Kindergarten Art Docent Program - Earhart Elementary School Artists Paint Houses Kindergarten Art Docent Program - Earhart Elementary School

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Chateau Maurice Utrillo [1883 – 1955] was born in Paris and was an unhappy child. He began drinking too much wine in his teens. His mom got him paints and brushes to help him get well. He painted many city scenes. He became famous and received a very high award – The Legion of Honor. His paintings are usually quiet and peaceful and somewhat lonely in feeling. This small castle in France has a quiet, peaceful mood. The artist gave it a sunny feeling by using warm colors for the stone walls and roofs. Would you like to live in this castle? Can you find a small stream? What season do you think it is? What shape is the top of the largest tower? Which figure is closest to us? Can you describe the shapes of the windows?

Rain Marc Chagall [1887 – 1985] was the oldest of nine children in a Jewish family. His paintings often show us delightful magical images where the laws of gravity are overturned. He illustrated books, painted the ceiling of the Paris Opera House. He made many stained glass windows for important buildings all over the world. He was 98 years old when he died Marc used oil and charcoal on this painting. A man in the sky is trying to make the goat go in the barn before the rain comes. There are a man with an umbrella and a man is tipped forward. The log house probably very like the ones in the village where Marc lived as a boy. The roof is made up of triangular shapes. The triangles, squares and rectangles are called geometric shapes, and very different from the curving rolling shapes of the clouds and trees. Why do you think Marc named his painting “Rain”? Do you think it is strange and like make-believe to see figures up in the sky? For the houses, what shapes do you see?

House at Aix Paul Cezanne [1839 – 1906] tried to study business and law for his dad but showing no interest in either. He left to Paris to study painting, but in his first show in 1874, public and critics didn’t like his work. He disliked city life, and so he spent most of his life in southern France to work outdoors in the clean light and crisp air. His genius began to be recognized in his later life. Today he is called the “father of modern art” because f his new ways to paint and influenced artists who came after him. This large house is in southern France, which was bought by Paul’s dad in 1859. It is called “place of the wind”. Paul painted some pictures on the walls inside the house. The house and countryside are painted in warm, golden yellow and orange tones. The roof tiles are red-orange. This house still stand in Aix today. How many stories are there in this house? What shapes are the windows?

Victorian Interior Horace Pippin [1888 – 1946] was an African American artist, who taught himself how to paint. He had a crippled right arm due to an injury in World War I. He didn’t start painting until he was 40 years old. In the last six years of his life, he made 76 paintings, most of them expressing his feelings about his own life’s experiences and about war. This room is very tidy and neat. An inside view is called “interior” and “Victorian” means a style of furniture and building that was popular when Queen Victoria of England lived. Back then, this type of room was kept very neat and only used on special occasions or when guests visited. We have a lot of Victorian houses in Alameda. What do you see in this painting? Which objects have texture? Do you think that the flowers and table are actually that much larger than the chairs and bookcase? Close your eyes and try to remember your living room. When you go home, see if you forgot anything.

Hunt Farm Maxfield Parrish [1870 – 1966] was born in Philadelphia. His parents encouraged his artistic talents from an early age. He was one of the most successful and original American painters and illustrators of the earl 20th century – a period that has been called the Golden Age of Illustration. He illustrated 65 years of books and magazines, made posters and advertisements. It is set on a hill and is a large building. It has two stories and probably a big attic. Attics are good places to store family trunks and old furniture and things. The roof is a reddish color with a chimney. The light from the rising sun is striking the house, the trees, and the barn and other farm buildings. There are some light fluffy clouds behind the house. Maxfield’s own home in New Hampshire was much like the house and landscape we see here. Would you like to live in this farm house? Would you like to take a walk into this painting and play in the fields near the brook?

Winter Harbor Henry Gasser [1909 – 1981] was born in New Jersey. He has painted many realistic scenes of coastal life, using both watercolors and oil paints. The houses are made of wood and have two stories. There is snow on the roofs. We can see some boats on the water. Henry was high up, perhaps in another house and looking down when he painted this picture. He used a lot of white. Would you like to live in one of these houses? What shapes are the windows? Do you see any chimneys or fences? Do you think the sun is shining? Can you find yellow? Henry balanced the yellow on the right with the yellow on the left. Can you find the harbor? What sounds would you hear if you were there?

Four Accomplishments Okajima Toyohiro [1733 – 1828] was Japanese known as a teacher of painting and wood engravings. His subjects were frequently young women engaged in some social activity in landscape background. Here we see the beauty and simplicity of a Japanese home with its sliding screens and a view of he world outside. See all the vertical lines. An accomplishment is something that you have learned to do. These paintings are separated into two narrow panels that together tell a story about the accomplishments required of well-brought up young Japanese women. These accomplishments are: painting, writing poetry, playing a musical instrument, and skill at indoor games [Go]. We see detailed of patterns in the fabrics and in small objects. We see how the young girls are dressed and how they wore their hair. Do these lines move your eyes around the painting? What activities do you see in these paintings?

Examples