Step 1 - Introducing the Joan Mirómtmhomeschool4art.com/uploaded_lessons/Track C/unit_3/track-c_unit... · Step 1 - Introducing the Joan Miró Slideshow Guide ... Joan Miro had an

JOAN MIRÓ – AGES 10 – ADULT | ONLINE EDITION

Step 1 - Introducing the Joan Miró Slideshow Guide MOTIVATION BEGIN READING HERE

Have you ever been blindfolded? (BLINDFOLD STUDENT) Since you can’t use your sense of vision, you have to compensate with your other senses. What would you use when blindfolded to tell how something looks? (HANDS—SENSE OF TOUCH) I’m going to hand an object to you, and by using your sense of touch you are going to tell me what you are holding. (USE ITEMS LIKE COMB, CRAYON, CANDLE, ETC.) Very good, now let’s take this one step further. (HIDE OBJECTS) You may take off your blindfold. Now I want you to draw the objects that you just felt. What we are doing in this experiment is showing you how our artist today received his art training. Joan Miro had an art teacher who would blindfold him and put objects in his hands. Just like you did, he would feel the CONTOURS and shapes and then would draw what he had felt without having seen them. How do you think this would be beneficial to an artist’s education? (TRAIN AN ARTIST TO USE HIS OTHER SENSES; STIMULATE HIS IMAGINATION) Now I will show you the objects you felt to compare to your drawings. (TAKE OUT OBJECTS) Are they close? Was that hard to do? Joan Miro’s sense of touch proved extremely important throughout his career. His art, as you will see, did not rely on what he saw. More important to Miro were his emotions and his imagination. Let’s meet Joan Miro at work on a painting.

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1. PHOTO OF ARTIST JOAN MIRO Miro was born in Spain. From his earliest years, Miro was good at drawing and spent a lot of time doing it with care. He disliked school, but happily there was a drawing class, and he worked very hard there. His first paintings were colorful and very realistic. But even with his talent his parents did not encourage him to become an artist. When he finished school, his father insisted he go into business rather than become an artist. But he became so depressed with his job that his father sent him to the country to recuperate. There he found contentment painting the countryside around him, and his parents finally gave up their objections.

1 JOAN MIRO – Ages 10 – Adult | MeetTheMasters Online Edition


He entered the same art school in Spain where Pablo Picasso had attended and astonished his teachers twelve years before. Miro made rapid progress in art school and tried new things in his three years there. As you look at Miro, let me describe the type of man he was, and see if it matches his appearance. Joan was a quiet, modest man. He would start working in his studio early in the day and would work all day in deep concentration and in total silence. When he finished he sat down in his rocking chair in front of the painting and stared at it. There is something called a “drawing stick” in this photograph of Miro working in his studio, and it’s not the paintbrush in his hand. Can you find it? Why is he using it? (KEEP HAND OFF PAPER, AWAY FROM PAINT, RESTS HAND) Miro was a very neat, careful man in everything he did. Do you like to keep your room very orderly and neat? When Miro left Spain to live in Paris, he was very poor and could only afford a very small, dilapidated house surrounded by trash. Miro, trying to maintain cleanliness and order, painted his studio white and disinfected it. Then he carefully numbered his brushes and had a rigid schedule of cleanliness he maintained. In the morning he would do his chores, and only then would he paint. His place was so small that he literally had to crawl under his many canvasses on his stomach to get to the other side of the room. Do you think you could function well in that type of environment? Well, the cramped, poor conditions never affected either the quality or quantity of his work while he lived there. But he had a dream during those years. Listen and tell me what that dream was.

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“My dream, if and when I can manage to settle down somewhere, is to have a really big studio -- not for reasons of lighting, these things don’t bother me -- but just to have space enough, room for lots of canvasses. For the more I work, the more I want to work. I’d like to try my hand at sculpture, pottery, engraving, and printing.”

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What was his dream? (HAVE LARGE STUDIO AND TRY OTHER KINDS OF ART) Do you think he was successful enough during his lifetime to realize that dream? You’ll find out if you were right as we follow his career and his later life. You’ve learned something about Miro’s personality and early life. What style of art do you picture Miro doing? Let’s take a look.

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2. DOG BARKING AT MOON In all of his artwork, Miro takes us to another world. It is a world of dreams, fantasy, and imagination. In Miro’s world, anything is possible, even a strange animal with a semi-



human head wailing helplessly to something in the sky. Is there a way to get up there? (YES, FLOATING LADDER) It is another world, and this style of art is called SURREALISM. Many times it seems like a mixed-up dream. Even the word itself can sound eerie and strange. Since surrealism can seem dreamlike, I want you to pretend you have just awakened, and you know you have been dreaming. You lay there trying to remember bits and pieces of your dream to fit it together like a puzzle. The things you remember seeing are string-like black lines, a bug-like creature, and a big eye looking at you. And everything is just sort of floating around in space! How would that all fit together? It seems all mixed up and crazy! As you continue to let your memory and imagination run wild, put the puzzle together to form a picture in your mind. Let’s see if your imaginary dream picture looks anything like a painting I’m going to show you by Joan Miro.


3. WOMAN AND BIRD IN THE NIGHT Was your imaginary dream picture anything like this painting? (NO) All of our imaginations are different. Does it look like a puzzle or dream that doesn’t quite make sense? (YES) Joan Miro was always surprising his friends with his ideas. His imagination gave him a magician’s touch of changing whatever he came across in real life. A friend said, “When I pick up a stone, it’s a stone. When Miro picks up a stone, it’s a Miro!” Let your imagination make you a magician like Miro. Look at this painting and put together what you see to give it a title. What would you call it? Miro’s title is Woman and bird in the Night. Can you find any clues that go with the title? How do you know it’s nighttime? (BLACK COLOR) Now let your imagination again soar like Miro’s. For this next painting his inspiration came from nighttime, music, and the stars. Miro sat for hours in the dim light of a beautiful, grand church in Paris and listened to the organ music, lost in his dreams. And this is what he painted.


4. BEAUTIFUL BIRD REVEALING THE UNKNOWN TO LOVERS Is this anything like you expected? (NO) Do you see anything to indicate nighttime? (BLACK SPLOTCHES IN BACKGROUND, STAR & MOON SHAPES, CATS THAT WOULD COME OUT AT NIGHT) Notice how the many thin, black lines connect and weave like a spider web. Do the lines outline shapes? (YES) Can you give a name to those shapes? (LION, BUG, SNAKE, ANTENNAE)



Does this painting give you the feeling of movement? (YES) Why? (CURVED LINES, ROUNDED SHAPES, LINES CONNECTING SHAPES) Did Miro use many colors? (NO) How many eyes can you find? How many do you see? (6+) There are different answers, because everyone sees something different in Miro’s surrealist artwork. Eyes are included in many of his paintings. Notice how Miro uses colors whenever the shapes OVERLAP. Can you point one out? There are overlapping colors in a shape that could either be a snake or a bird. Can you find that shape? (MIDDLE, LEFT: BLACK, YELLOW) I want you to decide whether this painting gives you a happy or a sad feeling. Which do you feel and why? Do you have a different emotion to share? (CONFUSED, STRANGE, BUSY, NOISY) Let me have Miro tell you what was happening in his life when he painted this and find out how he was feeling. The year was 1941.

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“We had to leave our village in haste. The Germans opened up unending bombings. With the Allied armies completely defeated and continuous bombings, we took the train from Paris. My wife took our little girl by the hand, and I carried with me under my arm the portfolio containing my pictures that are finished. We left Paris to return to Spain eight days before the Germans entered Paris. We wanted to live peacefully, ignored by everyone, and seeing nobody. It took three months to be at peace again and to be able to finish my paintings. I was very depressed. I believed in an inevitable victory for the Nazis. I believed that in this defeat there was no further hope for us.”


So, was this a happy time in his life? (NO) In what event in history is Miro describing? (WORLD WAR II) Was it a final victory for the Nazis? (NO) But you might have said this was a happy picture. All of the paintings done during this period are very special and rare, because they do give some people a happy feeling, even though they were completed in the midst of such a catastrophe. Miro was depressed and upset, so upset he was unable to work for quite awhile. Let’s see if Miro had always been able to paint that way in the midst of tragedy.


5. STILL LIFE WITH OLD SHOE Take a minute and absorb the mood of this painting titled Still Life With Old Shoe. What is a word to describe the overall feeling it gives you? (DEPRESSING, WARLIKE, BURNING, CONFUSING) When Miro painted this in 1937, he was deeply concerned with the suffering of the common people in his country of Spain. What can you find in this painting that would fit



with common, farm people? (AN APPLE, A LOAF OF BREAD, BOTTLE OF WINE, OLD SHOE) He put it all together with powerful colors. What word can you give to describe these colors, especially the combination of colors? (EVIL, DANGEROUS, FRIGHTENING, STRONG, THREATENING) Notice what he does with each of those common objects we mentioned—the apple, loaf of bread, and bottle of wine. I will describe how he adds the drama, and you pick out which object I’m talking about. - It’s being stuck by prongs, which attacks like an arm from the sky. Apple - It has torn paper wrappings, a funny shape, and a cork in the top. Bottle of Wine - It is dry, moldy, and wouldn’t make a good sandwich. Loaf of Bread - It is worn out, dirty, and useless as it falls apart. Old Shoe But why such a dismal, depressing picture of the life of the farm people in Spain? The Fascists were threatening the world. Like the Nazis who came later, the Fascists wanted to take over the world and have one leader, a dictator who destroyed anyone and anything who opposed him. Miro intensely felt that threat which was attacking his country. In 1936 Spain was torn apart by Civil War. Miro painted this one year later. Let’s go to another painting showing life of common people on a farm. Do you think the mood will be similar or very different? Let’s take a look.


6. THE TILLED FIELD Does this is similar to the last painting? (NO) Is the mood the same? (NO) This is such an exciting painting that I’d like to take a few minutes to look over this painting and find all the interesting, surrealistic things Miro has included here. (ALLOW 1-2 MINUTES) What are some of your favorite things in the painting? Be as creative in your language descriptions as Miro was in paintings. As an example, my favorite character is the “porcudog.” Can you find that? (SPIKED DOG IN FOREGROUND) What do you like? (TAKE AS MANY ANSWERS AS TIME ALLOWS) Do you think Miro had fun painting this? (YES) We’ve seen varying moods—happy, evil, and eerie. What mood do you feel from looking at this painting? (DANGEROUS, ANOTHER PLANET, SCARY, FUNNY, WEIRD) Look around the painting and pick out something that Miro has repeated from other paintings. (EYES, STRANGE ANIMAL CREATURES, BRIGHT COLORS) The title of this is The Tilled Field. Can you find the field with cultivated rows ready for planting? (LOWER LEFT) What else can you find that belongs on a farm? (HOUSE, ANIMALS, TREES) Here Miro’s world of imagination has become supreme. He has changed everything from the ordinary to the ABSTRACT, where nothing looks like the real thing. Miro has changed



life on a farm, with his feelings and imagination, into a strange land known only to him. Miro said, “My landscapes have nothing to do with reality.” What can you pick out that gives this painting a menacing, scary mood? (SHARP, JAGGED EDGES, SHAPE OF TREE LIKE SNAKE, EYES ON TREES, WEIRD CREATURES) Have some of the sharp shapes become part of the farm animals? (YES) Can you find an ear that also could be a snail. (BY TALL TREE TRUNK) What kind of ear would you normally find in the fields of a farm? (EAR OF CORN) What time of day is it? (DAY ON LEFT AND NIGHT ON RIGHT) As I show you the next Miro painting, I want you to listen to him describe how he starts working on a new painting.


7. RED SUN

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“Never, never do I set to work on a canvas as it comes blank from the shop. I make accidents -- a form, a splotch of color. Any accident is good enough. I might prepare by wiping my brushes on the canvas, I might let some drops of turpentine drop on it. If I want to make a drawing I crumple the sheet of paper or I wet it; the flowing water traces a line, and this line may suggest what is to come next.”


Do you think you found “the accident” from which he started this painting? (DRIPS OF BLACK PAINT) Do you think this kind of “accident” would set your imagination off like it did for Miro? Try it sometime and find out! Remember at the beginning today when we discovered how Miro was led to develop his sense of imagination? Would it surprise you to learn he liked to paint without a brush using his finger instead? Looking at this painting, does any part look like he could have painted with his finger? (YES - THICK, BLACK CIRCLE) Miro would squeeze oil paints directly from the paint tube to his fingers and could paint an amazingly even line, or circle. If you figured out what the prominent red oval is, you will have the title of this work. Would you like to try? (RED SUN) How would you like your portrait painted by Miro in his surrealist style? Can you imagine what it might look like? I’ll give you an idea by showing you Miro’s portrait of Mrs. Mills. 8. PHOTO OF MIRO’S STUDIO

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“I finally had a large, beautiful studio built to my specifications. But I had a very hard time adjusting to working in such a perfect atmosphere. More than two years passed before I



was able to live there comfortably, and nearly three years before I again was able to paint.”


So did Miro’s dream come true? (YES) Do you remember what he would do when he finished a painting? (SIT IN HIS ROCKING CHAIR AND STARE AT HIS PAINTING) Picture Miro silently examining his latest painting and slowly rocking back and forth. 8. PORTRAIT OF MISTRESS MILLS Is this anything like what you expected to see? Is this abstract? (YES) Is it surrealistic? (YES) Is it funny? (YES) Now look for clues as an art detective, and see if you can find out anything about this woman. What were her interests, her personality, anything you can discover? (INTERESTS -- MUSIC, PERSONALITY - BOLD, ADVENTURESOME, EXTRAVAGANT.) Do you sense she was a different type of person? We usually express our feelings in words, but Miro created his own language. He used shapes, colors, and lines, to stand for his feelings. And when we see a surrealist painting, we must interpret that special language. So we look carefully at the colors, the shapes, and the lines. But the special thing about this style of art is that everyone who looks at it sees and feels something different!Can you imagine what your portrait might look like if done by Miro? It would be fun to try your own Surrealist self-portrait sometime! CONCLUSION Do you remember Miro’s dream? (TO HAVE A LARGE STUDIO) You guessed earlier about whether that dream came true. Listen and see if you were right.


9. PHOTO OF MIRO’S STUDIO Click Audio

“I finally had a large, beautiful studio built to my specifications. But I had a very hard time adjusting to working in such a perfect atmosphere. More than two years passed before I was able to live there comfortably, and nearly three years before I again was able to paint.”


Do you remember what Miro did when he finished a painting? (SAT IN ROCKING CHAIR AND STARED AT PAINTING) Can you find his chair, and picture him silently examining his latest painting? CLICK “NEXT” FOR REVIEW GAME

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REVIEW GAME Are you familiar with playing “Jeopardy?” Our category for today is “Miro’s Art.” Pierre will give you an answer, and you must match it to the correct question. Let’s start our game by humming the Jeopardy song together! REVIEW GAME ANSWERS (For Instructors Only)

THE ANSWER IS: THE QUESTION IS: 1. SPAIN Where was Joan Miro born? 2. PARIS Where did Miro go when he left Spain? 3. BLINDFOLDED How did Miro’s art teacher make him use all his senses? 4. QUIET AND NEAT What was Miro’s personality like? 5. HIS FINGER What might Miro use instead of a paintbrush? 6. A LARGE STUDIO What was Miro’s dream? 7. SURREALISM What do we call Miro’s style of art? 8. EYES What does Miro repeat in many of his paintings? 9. WORLD WAR II What war in history did Miro experience? AND NOW FOR FINAL JEOPARDY THE ANSWER IS: 10. AN ACCIDENT How might Miro begin a painting?

You are very good at “Jeopardy!” Congratulations on being an expert in today’s category of art!

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Step 2 - Learning From: Joan Miró Abstract Shapes Miro’s shapes are simple Without details, Miro Draw the simplest shape you can reminds us of a bird that reminds you of an insect.

Add only a few simple shapes and lines to make each shape below look more alive.



Overlapping Shapes and Lines

When simple shapes are overlapped, new shapes appear:

Draw a line through this shape. Use markers or pencils to color One of the new shapes you made.

Draw a shape that overlaps this shape. Color the overlapped part.

Miro drew a line through a painting to connect the different parts.

Draw one lines to make these shapes seem connected. Color divided parts of shapes differently.



Abstract Drawing To show a figure, Miro combined a simple body: A head shapes: And leg shapes: Draw a figure using a body shape, and leg shape. Use overlapping lines the shapes.



Simple Shapes



The last few pages of this section contain the Art Activity for Joan Miro. This step-by-step outline will be a guide for instructing your child(ren) through the activity. The parent/instructor should review all steps necessary to complete this project before beginning any work. Cut out the Artist Profile Slip below and attach it to the back of the completed art project. Joan Miró (“Juan” mee-ROE) - Spain 1893 – 1983 Anything is possible in the dreamlike, imaginative world of Surrealist Miro! For this Spanish artist, feelings were more important than realism. His imagination gave him a magician’s touch of changing the nature, size, and meaning of whatever he came across in real life. ART ACTIVITY EMPHASIS: Abstract, Surrealistic Shapes MEDIA: Paper Cutouts and Markers Joan Miró (“Juan” mee-ROE) - Spain 1893 – 1983 Anything is possible in the dreamlike, imaginative world of Surrealist Miro! For this Spanish artist, feelings were more important than realism. His imagination gave him a magician’s touch of changing the nature, size, and meaning of whatever he came across in real life. ART ACTIVITY EMPHASIS: Abstract, Surrealistic Shapes MEDIA: Paper Cutouts and Markers




Step 3 - Working With: Art Activity Instructions ARTIST Joan Miro (Whan mee-ROE) 1893-1983 Spanish ART ELEMENTS Shape, line MEDIA Paper, marker EMPHASIS Abstract shapes

TECHNIQUE Paper collage and line combination VOCABULARY Surrealism, abstract, overlap, squiggle VISUALS Print: Acrobatic Dancers SUGGESTED MUSIC (On CD-Rom) Carlos Montoya - Malaguena (flamenco guitar)

MATERIALS FOR INSTRUCTOR AND CHILDREN

Three 6” x 9” pieces of construction paper in the following colors: 1 red, 1 blue, 1 yellow One 12” x 18” sheet of white construction paper One 9” x 12” sheet of newsprint Paper towel Artist profile slip Black markers (pointed tip) OPTIONAL: Red or blue powdered tempera paint and Cotton balls (Sprinkle 3 small shakes on each sheet of newsprint at the appropriate time during the lesson.) Pencil Scissors Glue Miro Learning Packet

PREPARATION Construct an example to become familiar with the procedure. Place the print in front of the students. Punch holes in foil seal of tempera container if applicable. SET-UP [ 5 minutes ] Distribute the following materials to your students:

SUPPLIES: Black marker, cotton ball PAPER: Colored paper, white construction paper, newsprint, paper towel, artist profile slip


ORIENTATION [ 5 minutes ] Do you remember the name of the artist who created this painting? (Joan Miro) How about the strange sounding art word for the dreamlike style of painting for which he was known? (Surrealism) Good! Today you will create your own Surrealist work of art. Let’s get organized so we can begin. ORGANIZE YOUR WORK AREA 1. Place your newsprint, cotton ball, and artist profile slip at the top of your work area. 2. Put your white paper horizontally (demonstrate) in the center of your work area. 3. Put your colored paper, marker and a pencil to one side. 4. Put everything else away – except your imagination! DEMONSTRATION AND ACTIVITY CREATE A MOOD [ 2 minutes ] Before you begin, think about what mood you will create. You will have a figure somewhere in your composition. You will also have three abstract shapes, a floating line, and many smaller cut and drawn shapes. Decide if your figure will be happy or unhappy. Perhaps it will be listening to music or singing with birds; star gazing; on a farm with dreamlike animals; maybe even fishing on another planet? THE FLOATING LINE OR SQUIGGLE [ 2 minutes ] Use the marker to draw one enormous floating line. Draw it slowly, without stopping. Let it fill the page evenly. Make it curve gently. Have the marker travel across the page ONLY 2 or 3 times. Make it seem to float. DRAW THE FIGURE [ 5 minutes ] You drew a figure in the style of Miro in your Learning Packets. Use the marker to draw a figure anywhere, any size on your background white paper. Use the floating line as a starting point. (While children are working, sprinkle a small amount of red or blue tempera powder on each sheet of newsprint -- three shakes only.) THE BACKGROUND [ 2 minutes ] To give depth to the background, blend red or blue powder paint into it. Watch how: 1. Dip the cotton ball into the powder (once or twice) and gently dab color in many places on the white paper, right over the floating line.



2. Rub the powder into the paper with the cotton ball, until there are no grains of powder left on the paper. 3. When you finish, fold the newsprint in half with the extra powder inside. Make this the scrap pile. 4. Add your used cotton ball to the scrap pile. THE LARGE SHAPES [ 5 minutes ] Watch how to create some abstract shapes: 1. With your pencil, draw a line that is like a squiggle on one of your colored papers. Make your line slowly, without stopping. Make it fill the page. 2. Look very carefully for 2 or 3 interesting shapes. The shapes may be made of many smaller shapes or only one. 3. Use your pencil to outline the shapes. 4. Cut them out. CUT THE SMALL SHAPES [ 3 minutes ] To make repeating shapes: 1. To make many abstract shapes at once, fold one of your remaining sheets of colored paper in half 3 times to make 8 small squares. 2. Draw a circle (and/or a star or fish shape – think of the mood) on the folded paper and cut it out. 3. Save the scraps and the remaining sheet for later. CUT THE LAST SHAPE [ 3 minutes ] Use the remaining sheet of colored paper to cut a large abstract shape. Find a shape in a squiggle or create a freeform abstract design. PUT IT ALL TOGETHER [ 20 minutes ] 1. Arrange the large shapes first. Make them touch, overlap, or relate in some way to the figure or the squiggle. Use your imaginations! 2. Glue shapes when the composition is balanced. You do not need to use all your shapes! 3. To create depth, continue the floating line over a shape, moving the shape behind the floating line. 4. Cut small shapes from the remaining scraps if




desired. 5. Draw details with the marker (eyes, tails, lines, dots, star shapes). Use the chart on the last page of the Learning Packet for inspiration. WHEN ARE YOU FINISHED? 1. When the composition seems balanced. 2. When it begins to look crowded. 3. When you have established the mood. 4. When you’ve included your best shapes. 5. When you have signed your name (artist’s signature) on the front and pasted your artist profile slip (with your name and room number written on it) on the back of your artwork. Put your scraps and cotton ball on your scrap pile. MOUNTING THE ARTIST PROFILE SLIP [ 2 minutes ] (Profile slips for each artist are provided. They give a brief description of the artist, the technique, and the media used in the art activity. They should be mounted on the back of each art project after it is completed.) 1. Write your name on the front of the artist profile slip. 2. Using glue, mount the profile slip on the back of your artwork. 3. Encourage children to discuss their artwork at home using this artist slip of information.

CONCLUSION Do you remember that special art word that describes Miro’s dreamlike way of painting? (Surrealism) Does your surrealistic artwork seem like something from a funny, mixed-up dream? Would you like to use your imagination even more and think of a title for your artwork? Would you like to share their artwork and title? Do you think your dreams tonight will look anything like your artwork today? GUIDANCE ENCOURAGE IMAGINATIVE SHAPES. DISCOURAGE SIGNS AND SYMBOLS.

THIS CONCLUDES THE JOAN MIRO UNIT.

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Step 1 - Introducing the Joan Mirómtmhomeschool4art.com/uploaded_lessons/Track C/unit_3/track-c_unit... · Step 1 - Introducing the Joan Miró Slideshow Guide ... Joan Miro had an