the PDF - Rembrandt and Collections of His Art in America

The Rembrandt Teaching Project: Promoting Multiple Literacies in Teaching and
Learning
Joseph M. Piro
Art Education, Vol. 54, No. 3, InterDisciplinary. (May, 2001), pp. 12-17.
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The Rembrandt Teaching Project: Promoting Multiple
Literacies in Teaching and
Learning
linus, listing the names of
shed European painters."
he name Rembrandtconjures up the
image of an art historical monument,
a master who personified the height
of creative and artistic powers.
T
As with many human monuments, there is a tendency
toward thinking of him and his works as remote, mysterious, even unapproachable. This article will outline how
Rembrandt became an accessible, admired, and beloved
figure to a group of educators and their students in a large
urban school district in New York City. It will discuss the
genesis of the The Rembrandt Teaching Project, describing how education generalists were drawn into the artistic
world of 17th-century Europe, discovering how it could
speak both to them and their students. It will also address
multiple literacies (Eisner, 1998) that go beyond basic
reading and writing as students learn to understand and
decode an entire symbol system. A thorough mastery of
this understanding process should include a spectrum of
ART EDUCATION i MAY 2001
literacies, resulting in what Eisner calls a vision of what
our schools should seek to achieve." This mastery was the
goal of the Rembrandt Teaching Project.
The impetus for the project came from an Arts
Education Fellowship from the National Endowment for
the Arts (NEA) and the Getty Center for Education in the
Arts to design a discipline-based art education (DBAE)
project (Dobbs, 1997). I proposed to study Rembrandt in
the context of his culture, society, and historical time and
produce a curriculum guide for teachers interested in
teaching Rembrandt using the DBAE approach.
An important aspect of the NEA Fellowship required an
on-site visit to the Netherlands to collect primary source
material about Rembrandt. Included in this material were
videos, books, maps, postcards, and art reproductions
from such places as The Rijksmuseum and The Museum
of the City of Amsterdam and the Mauritshuis in The
Hague. I also visited Leiden, Rembrandt's birthplace. Much
of this material was included in the curriculum guide that
"
BY J O S E P H M. PIRO
resulted. The blend of geography and
art history in a slide presentation helped
provide information about the l i e and
times of Rembrandt for those teachers
who became involved in the project.
The project's first task was the formation of a curriculum-writingcommittee
consisting of four classroom teachers
and supervisors, either generalists or
artspecialists. After determining the
format of the curriculum guide, the
committee constructed a guide that
presented a variety of teaching and
learning activities about Rembrandt
At the same time, they studied his art
and lie. They also learned about the
four curriculum content areas of DBAE,
including art history, art production, art
criticism, and aesthetics and reviewed
the curriculum sampler (Alexander &
Day, 1991) that served as the guide's
template.
Library, the committee acquired an indepth understanding of the works and
lie of the artist.
Equipped with basic knowledge of
DBAE and Rembrandt, the cumculum
committee began designing actual
lessons for the guide now titled, From
the Bmcsh of Rembrandt: Discoveries
Through Discipline-Based Art Education
(1999). The committee agreed that the
teaching guide must be experiential
and lead to the construction of knowledge. Inquiry-basedlessons that
involved hands-on learning experiences
were developed. Lessons were
designed to promote problem-solving
abilities and encourage interdisciplinary connections.
To illustrate the diversity of
Rembrandt's talent, 18 of his works
were selected for the guide. These
included paintings, etchings, and drawings and featured works from museums
in the New York City area. Lessons
began with a preview and art historical
background to each work, followed by
the work's description. After this, the
lessons presented suggestions for
classroom instruction,enrichment, and
assessment.
For the first task of curriculum
writing, the committee members
used the resources of three
museums in New York to extend
and enrich their knowledge
about Rembrandt.The three sites,
the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the
Frick Collection, and the Morgan
Library, all expressed a willingness to
assist in the project. The Metropolitan
Museum of Art is home to many great
Rembrandt works including Man in
Oriental Costume (1632),Aristotle with
a Bust ofHomer (1653), and Woman
with a Pink (c. 1662-63).The cumculum team spent time at museum's
library and studying the works with
museum educator Rika Burnham.
Additionally, they made multiple visits
to the Frick Collection where they
worked with Susan Galassi,Amy
Herman, and Ashley Thomas. Using
the additional resources of the Morgan
MAY 2001 / ART EDUCATION
$
The guide was discipline-basedin
structure and designed to include visual
arts standards developed by NewYork
State (1996). These standardswere
included to better inform, support, and
guide teaching in the visual arts. This
helped equip teachers with a knowledge
base to clearly link instruction and
didactic assessment (Beattie, 1997) to
content standards. As an example, one
of the State's standardsrecommends
that "students will reflect on, interpret,
and evaluate works of art, using the
language of art criticism" (p. 19).
Accordingly, suggestions as to how this
process could occur were embedded in
lessons.
As an example of construction,
a lesson based upon The Polish Rider
(c. 1655) is included.This work is a
particularlyinteresting choice because
questions have been raised about the
accuracy of its Rembrandt attribution.
Having been authenticated recently by
the Rembrandt Research Project, a
group of scholars asked by the Dutch
governmentto determine the genuineness of works by Rembrandt, it raises
questions about the artist and his
works that can challenge students.
These questions include issues in art
history, aesthetics, and the process of
authenticity.
ART EDUCATION I MAY 2001
The Polish Riderand some
of Rembrandt's landscapes
and portraits are replete with
allegory and symbolism. By
focusing teachers' attention
on these aspects, we hoped to
encourage an approach that
would expand students'
responses from just identifying
names and dates to including
more analytical readings of
Rembrandt's work (Chanda, 1998).
For instance,discussing the symbolism
of the placement of light and rider in the
painting promotes this type of analytical
response, encouragingthe engagement
and application of higher- level thinking
skills such as close observation,
prediction, and hypothesis formation, in
effect making students think like art
historians.
To include the process of reflection
about learning as students' exposure to
Rembrandt's art increased, it was suggested that teachers use a Rembrandt
Project Portfolio as an assessmenttool.
This portfolio not only contained
extrinsic assessmentevidence such as
drawings, sketches,first drafts, and
works-in-progress,but also written and
spoken reflections about the entire
learning process that permitted multiple
validationsof learning. Thisparticular
strategy was an extension of ideas
expressed by Soren (1992) in which she
refers to the daerence between
"knowing that" and "knowinghow," as
explicatedby Ryle (1949). In knowing
that, students may increase their factual
knowledge in various core competencies,whereas in knowing how, the
entire cognitive repertoires of students
are enhanced, enabling them to "find
truths for themselves and their ability
to organize and exploit truths" once
discovered (p. 95). Throughout the
implementation of the Rembrandt
Project, it was important to ensure that
both these learning and performance
outcomeswere pursued and their
success appropriately assessed.
Reflection,as described in the New
York State Standards,allows both
teacher and student to achieve what
Bums (1998) described as "felt expres
siveness." This phrase characterizesan
aesthetic experiencethat begins in perception and ends in a personal reflection
as these fuse into a single, enduring
experience. This experience can then
be related to further encounters that will
deepen the individual's understanding
and appreciation of a subject as this
process evolves.
The first draft of the curriculum
guide was field tested using a small
group of the district's educational
enrichment teachers who worked with
students in grades 3-5.The targeted
student population was diverse and
included at-risk, English-as-a-secondlanguage,and intellectuallygifted
students. Based upon their responses to
the project's field testing, a customized
plan for the project's first-yearimple
mentation was developed.
Implementation of the project began
with a district-widecall for volunteer
teachers in grades 58. They were asked
to complete an application telling why
they were interested in the project and
how they would use the training in their
individual classrooms. Conditionsfor
participation-staff development, classroom implementation,and formative
and sumrnative assessment-were
outlined.After a group of teachers was
selected, the next phase of the project
commenced.
In order to capture a high level of
teacher interest and continued
motivation, the initial sta£Edevelopment
session was in the form of a 2-day
"RembrandtWeekend." One day was
"In keeping with the spirit
of multiple literacies, it is
suggested that knowledge
of a certain number of
books and authors would
promote language literacy
and also knowledge of
artists and their works
would promote visual
literacy."
Figure 2. Rembrandt, The Polish Rider, c. 1655,46x 53 '/8." (116.3 x 134.9 crn.). New York, The FrickCollection.
spent at the Metropolitan Museum of
Art and the next at the Frick Collection.
At both sites, the program included pre
sentations by art historians, curators,
and other speakers, as well as talks by
the project's director and curriculum
writers. It served to introduce the guide
to teachers in both a scholarly and
enjoyable manner, while paralleling
experiences some of the participants
had in the district's previous schoolmuseum collaborations (Piro, 1997).
Trainingteachersinamuseum
has several unique advantages.
It allows art to be viewed and
taughtfirsthand,andithelpsto
model future "lookina" exoeriences for teachers ifihey
choose
to return to the museumwith
their students. Mostimportantly,
it serves to provide teachers with
greater "content command" of the art
and begin the continuing process of
expanding their instructional role from
that of teacher to teacher-docentThis
gave them insights into how to use a
museum, effectivelytransforming the
museum into an extension of their
classroom,an anticipated by-product
of the project.
It was also during this weekend
symposium that teachers viewed the
slide presentation about Rembrandt.
This provided them with further
contextual information about the artist
andenabledthemtounderstandhim
theperswctive of time and
dace. Avariety of materialswas distrib
utedincludingthecumculumguide,
related journal articles, laminated color
prints, slides
of the .works
included
in
.
.
.. .
.
the curriculum, and additional museum
reference publications.
During the symposium the question
'Why teach Rembrandt?"was among
those that arose. Severalresponses
were offered. First, because little or no
time is spent in elementaryclassrooms
teaching art history-what some art
teachers call the "missing discipline"introducing an artist of Rembrandt's
stature could serve to promote the
cultural intelligence of students and
acquaint them with great works of art
Second, it expanded the recent recommendation by the New York City Public
Schools that all students should read 25
or more books per year. In keeping with
the spirit of multiple literacies,it is
suggested that knowledge of a certain
number of books and authorswould
promote languageliteracy and also
knowledge of artists and their works
would promote visual literacy.Visual
literacy would be served by familiarizing
studentswith art masterpieces that they
would readily identify and intelligently
and critically discuss.
MAY 2 0 0 1 I ART E D U C A T I O N
REMBRANDT A N D PORTRAITURE
REMBRANDT A N D PORTRAITURE
SUGGESTIONS FOR INSTRUCTlON
Developing the Lesson
Display ?lie Polish Rider. Some questions for
discussion may include the folloump.
WON< N, 2
Title:
Size
Medmm.
Location.
7 k ~PousH R m E R (1655)
46x531/8w
OILON CANVAS
TKEFRICK
COLLEC~ON,
NEWYOFX
(I) Identify the man. Locate the c o u n q of
Poland on a map.
( 2 ) Compare the face of the rider to the face
of the horse. Are their moods the same or
different?
Lesson Preview
7'hts work, a rare equeshan portrait, is imbued uath elements of mystey, drama and mood.
(3). How are the bodies of the rider and the
horse the same?
771% lesson dismsses these features also shouwg how Rembrandt cnn be considered a great
storyteller through hts paintings.
Background of the Work
There is much speculation as to the
identip of the rider. Valentiner suggests the
figure represents Gysbrecht van Amstel, a
hero of Dutch medieval history and the subject
of a play by Vondel. Others believe the rider
represents a foreign soldier. The Polish
schoia,Zygulski argues that the painting is a
portrait of the Polish light calvap in the
mid-se>enteenth centup Despite all the
speculation, most would a g e e the form. mood
and sening of The Polish Rider are quite
unusual.
It seems the artist intended
something more than a mere description of an
indixidual.
Description of the Work
(4). U%y do you think Rembrandt placed the
sun on the leti side of the painting, while
shadows prevail on the right side?
sculpmre placed on a mountain ledge. A
young man rides dvough a shadowy landscape
as the sun sets, In the upper left hand comer
of the canvas light tinges the clouds with
yellow. H e a y brownish clouds darken the
center of the sky. His quilted three-quaner
coat appears gray in the shadows and yellow
in the light areas.
The coat's linlng is brown. The
trousers are vermilion. The center of his cap
matches the color of his pants. His cap is
surrounded by a band of dark fur with a lighter
fur trim His boots are a deep golden color.
He holds a war hammer in his right hand
behind which is his bow and a black qmver.
filled with m o w s . Along the right side of the
hone rests a sword under the rider's knee.
(5). Identify the deta~lsin the picture that
suggest a more s h s t e r qualify.
.Extending the Lesson
(1). Squint your eyes. It seems that the horse
and rider are moving. Discuss how Rembrandt
achieves this effect. (An Criricismj
(4) The question of attribution of a painting
refers to its authenticity Was it really painted
by the artist? In this painting, attribution
comes into question. It has been suggested
that Rembrandt is not the work's artist.
Discuss the question of attribution and its
importance. Information on "the school of
Rembrandl," "the sfyle of Rembrandt" and the
"workshop of Rembrandt" can be discussed.
(Arr Criricismj
(5). Show the class a pichlre of a Frederick
Remington sculpture of a horse and rider.
Have the class discuss the work. Have them
note especially details of fonn and movement
contained in the sculpture. Display The
Pohsh Rider. Discuss the idea that although it
is a painting, 17 contains some of the same
characteristics of a sculphlre. (Art Criricrsm)
.Assessing the Lesson
Have the students become pan of the story of
the painting. Have them dramatize the events
that preceded and followed this ride. Turn
these Into a small playlet.
(2). Draw a picture, or series of pictures
(cartoon) depicting their journey. U'rite a
caption under each picture describing the
journey (Art Productionj
(3). Create a flip book of their journey. (Art
Productioni
The Polrsh Rider is a portrait that
breaks with tradition. Equesuian pomaits are
uncommon in seventeenth century Dutch an.
The rider and his horse are like a painted
?lie Skeleron Rider
c. 1655
I
I
I
I
Figure 3. Lesson plan for The Polish Riderfrom The Rembrandt Teaching Guide.
Third, Rembrandt was a highly theatrical painter. Many of his works tell
wonderful stories. Children love to be
told stories,and using Rembrandt's
paintings to tell stories could bridge the
gap between language and visual literacies. After all, children do not think only
in written language but also in visual
image (Broudy, 1987). For example,
Rembrandt's history paintings Storm on
the Sea of Galilee (1633) and
Belshazzar's Feast (c. 1635)presentvivid
representations of stories that appeal to
children's imaginations. In the teaching
guide, Rembrandt's use of chiaroscuro,
or light/dark contrast, in these two
works is discussed. Not only are
students asked to describe the use of
chiaroscuro in both paintings, but also
how it is used to heighten the dramatic
power of the storytelling.
Finally,the roots of much local history in New York are Dutch. Broadening
the unit to acknowledge this fact was an
APT E?UCbTl@lJ
M A Y 2001
effectiveway to make interdisciplinary
connections with social studies,further
addressing geographic and historic
literacies. Connecting DBAE content to
social studies provides a richer, more
resonant experience in art. As an example, the painting The Syndics of the Cloth
Makers' Guild (1662) contains images of
individuals dressed in what students
might call "Pilgrim" clothing,the type
undoubtedly worn by the citizens in the
city of New Amsterdam, which later
became New York. Also, a discussion
stressing the historical background of
the subjects is included in the teaching
suggestions. Information about the role
of guilds in 17th-centuryAmsterdam
and how the painting has been used
subsequently to sell commercial
products could be included to develop
economic literacy.
Throughout the 2-day symposium,
teachers were encouraged to become
more familiarwith both museums and
their holdings beyond the Rembrandt
paintings. They also were encouraged
to return with their classes, preferably
on a multiple-visitbasis, and also to
make "virtualvisits" to the collections
using the museums' websites.
Additionally,passes allowed teachers to
return to both museums to explore
them independently, ensuring that the
museums would serve as a continuing
agent of professional development.
An additional staff development
session devoted to instruction in
DBAE and other issues in art education occurred at the district's
central office several weeks after
the symposi~m.At this session, the
teachers received additional training
literature, viewed videotapes, and heard
presentations further explaining DBAE.
They also were given classroom library
books (more language literacy links) for
their students and a bibliographiclisting
of information sources in the cumculum guide for their own use that would
increase their knowledge of Rembrandt.
Prominent among these were technology-based resources such as CD-ROMs
and laserdisks encouraging computer
literacy and technologicalintegration. A
listing of websites for "cyber art" browsing was also included in the multimedia
resource recommendations. Also, the
cumculum guide contained Rembrandt
Activity Sheets for teachers to use with
their students. Activity sheets included
crossword puzzles, games, mathematical challenges, historical puzzles, and
art activities. Suggestions on how to
best maximize the potential of these to
promote the teaching of multiple literacies were another component of the
teacher training. Teachers were encouraged to sample the exercises themselves and then customize them for use
with their students.
At present, the Project is operating in
about half of the district's schools and is
in the process of being formatively evaluated. It also has the advantage of being
connected to Project Arts, an initiative in
New York City to establish intensive,
comprehensive, and sustainable arts
education programs in schools throughout New York. Project Arts has pennitted The Rembrandt Project to reach a
large number of students and teachers
who are introduced to the Rembrandt
Project chiefly through curriculum and
professional development. Plans are
being formulated to continue staff development through a series of workshops
for teachers at sites like the Frick
Collection and discussions led by
university art historians and professors.
Questionnaires, interviews,and an
Aesthetic Assessment Inventory have
been designed both for teacher participants and students for the purpose of
gathering feedback about the project's
structure, implementation,and impact
in changing teaching to include multiple
literacies. Once these data have been
collected and reviewed, additional
recommendations for increasing the
scope of the project beyond the initial
cohort of teachers will be made.
Rembrandt said, "a picture is
finished when the artist has
fulfilled his purpose in undertaking it." Muchlikeany picture
composed by an artist, The Rembrandt
Project has multiple purposes. Scholars,
museum educators, teachers, and their
students came together in like-minded
community to explore the art of one of
world's greatest painters. This successful collaboration makes the point that
the path to unity of purpose-defining a
vision of what our schools can achievecan be a joyful and productive journey.
Joseph Piro is Coordinator of Cultural
Artsfor School District 24 in the New
York City Public Schools. E-mail:
jpiro@nycboe.nycenet.edu
REFERENCES
Alexander, K., &Day, M., Eds. (1991).
Discipline-bused art education: A cum'culum
sampler. Santa Monica, CA: The Getty
Center for Education in the Arts.
Beattie, D. K (1997).Assessment in art education. Worcester, MA. Davis Publications.
Broudy, H. (1987). The role of imagery in learning. Los Angeles: The Getty Center for
Education in the Arts.
Bums, E. J. (1998). When 1+1=1:An interartistic aesthetic for opera.Journal ofAesthetic
Education, 21 (I), 49-58.
Chanda, J. (1998). Art history methods: The
options for art education practice. Art
Education, 51 (5), 17-24.
Dobbs, S. M. (1997). harning in and through
art. Aguide to discipline-based art education.
Los Angeles: The Getty Center for
Education in the Arts.
Eisner, E. (1998). The kind ofschools we need.
Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.
From the brush ofRembrandt: Discoveries
through discipline-bused art education.
(1999). New York, NY: School District 24.
New York State Learning Standards for the Arts
(1996), New York State Education Department, Albany, NY. Piro, J.M. (1997). School-museum collaboration: Apassage to Asian study. Education
aboutAsia, 2 (2), 14-20.
Ryle, G. (1949). The concept of mind. New
York: Barnes and Noble.
Soren, B. (1992). The museum as curricular
site.Journal ofAesthetic Education, 26 (3),
91-101.
AUTHOR'S NOTE
Special acknowledgment is given to Mark
Conn, Georgi Gelalles, Roseann Napolitano,
and Helen Paladino for their work on The
Rembrandt Project.
MAY 2001 1 ART EDUCATION
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The Rembrandt Teaching Project: Promoting Multiple Literacies in Teaching and Learning
Joseph M. Piro
Art Education, Vol. 54, No. 3, InterDisciplinary. (May, 2001), pp. 12-17.
Stable URL:
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References
Art History Inquiry Methods: Three Options for Art Education Practice
Jacqueline Chanda
Art Education, Vol. 51, No. 5, Critical Lenses. (Sep., 1998), pp. 17-24.
Stable URL:
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