Annotated Bibliography

Dancing Ballerinas, by Edgar Degas

         The trade books and websites I have chosen for this lesson will be intended for 11^th and 12^th grade students in the art classroom. The texts will be used for a unit on French Impressionism. Our studies will focus on the Impressionist movement, how it began, the artists and their subjects. In this unit, students will learn about the history of France during the late 19^th century by viewing and discovering paintings of some of the top Impressionist artists. By the end of this lesson, students will be able to identify the Impressionists favorite subjects, styles, techniques and recognize characteristics of Impressionist paintings. Students will also gain a better understanding of the lives of the French citizens during the late 1800s, therefore grasping a better understanding of the time period as a whole.

Average ability level students will benefit from these texts because they each provide a broad overview of Impressionism and what was involved in the movement. Both websites and one of the trade books contain a concise explanation of the movement along with the major artists. The remaining two books provide insight into the history of the period by examining pictures. All of these texts are suitable for average ability level students and are supplemented with a great deal of images that enhance the text. Both websites and Monet and the Impressionists for Kids: Their Lives and Ideas, 21 Activities present the information in a very reader friendly, non technical format. Monet and the Impressionists for Kids: Their Lives and Ideas, 21 Activities even comes with an Art Glossary for a review of any unknown words. The remaining two trade books, Impressionists by the Sea and Impressionists on the Seine are slightly more advanced simply based on the historical information presented. However, they will mostly be utilized in the class as discussion pieces, to view different paintings, and for further independent investigation if the students wish to do so.

Impressionists by the Sea is a wonderful narrative that explores the French coast from the 1850s to the 1890s. Specifically, it narrows in on the development of the beach scene in the art of Impressionism. The French artists of this time period explored the beach from a number of angles, including the beach locals, the Holiday makers from Paris that spent their summers on the coastline and the effects of weather and lighting and the techniques the artists used to capture both. This book specifically focuses on the coast of Normandy and Brittany. What is interesting about this book and the Impressionist paintings included is the new view of the sea. In previous years, the sea represented danger. However, by the second half of the 19^th century, this view changed as the Normandy coast was brought to the attention of the Parisian public by the Impressionists. The Parisians began to view the coast as a symbol of innocence and purity and the city as morally and financially corrupt. The population along the coast began to grow as the artists discovered remote locations. Their paintings would catch the Parisians interest and they would seek out new destinations depicted in the art work. While the Parisians sought out the sea for a place of play, the local inhabitants only saw it as a place of work. Throughout Impressionists by the Sea, the move towards the beaches, the local inhabitants and the beauty of the land is all displayed in the Impressionist art work. This trade book takes the reader on a visual tour of the way different artists of the era depicted coastal life. It also shows the shift in the Impressionist painters. We can see the change from interest in contemporary subjects to each of their personal styles. It explains the public face of the coast, what was depicted before Impressionist artists gained the Parisians attention, what early Impressionism by the coast looked like, how the paintings were displayed in the Salon and finally, Impressionism towards the end of the era. Each of these sections is depicted with a generous number of paintings to show examples of the work. The end of the book succinctly explains this with a timeline and offers a description of each painting covered in the book.

Since Impressionists by the Sea is quite lengthy, I don’t think it can be used in the art classroom as an assignment in which the students will be required to read it from end to end. However, I still believe it could play an interesting role in a lesson on Impressionism, because it gives some very interesting insight into the minds of the Parisians and the Impressionist artists. This book can give students a sense of the interplay between the Parisians and the artists, and how each influenced one another. I think in order to use this effectively in an art classroom, students could be grouped and asked to cover different sections of the book. Each group could review one small part of Impressionism by the sea and gain a deeper understanding of their portion. Then, the students would be individually assigned to create a piece of art inspired by the section they studied. For example, if a group of students covered the section of the book focused on the Beach Scenes showed at the Paris Salon, the students in that specific group would be asked to paint a landscape and focus on the way the light played with the scenery. When complete, each group could share their artwork with the rest of the class and explain what they learned. By having each group share with the class, everyone will have a better understanding of Impressionism as a whole.

House, J. and Hopkins, D. (2007). Impressionists by the Sea. London: Royal Academy Books.

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Monet and the Impressionists for Kids: Their Lives and Ideas, 21 Activities is a fun book that not only offers information about Impressionism and its artists, but also includes unique crafts and artistic ideas to go along with the readings. The introduction of the book also provides useful insight into Impressionism and how it began. This book describes how Monet views things as colors and brushstrokes rather than objects. However, Monet’s “loose” views were not popular with the Salon in Paris, which decided the standards by which art was held. Although Monet’s style wasn’t popular with the critics, many of his contemporaries were painting in the same fashion and agreed with Monet that this was the future of painting. This explores Monet and 6 other famous artists who paved the way for Impressionism. The title “Impressionists” was a name originally given to these artists as an insult, but it eventually grew to be a compliment. One of the artists covered is Degas, who cropped his paintings like a photograph. The next is Cézanne, who preferred to paint things that stood still and sought to depict modern life as a “slice of life.” Next is Renoir, who loved to paint portraits and Cassatt, an American female Impressionist who moved to Paris. Then this book covers the Post-Impressionists, such as Gauguin, who painted in an outlined, stained glass style and Seurat, who is known for his technique Pointillism. The end of this book sums up each artist in short and provides students with an Art Glossary, which is a great reference.

I think Monet and the Impressionists for Kids: Their Lives and Ideas, 21 Activities could be a great addition to the classroom because it is full of creative ideas for students, inspired by each artist. As an in class activity, I would ask the students to choose one of the ideas offered in the book. If they didn’t see anything they want to do from the book, I would give students the opportunity to create their own project based on one of the artists covered. Some of the ideas include activities such as painting like Degas, by taking pictures with cropped objects, and recreating them in a painting. It also includes a tutorial on mastering portraits, if you are interested in painting faces the way Renoir did. Another idea is to paint a still life in the fashion of Cézanne, with his loose brush strokes and intensely colored shadows. If the students wanted to try something different, I would encourage that as well. I think this book could simply serve as a gateway to generating ideas for their own activities. In the end, what I would want the students to get out of this are the unique, but similar ways in which the Impressionists painted and viewed the world around them.

Sabbeth, C. (2002). Monet and the Impressionists for Kids: Their Lives and Ideas, 21 Activities.      Chicago: Chicago Review Press 

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Impressionists on the Seine is an incredible collection of French Impressionist artists who painted the river scenes from the 1860s to the 1890s. The book accompanies the Impressionist Exhibition in D.C. by The Phillips Collection. The Impressionists sought to pants the Parisian’s life of leisure along the Seine River along with the idyllic and beautiful scenery along the water. It offers insight into the lifestyle of the Parisians, and the economic importance of the Seine. This book features a great deal of color prints of paintings along the river by Renoir, Monet, Pissarro, Morisot, Manet, Sisley and Caillebotte. It also highlights on of Renoir's most famed paintings, Luncheon of the Boating Party. Throughout this book, there is a prevalent display of some of the techniques that made the Impressionists so rejoiced. The use of intense brushstrokes, vivid colors, portraits, displays of Parisian leisure activities and the way light affects scenes are some of these techniques to name a few. What I find most enjoyable about this book is the insight it offers into the daily lives of the Parisians along the Seine. The Impressionists covered every subject, including leisure, industrialization, work, boating, architecture and the scenery itself. The book is an exquisite compilation of information on the life of the Parisians along with the breathtaking paintings of the time. It is a true testament to the talent and quality of the Impressionists’ talents.

Given the size and depth of Impressionists on the Seine, I would never assign students to read it. Rather, I would have it as a classroom book that we could view and discuss during the Impressionism lesson. As a class, I would review Renoir’s painting Luncheon of the Boating Party, as it was one of the focuses of the book. There is also a 30 minute film about the exhibit and book, which includes detailed images of the masterpieces, interviews with the director and curators, and historical photographs and footage of the artists and their surroundings. I think this could be a useful supplement to the book and would give the students a better understanding of the importance of the exhibition.

Rothkopf, K., Brettell, R., Moffett, C. (1996). Impressionists on the Seine: A Celebration of Renoir's Luncheon of the Boating Party. Counterpoint

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Color Vision & Art. Retrieved from http://www.webexhibits.org/colorart/page18.html

The above link leads to a webpage titled “Impressionism: The Innovations and Influence.” This webpage combines the major components of the Impressionism movement and breaks it down into sub-sections. It explains the history of the Impressionism movement and allows for further exploration into Claude Monet, along with other artists. This web page offers an introduction, regarding who was involved, the time period, where Impressionism originated, etc. Next, by exploring the major artists, it gives a brief biography of some famous names from the period. Then, what is especially useful, are links to each artist, where a more in-depth biography can be found. This gives students access to brief and concise information. If students are using this site for research, they have an immediate link to focal points, where they can easily discover more information.  Additionally, by splitting up the text with a few popular paintings from the era, it gives students the opportunity to recognize artwork they have possibly seen before, and allow them to draw connections. The images help make the material more stimulating than simply a webpage full of text. Finally, by reading about some of the influences on Impressionism, students can grasp more about the time period in general, outside of just the art and artists alone. This information goes on to explain the connection between the artwork and 19^th century history. This can help make the information more relevant and interesting to students who may not necessarily be as curious about art history. Students may recognize bits of information they have learned in other classes and see how it is illustrated through art by some of the most famous painters of the time.

I enjoy this site as a learning tool because I think it does a great job of explaining how students can learn more about the Impressionists in a way that is applicable to real life. It also asks questions that help to provoke the students to think. For example, "Imagine that you are visiting one of these exhibitions in the late 1800’s: how were the paintings shown? (Look at contemporary paintings of Art Exhibitions or an Art Collector’s home!) How should these paintings be put on display today? Be critical." I think these are great classroom discussion questions that may inspire students to think for themselves and bring up questions they may have. It also helps to break up the constant reading by giving them a break to sit, reflect and talk. There is an interactive part of this site found on the second page. It gives students the opportunity to play with the effect of light on one of Monet's paintings. The virtual interaction combined with the explanation helps draw on the importance of light in Impressionist's paintings. By allowing students to do these themselves, at their own computer, they are able to interact and gain an understanding of how light can impact the mood of the artwork.

Art in the Picture. Retrieved from http://www.artinthepicture.com/

Art in the Picture is a very useful website for all things Art History. I like it because it has a search function that offers every artist, movement, country and century by which students can search. The main site also features a constantly changing art inspired quote, many of which are thought provoking and fun to read. I know not every student has an interest in Art History, but I think quotes and features like these may spark an interest in certain students or help them connect to an artist. For purposes of a specific lesson, this site also features each major artist of a movement, offers some of their famous quotes, most well known paintings and biographies. For the specific unit of Impressionism, this website offers a great deal of useful information about some of the notable artists. Nineteen Impressionist artists are given their own specific webpage, which displays a sampling of their paintings, a concise biography and some of their famous quotes.

This site could serve as a weekly tool in the classroom. Other than its useful information, it also features a “Video of the Week.” Again, not every student will find every video interesting, but there may be one or two over the course of the year that draws their attention or highlights an era, movement or artist they are somewhat interested in. I thought the “Video of the Week” could be an interesting feature to play every Friday at the beginning of class. Assuming the videos are about 15 minutes and under, they could be a good segment for the students to get to just sit back, relax and watch. I would ask that the students jot down a few key points that catch their attention.  After viewing the video, the class would be given the opportunity to discuss what they watched and wrote down. It could be a good way to introduce students to new bits of information they may have never learned in my art classroom or any other class. I think this could just be a great way to break up the day-to-day monotony and open the floor for discussion.

The Boating Party by Mary Cassatt, 1893–94