Educator Resources: Modern European and

The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Educator Resources: Modern European and American Art
The following resources are designed to prepare for and extend a classroom visit to the Ackland Art Museum. The
experiences are intended to support classroom curriculum and learning standards, while allowing for students to
express their ideas through a variety of formats – writing, discussion, research, and art making. Activities and
conversation starters can be modified per grade level and discipline.
Introduction
The United States and many European countries experienced many political, technological, and social changes during
the 19th century.
Artists experimented with new techniques, materials, and ideas in their art making. The Impressionists, often working
outdoors with paint in tubes (a recent invention), tried to capture the sense of movement and change in nature. Others
experienced and represented the leisure activities of the middle and upper classes in cafes, the ballet, and outings in
country villages. At the close of the century, some artists turned their attention from modern life to the interior world of
dreams and memories.
The changes of the 19th century became even more pronounced in the 20th century. Artists continued to explore the
world through new ideas related to line, color, shape, form, and function. Art became less about narrative, and more
about abstract ideas, emotions, and the materials use to make art.
Pre Visit experiences

Looking Closely
As a class, look closely at Camille Pissarro’s The Banks of the Oise, Near Pontoise or Albert Gleizes’ Composition.
(See digital images and artwork information). Consider the following:
o
o
o

Look closely at this image and describe what you see.
What information might this work of art tell you about the artist that made it?
Where would you find more information about this work of art using the visual clues that you see?
Have students research Modern European or American artists that are represented at the Ackland Art Museum,
the North Carolina Museum of Art, or The Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University. Encourage students to
share their findings through a variety of formats – research papers, display boards, image and word collages, etc.
Artists could include, but are not limited to:
Josef Albers
Milton Avery
Romare Bearden
George Bellows
Joseph Beuys
Thomas Hart Benton
Pierre Bonnard
Georges Braque
Alexander Calder
Mary Cassatt
Marc Chagall
Giorgio de Chirico
Joseph Cornell
Salvador Dali
Edgar Degas
Jean Dubuffet
Marcel Duchamp
Max Ernst
Paul Gaugin
Vincent van Gogh
Alberto Giacometti
Albert Gleizes
George Grosz
Wassily Kandinsky
Gustav Klimt
Kathe Kollwitz
Rene Magritte
Edouard Manet
Henri Matisse
Joan Miro
Piet Mondrian
Claude Monet
Pablo Picasso
Camille Pissarro
Man Ray
Ad Reinhardt
Pierre-Auguste Renoir
Auguste Rodin
Henri Rousseau
Charles Sheeler
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Complete a K-W-L chart (see attached) to help students confirm what they know about art. The prompts include:
“What I already know about art.”, “What I want to know about art.”, and “What I learned about art.”
Post Visit experiences

After your Museum Visit
o Have students share one thing they remembered from the Museum. (Note: This activity can be done on the
bus back to school and allows for students to be accountable for their learning and arts experience.)
o
Back in the classroom, have students think about their Museum experiences and respond through writing
or drawing.
o
Review the pre-visit experience K-W-L chart to see which predictions were true and what new ideas
students learned.
o
Create a class mural about the trip by passing around a large sheet of paper so students can write or sketch
their impressions of the trip.
Additional Web Resources:

Ackland Art Museum, Chapel Hill: www.ackland.org/collection

Metropolitan Museum, New York: www.metmuseum.org/toah/

Museum of Modern Art, New York: www.moma.org/learn/moma_learning

Philadelphia Museum of Art: www.philamuseum.org/education/resources.html

San Francisco Museum of Modern Art: www.sfmoma.org/explore/educators/teacher_resources
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
North Carolina Essential Standards: Social Studies
5.G.1.4
Understand how human activity has and continues to shape the United States.
6.H.2.2
Understand the political, economic and/or social significance of historical events, issues, individuals, and
cultural groups.
Understand geographic factors that influenced the emergence, expansion and decline of civilizations,
societies, and regions over time.
Explain how the behaviors and practices of individuals and groups influenced societies, civilizations, and
regions.
6.G.1
6.C.1.1-2
7.H.1.3
7.C.1.2
Use historical thinking to analyze various modern societies.
Understand how cultural values influence relationships between individuals, groups, and political
entities in modern societies and regions.
WH.H.1
Apply the four interconnected dimensions of historical thinking to the Essential Standards for World
History in order to understand the creation and development of societies/civilizations/nations over time.
Common Core Curriculum: English Language Arts
4.W.1 – 5.W.1
4.W.2 – 5.W.2
4.W.7 – 5.W.7
4.W.8 – 5.W.8
Text Types and Purpose (Opinion)
Text Types and Purpose (Informative/Explanatory)
Research to Build and Present Knowledge (Conduct research and writing)
Research to Build and Present Knowledge (Recall or gather information)
9-10.R.7
Integration of Knowledge and Ideas (Analyzing Written and Visual Information)
North Carolina Essential Standards: Visual Art
4.V.1 – 8.V.1
4.V.2 – 8.V.1
4.CX.1. – 8.V.1
4.CX.2 – 8.CX.2
Use the language of visual arts to communicate effectively.
Apply creative and critical thinking skills to artistic expression.
Understand the global, historical, societal, and cultural contexts of the visual arts.
Understand the interdisciplinary connections and life applications of the visual arts.
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
NAME_____________________________
KWL Chart
Before Your Trip
What I know about art.
What I want to know about art.
After Your Trip
What I learned about art.
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Camille Pissarro (French, 1831-1903); The Banks of the Oise, Near Pontoise, 1876; Oil on canvas; 14 15/16 x 21 7/8 in. ;
Ackland Art Museum, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Ackland Fund, 65.28.1
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Albert Gleizes (French, 1881-1953); Composition, 1921; Oil on panel; 36 1/4 x 25 11/16 in.;
Ackland Art Museum, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Ackland Fund, 69.27.1
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Camille Pissarro (French, 1831-1903)
The Banks of the Oise, Near Pontoise, 1876
Oil on canvas
14 15/16 x 21 7/8 in.
Ackland Art Museum, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Ackland Fund, 65.28.1
While his fellow-Impressionist Claude Monet was painting pleasure-boats on the Seine, Pissarro chose to depict a
working river. The masts of two sailing barges and the smokestack of a steam-powered tug echo the tall chimney of a
factory in the distance.
The 19th-century art critic P. G. Hamerton accused Pissarro of having "so little objection to ugly objects that in one of his
pictures the tower of a distant cathedral is nearly obliterated by a long chimney and the smoke that issues from it, whilst
there are other long chimneys close to the cathedral, just as they might present themselves in a photograph. By this
needless degree of fidelity, M. Pissarro loses one of the great advantages of painting." In fact, Pissarro depicted "ugly
objects" not because he was insensitive to beauty, but because he recognized that industry was an inescapable part of
the modern landscape.
Source: Ackland Art Museum Curatorial files
Albert Gleizes (French, 1881-1953)
Composition, 1921
Oil on panel
36 1/4 x 25 11/16 in.
Ackland Art Museum, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Ackland Fund, 69.27.1
In 1911, Albert Gleizes participated in the first organized exhibition of Cubist art at the Salon des Independants in Paris.
While Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque are credited with the invention of Cubism, Gleizes and his circle of "Salon
Cubists" also made important contributions to this major movement in twentieth-century art. In 1912, with artist Jean
Metzinger, Gleizes wrote Du Cubisme, one of the first texts to explain early Cubist methods and philosophy. Most
abstract movements, such as Constructivism, De Stijl and Expressionism can be traced back to Cubist ideas.
Early Cubism built upon Paul Cezanne's interpretation of painting as both an illusion of reality and a flat object in itself.
Cubist artists stressed the dissolution of the subject into flat planes of space, often showing multiple viewpoints. In
response to the growing abstraction of this style, a different approach to Cubism developed after 1912. This
emphasized the reconstruction of the subject by building up the surface with flat planes of elementary shapes and colors
to suggest a sense of depth. Gleizes' Composition represents the latter phase, called Synthetic Cubism. The artist
portrays a seated figure, with hair, face and arms recognizable, by layering a series of flat, interlocking shapes. This
layering, together with the arrangement of verticals, horizontals and diagonals, conveys an impression of the figure
moving in space.
Source: Ackland Art Museum Curatorial files