve
some of California’s finest wilderness areas as state or national parks.
Gradually, the realistic approach was abandoned for a looser, more
spontaneous form of brushwork. Rather than a crisply defined, descriptive
realism, artists turned to a more subjective interpretation that explored the
quieter, contemplative mood of nature.
T
Artist
Title
Date
Untitled (Redwoods)
1885
Carl Henrik Jonnevold
Untitled (coastal mountains of California)
1900
George Inness
Sunset
1883
Lesson 3: Art as Expression
Lesson 3:
Art as Expression
Grade Levels: Grades 3 - 4
Grade 3 History-Social Science 3.1; Physical Sciences
3.2; Life Sciences 3.3
Grade 4 History-Social Science 4.1; Life Sciences
Content Standard 4.3
Objectives
• View paintings of California impressionist artists and
describe their use of color and light
Vocabulary
complementary colors – those colors opposite each other
on the color wheel, which, when mixed together in equal
amounts, produce a neutral tone.
cool colors – those colors suggesting a sense of coolness
such as green, blue, and violet
grayed colors – colors which have been neutralized by the
addition of complementary colors
highlight – a spot or area in a painting which is of the very
lightest value
hue – that property by means of which we identify a color
by name and distinguish it from other colors. For example,
red, yellow, and blue are three different hues.
intensity – the brilliance, brightness, or dullness of a color.
When a hue is pure, its intensity is greatest. When it is
mixed with black, white, or its complement, its intensity is
lessened.
monochromatic – having only one color
• Experiment with the creation of different colors using
the language of the visual arts
mood – a state of mind, feeling, or heat as reflected in a
work of art through color, line, form, texture, and space
• Create original works of art
neutral colors – colors which have been grayed by the
addition of their complements
• Interpret thoughts, perceptions, and ideas in creating
original works of art
• Recognize the importance of respecting the originality
of their own visual expressions and the artwork of
others
• Increase technical proficiency used in creating works of
art
• Use a variety of media and technical processes
content standards for history social science and science
• Explain how light and color are related
Key Themes: color, light, environment, creative expression
Focus Painting: Untitled (Redwoods) (1885) by Joachim
Ferdinand Richardt and/or paintings representative of
Northern California artists. (For suggestions, refer to the
“Extensions” section of this lesson.)
pastel color – color which is high in value (light) and low
in intensity (soft)
primary colors – those colors in terms of which all other
colors may be described or from which all other colors may
be evoked by mixture. In painting, red, yellow, and blue are
the primary colors.
prism – a solid object that bends white light changing it
into a band of color
secondary colors – those colors obtained by mixing two
primary colors. The secondary colors are orange, green, and
purple
shade – a deepened tone of a color achieved by the addition of black
tertiary colors – colors obtained by mixing a secondary
color with an adjacent primary color
tint – a tone of color resulting from the addition of white
to a basic hue
tonality – the relative purity of a color as determined by
the pressure or absence of white, black, or another hue
tone – the general effect produced by the combination of
light and dark
value – the lightness or darkness of a color
warm colors – colors which evoke a warm psychological
response, especially the reds, oranges, yellows, and other
colors with admixtures of reds and oranges
16
Bowers Museum
Background
Following the discovery of gold in 1848, artists trained
in the European tradition of easel painting began to
arrive in California. An art community soon developed
in San Francisco. Following the completion of the
transcontinental railroad in 1869, California’s scenic
wonders, particularly the rugged Sierra Nevadas, and
especially Yosemite, became the subject of paintings.
The great panoramas of California’s mountain scenery
were often idealized and sometimes dramatized by
transplanted Hudson River painters who remained
faithful to the physical reality of the landscape. Classic
images of the western scenery in postcard-perfect
views were shown to nationwide acclaim and which
in turn helped to persuade Americans to preserve some
of California’s finest wilderness areas as state or
national parks. Gradually, the realistic approach was
abandoned for a looser, more spontaneous form of
brushwork. Rather than a crisply defined, descriptive
realism, artists turned to a more subjective interpretation to a style that has been termed tonalism. The
Tonalists explored quiet contemplative moods of
nature experienced in the diminished light of early
morning, late afternoon or evening. Atmospheric fog,
mist or haze and low-key color harmonies seemed to
envelop the subject to soften or blur the imagery,
leaving details to the poetic imagination of the
observer. Plein air landscapes created in Northern
California often have a cool color scheme, which is
said to reflect the cooler northern light. Scenes of the
Monterey Peninsula in Northern California often depict
views of the coast and inland hills with the dampness
of the ocean filling the air with cold moisture and fog.
Tonalism, with its emphasis on subtlety and mood in
landscapes depicted with controlled lighting effects,
was the dominant style in Northern California at the
turn of the century. This contrasted with the
Impressionist-inspired plein air style that created closeup depictions of nature in bright sunlight, and which
was preferred by painters in Southern California from
the early teens to the 1930s. In contrast to their
northern counterparts, artists in the southern half of
the state became almost obsessed with the relentless
power of the sun (Paintings of California). Because of
the brighter colors of the Southern California landscape, painters generally avoided the “brown sauce”
school (a term describing the artistic technique of
toning colors with brown pigment).
The lighter, Impressionist-inspired works of Southern
California replaced the dark, richly painted scenes of
Northern California artists. The primary characteristic
of Southern California daylight is its intensity. The
light can be brilliant (or glaring) set largely under chaparral desert terrain. Coastal and inland areas rarely
yield substantial fog and atmospheric haze. Landscape
artists in Southern California often preferred painting
the arroyos where they could find a variety of flora
and geology, such as trees, rocks and streams. The
powerful brightness dominates a landscape in which
foreground, middle ground, and distant horizon often
seem to have equal clarity and lack of distortion. The
painters of Southern California are painters of light
even more than of color.
Detail from
Untitled (Redwoods)
59 1/2 x 36 1/2"
(1819-1895)
Oil on canvas
c. 1885
17
1. Viewing the Painting. While viewing Untitled
(Redwoods) by Joachim Ferdinand Richardt, ask students to
study the work of art for a few minutes. Encourage them
to form an overall impression of the work and then
examine individual items that are illustrated. Next, divide
the work into quadrants and have students study each
section to see what new details become visible.
Divide students into groups with 4 students in each group.
If possible, provide each group with a color reproduction of
Untitled (Redwoods) or continue to display the transparency
of the painting. Distribute a copy of the Art Analysis
Worksheet (Appendix II) to each group. To complete the
worksheet, have each student in the group record information for one of the 4 steps. Redirect the groups so that all
students responsible for Step 1 meet together and students
for Steps 2, 3 and 4 confer in job-alike groups. As they
share with other students responsible for completing the
same Step, students may add information to their worksheet. Students than return to their original group to share
new information gained from the job-alike group meetings.
Featured Artist Joachim Ferdinand Richardt, of
Danish birth, lived in San Francisco between 1875 and
his death in 1895. His paintings follow the style of the
Hudson River School landscapists active in the midnineteenth century. Before his arrival in California,
Richardt had established himself as a painter of spectacular geographic wonders, such as Niagara Falls. In
California, Yosemite and the Sequoias offered Richardt
comparable geographic subjects. By painting in a larger
scale, as he does in Untitled (Redwoods), Richardt
reinforces the grandeur of his subjects.
specializes in the art of California. For a list of museum
resources, refer to Resources for Students and Teachers. As
you visit the museum, discuss the reasons for placing
artworks in special places. Encourage students to share
their responses to the works of the master artists. Help
them derive meaning from works of art through analysis,
interpretation, and judgment. Model the importance of
respecting the originality of the artwork of others. Discuss
the role of the museum as a resource for investigating the
influences of the visual arts in a community. Bring along
your copy of this manual and use the resources in
Appendices II through VI as you tour the exhibit.
4. Mixing Colors. Students should become familiar with
and be able to use the language of the visual arts. Listed in
the vocabulary section of this lesson is a glossary of words
related to color. In order for students to practice using
appropriate language, and to enable them to better understand the use of color, provide opportunities for them to
experiment with the creation of different colors.
First, introduce students to the color wheel, a diagram that
shows the relationships among colors. The outer circle of
the wheel contains the three primary colors (yellow, red,
and blue) and the three secondary colors (orange, purple,
and green). The inner circle of the wheel shows darker
colors that result when two colors that lie on opposite ends
of the outer circle are mixed. Explain to students that
knowing the color produced when two colors mix is
important to artists and other graphic designers.
Make vocabulary cards for the color-related terms listed at
the beginning of this lesson. To teach the language of the
visual arts, provide repeated opportunities for students to
experiment with the mixing of colors to illustrate each of
the vocabulary words.
5. Creating Original Works of Art.
2. The Use of Color in California Impressionistic
Painting.
Share information with students about the life of the
featured artist, Joachim Ferdinand Richardt. Repeat the
procedure in Activity 1 using other paintings, some more
typical of Northern California artists and others from
Southern California artists. Ask students what they observe
about the use of color in the paintings. Share background
information with students about the differences in
Northern California and Southern California artistic styles.
3. Using the Visual Arts in Lifelong Learning –
Visiting a Museum.
Colors in the Environment Explain to students that
California painters loved to paint trees and other plants
found in the natural environment. Have the students make
a “green” collection for the classroom. Collect leaves from
trees, plants, grass, and any other natural materials you can
find. Notice how many different shades of green you find.
Ask students to think about how they would paint all of
these different greens if they were artists.
Mixed Paint on a Palette Try a classroom paint mixing
experience to explore the color green. On a Styrofoam plate
put dabs of green, yellow, white, black and blue tempera
paint. Make a “green sampler” on a sheet of paper and see
who can mix the most shades of green.
This is the perfect opportunity to take students on a field
trip to view “California: The Golden Years,” the plein air
exhibit at the Bowers Museum or to another museum that
18
Bowers Museum
Refer back to the work of William Wendt in Lesson 1.
No other Southern Californian painter has been more
closely identified with a single color. Green virtually
became Wendt’s trademark. Midwinter and early
spring were Wendt’s favorite months for painting. He
knew that February was by far the most inviting
month in which to hike through chaparral-covered
Southern California hills – the month when fresh green
grasses carpet the hills. Wendt also took advantage of
the cool fresh yellow color of the brilliant patches of
black mustard that also grows on the hills in February.
Wendt’s subjects were generally not the majestic
Sierras but humble hills and simple valleys. No human
figures exist in his scenes. View Trees They are My
Friends once again to look for variations of color used
by Wendt.
Sketching a Tree Sit in front of any tree on your playground. Have the students sketch it with pencil and
crayons. Have them try to get all of the colors they see on
the tree. If you have a deciduous tree near you can go out
each season and draw changes that you see to put into a
booklet about the four seasons.
Experimenting with Paint For a variety of painting activities, refer to the section, “Experimenting with Paint,” in the
Extended Activities section of this lesson. By using a variety
of media and technical processes, students will increase the
technical proficiency used in creating works of art.
As students experiment with different painting activities,
encourage them to interpret their thoughts, perceptions,
and ideas while they are creating their original works of
art. As students share their thoughts and procedures, model
and discuss the importance of respecting the originality of
their own visual expressions and the artwork of others.
6. Artwork and the Physical Sciences.
Environment Affects Human Activity On a map of
California, locate Northern California and Southern
California. Identify the physical characteristics of each area
and explain how those features form the unique character
of each place. Discuss the physical characteristics of the
environment in each area, e.g., water, landforms, vegetation, and climate. Ask students, “What affect does the
physical environment have on human activity in each part
of California?”
Use maps, charts and pictures to describe how communities in each area of California vary in land use, vegetation,
wildlife, climate, and population density. Show students
some paintings or pictures from different parts of California
and ask them to predict which part of California each
picture depicts? Sort the images into Northern California,
Southern California and “Can’t Tell.” Discuss the criteria
students use to sort each picture. Encourage students to
judge the significance of the relative location of a place and
analyze how relative advantages or disadvantages can
change over time.
Life Sciences – Diverse Life Forms As a companion to
the study above, discuss examples of diverse life forms
found in different environments, such as oceans, deserts,
forests, grasslands, and wetlands. Ask students to describe
how plant and animal life forms vary in Northern
California and Southern California. For example, contrast
redwood trees with palm trees or plants that thrive in cool
damp climates with those found in the hot, arid desert
regions. Study paintings and photographs to analyze the
life forms depicted. Discuss how adaptations in physical
structure and behavior may improve an organism’s chance
for survival. Living organisms depend on one another and
on their environment for survival. In any particular environment, some kinds of plants and animals survive well, some
survive less well, and some cannot survive at all.
Physical Sciences – Light California artists did not share
the French interest in the scientific properties of light or
optics, but they did adopt the loosened brushwork and, in
the south, the use of brighter colors – colors that closely
reflected the natural tints, hues and shades of the sunny
Southland.
Light and Color are Related There are three primary
colors that combine to make all of the colors we see.
Variations in shading and brightness allow for various
degrees of color. Scientists estimate that our eyes can detect
as many as 10 million shades of color.
White Light Ask students, “Have you ever drawn a picture
of the sun? Did you color it yellow?” People often do. But
sunlight is really made of many different colors. Yellow is
only one of them. The sunlight you see is really white
light. White is the color of all the sun’s colors mixed
together.
Making a Rainbow The world is a colorful place, but you
can see colors only when light is shining. In the dark, you
can’t see color. Ask students, “Is color in the objects or in
the light?” To answer this question, conduct an experiment
using a small mirror, clear glass, water, and a flashlight.
Gently place the mirror into the glass. Slant it up against
the side. Fill the glass with water. Set the glass on a table.
Turn out the lights. Make the room as dark as possible.
Shine the flashlight into the glass of water. Aim for the
mirror. Adjust your aim until the light hits the mirror. If
necessary, adjust the mirror in the water. Make sure the
mirror is slanted. Observe what happens to the light in the
glass. Look at the light where it hits the ceiling or the wall.
The light looks white when it goes into the glass. When
19
the light comes out of the glass, it makes a rainbow on the
wall or ceiling. The conclusion is that the color comes from
the white light.
Prism In the above experiment you used water and a
mirror to break white light into different colors. Scientists
use glass triangle prisms to experiment with light. A prism
is a solid object that bends light. When white light hits the
prism, each color of light bends at a different angle. Light
that passes through a prism separates into a rainbow. The
glass prism refracts white light, changing it into the
rainbow of colors. When white light separates, its colors
are always in the same order. The order is red, orange,
yellow, green, blue, and violet.
Note: Explain to students the multiple meanings of prism.
In science, a prism is a solid object that bends light. In
mathematics, a prism is a polyhedron that has two parallel,
congruent faces, with the other faces being parallelograms.
How Rainbows Form Ask students, “Have you ever seen
a rainbow? What did it look like? When did it occur?”
Explain that you can sometimes see a rainbow in the sky
during a rain when the sun is out. Each drop of falling
water is like a tiny prism. Sunlight passes through all the
raindrops and the light rays bend. This bending separates
the light into its colors and you see a rainbow. Rainbows
are not seen during most rainstorms because the sun is
hidden behind clouds, or it is at night. In order to see a
rainbow, you must have the sun, rain droplets, and light.
Evaluation - Become an Impressionist Painter
Choose a good playground site and make a “playgroundscape” painting in the style of the California impressionist
painters. Clipboards make excellent easels, and styrofoam
plates make a handy palette. Encourage students to use
many different shades of green and other colors that they
find in the playgroundscape. (Note: If available, use a more
natural environment such as a park near the school.)
Extensions
(Sunbelt Publications: San Diego, CA, 1996 ISBN 0932653-22-7) compare the photographs of Orange
County with paintings by California Impressionistic
painters. Of special interest is the use of color and light in
the photographs. What do they tell you about the
climate of Orange County? The Foreword of this book is
written in four languages in addition to English. What
does this tell you about the audience for this book? How
do the photographs depict life in Orange County? What
other types of photographs could be included in a pictorial view of Orange County? Why do you think the
publisher omitted these photographs? You may wish to
have students create their own photographic collection of
region where you live.
Experimenting with paint Provide opportunities for
students to work with and explore various painting techniques. Experimenting is an exploratory, trial-and-error
process by means of which one learns to manipulate line,
color, forms, and space to achieve desired results. There
are two basic types of paint used in the classroom,
opaque and transparent.
Opaque watercolors consist of pigment suspended in a
liquid of light creamy consistency which thoroughly
covers the painting surface. Liquid tempera is a readymixed paint in liquid form. Dry tempera is opaque paint
in powder form which can be mixed with any suitable
liquid, such as water, liquid soap, liquid starch, buttermilk, etc. Finger paint is a thick paint, with a smooth
consistency of cornstarch pudding. As it is spread over a
moist paper surface, the varied pressures of fingers and
hands causes it to distribute itself in uneven thicknesses,
sometimes thinning to transparency and sometimes
building up to opaque ridges. Painting explorations with
opaque watercolors may include:
“juicy painting” - paint with brushes loaded with
tempera. Work broadly on a large surface, avoiding
small details.
• View paintings of artists in Northern California from the
collection of the Bowers Museum. Note the similarities
and differences among the paintings from Northern
California and Southern California.
dry brush – use the smallest amount of paint on the
brush on dry paper. Dry brushstrokes are textured and
rough. This provides interesting contrast when used in
the same picture with “juicy painting.”
California Press: Berkeley, CA, 1993.
ISBN 0-520-21184-7), share paintings Northern California
by Albert Bierstadt such as Yosemite Valley (1868), Domes
of the Yosemite (1867), Lake Tahoe, Spearing Fish by
Torchlight (1875) and Giant Redwood Trees of California
(1874), and of other artists such as Great Canyon of the
Sierras (Thomas Hill, 1871), and Yosemite Falls (Frederick
Butman, 1859).
sponge painting – paint with several sizes of sponges
ranging from small scraps to whole rectangular pieces.
Smear, wipe, pounce, trail or dot the paint to achieve
various textural and tonal effects.
20
string painting – dip the string into thin paint. While
the string is still wet, either fold the paper or place
another sheet over it and press. Pull the extended end
or ends of the string. The process may be repeated
with the same color or with another color.
Bowers Museum
Transparent watercolor consists of dye-like paint of thin
quality through which the pigment surfaces or outlines
are discernible.
dry brush – with a small amount of paint on the
brush, swish the brush over the paper to achieve the
desired textural effect.
transparent watercolor on wet paper – blot the
wet paper and paint directly on it. The watercolors
will fade and blend in a fuzzy manner. Some areas will
be accidentally left unpainted and will add sparkle to
the painting.
minglings of transparent watercolor – “blobs” of
paint on either dry or wet paper will produce interesting effects. Tilt the paper and let the blobs run
together, or mingle a blob into a little puddle of water
next to it. Use pencils, ends of brushes, or scraps of
paper to guide and control the minglings. Observe and
identify the hues and tints and shades so produced.
Frayer Method (Frayer, Frederick & Klausmeier, 1969)
1. Assign a concept or word being studied.
2. Explain the Frayer model diagram. (See below.)
3. Model how to fill out the diagram.
4. Provide students with time to practice with assigned
terms.
5. Once the diagram is complete, let students share their
work with other students. Display students’ diagrams
as posters so students can refer to the words and
continue to add ideas.
Definition
(in own words)
Characteristics
Examples
(from own life)
Non-examples
(from own life)
straw blowing – drop several “blobs” of watercolor
on the paper. Blow through a straw over the “blob”
and let the paint run into interesting patterns and
effects.
watercolor and crayons – draw heavily with crayon,
leaving some of the paper untouched. Complete the
picture or design with watercolor paints.
Strategies for Vocabulary Development
Vocabulary development strategies are essential to the
concept-rich content of the visual arts, social sciences and
sciences. Explicit instructions for vocabulary development are included in the following list of strategies taken
from Teaching Reading in Social Studies by Jane K. Doty,
Gregory N. Cameron & Mary Lee Barton, 2003.
ISBN 1-893476-04-9.
Word Sorts help students recognize the semantic relationships among key concepts.
1. List terms on 3"x 5" cards (one term per card).
2. Allow students, individually or in groups, to sort the
words into categories. The categories can be “closed”
(teacher provided) or “open” (student generated).
3. As students become more proficient at classifying, they
should be encouraged to complete “open sorts” and to
find more than one way to classify the vocabulary
terms.
Five-Step Method (from Classroom Instructon That Works by
Marzano, Pickering & Pollack, 2001)
1. Present students with a brief explanation or description
of the new term or phrase.
2. Present students with a nonlinguistic representation of
the new term or phrase using pictographs, mental
picture, physical representation, or kinesthetic representations.
3. Ask students to create their own explanation or
description.
4. Ask students to create their own nonlinguistic representations of the term or phrase.
5. Periodically, ask students to review the accuracy of
their explanations and representations and to add or
elaborate on their definition.
Moonlight In The Pines
Charles Arthur Fries
(1854-1940)
Oil on canvas
c. 1920
21
Ideal California Day
33 x 31 1/8"
Frank Coburn (1862-1938)
Oil on board
c. late 1920s
Olvera Street
24 x 28"
Oil on Masonite
c. late 1920s
Lesson Four: California History
Through the Artist’s Eyes
n January 1848, deposits of gold were found at Sutter’s Mill on the
American River in northern California. Many newcomers came to
California to seek their fortune in gold. Among the new arrivals were
artists. Some were commercial illustrators on assignment for national
journals, but other came seeking wealth. With a firsthand knowledge
of mining practices, they produced the earliest genre scenes
(narratives about everyday life) painted in California.
I
Artist
Title
Date
Visions of Urban California, Then and Now
Frank Coburn
Olvera Street
Late 1920s
Frank Coburn
Flower Market –
Corner of Vermont & Wilshire
Frank Coburn
Laguna Beach
1918
Arthur Edwaine Beaumont
Pagoda Old China Los Angeles
1949
Roger Kunst
Baldwin Avenue Underpass
1920s
1950s
California History and Social Sciences
Frank Coburn
Ideal California Day
Late 1920s
Fannie Eliza Duvall
Confirmation Class (San Juan Capistrano)
1897
Carl Oscar Borg
Guardian of the Trail
1930
Arthur Edwaine Beaumont
Pagoda Old China Los Angeles
1949
William Alexander Griffith
Tustin Walnut Grove
1923
William McCloskey
Untitled (Tangerines in Tissue with Grapes) 1892
Economics
Spanish Heritage
Edith Catlin Phelps
Wayside Madonna
1939
Charles Percy Austin
La Buena Venture
1927
Fannie Eliza Duvall
Confirmation Class (San Juan Capistrano)
1897
Frank Coburn
Olvera Street
Late 1920s
Lesson 4: California History Through the Artist’s Eyes
Lesson 4: California History
Through the Artist’s Eyes
Vocabulary
Grade Levels: Grades 3 - 4
census - population of a city as determined by a national
census every 10 years, including categories such as men,
women, children, age and ethnicity
cityscape – a picture of a place in the city
Grade 3 History Social Science 3.1, Physical Science 3.2
mural – a picture, generally a large one, designed to decorate a wall or ceiling
Grade 4 History Social Science 4.1, 4. 3, 4.4
genre scenes - painted narratives that show everyday life
Visual Arts Content Standards 1,a 2, 3, 4, 5
population - the count of the people who live in a place
Objectives
• View a painting to gain information about a particular
time and place in California’s history
• Compare and contrast the local environment of today
with the California of earlier times as shown in paintings and other primary sources.
• Trace the transformation of the cultural development
of California art since the 1880s
• Explore the role of the visual arts in culture and human
history
• Investigate major themes in historical and contemporary periods
content standards for history social science
• Chart the population growth of Orange County
between 1890 and 1940
the visual arts
• Create an advertisement to promote “Living in Orange
County, California” Design the advertisement to attract
people to come here, such as one that might be on a
brochure, painting, or signboard. Select a specific time
period and determine the image to portray, such as
adventure, history, abundance or escape to create a
“story” that will attract people to want to move here
Key Themes: continuity and change, then and now,
patterns, lines
Background
In January 1848, deposits of gold were found at Sutter’s
Mill on the American River in northern California.
Many newcomers came to California to seek their
fortune in gold. Among the new arrivals were artists.
Some were commercial illustrators on assignment for
national journals, but others came seeking wealth. With
a firsthand knowledge of mining practices, they
produced the earliest genre scenes (narratives about
everyday life) painted in California. Genre paintings
show people doing everyday things. These paintings
reveal something about life in a particular time and
place. Artists were enchanted by the unspoiled, startling
vistas of the northern Sierras. Magazine and newspaper
articles and illustrations acquainted Americans back in
the East and Midwest with its unique topography and
inspired tourists to visit.
The Impressionists idealized southern California
weather into one perpetual clear, sunny day. Real
estate promoters encouraging the settlement of
southern California used images to portray a semitropical utopia centered around an easy style of
outdoor living. California offered not only unspoiled
natural splendors but a bounty of rich land to cultivate.
In the early 20th century, advertising campaigns
throughout the country promoted the health benefits
of California oranges. The job market was centered on
agriculture. The citrus industry became identified with
the state and appeared in art whenever a visual reference to California was needed. Shipping grew tremendously after the opening of the Panama Canal in 1914.
By the 1920s some communities of California became
economic giants in shipping, petroleum, agriculture,
and/or cinema.
Focus Painting: Ideal California Day (c. 1920) by Frank
Coburn and/or other paintings that depict the history of
California. (For suggestions, refer to the “Extensions”
section of this lesson.)
24
Bowers Museum
Featured Artist Frank Coburn was an artist who, like
many other artists, began his career by earning a living
doing various kinds of commercial art. A native of
Illinois, he studied at the Art Institute of Chicago, and
came to California about 1908, where he lived in Santa
Ana, had a studio in Los Angeles, and moved to
Laguna Beach each summer. Coburn is sometimes
considered one of the more daring of the California
artists of the period. And his work shows great versatility. He considered himself primarily a landscape
painter, but he went beyond landscapes and into still
life, nudes and urban scenes. He was particularly
known for evening and night scenes of downtown Los
Angeles, sometimes in rainy weather, or lit by electric
light. He ranged up and down the coast from Laguna
to Malibu painting ocean scenes, and recorded the
ethnic diversity of the region with paintings of
Hispanic themes and Chinese-American culture. His
broken brush work and use of brilliant color make his
paintings quickly recognizable. Ideal California Day
was painted during the late 1920s.
• What is the temperature? Is it warm, hot, cool, cold?
How do you know?
1. Viewing the Painting. Display the painting Ideal
California Day by Frank Coburn. Place students into groups
of 2 to 4 students. Provide each group with a set of the task
cards, “Looking at Artwork” found in Appendix V. Ask the
students to review the cards and select at least 5 of the
cards to discuss and record their observations within their
group. Following the group work, have each group report
on their findings.
Discussion questions about the content of the painting,
patterns, lines, and texture:
• Why did the artist choose this title? Is this a landscape? (Introduce the term, “cityscape.”)
• Notice how the artist shows the woman in midmotion. How did he do that?
Frank Coburn is only recently gaining recognition for
his art. Part of this recent acknowledgement is due to
the promotion and sale of the paintings left in his
estate that has recently exposed contemporary collectors for the first time to a significant body of his work.
Coburn stands out from other Southland artists
because his landscapes do not follow the stereotypical
compositions favored by many other artists. He also
recognized the artistic possibilities of Mexican cultural
influences in California and was one of the few artists
to paint city scenes, such as flower markets and pedestrians in the rain. His colors are rich and vibrant.
Olvera Street was painted in the late 1920s.
• What do you think the rest of the painting would look
like if you panned out?
• How does the painting reflect the period of history?
• What is the artist trying to convey about California?
Who might be the audience for this painting?
• How have cities in California changed over time?
What historical events have contributed to the growth
of cities in Southern California?
• If you were to paint a genre painting of an Ideal
California Day, what would you include in your
picture?
• Close your eyes. When you open them notice
where your eyes looked first. How did the artist
make you do that?
• What kinds of lines are used? Diagonal?
Horizontal? Vertical?
• Look for patterns. Are the flowers realistic or
impressionistic?
• How has the artist made you see texture? What
sounds do you hear, what smells are there?
Flower Market – Corner of Vermont and Wilshire
20 x 26"
Oil on beaverboard
c. late 1920s
25
2. California Impressionistic Painting - Genre
Paintings. Genre paintings are painted narratives or story
telling pictures that show everyday life. Return to the
painting Ideal California Day by Frank Coburn to look for
depictions of everyday life activities. Another “genre
painting” in the Bowers’ Collection is La Buena Ventura by
Charles Percy Austin. In this painting, an attractive, wellpainted woman has laid out cards that predict “Good
Fortune.”
from 500,000 to 3,000,000. Use increments of 500,000.
Have students predict what they think will happen to
California’s population during the 21st century and explain
their prediction.
Art in the Social Sciences Art can be used to help
students visualize chronology. Artistic representations of
different time periods can serve as a reflection of the time
or location. Discuss the use of art as a window into the
world of diversity, multiculturalism, and community
history. View other paintings that depict the everyday life
in cityscape scenes or that tell story of the history of
California. (For suggestions of paintings that reflect history,
geography and economics, refer to the “Extensions” section
of this lesson.)
Note: The unofficial figure for 2002 is 2,938,507. Recent
census information for Orange County can be found at
www.fairus.org/research/research.cfm?ID=441&c=9
The current rate of population change between 1990 and
2000, if continued, would result in a population in 2025 of
4,311,000. That is 51.5 percent larger than the 2000 population.
Year
Population
Year
Population
Year
Population
1950
216,224
1970
1,420,386
1990
2,410,556
1960
703,925
1980
1,932,709
2000
2,846,289
Why does the population of a community change?
Ask the students how the population of Orange County
has changed over time? Ask questions such as,
3. Artwork and History/Social Science. The following
activities are designed to help students understand the
changes in California brought about by urbanization and
the rapid change in the population. Define “population” as
the count of the people who live in a specific area. Explain
that the population of a city is determined by a national
census every 10 years. The census includes categories such
as men, women, children, age and ethnicity.
• Why do you think the area grew so much between
1920 and 1930?
Population Census for Orange County Explain to
students that Orange County separated from Los Angles
County in 1889. The first Orange County census was not
recorded until 1890. Duplicate copies of Population Census
for Orange County (Handout 4). Help students analyze the
data on the chart. Note the names and the population of
the cities that were incorporated by 1890. Explain to
students that much of the county was not incorporated
which is why the unincorporated figure is larger than that
of the incorporated cities. Locate your community. If it is
not shown on the chart, it was incorporated after 1970.
• How much population is enough and how much is too
much?
Population of a Community Bar Graph Demonstrate
how to construct a bar graph. Use the figures in the
Population Census for Orange County (Handout 4) and the
bar graph template in Handout 5. Help the students
construct a bar graph of the population of Orange County
for the years 1890, 1900, 1910, 1920, 1930 and 1940.
Population of Orange County since 1950 If you wish
to expand the population graph to 2000, the figures are
shown below. First, give the new bar graph a title,
“Population of Orange County Since 1950.” Across the “x”
axis (bottom) of the graph, place each of the years 1950,
1960, 1970, 1980, 1990 and 2000. On the “y” axis (left
column) of the graph, write the population figures ranging
26
• Why do you think so many people wanted to come to
Orange County between 1950 and 1960? Between
1960 and 1970?
• Why do people want to come to Orange County
today?
Viewing Changes in the Environment Take a walking
field trip in the natural environment surrounding your school
to look for evidence that the land has changed or been modified over time. Ask students what things they think are the
same and what things they think have changed. Discuss land
use, vegetation, wildlife, climate, population density, architecture, services, and transportation.
Then and Now Help students trace how your community
and/or California has changed over time, drawing upon
primary sources (e.g., maps, photographs, oral histories).
Locate photographs depicting the community and/or state
during different time periods. Your local library, historical
society and Chamber of Commerce are excellent sources
for information. Seek out any early paintings of your
community and/or California. Refer to the “Extensions”
section of this lesson for some recommendations. Help
students differentiate between primary and secondary
sources.
As students view “then and now” pictures, have them use
the Then and Now Chart (Handout 6) to explain how the
present is connected to the past, identifying both similarities and differences between the two, and how some things
Bowers Museum
change over time and some things stay the same. To foster
historical interpretation, have students identify the human
and physical characteristics of the places they are studying
and explain how those features form the unique character
of those places.
Oral Interviews To develop skills in research, evidence,
and point of view, have students conduct oral interviews
with local residents to ask, “How have our community
and/or California, changed over time?” Encourage students
to pose relevant questions about events they encounter in
historical documents, eyewitness accounts, oral histories,
letters, diaries, artifacts, photographs, maps, artworks, and
architecture. Guide students as they investigate major
themes in historical and contemporary periods of history as
they are depicted in works of art.
The Great Seal of the State of California The
Constitutional Convention of 1849 adopted a “Great Seal
of the State of California.” The seal was designed by Major
Robert Selden Garnett of the United States Army, and
presented to the convention by Caleb Lyon, one of the
clerks of the convention. The explanation accompanying
the seal, as read to the convention on October 2, 1849 can
be found in Handout 7. The seal is reproduced at the
Bower’s Museum on the ceiling of the historic auditorium
that houses the exhibit, California: The Golden Years.
4. The Decline of Impressionist Plein Air Painting.
Share with students the background information detailed
below regarding the decline of the Impressionist plein air
movement and the growth of regionalism. Trace the transformation of the cultural development of California art
since the 1880s. Explore with students the role of the visual
arts in culture and human history.
Detail from Confirmation
Class (San Juan Capistrano Mission)
Fannie Eliza Duvall (1861-1934)
Oil on canvas, c. 1897
California Painting After the Plein Air Movement
Southern California artists in the early 20th century
plein air movement were most interested in the subject
of landscape, although a few figure pieces and city
scenes were painted. Soon, urbanization and industrialization became central to the development of
California. Early images of urbanized California
emphasized the people rather than the place. This
conflicted with the traditional myth of California as
nature’s wonderland.
Around 1930, changing social and aesthetic factors in
America caused the demise of California’s “plein air”
school. “Plein air” landscapes were suddenly ‘passe’
while a new style called “Regionalism” became
popular. Views of early Los Angeles are actively sought
by collectors because the scenes document Los
Angeles’s growth, and because they comply with the
regionalist themes of depicting the ethnic areas of
inner cities. Views of Los Angeles’s Chinatown are
very rare. The view in Pagoda, Old China Town, Los
Angeles by Arthur Edwaine Beaumont, is especially
beautiful with its luscious washes and colors. Wayside
Madonna by Edith Catlin Phelps, is a good example of
regionalist painting. Its hard contours and its emphasis
on volume are a distinct reaction against the
Impressionist’s blurring of edges and its goal of
dissolving its subject with light. Regionalists also
depicted ethnic types rather than wealthy Caucasian
women, and preferred strong, “pure” colors in contrast
to the whitened-out hues of Impressionalism.
The Depression and World War II transformed both
California and its painted depictions. Cities underwent
urban sprawl and many rural areas were transformed
into suburbia. Urban growth changed California’s landscape forever. The emphasis became centered on manmade expansion and development with freeways and
automobiles becoming a frequent theme. By the midforties, California’s growth came in aeronautics and, by
the 1980’s, it became the banking center of the Pacific
world.
Regionalism was in turn replaced by the post-World
War II Abstract Expressionist movement, which in turn
was supplanted by Pop, Op, Photorealism, and a
plethora of other styles. Fine examples of a few of
these styles are contained in the Bowers Museum
collection, and they show the great aesthetic leaps of
change with which the art world was rocked after
1930. Robert Kunst’s Baldwin Avenue Underpass (Los
Angeles) uses aggressive and bold brushwork to
configure the contemporary representational scene of a
freeway.
27
Evaluation
Option 1: Living in Orange County, California You are
an advertising executive. Your new account is to promote
“Living in Orange County, California.” Design an advertisement to attract people to come here, such as one that
might be on a brochure, painting, or signboard. Think
about what time period will be the focus of your advertisement. Will you attract people to come on the newly
completed transcontinental railroad in the late 1880s? Will
you attract people to come to Orange County during the
growth of the 1950s and 1960s? Or, will your campaign
focus on attracting new people to today’s Orange County?
Determine the image you wish to portray, such as adventure, history, abundance, or escape. Create a story that will
attract people to want to move here.
Option 2: Then and Now Develop a “before and after”
drawing of one of the regions of California showing what
the natural environment was like and what that region
looks like today. How did time change the region? What
efforts have been made to preserve the natural environment? (from Grade 4, Standard 1 Course Model Lesson)
Extensions
• Population Growth in California Help students
research the population of California for each decade
from 1860 to the 2000 census. When constructing a bar
graph, adjust the figures on the “y” axis of the graph to
accommodate data from 100,000 all the way to 30
million. The population data from 1850 to 1900 from the
U.S. Census of 1900 is available at
www.newadvent.org/cathen/03170a.htm.
A population graph showing data from 1900-2000 can be
found at www.fairus.org/html/042cacbu.htm.
• Orange Crate Art Between 1880 and 1960, Orange
County was host to several orange growers and processors who used their orange crate labels to identify their
brand and advertise a golden California lifestyle. The
labels were very colorful and were used to distinguish
each grower’s brand. After studying a variety of Orange
Crate labels, have students each create their own brand
and draw a label for their crates. Miniature crates may be
made using craft sticks.
• Promotional Brochures Compare Frank Coburn’s Ideal
California Day, with promotional brochures of the era.
• Travel Brochure – Orange County at a Glance
Collect a variety of travel brochures for different communities. Have the students examine the layout and the
type of information provided. Drawing from information
gained from local history, each student is to create an
Orange County Travel Brochure. The purpose of the
28
brochure is to describe the community and provide information for people new to Orange County.
• Orange County – 100 Years Ago Ask students to
imagine what “Orange County 100 Years Ago” looked
like. Have the students illustrate or write about a section
of the county. Research landmarks and archives for
primary sources that can help with the project.
• A California Alphabet As a model, use the book G is
for Golden: A California Alphabet to design and illustrate
a new book about California, its landscape and its
history.
• Conduct a Survey Conduct a survey of adults, relatives
or friends to determine what they feel are the most
important reasons why people want to live in California.
Also ask what are the biggest drawbacks to living in
California. Compare these responses with those gathered
by other classmates. What suggestions would you have
to make living in the state better? (from Grade 4,
Standard 1 Course Model Lesson)
• Mural Paintings Using the murals of California history
painted on the ceiling upstairs in the Bowers’ California
Legacy Gallery as inspiration, have your students work
together to design a series of wall murals to depict key
eras of California history as they are studied.
• Writing Captions for Paintings As students view a
cityscape painting, a genre painting, or one with an
historical theme, ask them to write down all of the
things (nouns) they see in the painting. Next write down
words that describe (adjectives) the scene. Finally, have
students write down action words (verbs) they see in the
painting. Using the many words or phrases generated
from this activity, have students write captions for the
paintings.
• Other Paintings View other paintings with themes from
the social sciences from the collection of The Bowers
Museum. Note the similarities and differences among the
paintings.
California Press:Berkeley, CA, 1993. ISBN 0-520-211847), share with students cityscape paintings such as Old
Laguna (Joseph Kleitsch, 1924), Tenement Flats (Millard
Sheets, 1934), Sacramento Railroad Station (William Hahn,
1874), Factory Town (Barse Miller, 1946), Telegraph Hill
(Otis Oldfield, 1927), View of Los Angeles (Phil Dike,
1943), Untitled (Los Angeles City Hall and Times Building
from Bunker Hill, 1931, Emil Jean Kosa, Jr.), Lake
Hollywood, Late Afternoon (Simeon Lagodich, 1988), 24th
Street Intersection (Twenty-Fourth St. Ridge, Wayne
Thiebaud, 1977), Urban Freeways (Wayne Thiebaud,
1979/80), Angelino Heights (Frank Romero, 1986), Denny’s
Bowers Museum
Arco (Stephen Hoplins , 1987) and Van Nuys (Peter
Alexander, 1987). Share paintings with a history theme,
such as Miners in the Sierras (Charles Nahl with Frederick
A. Wenderoth, 1851-52), Market Scene, Sansome Street,
San Francisco (William Hahn, 1872), New Year’s Day in
San Francisco’s Chinatown (Frederick Butman, 1881),
Capistrano Mission (Elmer Wachtel, 1900), Cattle Drive
(James Walker, 1877), and San Francisco Fire (William
Coulter, 1906).
(Sunbelt Publications: San Diego, CA, 1996 ISBN 0932653-22-7) compare the photographs of the cityscape
with paintings by Frank Coburn and other California
Impressionistic painters. Of special interest are the
photographs of Pacific Coast Highway in Laguna Beach,
the Crystal Cathedral in Garden Grove, the rustic beach
cottages at Crystal Cove, the civic buildings in various
communities and the amusement park scenes at
Disneyland and Knott’s Berry Farm. Compare the photographs of historic Mission San Juan Capistrano with
paintings by California Impressionistic painters.
• Using the book, California Through Artists’ Eyes
(California Chronicles, Cobblestone Press. May 1999,
Volumne 1, Number 5. ISBN 0382444124) read students
the article, “Visions of Urban California” and view the
paintings including Market Scene, Sansome Street, San
Francisco (William Hahn, 1872), Tenement Flats (Millard
Sheets, 1934), Urban Square (Wayne Thiebaud, 1980),
Highway Patrol (James Doolin, 1986), Van Nuys (Peter
Alexander, 1987), and North Beach (Mike Henderson,
1989). Read students the article, “La Vida del Pueblo” for
information about Latino artists and California’s Spanish
Heritage. Paintings include Ranch Scene, Monterey,
California (William Hahn, 1875), Mission Courtyard
(Colin Campbell, about 1916), Geronimo (Victor Ochoa,
1981), Mayan (Rupert Garcia, 1970), Felino’s Breakdancers
(Carmen Lomas, 1988), and Angelino Heights (Frank
Romero, 1986).
Pagoda, Old China Town, Los Angeles
14 1/4 x 21 1/4"
Arthur Edwaine Beaumont (1890-1978)
Watercolor on paper, c. 1949
29
Marguerite
15 x 17 3/4"
Guy Rose (1867-1925)
Oil on canvas
c. 1900-1910
Guy Rose (1867-1925)
Duck Cove, Wickford, RI
1914
Photograph courtesy of The Rose Family Archives
Lesson Five:
Portraiture, Figurative
and Still Life Paintings
ince the cool weather of Northern California encouraged studio
work, artists in the north produced a greater proportion of figural
works. Local artists of Southern California were most interested
in the subject of landscape, although a few figure pieces and city
scenes were painted.
S
Featured artist Guy Rose taught portraiture at Pratt Institute from 1896-99.
While he later preferred landscape to figure painting, he painted a number of
figurative works. The figure paintings presented an idealized conception of
woman. While women with flowers had a long tradition with painters, the
Impressionist woman of leisure in a garden came to symbolize the Victorian
wife and mother who was beautiful, pure, and above all passive.
Artist
Title
Date
Frank Coburn
Self Portrait
1910
Guy Rose
Marguerite
1900-1910
Guy Rose
Nude Figure by Firelight
1910
William McCloskey
Untitled (Tangerines in Tissue with Grapes)
1892
Edith Catlin Phelps
Wayside Madonna
1939
Lesson 5: Portraiture, Figurative and Still Life Paintings
Lesson 5: Portraiture, Figurative
and Still Life Paintings
Grade Levels: Grades 3-4
Grade 3 History/Social Science 3.3, Physical Science 3.2
the nation’s artistic development between 1910 and
1930
Key Themes: portraiture, figurative painting, still life,
composition
Focus Painting: Marguerite (1910) by Guy Rose and/or
other California portraiture, figurative or still life paintings.
(For suggestions, refer to the “Extensions” section at the
end of this lesson.)
Grade 4 History/Social Science 4.3, 4.4
Grades 3 and 4: English/Language Arts Writing
Applications
Objectives
Vocabulary
portraiture – a portrait that is the likeness of a known
person
figurative – a figurative painting is usually of someone
who is anonymous and often engaged in an activity
still life – a painting of inanimate objects
• Gain insight into the lives of several artist’s and identify the effect that environment and life’s experiences
had upon their work.
California impressionist portraiture, figurative and still
life paintings using the language of the visual arts
Background
Since the cool weather of Northern California encouraged studio work, artists in the north produced a
greater proportion of figural works. Local artists of
Southern California were most interested in the subject
of landscape, although a few figure pieces and city
scenes were painted.
• Create an original work of art using a variety of media
and technical processes and demonstrate, through their creations, combinations of elements and principles of
design
• Increase technical proficiency used in
creating works of art
• Recognize the importance of
respecting the originality of their own
visual expressions and the artwork of
others
• Use artwork to foster the attainment
of academic content standards for
history social science and science
• Research and write a multiple paragraph and deliver an oral report in
which they present major ideas and
supporting evidence describing the
impact of 20th century California on
La Buena Venture
36 x 36"
Charles Percy Austin (1883-1948)
Oil on canvas
c. 1927
32
Bowers Museum
Suggested Lesson Activities
1. As students view the figurative painting Marguerite by
Guy Rose, ask some of the following questions:
• What is going on in the picture?
• How is light used to draw attention to some areas of
the painting? How? Where?
• What colors were used in the picture? Why do you
think these colors were chosen?
• Where does the picture take place? (What is the setting
of the picture?)
Note: The above questions are adapted from “Be the Artist”
developed by the Oakland Museum of Art.
• What is happening in the front part of the picture, that
part that seems closest to you (foreground)? What is
happening farther away in the background?
Guided discussion questions about the elements of art
found in this painting
• What is the moment in time that is captured?
• What is your vantage point or point of view? Where
are you in relationship to the subject? Are you far
away or close? Above or below?
• Is the painting a horizontal format? This is often used
for a “quiet” composition and particularly for a still life
painting.
• Is the painting a vertical format? This is often used for
a portrait or a figural painting.
• Is the subject posed or is the subject captured spontaneously? If the subject is posed, why do you think that
pose was chosen?
• Is the composition symmetrical, therefore quiet and
organized, or asymmetrical, evoking a sense of interest
and drama?
Featured Artist Guy Rose, who is generally regarded
as the most important figure of the California
Impressionist style, was born on his family’s ranch,
Sunny Slope, in San Gabriel, California, in 1867. He
left Southern California to attend the California School
of Design in San Francisco in 1886 and 1887. In 1888
he went to Paris and enrolled in the Académie Julian.
Rose was an exceptional student who won every
award the school offered and soon found his paintings
accepted for the annual Paris Salon exhibitions. In 1894
Rose experienced a bout of lead poisoning which
forced him to abandon oil painting. He returned to the
United States in the winter of 1895 and began a career
as an illustrator. He also taught drawing and portraiture
at the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn. He gradually regained
his health and returned to oil painting around 1897.
He moved to Pasadena at the end of 1914 and became
active in local art circles, serving for several years on
the Board of Trustees of the Los Angeles Museum of
History, Science and Art.
In 1899 Guy Rose returned to Paris, where he
continued to do illustration work for Harper’s Bazaar
and other American magazines. Rose was influenced
by Claude Monet, and in 1904 he and his wife Ethel,
also an artist, settled in Giverny, becoming members of
the small American art colony there. While in France,
Rose often depicted the female figure out-of-doors,
using the high-keyed palette and broken brushwork of
Impressionism. Rose returned permanently to the
United States in 1912, settling for a time in New York.
Rose became the director of the Stickney Memorial
School of Fine Arts in Pasadena. He painted primarily
in the southern part of the state until about 1917, at
which time he began to spend summers in Carmel and
Monterey. He developed a serial style of painting like
that of Monet, in which the same scene would be
depicted at different times of day. Rose was a member
of the California Art Club and the Laguna Beach Art
Association. Three one-man exhibitions were held for
him at the Los Angeles Museum in 1916, 1918, and
1919. He was disabled by a stroke in 1921, four years
before his death on November 17, 1925, in Pasadena,
California.
The Irvine Museum is seeking any and all works by
Guy Rose for inclusion in the Guy Rose Catalogue
Raisonné, a book that lists and/or illustrates all known
works by a particular artist. The Guy Rose Catalogue
Raisonné will be published as a supplemental volume
to Guy Rose: American Impressionist, by Will South
(Oakland Museum and Irvine Museum, 1995).
33
2. California Impressionistic Painting. Discuss with
students the definitions of portraiture, figurative painting,
and still life as listed in the vocabulary section of this
lesson. Ask students which category best fits Guy Rose’s
Marguerite. Share the background information about Guy
Rose and his life found above in the “Featured Artist”
section.
Pertinent to this lesson is that Rose taught portraiture
at Pratt Institute from 1896-99. Tell students that
although Rose later preferred landscape to figure
painting, during his Giverny years he painted a number
of figurative works, often sharing models with other
artists. The figure paintings presented an idealized
conception of woman. While women with flowers had
a long tradition with painters, the Impressionist
woman of leisure in a garden came to symbolize the
Victorian wife and mother who was beautiful, pure,
and above all passive. The private setting of the paintings represented the safe sphere of upper middle class
domesticity at a time when the family’s very existence
was threatened by urbanization and the suffrage
movement.
Rose often dresses his female models in casual, athome costumes with a timeless quality. Marguerite
wears a kimono, a garment that became fashionable
with late nineteenth century women after Japanese
goods began to flood western markets. Artists enjoyed
painting kimonos because of the bright colors and bold
patterns.
Rose set his models in gardens less often than his
colleagues, but when he did, he created richly colorful
scenes. He never lost his sense of the figure, despite
the brightness and glare of the sunlight. Rose often
painted quiet scenes of a woman seated in a comfortable interior. He would often combine in one scene a
variety of different patterns – decorated garments,
drapery, upholstered furniture and wallpaper. The
costume and the setting were often indicators of the
place and the date. For example, the hairdo and attire
in Marguerite suggest a postwar date. (It was exhibited
in 1919.)
Return to Marguerite once again to discuss the setting of
the painting.
Note: Reproductions of many of Guy Rose’s paintings may
be found in California Light 1900-1930 by Patricia Trenton
and William H. Gerdts (Laguna Art Museum, Laguna
Beach, California, 1990) ISBN 0-940872-13-7
34
3. Art as Expression. Ask students to bring in a special
shoe from home. The shoe will become the subject of a
still life painted by the student. Encourage students to
select an interesting, perhaps unusual shoe that belongs to
them or to a member of the family. This project will
provide students the opportunity to create an original work
of art using a variety of media and technical processes and
to demonstrate, through their creations, combinations of
elements and principles of design.
HINT: Before beginning the painting, review with
students the Ways to Analyze a Work of Art
(Appendix III) and Types of Paintings (Appendix IV).
Explain that they are to select at least one of the formal
elements of art and the still life type of painting to
create a painting of their shoe. Review terms related to
color used in Lesson 3. Have students pose their shoe,
deciding upon the background that will be used.
Discuss the use of light in the painting and encourage
students to plan a light source indoors or use the
natural light of outdoors.
Refer to the writing project and to the “Use of Light”
activity listed below in Part 4.
As students plan their composition, ask questions such as:
• What will be going on in your picture?
• Where will the picture take place? (What is the setting
of the picture?)
• What will be happening in the front part of the picture,
that part that seems closest to you (foreground)? What
will be happening farther away in the background?
• Is the painting in a horizontal or a vertical format?
• Is the composition symmetrical or asymmetrical?
• What moment in time will you capture?
• Is there a mood or a story to your painting? Is the
meaning clear or hard to find?
• What medium will you use? How will you apply the
material? (brush, palette knife?)
• How can you describe what you will see? (the size,
shape, placement within the whole, colors)
• What is your vantage point or point of view? Where
are you in relationship to the subject? Are you far
away or close? Above or below?
• How did you select the pose for the shoe?
• How will you use light to draw attention to some
areas of your painting? Where?
Bowers Museum
• What colors will you use in the picture? Why will you
choose these colors?
• Who is the picture for? (Who is the intended audience
for this picture?) Who might be interested in buying
this picture?
As students complete their original paintings, have them
share their artwork with classmates. Encourage them to
recognize the importance of respecting the originality of
their own visual expressions and the artwork of others.
4. Artwork and the Language of Visual Art.
Writing Activity Assign students to write a narrative story
to accompany their still life painting of the shoe. The story
should describe the real or mythical adventures of their
shoe. (According to the English-Language Arts Content
Standards, Grade 4 students are to write compositions that
describe and explain familiar objects, events, and experiences.) Written narratives should
• relate ideas, observations, or recollections of an event
or an experience
• provide a context to enable the reader to imagine the
world of the event or experience
• use concrete sensory details
• provide insight into why the selected event or experience is memorable
Use of Light Although Impressionists lean toward painting
landscapes, some figurative paintings have been done in
this theme of figures seen in various kinds of lighting, e.g.,
full sunlight, dappled sunlight, and indoors with various
kinds of backlighting. Using different types of lights, have
students experiment with the effect these various types of
lighting have on portraitures, figurative paintings, and still
life. Try incandescent light, florescent light, candle light,
lights from behind and spotlights from different angles such
as above, below and direct. Note how light can be blocked
to create shadows. As students experiment with reflective
light from mirrors and other surfaces, have them note what
affect the light has on their subject.
Visit a Museum – Real or Virtual To develop the skill of
using and appreciating museums as a resource, assign
students to visit a visual arts museum (in person or online)
to locate artwork that coordinates with their academic
content studies such as science and history-social science.
Refer to Resources for Students and Teachers for a list of art
museums and websites.
HINT: You may wish to connect this activity with the
evaluation section at the end of this lesson. Group of
students may research one of the painting themes
presented in this manual (landscape painting, seascape
painting, cityscape, California History and the Social
Sciences, or portraiture, figurative painting and still life
painting.) You may wish to make available copies of
the Glossary, the Art Analysis Worksheet (Appendix
II), Ways to Analyze a Work of Art (Appendix III),
Types of Paintings (Appendix IV) and, Looking at
Artwork (Appendix V).
As students share the pictures they have gathered to depict
specific content areas, have them analyze and respond
appreciatively in oral or in written form to the intent,
purpose, and technical proficiency of the artworks. This is
an opportunity for students to use the language of the
visual arts learned during the lessons in this manual.
Evaluation
Development of a New Industry in California (Focus
on 1910 to 1930) Provide students with the organizer
listed below. Work together as a class to complete the
organizer, focusing on the California impressionistic artist’s
between 1910 and 1930.
Location When?
(Key Dates)
Artistic
Development
Why? Key People
(Cause)
Impact
(Effect)
(Include the
characteristics
of the style and
technique of
California
Impressionistic
painters.)
Once the organizer has been completed, have each student
develop a multiple paragraph composition and/or an oral
report in which they present major ideas and supporting
evidence describing the impact of 20th century California
on the nation’s artistic development between 1910 and
1930.
HINT: You may wish divide students into groups with
each group focusing on one of the painting themes
presented in this manual (landscape painting, seascape
painting, cityscape, California History and the Social
Sciences, or portraiture, figurative painting and still life
painting.)
35
This evaluation activity is based on Grade 4, Standard 4 of
the Standards for History-Social Science. The California
Language Arts Standards state that Grade 4 students should
create a multiple paragraph composition and an oral report.
Prompts and guidelines based on the Standards are
included in Handout 8.
Extensions
• View figurative and/or still life paintings from the
collection of The Bowers Museum. Note the similarities and differences among the paintings.
• Circles of Influence Impressionism to Modernism in
Southern California Art 1910/1930 by Sarah Vure
(Orange County Museum of Art, Newport Beach,
California, 2000) contains numerous portraiture and
figurative paintings. The book, an excellent resource for this lesson, was published
for an exhibition of the same name held at
the Orange County Museum of Art.
local translation of the popular French theme of
women dressed in white standing in garden gardens.
After 1900, while Duvall considered Los Angeles her
home, she spent much of her time abroad in study and
travel.
• California Impressionism Today Currently, there is
a renaissance of the California plein-air style that coincides with the revitalization of contemporary artistic
interest in outdoor painting. Under the leadership of
the California Art Club, founded in 1909 by the original plein-air painters, a growing number of artists are
pursuing the same goals and approaches that motivated their predecessors nearly a hundred years ago.
Have students look for more recent examples of
California Impressionists paintings.
• Women Artists in California With the
recent interest in the study of American
women artists, art historians are discovering that women’s art work often tended
to be more individualist and spiritual.
Many explanations have been proposed,
e.g., women were not forced into
commercial styles due to pressure to earn
a living from their art; women are by
nature more intuitive than men. Have
students research other women artists,
such as Fannie Duvall. Duvall studied in
New York before moving to Los Angeles
in 1888. She was one of the earliest
accomplished artists to settle in the
Southland. Throughout the 1890s, when
she produced landscapes and still life
paintings, she was at her artistic peak.
Fannie Duvall was one of the first local
artists to adopt the new theories of
Impressionism. Confirmation Class,
depicting a scene at the San Juan
Capistrano mission, shows how she found
California themes to satisfy Impressionist
formats. The theme of girls heading to
confirmation via a mission garden is a
Self Portrait
14 x 10"
Oil on canvas
c. 1910
36
Bowers Museum
Glossary of Terms
Glossary of Terms
Aesthetics – Sensitivity to beauty and art.
Art - Expressive forms created from materials, sounds,
words, and movement. Culturally, art communicates shared
perceptions about human nature, the natural world, or the
cosmos. It functions to integrate humans with their culture.
Asymmetrical – Having a visual balance not derived from
symmetry. Containing dissimilar sizes, shapes, colors, etc.,
on the opposite sides of an axis or middle line.
Canvas – A thick white cloth used to make oil paintings.
Census - Population of a city as determined by a national
census every 10 years, including categories such as men,
women, children, age and ethnicity.
Cityscape - A picture of a place in the city.
Complementary colors – Those colors opposite each
other on the color wheel, which, when mixed together in
equal amounts, produce a neutral tone; pairs of colors that
when mixed produce white or gray light: red and greenblue, orange and blue, yellow and indigo-blue, greenyellow and violet.
Cool colors – Those colors suggesting a sense of coolness
such as green, blue, and violet.
Figurative painting - A figurative painting is usually of
someone who is anonymous and often engaged in an
activity.
Genre scenes - Painted narratives that show everyday life.
Grayed colors – Colors which have been neutralized by
the addition of complementary colors.
Highlight – A spot or area in a painting which is of the
very lightest value.
Hue – That property by means of which we identify a
color by name and distinguish it from other colors. For
example, red, yellow, and blue are three different hues.
Impressionism- A school of art using light and short brush
strokes to represent scenes as they appeared at an isolated
moment. The impressionistic style was characterized by
the use of bright, clear colors. The ability to take tubes of
paint outdoors enabled artists to paint landscapes in a new
way, showing light and atmosphere in a fleeting impression. California artists were known for their use of natural
tints, hues and shades of the sunny southland.
Intensity – The brilliance, brightness, or dullness of a
color. When a hue is pure, its intensity is greatest. When it
is mixed with black, white, or its complement, its intensity
is lessened.
Landscape – An outdoor scene popular with Impressionist
painters. Short brush strokes were used to give an indication of detail.
Light – In a painting or drawing, that part of a picture
which represents those areas upon which light is suppose
to fall, as opposed to those areas which represent shadows.
Monochromatic – Having only one color.
Mood – A state of mind, feeling, or heat as reflected in a
work of art through color, line, form, texture, and space.
Mural - The ceiling murals in the upstairs California
Legacy Gallery were designed and painted by Europeanborn Martin Syvertsen. The central portion features the
Mission San Juan Capistrano. The surrounding panels
portray Indians, Spanish soldiers, Franciscan padres and a
grizzly bear. Covered wagons and placer miners appear in
other panels.
Mural – A picture, generally a large one, designed to decorate a wall or ceiling.
Naturalistic – Adhering closely to or copying forms as
they appear in nature.
Neutral colors – Colors which have been grayed by the
addition of their complements.
Palette – (1) A small oval board with a thumb hole at one
end for holding it, on which the artist puts dabs of paint
that will be used and/or mixed to obtain the hue wished (2)
the set or range of colors used by an artist.
Palette Knife – A small knife with a blunt edge which is
Pastel color – Color which is high in value (light) and low
in intensity (soft).
Primary colors – Those colors in terms of which all other
colors may be described or from which all other colors may
be evoked by mixture. In painting, red, yellow, and blue are
the primary colors.
Perspective – A painting or picture giving the effect of
extension of the view or of distance.
Perspective – The technique in a painting or picture of
giving the effect of extension of the view or of distance.
Plein Air Movement – From the French word meaning
“open air.” A term often applied to painting produced by
California artists (1915-1935). The Plein Air Movement
encompassed an impressionistic style characterized by
bright and clear colors.
37
Glossary of Terms
Population - The count of the people who live in a place.
Portraiture - A portrait that is the likeness of a known
person.
Prism – A solid object that bends white light changing it
into a band of color.
Seascape – A picture of the ocean.
Tertiary colors – Colors obtained by mixing a secondary
color with an adjacent primary color.
Tint – A tone of color resulting from the addition of white
to a basic hue.
Tonality – The relative purity of a color as determined by
the pressure or absence of white, black, or another hue.
Secondary colors – Those colors obtained by mixing two
primary colors. The secondary colors are orange, green, and
purple.
Tone – The general effect produced by the combination of
light and dark.
Shade – A deepened tone of a color achieved by the addition of black.
Warm colors – Colors which evoke a warm psychological
response, especially the reds, oranges, yellows, and other
colors with admixtures of reds and oranges.
Still life - A painting of inanimate objects.
Symmetric – Containing a balance derived from the placement of equal or similar weights, colors, forms, and lines
on opposite sides of a certain line.
Technique – Process by means of which an artist uses his
media to express creative concepts.
Value – The lightness or darkness of a color.
Moonlit Trail
15 3/8X 19 1/2"
Frank Tenney Johnson (1874-1939)
Oil on canvas
c. 1925-1940
38
Bowers Museum
Resources for Students and Teachers
Brief Summary of Resources for Students and Teachers
Southern California museums to visit with historic
California Impressionist paintings:
• The Bowers Museum, 2002 North Main Street,
Santa Ana, CA
Resources found in Bowers Museum Gallery Store
and other local museums:
• Fleischer Museum. Scottsdale, AZ
Gerdts, William H. All Things Bright and Beautiful,
California Impressionist Paintings from the Irvine Museum,
Irvine Museum, 1998.
• The Irvine Museum, 18881 Von Karman, first floor,
Irvine, CA
Landauer, Susan. California Impressionists, Georgia Museum
of Art and Irvine Museum, 1996.
• Laguna Art Museum, 307 Cliff Drive, Laguna Beach,
CA
Moure, Nancy. California Art: 450 Years of Painting and
Other Media, Dustin Publications, 1998.
• Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 5905 Wilshire
Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA
Rose, Guy. American Impressionism, 1867-1925, Oakland
Museum, 1995.
• Norton Simon Museum, 411 W. Colorado Boulevard,
Pasadena, CA
Smith, Joan Irvine, Anderson, Susan, et. al. Impressions of
California, Early Currents in Art, 1850-1930, The Irvine
Museum, 1996.
• Oakland Museum of California. 1000 Oak Street,
Oakland, CA
• Orange County Museum of Art, 850 San Clemente
Drive, Newport Beach, CA
• Pasadena Museum of California Art, 490 East Union
Street, Pasadena, CA
• San Diego Museum of Art, 1450 El Prado, Balboa Park,
San Diego, CA
Highly Recommended Resources:
The following two books have been referenced in the
“Extensions” section of Lessons 1-4 as a recommended
source for paintings of California and photographs of
Orange County.
Paintings of California. Arnold Skolnick, editor. Berkeley,
CA: University of California Press, 1993. (Produced by
Chameleon Books, New York.) ISBN 0-520-21184-7.
Beautifully illustrated, this book includes over seventy landscapes, seascapes, and cityscapes. (Available at the Bower’s
Museum Gallery Store.)
Orange County: A Photographic Collection. San Diego,
California: Sunbelt Publications, 1996. ISBN 0-932653-22-7.
These photographs of Orange County provide an excellent
complement and contrast to the paintings of the area.
Smith, Joan Irvine. California This Golden Land of Promise,
Chapman University Press, The Irvine Museum, 2001.
Children’s Literature Resources:
Anderson, Peter. John Muir, Wilderness Prophet. New York:
Watts, 1995. ISBN 0531157814. A remarkable person, Muir
was not only a conservationist, he was also an inventor,
writer, father, and passionate supporter of causes. A private
person from a very strict family, Muir was most happy
when tramping through the woods. The biography
contains large type and many photographs.
California Chronicles. California Through Artists’ Eyes.
Peterborough, NH: Cobblestone Publications, 1999. The
California Chronicles is a compelling series of booklets that
are accessible to fourth grade students. Each 32 page
booklet contains a collection of archival photographs, first
hand accounts, maps and activities pertaining to California
history. The focus of this book is on artists of California.
Domeniconi, David. Pam Carroll, Illustrator. G is for
Golden: A California Alphabet. Chelsea, MI: Sleeping Bear
Press, 2002. ISBN 1-58536045-7. This alphabet book of
things characteristic of the state of California consists of a
short rhyme for each letter followed by further explanation
of the item associated with that letter and its place in
California history. Use as a model to create a class alphabet
book.
Ryan, Pam Munoz. California Here We Come! Kay Salem,
Illustrator. Watertown, MA: Charlesbridge Publishing,
1997. ISBN 0-88106-880-2. Using this fact-filled, rhymed
text, take a tour of California’s geography and history from
the beaches to the redwoods, the valley and the deserts.
39
Using the book as a model, students could design their
own tour of the Golden State.
Siebert, Diane. Mojave. Wendall Minor, Illustrator. New
York: Thomas Crowell, 1998. ISBN 0-690-04567-0. This
text evokes the land and animals of the Mojave Desert in
poetic text and illustrations. It can be used as a model for
designing a class book to describe one of the other natural
regions of California. Use as a companion to Sierra.
Siebert, Diane. Sierra. Wendall Minor, Illustrator. New
York: Thomas Crowell, 1991. ISBN 0-06-021639-5. This
illustrated, lyrical poem shows the timeless beauty of the
majestic Sierra Nevada mountains of California.
Additional Recommended Resources
Beautiful California: A Sunset Pictorial. Edited by Elizabeth
Hogan. Sunset, 1992. A pictorial guide of California from
the North Coast through the Sierras and deserts to the
Mexican border. Includes hundreds of beautiful color
photographs that show the geographic diversity of the
state.
Highland, Monica. Greetings from Southern California.
Portland, Oregon: Graphics Arts Center Publishing Co.,
1988. ISBN 0-932575-71-4. Using old postcards of people
and scenes, this picture book illustrates life in Southern
California at the turn of the century. Greetings from
Southern California can be used as a model for a student
“scavenger” hunt searching for old postcards of their local
community.
Hornbeck, David California Patterns: A Geographical and
Historical Atlas. Mountainview, California: Mayfield
Publishing Company, 1983. ISBN 0-87484-583-1. This
teacher resource depicts California’s contemporary landscape through an historical geography perspective. The
book traces the changing patterns of California’s human
and physical landscape from geologic formation to the
present day. The author examines natural vegetation,
weather and climate, early settlements, immigration, urban
expansion, agricultural patterns, water systems, and
economic patterns and trade.
Jungreis, Abigail. Know Your Hometown History. New York:
Franklin Watts, 1992. ISBN 0-531-11124-5. This informative
book includes research activities, mapping skills and projects to do for your local community. Information is
included for creating a contour map and model of your
town, making a “patchwork quilt” of local history,
researching the history of a place name, and preparing a
history time line. Tips for oral interviews are helpful.
40
Library of Congress. American Memory Collection of
Panoramic Maps. URL:
http:lllcweb2.loc.gov/ammen/pmhtml/panhome.html This
website provides a preview of the Library of Congress’s
extensive panoramic map collection. The panoramic map
was a popular cartographic form used to depict U.S. and
Canadian cities and towns during the late nineteenth and
early twentieth centuries. The maps show street patterns,
individual buildings, and major landscape features in
perspective.
Schug, Mark. C. and Berry, R. Community Study:
Applications and Opportunities. Washington, DC: National
Council for the Social Studies, 1984. ISBN 0-87986-048-0.
This booklet is Bulletin No. 73 of NCSS’s series of professional books. Chapter V “Using the Visual Arts to Interpret
the Community” by Terry Zeller provides a description of
Public Art, whose aesthetic works one finds out of doors,
such as buildings, statues, wall murals, and even gravestones. Many suggestions are provided for the study of the
local community and its historic locations.
Stein, R. Conrad. California. Chicago: Children’s Press,
1995. A beautifully illustrated book on California in the
publisher’s “America the Beautiful” series. Of particular
note are Chapters 2 and 9, “Land Forms” and “Highlights of
the Golden State, “ that explore California’s geography.
This is a good read aloud book.
Thomas, Pamela. California: The Land, The People, The
Cities. New York: Mallard Press, 1991. A showcase of
lavish color photographs on the physical beauty of
California. Each of the three divisions of this photographic
essay concentrates on a theme: the diversity of the land;
the mix of people who live, work, and play in the state;
and the urban centers with their unique charm, and distinctive features.
Tscharner, Renata Von, and Ronald Lee Fleming. New
Providence: A Changing Cityscape. Illustrations by Denis
Orloff. Washington, DC: Preservation Press, 1992. The text
and wonderful illustrations trace the evolution of an imaginary, but typical, American City from the turn of the
century to the 1990s.
US Geological Survey - Telephone 1-800-USA-MAPS and
ask for ordering information for the Topological Map Index
and Aerial Photographs and Satellite Images. Local map
stores often stock these invaluable resources.
Bowers Museum
Video Tape Resource
Impressions of California. KOCE-TV, Huntington Beach, CA.
This public television series examines and documents eight
decades of early California art from statehood in 1850 to
the beginning of the Great Depression in 1930. Shown in
the Bower’s Museum Gallery, California: The Golden Years,
the video is available for sale in the Bower’s Museum
Gallery Store and as a free download to member schools of
Telecommunications of Orange County (TOC).
Internet websites
www.CaliforniaArt.com
The website includes an extensive list of commercial
galleries that feature California art. The News and Events
section describes current exhibits at a multitude of
museums.
The Irvine Museum
http://www.irvinemuseum.org
The website includes numerous articles that provide background information on California Impressionism and the
online bookstore features many publications about art in
California. The boxed sets of notecards provide samples of
artworks. For the biographies of 5 artists, go to “Featured
Artists.”
Oakland Museum of California
http://www.museumca.org
Excellent source for art of the gold rush. The Online
Resources include Virtual Exhibitions, Collection
Slideshows, Curriculum Resources and Online Resources.
National Museum of American Art
http://www.nmaa.si.edu
American Impressionism includes 52 paintings. Although it
lacks paintings from California, it does highlight many
American Impressionists.
Edenhurst Gallery
http://www.edenhurstgallery.com
Click on California Impressionism to view over 50 paintings. The gallery is located in Los Angeles and Palm Desert.
Untitled
18 x 24"
Elmer Wachtel (1864-1929)
c. 1918 Oil on canvas
41
Appendix I – Painting the Sunshine in California
Painting the Sunshine in California
a story written by Jean Drum, member, Bowers Museum Docent Guild,
and a retired elementary school teacher
“I’m glad we live in California, aren’t you,
Will?” said Mary as they sat on the grass under
the big shady sycamore trees. A few feet away
from them, their father was sitting in front of
his easel. He had his palette of paints in his left
hand, and his right hand was holding his paintbrush as he worked to put the beauty of the
trees and rocks onto the canvas.
“Yeah,” answered Will, who was looking
carefully into the grass hoping to find an interesting new bug of some kind.
He liked seeing the pictures that his mother
and father painted, but what he really liked
about going out with them when they painted
was that it gave him lots of chances to look for
insects. He had a wonderful bug collection.
Just then, Mother put her watercolor brush
into a jar of water and made sure the breeze
wouldn’t blow her painting off the easel. “Time
for some lunch,” she called.
Will and Mary hurried over to the picnic
basket that the family always brought along on
painting trips. Their father wiped his brushes
carefully and put the caps on his tubes of paint.
“Boy am I ready for some sandwiches and
cake!” he said, “Painting makes me hungry.”
“Dad,” asked Will, “Why do you need so
many tubes of paint? Everything I see around
here is either green or brown.”
“Yes, it is”, answered his father,” but are all
the greens and browns the same? Look, this
green is dark, and this one is much lighter. I
need to mix the paints on my palette to get just
the right shades of green for all the leaves.”
42
“You know,” Dad went on, “many years ago,
painters didn’t have paint in tubes like this.” He
held up one of the silver tubes of paint from his
paint box.
“Artists had to make their own paints by
crushing different colored rocks and using
different colors of plant juice, and mixing them
with oil. They had to do this inside their
studios, in heavy dishes.”
“Yes,” added Mother. “They couldn’t carry all
these dishes outside when they wanted to paint
something out of doors. They had to go out and
look at the trees or the ocean and then come
back inside and try to remember what it all
looked like. Imagine how hard it is to
remember exactly what color something is
when you’re not looking right at it.”
“But then about a hundred years ago people
learned how to make paints with chemicals, and
mix them with oil so they were ready to use.
They could put them in little tubes like this,”
said Dad, “So now it’s easy for me to take all the
colors I need right out here with me. I don’t
have to remember what all this looks like. I can
paint anything right while I’m looking at it.”
“Yes,” agreed Mother. “It’s a lot more fun to
paint when Dad and I can go out into the
sunshine and paint just what we see. All we
need is a little case for our paints, an easel, and
of course I need a cup for some water. And in
California, we can paint the ocean, mountains,
trees, farms and spring wildflowers. It’s a
wonderful place for an artist.”
Bowers Museum
Appendix I – Painting the Sunshine in California
“It sure is,” said Dad. “I remember when I
lived in Chicago. I loved going to art school
there, but all winter it was cold and snowy, and
I couldn’t paint from real life outside. When I
heard that the train had been built all the way
to California, and it was so easy to get there, I
knew that’s where I wanted to go. In fact, lots
of people decided to come out and live in
California then.”
“Well,” laughed Mother, “you sure had to do
some funny jobs when you first came here,
didn’t you? Remember painting billboards?”
“Oh, yes,” said Dad. “When I first got here, I
couldn’t make enough money painting landscapes of trees and mountains, so I got a job
painting billboard signs. The owners of the billboard would take us out to the billboard in a
wagon with all of our stuff and leave us for the
day. When we had finished painting the billboard, we put up our easels and drew and
painted the scenery while we waited for the
wagon to come back. I painted all kinds of
things to make money before I could spend my
time painting the pictures I like.”
“You know, Dad,” said Will, “At school we
paint sometimes, but we always use a brush
and try to make our paint smooth and nice.
Why do you like to use that palette knife and
put so many blobs of paint on your picture?”
“Well,” answered Dad, “Smooth is OK for
some things. The wonderful painters from
hundreds of years ago painted with smooth
strokes and made everything look absolutely
real, even lace on a dress and eyebrows on the
portrait of a person. They didn’t have cameras
in those days, and I guess they wanted their
pictures to show them what people and places
were really like. But now we can take pictures
with cameras, so painters like to do something
different. Do you know what the word
“impression” means, Will?”
“Not exactly,” said Will.
“Well,” continued Dad, “When you look at
something, a bird flying by or even a tree, do
you see every little detail, like feathers or the
exact shapes of the leaves?”
“No,” said Mary, “That’s silly. Nobody can
see that.”
“No, they can’t,” agreed Dad, “but they can
tell that it’s a bird or a tree, can’t they?”
“Sure,” said Will.
“That’s what we mean when we say that we
have an ‘impression’ of something—we don’t
need to see all the details to know what it is.
We can notice shapes, colors, light parts and
shadows and still really see everything that’s
interesting.”
“That’s why this style of painting is called
‘impressionism,’ added Mother. “The painter
gives people a wonderful impression of what he
has seen.”
“I like that idea,” said Will. “I think I’ll try it
the next time the teacher has us paint something in school.”
“The sun has moved, and all my shadows are
different now,” said Dad, starting to put his
tubes of paint back into his case. “I guess we
better head for home.”
43
Appendix II – Art Analysis Worksheet
Art Analysis Worksheet
Step 1. Observation
A. Study the work of art for a few minutes. Form an overall impression of the work and then examine individual items
that are illustrated. Next, divide the work into quadrants and study each section to see what new details become visible.
B. Use the chart below to list objects or activities depicted in the work of art.
OBJECTS or ACTIVITIES
Step 2. Identify the work
A. Who is the artist?
B. When was the work completed?
C. Does the work reflect a specific geographic location, an historical time or event?
D. Is there any evidence that the artist was expressing a particular point of view?
E. What is the historical significance of the work?
Step 3. Inference
Based on what you have observed above, list three things you might infer from this work.
Step 4. Questions
Does this work of art raise any questions in your mind?
44
Bowers Museum
Appendix III – Ways to Analyze a Work of Art
Ways to Analyze a Work of Art
THE FORMAL ELEMENTS OF ART
LINE – A line defines a trip through space
• Lines are the bones of what we see. Use your eyes to
follow the lines of objects in the painting.
• Telephone wires are long, thin lines. Birds and jets
create thin lines in the air. Water makes flowing lines
in a river. Can you think of other works that can be
used to describe lines?
• Are there lines that move our eyes to a particular
place? Did the artist create that on purpose?
• Vertical lines show action. Horizontal lines show rest.
Diagonal lines in a painting can cause drama.
SHAPE – Shape defines an area of space
• When lines meet one another, they create shapes.
Where do lines meet in a work of art?
• What kinds of shapes do the lines make? Geometric
shapes? Organic or curcilinear shapes?
PERSPECTIVE/SPACE – Perspective can define space
• Is the picture two-dimensional, flat and shallow, or is it
three-dimensional so we can look into the distance? Is
there a vanishing point? Where is it in the picture?
• Is the space big and expansive or is it small and
confining?
PATTERN – Patterns are created from repeating lines
or shapes
COLOR – The response to color is highly personal
• We react emotionally to color. Some colors make us
happy, others make us sad.
• Colors can be bright or dull, dark or light. Colors can
be cool or warm.
• Do the colors in the work imitate reality? If not, what
is the artist trying to tell us?
• Are the colors in the painting in harmony to each
other? Are they dramatically opposite? What kind of
mood does this create?
LIGHT AND DARK – Light and dark provides
contrast
• Light and dark is all around us like the yellow moon
against a deep blue sky or bright flower against its dark
green foliage. Do you see contrasts?
• Often the artist illustrates a light falling on an object
that is surrounded by darkness. Is the artist trying to
tell us something?
• What effect does light and dark have on the same
subject? Is it natural? Theatrical? Is it comforting or
disturbing?
TEXTURE – Texture is how something feels
• Our fingers feel texture, but our eyes can also perceive
different textures in objects around us.
• Look for texture in a painting. How does the artist
create a feeling of rough or smooth, hard or soft, the
feel of wool, glass and textiles?
• Nature creates patterns. Look for patterns in leaves, on
bird’s feathers and flowers or raindrops in a puddle.
• Artists can create patterns in a painting. For example,
look at clothing, the flooring, wallpaper, brick walls.
RHYTHM – Rhythm can create a sense of movement
• How does your eye move when you look at this
picture – fast, slow, bouncy?
• Does your eye end up at a certain place?
• Is there a sense of balance or symmetry? This evokes
notions of order and security. Is the picture asymmetrical? A lack of balance can make us feel fearful or in
danger.
45
Appendix III – Ways to Analyze a Work of Art
OTHER WAYS OF LOOKING AT ART
CONTENT – What is going on here?
• What is the subject matter? Is there a story? Is the
artist creating a mood?
THE PROCESS – How was the work created?
• What medium (s) did the artist use? Oil paint, tempera,
pencil, charcoal, pastels? Are these materials wet, dry?
• Is there more than one meaning to the subject matter?
• How did the artist apply the material? With a brush, a
palette knife?
• Is the meaning clear, subtle, hard to find, like a secret
code?
• Did it take a long time to create this work? A short
time? What steps were involved?
• Do figures or objects relate to each other?
• What does the artist’s process tell about the artist’s
personal characteristics?
DESCRIPTION – Describe what you see
• Size, Shape
• Placement within the whole
• Recognizable images
• Color
• Materials used
COMPOSITION – How is the work arranged?
• Is the painting in a horizontal format? This is often
used for a “quiet” composition and particularly for a
still life painting.
• Is the painting a vertical format? This is often used for
a portrait or a figural painting.
HISTORICAL ANALYSIS – Can we place the artist in
art history?
• Compare this painting to other works of the period or
movement.
• Was the artist influenced by other people or by particular events?
BIOGRAPHICAL APPROACH – What do we know
about this artist?
• How did the artist’s life experience influence his work?
• How did the environment in which the artist lived
influence his painting?
• Are forms in the painting arranged or are there forms
randomly scattered all over?
• Is the composition symmetrical, therefore quiet and
organized, or asymmetrical, evoking a sense of interest
and drama?
46
Bowers Museum
Appendix IV – Types of Paintings
Types of Paintings
Portraiture – A portrait is the likeness of a known person.
• Is the view of the person frontal, three quarters or a
profile? Some say that a three quarter view reveals the
most about a personality.
• How much of the figure does the artist show? How
much of the available space does the figure occupy?
What is the effect?
• Describe the person’s posture, angle of the head, facial
expression. What does this all say about the individual’s personality? Intense? Cool? Friendly and
inviting?
• Does the artist give us some sense of the person’s inner
life?
Still Life – A painting of inanimate objects
• Does the work suggest opulence (an elaborate and
complex flower arrangement, silver and gold artifacts,
a beautiful vase)? Humble domesticity (pots and pans,
ingredients for cooking, the fireplace)?
• Does the painting show some form of transition, i.e.,
the movement or passage from one stage to another?
Artists often use perishable items like food and
flowers, and butterflies and frogs that go through
stages of metamorphoses. And so, what does this
mean in human terms? Could this be a metaphor for
life passages? Are we talking about symbolism?
Landscape – A section or expanse of natural scenery
• Is the person holding something that gives us information about him/her?
• Is this natural scene a seascape, mountain view, desert,
etc.?
• What does the clothing tell us? Rich? Poor? Does this
show social class?
• Are the colors true to nature? If not, why? Is the artist
trying to tell us something?
• Is there a story about this portrait? Did the subject
commission the artist? Where did it hang?
• What time of the year is it? What time of day?
Figurative Painting – A figural painting is usually of
someone who is anonymous and often engaged in an
activity.
• Questions about a figurative work are about the same
as those for portraiture.
• Why did the artist choose this particular subject? What
does this tell us about the artist’s interests?
Genre Painting – A painting that shows a scene from
everyday life (particularly popular in Holland in the 17th
century).
• Are there humans, animals or buildings in the landscape? Examine the scale between them and the
natural environment. Is there symbolism here? What is
it?
• Is the landscape safe, threatening or inviting? What
mechanism has the artist used to evoke this feeling?
Light/dark?
• Is there a clearing? Is it a place of danger? A place of
refuge from the ominous wilderness?
• Is there a feeling of depth? Where is the vanishing
point?
• What is going on here? Genre painting often involves a
narrative ( a story). What is it?
• How many figures are there? Are they related to each
other? How do they feel about each other?
• What do their clothes tell us? What tasks or activities
are they involved in? Can we tell what position they
hold in society? Farmer, merchant, rich or poor?
47
Appendix V ~ Looking at Artwork
Looking at Artwork
Note: Not every question will work with every artwork.
Respond to those questions that apply to the work you are viewing.
1. Look carefully at the work of art
in front of you. What do you see
happening in the picture? Take
turns listing the objects that you
see.
6. Write two things that the picture
tells you about this historical
period. What are the clues? What
do you see in the picture that
makes you think that?
2. What is the setting of the
picture? (Where does it take place?)
What is the place like?
7. Why do you think the artist
created this picture? (What was he
or she trying to tell about the
people, place or life during this
time?)
3. What do you see here that you
probably would not see today? (For
clues, look at what people are doing
and wearing or the objects in the
picture.)
4. Do you think this artwork is true
to life? How real has the artist
made things look?
5. What colors did the artist use to
make the picture? Which ones did
the artist use the most?
8. What would you have called this
work of art if you had made it
yourself? Write a caption to go with
this work that tells what you want
people to know about it.
9. Do you like this work of art?
Why or why not? Has your reaction
to the work changed? Do you like it
more or less than you did at the
beginning? Why?
Developed by the Education staff at Oakland Museum of California
48
Bowers Museum
Handout # 1
Bowers Museum California Through the Artist’s Eyes Curriculum Guide
California: The Geography of Diversity
by Crane S. Miller and Richard S. Hyslop
might drink juice from Central Valley
oranges and a Japanese family can enjoy
avocados grown nearly halfway around the
world.
Few places on earth can lay legitimate
claim to the degree of geographical diversity
that is California’s. Where else in a single
area of less than 160,000 square miles are
found glaciated mountains, verdant river
valleys, countless seascapes, snow-less
winters, redwoods, rain forests dry deserts
deep lakes, plenty of petroleum and bountiful agriculture.
The desert region is not an easy place to
live, but hundreds of types of plants and
animals have found ways to survive in its
harsh conditions. The climate is very
extreme ranging from blistering heat in the
summer to freezing cold in the winter.
People have found ways to live in the
desert, too. Groups of indigenous peoples
have lived in the Mojave desert for thousands of years.
The coastal region offers a range in
climate that is cool and damp in the north
and warm and arid in the south. Many
people are attracted to the coast because of
the variety of activities to be found. In the
north there is the beauty of the city by the
bay, San Francisco, as well as Big Sur, and
Redwood National Park. In the south the
year round warm weather is perfect for
surfing, sailing and biking. Tourists enjoy
visiting the many beaches and the entertainment industries can always count on beautiful weather for filming.
The mountain region is made up of
several mountain ranges. In fact, over half of
the land in the state is covered with mountains. The Sierra Nevada is just one of the
many mountain ranges in California. John
Muir, a famous man who wrote about
nature, described the Yosemite Valley of the
Sierra Nevada as follows: “As long as I live,
The Central Valley is home to some of the I’ll hear waterfalls and birds and winds sing.
most productive farmland in the world. The I’ll interpret the rocks, learn the language of
flood, storm, and the avalanche. I’ll acquaint
Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers provide
myself with the glaciers and wild gardens,
the water necessary for the growth of the
and get as near the heart of the world as I
abundance of California crops. These crops
can.”
are shipped not only within California, but
all over the world. A child on the East Coast From California Department of Education.
Grade 4 Course Model Lesson. Standard 1
49
Handout # 2
California Landform Regions
50
Handout # 3
Relief Maps: Finding Your Bearings
For each table
Teacher Instructions
• Recipe (in a ziploc bag or transparent envelope)
In this project students will construct a flour and salt map
of California. There are three stages to making relief maps:
forming, painting, and labeling. The exercise will take
several class periods. You will need to arrange for a drying
area for the maps. You should also allow about one week
for the maps to thoroughly dry.
• Glue and tape
• Measuring cups and spoons
• Butcher paper
Student Instructions: Steps for Making a Relief Map
You will need approximately 10 pounds of salt and flour
for a class of 30. Send parents/guardians a note informing
them of the project and listing the materials each student
will need to bring. Have additional flour and salt available
in the event that some students do not bring supplies from
home. Have a supply of wooden spoons or tongue depressors available for mixing. Working with students, determine an elevation color key to use when painting the relief
maps.
1.
Glue maps to their cardboard bases.
2.
Using the recipe listed below, mix the flour and salt
with wooden spoons or tongue depressors in a bowl.
3.
Add water to the mixture a little at a time to form a
dough. The mixture should not be runny.
4.
Put the dough on the map. Use maps in the room to
guide you in molding the major physical features of
the state.
You may also want to arrange in advance for parent volunteers or instructional aides to assist as students make their
relief maps. It would be helpful to use the cafeteria or some
other room where students may work on tables. Cover
tables with butcher paper to facilitate clean-up. Review
student behavior expectations and have activities available
for groups that may finish early. Remember, the key to
success is being well organized and having all materials set
out in advance of the activity.
5
Place toothpicks in the locations that are to be labeled.
6.
Clean up the area.
7.
Place the maps in a drying area.
8.
After the map had thoroughly dried, paint using the
elevation color key which was previously determined.
9.
When the paint has dried, label the physical features,
major cities, and state landmarks.
10. Write on the gummed label or strip of masking tape
and fold it in half around the toothpick.
MATERIALS
For the class
Relief Map Dough Recipe
• Sample relief maps
• 1 cup (250 ml) flour
• Physical map of California
• _ (125 ml) salt
For each student
• _ (125 ml) water, approximately
• 1 cup (250 ml) flour
• _ cup (125 ml)salt
From California Department of Education.
Grade 4, Standard 1 Course Model Lesson
• _ cup (125 ml) water
• Cardboard (8 _ X 11” or larger)
• Outline map of California fitted to the cardboard
• Mixing container
• Wooden spoon or tongue depressor (optional)
• Toothpicks
• Gummed labels or strips of masking tape
51
Handout # 4
Census Population of Orange County By City, 1890-1970
Note: The cities of San Juan Capistrano, Villa Park and Yorba Linda were not incorporated in 1960. The 1960 population of these unincorporated areas was: San Juan
Capistrano – 1,120; Villa Park – 824; and Yorba Linda – 1,198. The city of Irvine was not
incorporated in 1970.
SOURCE: U.S. Bureau of Census
52
Handout # 5
Population of Orange County Graph, 1890-1940
Using the census population figures for Orange County, shade in each column to the appropriate level.
53
Handout # 6
Then and Now
Write down your observations for each picture.
Then
Natural landscape
Street
Buildings
Vacant lots
Other
What remained the same?
What changed?
54
Now
Handout # 7
The Great Seal of the State of California
and the Snow-clad peaks of the Sierra
Nevada make up the background while
above is the Greek motto ‘Eureka’ (I have
found it) applying either to the principle
involved in the admission of the State, or
the success of the miner at work.”
The Constitutional Convention of 1849
adopted a “Great Seal of the State of
California.” The seal was designed by Major
Robert Selden Garnett of the United States
Army, and presented to the convention by
Caleb Lyon, one of the clerks of the convention. The explanation accompanying the
seal, as read to the convention on October 2,
1849, is as follows:
An amendment adding the words, “The
Great Seal of the State of California,” to the
design was adopted on October 11, 1849.
“Around the bevel of the ring are
represented thirty-one stars
being the number of states
of which the union will
consist upon the
admission of
California.”
This seal, as designed and
submitted to the convention,
with some slight changes,
has been made the official State Seal by
statute and is called
“The Great Seal of
the State of
California.”
“The foreground
figure represents the
Goddess Minerva
having sprung full
grown from the brain
of Jupiter. She is introduced as a type of political
birth of the State of California
without having gone through the
probation of a Territory. At her feet crouches
a grizzly bear feeding upon clusters from a
grape vine emblematic of the peculiar characteristics of the country. A miner is
engaged with a rocker and bowl at his side,
illustrating the golden wealth of the
Sacramento upon which whose waters are
seen shipping typical commercial greatness
The Great Seal is
located in the office
of the Secretary of
State, where its impression is affixed to official
state documents.
Any person who maliciously or for
commercial purposes uses or allows to be
used any reproduction or facsimile of the
Great Seal or the seals of the Senate or
Assembly of the State of California in any
manner whatsoever is guilty of a misdemeanor.
55
Handout # 8
Multiple Paragraph and Oral Report Guidelines
Note: The California English-Language Arts Content Standards state that Grade 4 students should create a multiple paragraph composition and summarize major ideas and supporting evidence presented in formal presentations. The following
prompt and guidelines are based on the Standards.
Multiple Paragraph Composition
Oral Report Guidelines
Prompt: Create a multiple paragraph composition describing the impact of 20th century
California on the nation’s artistic development
between 1910 and 1930.
Prompt: Present major ideas and supporting
evidence describing the impact of 20th
century California on the nation’s artistic
development between 1910 and 1930.
The multiple paragraph composition should include
details about:
The presentation should include details about:
• The area/location of California affected
• The area/location of California affected
• Dates when key events occurred
• Dates when key events occurred
• Causes of the changes (Why the changes
occurred)
• Causes of the changes (Why the changes
occurred)
• Effect (Impact) of the change (Include characteristics of the style and technique of
California Impressionistic painters)
• Effect (Impact) of the change (Include characteristics of the style and technique of
California Impressionistic painters)
• Key people
• Key people
The presentation should:
The multiple paragraph composition should:
• Summarize major ideas and supporting
evidence
• Provide an introductory paragraph
• Include a topic sentence at or near the beginning of the first paragraph
• Present effective introductions and conclusions
that guide and inform the listener’s understanding of key ideas
• Include supporting paragraphs with simple
facts
• Emphasize points to assist the listener/viewer
in following ideas
• Conclude with a paragraph that summarizes
the points
• Use details and examples to explain or clarify
information
• Draw from more than one source of information (speakers, books, newspapers, media
sources)
• Use appropriate volume, pitch, phrasing, pace
and gestures expressively to communicate
meaning
• Capitalize proper nouns
• Draw from more than one source of information
• Indent paragraphs properly
• Use legible penmanship or demonstrate basic
keyboarding skills
56
Transparency Set Text
Note to teachers
This text is designed to be used along with the accompanying
transparencies. You may wish to read it to your students while you
project the image on the screen to help facilitate discussion.
Transparency #1:
William Wendt, 1865-1946
Transparency #3:
Untitled, Redwoods
Joachim Ferdinand Richardt,
1819-1895
The Bowers Museum owns several fine landscapes by
William Wendt, a self-trained artist from Chicago who
settled in Los Angeles in 1906. Wendt was at one time
called “the dean of Los Angeles landscapists” because he
was one of the most talented and because he outlived
many of his generation’s artists. Wendt liked to make
long sketching excursions into the country where he
could commune with nature and paint on-site. His landscapes had sound underlying structure, natural and
organic colors, and his compositions were derived from
the actual geological formations that he viewed in
person rather than composed from imagination in a
studio. Trees They Are My Friends depicts an arroyo with
trees and was painted in 1931.
Joachim Ferdinand Richardt, of Danish birth, lived in
San Francisco from 1875 until his death in 1895. His
paintings follow the style of the Hudson River School
landscapists active in the mid-nineteenth century. Before
his arrival in California, Richardt had established himself
as a painter of spectacular geographic wonders, such as
Niagara Falls. In California, Yosemite and the Sequoias
offered Richardt comparable geographic subjects. By
painting in a larger scale, as he does in Untitled
(Redwoods) which was painted in 1885, Richardt reinforces the grandeur of his subjects.
Transparency #4:
Olvera Street
Frank Coburn, 1862-1938
Transparency #2:
Marine Scape
Edgar Alwin Payne, 1883-1947
Frank Coburn is only now gaining recognition for his
art. Part of this recent acknowledgement is due to the
promotion and sale of the paintings left in his estate that
has recently exposed contemporary collectors for the
first time to a significant body of his work. Coburn
stands out from other Southland artists because his landscapes do not follow the stereotypical compositions
favored by many other artists. He also recognized the
artistic possibilities of Mexican cultural influences in
California and was one of the few artists to paint city
street scenes, such as flower markets and pedestrians in
the rain. His colors are rich and vibrant. Coburn came to
California from St. Louis in 1909, living in Los Angeles
but frequently painting in Laguna Beach. He specialized
in landscapes with architectural features. Coburn
painted Olvera Street in the late 1920s, depicting the Los
Angeles City Hall Tower in the distance.
Edgar Alwin Payne is one of California's most famous
landscape painters. His best-known work is light-filled
and impressionistic, with blocks of color in a complex
color palette. Payne traveled extensively, and painted
major works in California, the Southwestern deserts,
Mexico and Europe. He was a member of numerous
respected art organizations, and was the founder of the
Laguna Beach Art Association. Born in Missouri in 1883,
Payne left home at an early age and made his living as
an itinerant sign and house painter. He arrived in
California in 1909, where he spent several months
painting in Laguna Beach. Almost entirely self-taught, by
1917 he had received a major 11,000-foot mural
commission from the Congress Hotel in Chicago. The
following year he settled in Laguna Beach, where he
remained until 1922, when he went to paint in Europe
for two years with his wife and painter Elsie Palmer
Payne. They moved from place to place in the U.S. from
1924 to 1932, when they returned to Hollywood and
separated in 1933. Payne died in 1947 in Hollywood,
California. Marine Scape was painted in 1918 and is
signed in the lower right by Payne.
57
Transparency #5:
Pagoda, Old China Town,
Los Angeles
Arthur Edwaine Beaumont,
1890-1978
Transparency #7:
Great Seal of California
The Constitutional Convention of 1849 adopted a
“Great Seal of the State of California.” The seal was
designed by Major Robert Selden Garnett of the United
States Army, and presented to the convention by Caleb
Lyon, one of the clerks of the convention. The explanation accompanying the seal is as follows:
Arthur Edwaine Beaumont painted Pagoda in 1949 using
watercolor on paper. It is an impressionist painting of
lovely greens, golds, reds and blues, depicting the old
buildings and telephone poles that mark this as a historical record of “old Los Angeles.” Beaumont is considered
by many to be America’s greatest watercolor artist of sea
and of ships at sea, but on rare occasions painted landscapes, as he did in Pagoda. But the dynamic use of color
for which he was known is present in this painting.
Views of Los Angeles’ Chinatown are very rare.
“Around the bevel of the ring are represented thirty-one
stars being the number of states of which the union will
consist upon the admission of California. The foreground figure represents the Goddess Minerva having
sprung full-grown from the brain of Jupiter. She is introduced as a type of political birth of the State of
California without having gone through the probation of
a Territory. At her feet crouches a grizzly bear feeding
upon clusters from a grape vine emblematic of the peculiar characteristics of the country. A miner is engaged
with a rocker and bowl at his side, illustrating the golden
wealth of the Sacramento upon which whose waters are
seen shipping typical commercial greatness and the
Snow-clad peaks of the Sierra Nevada make up the background while above is the Greek motto ‘Eureka’ (I have
found it) applying either to the principle involved in the
admission of the State, or the success of the miner at
work.”
Transparency #6:
Confirmation Class
(San Juan Capistrano Mission)
Fannie Eliza Duvall, 1861-1934
Fannie Eliza Duvall studied in New York before moving
to Los Angeles in 1888. She was one of the earliest
accomplished artists to settle in the Southland and
produced landscapes and still-life throughout the 1890s.
Duvall was one of the first local artists to adopt the new
theories of Impressionism. Confirmation Class, depicting
a scene at the San Juan Capistrano Mission, shows how
she found California themes to satisfy Impressionist
formats. Girls heading to confirmation through a mission
garden is a local translation of the popular French theme
of women dressed in white standing in flower gardens.
58
Sand Dunes
18 x 30"
George Gardner Symons (1881/6-1930)
Oil on canvas
c. 1920
www.bowers.org
24 x 32"
Oil on canvas
c. 1931
Courtesy of Bowers Museum
Painting Plein Air
Photograph courtesy of DeRus Fine Arts
www.bowers.org

California Through The Artist`s Eyes

Transcription

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