Have fun exploring the exhibition and make some art of your own

CHildreN’S TrAil

A b ST r Ac T i o n PAT H S T o A b S T r A c T i o n 1 8 6 7 – 1 9 1 7

Look, draw and have fun!

Go on a journey through the exhibition

Discover the abstract artworks

Collect a pencil

cover: Wassily Kandinsky Study for ‘Painting with white border’ (Moscow) 1913 (detail), watercolour, gouache, ink. Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, purchased 1982below: Gabriele Münter Village street in winter 1911 (detail), oil on board mounted on woodStädtische Galerie im Lenbachaus, Munich

Journey through the exhibition and marvel at the masterpieces. explore how artists changed our way of seeing the world through abstract colour, mood and shape.

Written by Victoria Collings; designed by Karen Hancock© Public Programs Department, Art Gallery of New South Wales 2010

At home listen to some music and paint a picture of a river responding to the flow of the music you have chosen.

Drift over to this river scene of the Thames in London.

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es A

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ott

McN

eill

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stle

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er, t

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947Whistler often gave his paintings

musical titles to make us look more closely at the colours and shapes. Which word in the title of this painting do you think is musical?

Observe the colours he has used. What time of day do you think it is?

Imagine yourself on the riverbank. What sounds can you hear? Is it warm or cold? Identify what you think the little white brush marks are.

Look at the lines in this painting. Do they all go in the same direction? Can you make out any buildings?

Draw this same scene on a warm, sunny day. Add some buildings, boats and people to make your scene livelier.

At home use paints and different size paintbrushes to create a landscape scene using your own taches of paint to build up the shapes.

Here is another river scene.

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apon

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rsar

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ctor

of

the

Gal

leryCan you see where the water

is? Describe the colours in the water. Are they what you expect an artist to use? Why has Cézanne used them?

Cézanne liked to paint using brush marks you can see called taches. His taches are like building blocks forming the shapes and colours. Detect what size paintbrush he used.

Spot the people in this scene. How many are there? What are they doing?

Make up a poem about one of the people starting each line with the letters of ‘river’.

R

I

V

E

R

At home read stories or watch movies about children who have nannies. Invent your own story and draw a series of pictures to show what happens.

Bonnard liked to paint scenes of everyday life in a decorative way. Count how many horses, carriages and dogs you can see on the screen.

horses carriages

dogs

Look closely at this screen.

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Where do you think the nannies and children are? What time of year do you think it is? What are the children playing with? Describe your favourite thing to do outdoors to someone who is with you and explain why you like it so much.

Draw yourself playing in the park with your friends and add a repeat pattern of trees or cars.

Watch out for this fierce-looking tiger!

At home use cut-out shapes in black paper and stick them onto a white background to make your own animal design.

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z M

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f A

rt, B

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ood

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undObserve how Marc has used

curves and lines to create this print of a tiger. Describe what you can see around the tiger and how the tiger blends in to create a design.

Imagine what you would do if you suddenly met this tiger. Tell the tale of your adventure to someone with you.

Draw a new environment inside or outside for the tiger and shade in some of your shapes with your pencil.

At home experiment with mixing paint into lots of different colours. Paint a picture using the new colours you create.

Find this colourful painting.

And

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erai

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1905

, oil

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y Artists like Derain and Matisse loved to paint using bright colours and were known as The Fauves, which means ‘wild beasts’, because people were not used to seeing such dazzling colours and were quite shocked.

List all of the colours Derain has used in this painting.

Spot the knight on the horse. What is he holding?

Design a new flag for the knight to hold.

Compare this scene with other paintings in this room. Which one is your favourite? Why?

Explore this painting with your five senses.

At home set up a plate of fruit and a vase of flowers and draw or paint your own still life.

Ale

xei J

awle

nsky

Lar

ge v

aria

tion

1915

, gou

ache

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tung

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What would they taste like? Can you smell anything sweet?

Look at the brush marks the artist has used. Do you think he painted quickly or slowly? Role-play how Jawlensky painted this picture. What equipment would he need?

Sketch your favourite food below in a group called a still life.

Principal sponsor: Ernst & Young

PAT H S T o A b S T r A c T i o n 1 8 6 7 – 1 9 1 7Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney26 June – 19 September 2010

Rug up and enter this wintry scene.

At home make your own village or town using cardboard boxes and tubes. Draw windows and doors and decorate your buildings.

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riele

Mün

ter

Villa

ge s

tree

t in

win

ter

1911

, oil

on b

oard

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nted

on

woo

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, Mun

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Look carefully at how Münter has used vivid colours in this village scene. What colour helps you imagine how cold this village is? Can you see snow?

Describe what the buildings look like.

Extend the picture and draw some more buildings and gardens in this village in the same style as the artist.

PAT H S T o A b S T r A c T i o n 1 8 6 7 – 1 9 1 7Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney26 June – 19 September 2010

Travel to these unusual houses.

At home discover more about Cubism and the artists Braque and Picasso.

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Bra

que

/AD

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isco

py, S

ydne

y Look at the angles and shapes Braque has used to paint these trees and houses. This style of art is called Cubism because of the box-like style of the shapes. Name what shapes you can see.

Observe how the shapes and colours blend. Is it easy to find the houses?

Imagine you live in the big house. Write a letter to a friend describing your home and what you can see through the window.

At home cut out shapes from coloured paper and arrange them on a background into a shape or pattern and create your own abstract artwork.

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imir

Mal

evic

h H

ouse

und

er c

onst

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ion

1915

–16,

oil

on c

anva

s. N

atio

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Here is a house under construction.

Can you tell it is a house? Malevich has simplified the house into shapes and lines. What parts of the house could they be?

Consider if we could be looking at a birds-eye view, from high above. Does that change your ideas about what the shapes could be?

Design your own house below using only squares, rectangles and lines from a birds-eye view.

Duchamp liked to find objects to make into sculptures. These artworks are called ‘ready-mades’ and were a very new idea at the time.

Describe what you can see.

Walk around this sculpture and imagine what it could be used for.

Invent a machine that uses this sculpture somewhere in its workings and draw your idea.

At home collect recycled materials and found objects and make your own sculpture with them.

Discover this sculpture.

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