The end of the school year is great for projects. We now know more or less what classes we’ll teach and even sometimes with whom. So today I was approached by a History teacher who wil teach the Humanities section next year. He told me about an exhibition which will take place in Lille’s art gallery from October 2008 until January 2009. It wil feature a group of Scandinavian artists who went to France to improve their skills between 1870 and 1914.
Since we have an exchange with Sweden, my colleague thought it would be a good idea to take this class to this exhibition. Obviously I immediately agreed. Talking about art and paintings belongs to a language class and, although I am no expert, it is always enriching. Besides I love Scandinavian art. There was a beautiful exhibition about Finnish painting at the same museum a few years ago, a year or two later I visited a number of Danish museums during a summer vacation there and have been to Swedish museums during the exchange trips.
10 Comments
June 5, 2008 at 7:14 am
That sounds like a cool unit – I love integrating art across the curriculum. What kinds of lessons are you teaching?
June 5, 2008 at 7:20 am
Do you mean for this one or in general?
Concerning this unit, I was thinking of introducing a few artists from these countries (Hammershoi, Zorn and Edelfelt come to mind) mainly from the languahe point of view – so that they have the necessary tools to discuss paintings- and then ask each student to present one painting they like to the class. I rely on my colleague for a more historiical approach.
June 5, 2008 at 7:25 am
Sounds interesting. I’m working on a lesson plan for modern art right now (upper elementary/middle school). I might do a blog post about it tonight or tomorrow (educatorblog.wordpress.com).
June 5, 2008 at 10:03 am
that sounds very interesting Ilana, I hope your pupils will appreciate! Zorn reminds me of my grandmother, she loved his paintings, and so do I.
June 5, 2008 at 11:28 am
What a beautiful museum. And a great website, too (I bookmarked it under “creative websites”).
The Scandavian art looks sophisticated. I see similarities between the art in America at that time (see, for example, Winslow Homer’s Long Branch, New Jersey). The door you have on this page reminds me of the art of Andrew Wyeth, who was just born in 1917.
Love the girl on the top of the pdf. Do you see how you can see the paint strokes? That used to be frowned upon. That’s what was considered new in France.
June 5, 2008 at 11:42 am
educatorblog: thanks for the link; I’ll definitely drop by.
swedish chekchouka: I like Zorn too.
Leora: Lille’s museum is considered to be (one of) the richest in France outside Paris. Thank you for the information regarding the painting of the Swedish girl.
June 5, 2008 at 1:31 pm
Leora: since you like flowers and do watercolors, I was wondering if you knew the Danish artist Anna Syberg.
June 5, 2008 at 2:07 pm
I looked Anna Syberg up just now. Lovely. Such an eye for detail. And she emphasizes in her flowers what she chooses, not what a camera would dictate.
September 4, 2009 at 6:00 pm
Sounds like a cool thing to do. Thank u for giving information about the danish artist.
September 4, 2009 at 6:07 pm
You’re welcome!