constructing meaning from art portraits of family

Constructing Meaning from Art

Portraits of Family

Thinking Skills

Describe

Explain

Apply

Perspective

Empathy

Self-Knowledge

Creation

Norman RockwellDiego Rivera

Knowledge/Comprehension

Describe what you see.

What is the mood (how do you feel)?

What is the tone (what was the artist’s attitude)?

In your own words, explain what you think is happening?

Knowledge/Comprehension

Describe what you see.

What is the mood (how do you feel)?

What is the tone (what was the artist’s attitude)?

In your own words, explain what you think is happening?

Venn Diagram: Compare/Contrast

Norman RockwellDiego Rivera

Many Family MembersSitting Indoors

Small FamilySitting Outdoors

FamilySitting

Norman RockwellDiego Rivera

Family Portrait

About the Artists

Norman Rockwell’s painting is called, Freedom from Want. His work is described as cheerful, tolerant, sympathetic to all (or nearly all) of society.

As the painter, starting early, working late every day, Norman Rockwell himself seemed to exemplify the American virtues he portrayed. His view of life excluded the sordid and ugly, he said, because: "I paint life as I would like it to be.”

About the Artists

Diego Rivera’s painting is called Portrait of the Knight Family. Diego Rivera was a leading Muralist who painted themes of social inequality; the relationship of nature, industry, and technology. Rivera also produced a large number of oil portraits, usually of the Mexican bourgeoisie, children, or American tourists.

Rivera said, "When art is true, it is one with nature. This is the secret of primitive art and also of the art of the masters—Michelangelo, Cezanne, Seurat, and Renoir. The secret of my best work is that it is Mexican.”

Application: Construct Meaning

Instructions:

1. Copy the sentence frames bel0w.

I think the family in the Rockwell portrait seems ____________ because _____________.

I think the family in the Diego portrait seems ____________ because _____________.

Norman RockwellDiego Rivera

Instructions: 2. Construct your own meaning about what is going on in each painting by filling in the blanks with your own words and ideas.