Investigate an Artwork
A Giacometti Portrait, James Lord (1965)
Readers will investigate the artwork...
James Lord by Alberto Giacometti.
Essential Questions
Background knowledge:What do students need to know before reading in order to better comprehend this story?
Discussion Questions
Dramatization
Students will draw portraits of each other over a period of 18 classes straight (this does not have to take the entire class period each time). Students must not finish the portrait until the 18 classes are over, forcing them to rework as Giacometti did over the course of painting the portrait in the novel. Students should not start over at any point in this process.
Quotes
“That’s the terrible thing: the more one works on a picture, the more impossible it becomes to finish it.” (pg. 11)
“The experience of posing for Giacometti is deeply personal. For one thing, he talks so much, not only about his work but also about himself and his personal relationships, that the model is naturally impelled to do likewise. Such talk may easily produce a sense of exceptional intimacy in the almost supernatural atmosphere of give and take that is inherent in the acts of posing and painting. The reciprocity at times seems almost unbearable. There is an identification between the model and the artist, via the painting, which gradually seems to become an independent, autonomous entity served by them both, each in his own way and, oddly enough, equally.” (p. 37)
“But Giacometti insisted that real progress had nevertheless been made, and that even more progress would surely be made the next day. And, after all, I thought, he saw it in a truer way than I could, because he saw not only where it was but also where it was going.” (pg. 50)
“This, I thought, was the true Giacometti, sitting alone at the back of a café, oblivious to the admiration and recognition of the world, staring into a void from which no solace could come, tormented by the hopeless dichotomy of his ideal yet condemned by that very hopelessness to struggle as long as he lived to try to overcome it. And what consolation was it that the newspapers of many countries spoke of him, that museums everywhere exhibited his works, that people he would never know knew and admired him? None. None at all.” (pg. 66)
Other Notable Items
The Swiss 100 franc bank note features Giacometti and his work.
James Lord by Alberto Giacometti.
Essential Questions
- What is a portrait?
- How does process affect the outcome of an artwork?
- What makes an artwork 'finished'?
Background knowledge:What do students need to know before reading in order to better comprehend this story?
- Brief familiarity with Giacometti's artwork
Discussion Questions
- To what extent is Giacometti's process evident in the final portrait?
- How did working on multiple artworks at the same time affect Giacometti? How did it affect his artwork?
- To what extent did Giacometti make a successful portrait?
- Why was Giacometti unsatisfied with his work?
- In what ways did the relationship between Giacometti and Lord evolve over the course of the sitting?
- How did the relationship between Giacometti and Lord affect the final portrait?
Dramatization
Students will draw portraits of each other over a period of 18 classes straight (this does not have to take the entire class period each time). Students must not finish the portrait until the 18 classes are over, forcing them to rework as Giacometti did over the course of painting the portrait in the novel. Students should not start over at any point in this process.
- Students will experience the roles of sitter and artist in portraiture.
- Students will focus on process, reworking their portrait and taking artistic risks.
- Students will reflect upon the experience and how it affected the resulting portrait.
Quotes
“That’s the terrible thing: the more one works on a picture, the more impossible it becomes to finish it.” (pg. 11)
“The experience of posing for Giacometti is deeply personal. For one thing, he talks so much, not only about his work but also about himself and his personal relationships, that the model is naturally impelled to do likewise. Such talk may easily produce a sense of exceptional intimacy in the almost supernatural atmosphere of give and take that is inherent in the acts of posing and painting. The reciprocity at times seems almost unbearable. There is an identification between the model and the artist, via the painting, which gradually seems to become an independent, autonomous entity served by them both, each in his own way and, oddly enough, equally.” (p. 37)
“But Giacometti insisted that real progress had nevertheless been made, and that even more progress would surely be made the next day. And, after all, I thought, he saw it in a truer way than I could, because he saw not only where it was but also where it was going.” (pg. 50)
“This, I thought, was the true Giacometti, sitting alone at the back of a café, oblivious to the admiration and recognition of the world, staring into a void from which no solace could come, tormented by the hopeless dichotomy of his ideal yet condemned by that very hopelessness to struggle as long as he lived to try to overcome it. And what consolation was it that the newspapers of many countries spoke of him, that museums everywhere exhibited his works, that people he would never know knew and admired him? None. None at all.” (pg. 66)
Other Notable Items
The Swiss 100 franc bank note features Giacometti and his work.
Girl with a Pearl Earring, Tracy Chevalier (2001)
Readers will investigate the artwork...
Girl with a Pearl Earring by Johannes Vermeer.
Essential Questions
Background knowledge:What do students need to know before reading in order to better comprehend this story?
Discussion Questions
Dramatization: Draw using a camera obscura
As a class, turn the room into a camera obscura. Cover the wall with paper where the image is projected and work together to draw the scene out the window on this paper.
Quotes
"He saw things in a way that others did not, so that a city I had lived in all my life seemed a different place, sot hat a woman because beautiful with the light on her face." (p. 60)
"I preferred to think of him alone in his studio. Or not alone, but with only me." (p. 77)
"I had never seen a painting made from the beginning. I thought that you painted what you saw, using the colors you saw. He taught me." (p. 99)
"When the light shone on the wall, I discovered, it was not white, but many colors." (p. 101)
"He was looking at her in a way I had begun to recognize - a painter's way." (p. 106)
"'I would never stop working on a painting if I knew it was not complete, no matter who was going to get it,' he muttered. 'That is not how I work.'" (p. 195)
Other Notable Items
This book has been made into a movie by the same title.
Girl with a Pearl Earring by Johannes Vermeer.
Essential Questions
- Where do artists get ideas?
- What is a portrait?
- What is "seeing"?
- What purpose do portraits serve?
Background knowledge:What do students need to know before reading in order to better comprehend this story?
- Students should know what Girl with a Pearl Earring looks like.
- This novel introduces the background knowledge to provide context for the story.
- Students should have a brief familiarity with Vermeer's paintings.
Discussion Questions
- Why was Griet so drawn to Vermeer?
- Why did Vermeer make Griet wear the pearl in her ear? Why did she have to wear both pearls?
- Why did Vermeer use the camera obscura to see?
- How did Vermeer portray Griet in the painting?
- What is the significance of the title of the book matching the title of the painting?
- To what extent is the painting a portrait of Griet?
- Why was Catharina so upset by the painting?
- Why would someone create a fictional story about this particular painting?
- Why has this book been so successful among readers?
- How has your perception of the painting, Girl with a Pearl Earring, changed after reading this book?
Dramatization: Draw using a camera obscura
As a class, turn the room into a camera obscura. Cover the wall with paper where the image is projected and work together to draw the scene out the window on this paper.
- Students will experience and utilize a 17th century drawing technique.
- Students will discuss how the camera obscura affects the way they see what they draw.
- Students will debate the validity of using a camera obscura to create artwork.
Quotes
"He saw things in a way that others did not, so that a city I had lived in all my life seemed a different place, sot hat a woman because beautiful with the light on her face." (p. 60)
"I preferred to think of him alone in his studio. Or not alone, but with only me." (p. 77)
"I had never seen a painting made from the beginning. I thought that you painted what you saw, using the colors you saw. He taught me." (p. 99)
"When the light shone on the wall, I discovered, it was not white, but many colors." (p. 101)
"He was looking at her in a way I had begun to recognize - a painter's way." (p. 106)
"'I would never stop working on a painting if I knew it was not complete, no matter who was going to get it,' he muttered. 'That is not how I work.'" (p. 195)
Other Notable Items
This book has been made into a movie by the same title.
Strapless, Deborah Davis (2003)
Readers will investigate the artwork...
Madame X by John Singer Sargeant.
Essential Questions
Background Knowledge: What do students need to know before reading in order to better comprehend this story?
Dramatization: Alternate Ending
Now that students have gotten to know Amelie, the subject of Madame X, they should imagine how her life would have turned out differently if the painting had been well received by the public. Would she have purchased the painting? What would be her position in society? Have students imagine that she commissioned another portrait after the success of Madame X (in this scenario). Students should create compositional sketches of this new portrait of Amelie, keeping in mind the artistic choices Sargent made to reflect her personality and employing them to convince the class of her alternate life story.
Quotes
"Madame X, I discovered, is more than an artful depiction of a nineteenth century woman. It is a record of a brilliant and misunderstood artist's collaboration with his extraordinary model." (p. 2)
"She understood that she must choose the creator of her first major portrait with great care, for it would be examined closely by admirers and detractors. Selecting a painter for a portrait was an important personal decision, as important as wearing flattering clothes or arriving with the proper escort." (p. 59)
"Among the many candidates to consider, Amelie would not entrust her image to anyone until she was sure he was capable of creating a masterpiece." (p. 59)
"A generalized depiction of a face - a vague rendering of features and coloring - would never do. Even early portraits, however primitively rendered, had to emphasize a subject's individuality." (p. 77)
"Sargent would have to learn to paint emotionally as well as intellecutally, using his brush to capture that ptentcy as well as his own reaction to it." (p. 117)
"Either way, the portraits mocked her. With those images in circulation, she would always be competing with herself." (p. 213)
"In Madame X, Sargent's greatest psychological portrait, he revealed the unattainable beauty and self-destructive narcissism of both the woman and the decadent society she embodied." (p. 255)
Other Notable Items
Madame X by John Singer Sargeant.
Essential Questions
- What is beauty?
- What is a portrait?
- What purpose(s) do portraits serve?
- How does art reflect identity?
- What role do artists play in society?
- What makes a successful artist?
Background Knowledge: What do students need to know before reading in order to better comprehend this story?
- Students should know what Madame X looks like.
- This novel introduces the background knowledge to provide context for the story.
- Who is Madame X?
- What is a portrait?
- Why did Sargent want to paint a portrait of Amelie?
- In what ways does her portrait reflect Amelie in real life?
- How did Sargent's artistic choices capture Amelie's identity?
- What made Amelie beautiful?
- Why was Madame X so scandalous?
- Why was Madame X so much better received years later?
- Compare images of the painting before the strap was edited and after. Discuss.
- How has your perception of the painting, Madame X, changed after reading this book?
- Discuss contemporary examples of celebrities who met their social demise due to an image.
Dramatization: Alternate Ending
Now that students have gotten to know Amelie, the subject of Madame X, they should imagine how her life would have turned out differently if the painting had been well received by the public. Would she have purchased the painting? What would be her position in society? Have students imagine that she commissioned another portrait after the success of Madame X (in this scenario). Students should create compositional sketches of this new portrait of Amelie, keeping in mind the artistic choices Sargent made to reflect her personality and employing them to convince the class of her alternate life story.
- Students will discuss the impact of Madame X on Amelie's life.
- Students will apply their knowledge of the character, Amelie, to extrapolate an alternate ending to her life.
- Students will create this alternate ending through (compositional sketches for) portraiture.
Quotes
"Madame X, I discovered, is more than an artful depiction of a nineteenth century woman. It is a record of a brilliant and misunderstood artist's collaboration with his extraordinary model." (p. 2)
"She understood that she must choose the creator of her first major portrait with great care, for it would be examined closely by admirers and detractors. Selecting a painter for a portrait was an important personal decision, as important as wearing flattering clothes or arriving with the proper escort." (p. 59)
"Among the many candidates to consider, Amelie would not entrust her image to anyone until she was sure he was capable of creating a masterpiece." (p. 59)
"A generalized depiction of a face - a vague rendering of features and coloring - would never do. Even early portraits, however primitively rendered, had to emphasize a subject's individuality." (p. 77)
"Sargent would have to learn to paint emotionally as well as intellecutally, using his brush to capture that ptentcy as well as his own reaction to it." (p. 117)
"Either way, the portraits mocked her. With those images in circulation, she would always be competing with herself." (p. 213)
"In Madame X, Sargent's greatest psychological portrait, he revealed the unattainable beauty and self-destructive narcissism of both the woman and the decadent society she embodied." (p. 255)
Other Notable Items
- This image has been appropriated in contemporary fashion advertisements.