1

WHY DO ARTISTS PAINT IN DIFFERENT WAYS? Workshop visit for schools, ages 5 to 12

Teachers’Notes

Presentation

A common question asked by many primary-school children is “why do artists paint

in different ways?” They ask this question when they compare pictures by different

artists and also when they notice differences between different paintings by the

same artist.

Finding answers to this question is the objective of this visit to the Picasso Museum’s

permanent collection.

Educational objectives of the visit

To introduce young children to themes (influences, changes in the way of painting, concepts of art) related to the permanent collection of the Picasso Museum.

To show and reflect on the diversity of Picasso’s creative output.

To use the collection to show Picasso’s influences and the influence he has had on other artists.

To appreciate that artists are influenced by other people and the events of their time, and that all this is reflected in their work.

To reflect on the reasons why some artists study and reinterpret the work of other artists.

To highlight that artists’ forms of expression may change during their careers and to explore the diverse artistic styles Picasso adopted throughout his life.

2

Before the visit: activity to be done at school

Before visiting the Picasso Museum, we suggest that teachers show Picasso’s Guernica to the children. Although they won’t see this work on their visit, since the original is in the Reina Sofía Museum in Madrid, the fact it is so well known will help us start off the project.

The first thing to ask the children is – What do you think is happening in this picture? The teacher should encourage the children to inspect the picture closely to help them imagine the scene it recreates.

During a class debate, the teacher can introduce basic information about the work; who painted it, under what circumstances he painted it, what it represents, where it is on show now and where it has been before.

After this introduction, examples of how other artists and illustrators have used Guernica as a starting point for their personal interpretations can be shown to the class. Below we have included some examples which the teacher is free to use along with any others that they may find in books, magazines or on the internet.

Equipo Crónica José Joaquín Torres Quino

3

It can also be mentioned in this presentation that Picasso was a very important artist who has influenced many other artists. This can be done by asking the question – What does to be influenced mean? – then relate it to the children’s own lives – Who has influenced you, and in what ways?

At this point it can be mentioned that during the visit to the Picasso Museum they will have the opportunity to see other works by Picasso which are also very important and have influenced many 20th century artists. Here they will also see that Picasso learnt in turn from other artists from his own time and the past.

A suggested class activity is to ask the children to create a new version of Guernica from an A-3 size photocopy of the work. With paint, felt-tip pens, coloured pencils and scissors they could transform it into a scene related to their own lives. You could suggest that the new picture reflect something that they do every day, a special occasion, a dream they have had, something from the news they have seen on TV, or anything they feel strongly about, etc.

Educational area at the Museum

Once in the educational area, the children will show the pictures they have created at

school and the monitor will explain to them that in the same way that they have

worked on Picasso’s picture, he also looked for references in other painters’ works

from which he could create his own version.

The monitors will show versions that Picasso did of other well-know works from

different periods of history. Then they will ask a series of questions:

What things are different in the two versions?

Which version do you prefer, and why?

What do you think about Picasso copying other artists’ work? Do you think it is a good thing?

Why do you think he copied them?

What would happen at school if one student copied another one’s drawing? Is it allowed? Why was it all right for Picasso to do it?

Later, on the tour of the Museum’s exhibition rooms, we will see how Picasso was

influenced not just by other artists but by the events of his time, ideas about art

current in society at that time, his friends and even his family. The children will

4

discover what moved Picasso to change his way of working and the changes that

took place along his career.

Tour of the exhibition rooms

In the first two rooms the children will be shown the type of painting Picasso did

while he was learning.

The group will stop in front of the following pictures:

Science and Charity (1897) – Will show how Picasso tried to copy reality during his childhood and adolescence, and how he was influenced by the academic style imposed on him by his father.

Margot (1901) – The way Picasso reflected a personal moment in his painting will be analysed, the people close to him will be mentioned, as well as the pictorial method he chose to depict the spirit of the times.

The Unprotected (1903) – The way in which Picasso depicted the poverty of the time will be explored, as well as how then current ideas about the role of art in society influenced him. The question of how colour influences our perception will be raised.

Las Meninas (1957) – The importance of influences from other artists will be pointed out to the children. They will see how he inspected and analysed Velázquez’s painting.

NB This selection of pictures may be changed at the Museum’s discretion.

5

Workshop activity

The monitor will show, not in chronological order, a selection of Picasso’s work from

different periods.

At the same time the monitor and the children will draw up a list of what, according

to them, influenced Picasso and made his work change over his life time.

A jar and some fruit will be placed on a table to form a still-life composition, and the

children will be asked to individually produce a representation of it with crayons, felt-

tip pens and coloured paper for cutting, in the style of a period they have seen in the

museum.

The main idea of this exercise is for the children to see that, although they all

worked on the same subject, the finished works turn out to be stylistically different

from each-other.