IMPERSONATING PICASSO

 

Georgia Standards

 

South Carolina Standards

 

Key Vocabulary

 

Materials

• Paint supplies:
  • Tempera paint
  • Paint brushes 
  • Paint brushes
  • Water cups
• Alternative to paint: Oil pastels, crayons, markers or colored pencils
• Mixed media paper 
• Paper and pencils or student devices for writing
• Nonfiction books (leveled) on Pablo Picasso - The Story of Pablo Picasso: An Inspiring Biography for Young Readers (The Story of Biographies) 
• Samples of images from Picasso’s Blue Period, Rose Period, and cubist style paintings (see “Additional Resources” for links)
• Rubric

 

Instructional Design

Opening/Activating Strategy

Teacher note: This lesson uses Pablo Picasso as the artist of study, but any established artist can be used as a substitute.

 

• Project two images of Pablo Picasso’s artworks from different periods in his career side by side on the board, such as “The Visit (The Two Sisters)” and “Seated Harlequin”. 
• Ask students to work collaboratively to engage in the See, Think, Wonder Artful Thinking Routine.
  • First, students will identify what they see in the images. Emphasize that they should make objective observations about the image (i.e. physical features, colors, textures, etc.). Direct students’ observations to both the similarities and differences between the images.
  • Next, ask students to identify what they think about the images. Emphasize that students should be creating inferences using visual evidence from the images. Direct students’ conversation towards what Picasso might have been trying to convey (mood).
  • Finally, ask students what they wonder about the images. 
• Facilitate a class-wide discussion around students’ observations, inferences, and questions.

 

Work Session

Part 1 – Building Background

• In guided reading groups (or as a whole group), read and discuss the life of Pablo Picasso. 
• Share the following biographical information with students.
  • Picasso was born Oct 25, 1881, in Malaga, Spain. 
  • Picasso’s father was a painter and recognized that Picasso was much better than him by the time he was 13. 
  • Picasso’s paintings often depicted and mirrored his life and what he observed.
  • Picasso settled in Paris in 1904. He was fascinated by the city’s Bohemian streets. He often expressed human suffering by portraying blind figures and beggars in his paintings. 
  • It was at this time that he also experienced the death of a close friend. Because of this, he started using various shades of blue in his work for the next few years.
    • This period was called Picasso’s Blue Period (1901-1904).
    • Show students an image of one of the paintings from his Blue Period, such as “The Old Guitarist”. Ask students what they think the mood of the painting is and why. Ask them how color plays a role in the mood.
  • In 1905-06, Picasso met Fernande Olivier, the first of many companions to influence the theme, style, and the mood of his work. 
  • This happy relationship changed his palette to pinks and reds, bringing in distinctive beige or "rose" tones. The subject matter also is less depressing. This period became known as his Rose Period. 
  • Here are the first appearances by the circus performers and clowns, which he visited several times a week, and appear often in later stages of his career.
    • Show students an image of one of the paintings from his Rose Period, such as “Acrobat and Young Harlequin”. Ask them how the warm colors in this painting create a different mood that the blues in “The Old Guitarist”.
  • In late 1906, Picasso started to paint in a unique manner that was inspired by Cezanne’s flattened depiction of space and his friend Georges Braque. 
  • Picasso began to express space in strongly geometrical terms.
    • Show students an image of a painting from his Cubist Period, such as “Three Musicians”. Ask students how the figures look different in this image than in the previous two images that they looked at.
  • These initial efforts at developing this almost sculptural sense of space in painting are the beginnings of Cubism. 
  • By the late '30s, Picasso was the most famous artist in the world. He was called upon to depict the brutality of fascist aggression in the Spanish Civil War with his monumental "Guernica" painting. Many other paintings from this period reflect the horror of war. 
  • Pablo Picasso died on April 8, 1973. 

 

Part 2 – Creating Artwork

• View several different pieces of Picasso’s artwork from the different periods or go back to the three works that students looked at in the previous session, and discuss how they are different and why (students should recognize the Rose Period, Blue Period, and Cubist Period of his work). 
• Discuss how tone and color change the “mood” of a piece of artwork and discuss how it conveys a message. 
• Discuss geometry in Picasso’s cubist artwork and how he found beauty in the oddity of the shapes.
  • How does cubism relate to 3-D objects and paintings? 
  • What effect do you think he was trying to achieve? 
• Tell students that they will be creating art inspired by Picasso. 
• There are three variations to the artwork students can create:
  • Option 1: Ask students to think of something in their own personal life that they would like to represent. Have students create their own “art period” and give it a color. Remind students how color reflects mood, so the colors they choose should reflect the mood of what they are representing.
  • Option 2: Have students recreate one of Picasso’s pieces. They will reinterpret it using their own “art period”, like Picasso’s Blue Period. Have students analyze how their interpretation is different and changes the mood of the artwork.
  • Option 3: Have students draw a person using geometric shapes. Then have them cut it up and glue it in collage style to represent the cubist style. 

 

Part 3 – Persuasive Writing

• Tell students that many famous artists whose work is worth millions of dollars now, originally were not popular and often struggled to make a living. 
• Tell students that they will be writing to persuade an important art collector to purchase the piece of artwork they just created.
  • Students’ writing should:
    • Include several reasons why someone should buy their artwork supporting them with relevant details.
    • Use the art concepts that they used, such as the personal “art period”, Cubism, geometric shapes, etc.
    • Explain their personal “art period” and why they chose particular colors and subjects in their piece. 
    • Link opinion and reasons using words and phrases (e.g., for instance, in order to, in addition, etc.). 
    • Structure ideas in a well-organized format. 
    • Include a conclusion.

 

Closing Reflection

• Students should share their artwork with a partner. Their partner will imagine themselves to be a wealthy art collector. They will try to persuade their partner to purchase their artwork using the information in their writing. Students should not read their artwork but should focus on communication skills through conversation.
• Debrief the process with students and ask if anyone was persuaded to purchase the artwork. Ask them to explain why.
• Finish the lesson with two “glows” and a “grow”. Ask students to identify two things they did well/were proud of themselves for and one thing they would like to do differently next time they do a lesson like this.

 

Assessments

Formative

Teachers will assess students’ understanding of the content throughout the lesson by observing students’ participation in the activator, discussion of the life and background of Pablo Picasso to determine students’ comprehension, discussion of Picasso’s artworks from different periods, individual artmaking process, and conferencing with students during the writing process.

 

Summative

CHECKLIST

• Students can convey their meaning through their art. 
• Students can explain the reasons why someone should buy their artwork supporting them with specific reasons and using the art concepts that they used, such as the personal “art period”, Cubism, geometric shapes, etc.
• Students can explain how they conveyed meaning in their artwork.

 

DIFFERENTIATION 

Acceleration: Encourage students to research famous artists to see who was known for creating both 2-D (such as drawing and painting) and 3-D (such as sculpture) art pieces (including but not limited to artists such as DaVinci, Van Gogh, and Jackson Pollock. They can create a digital presentation, such as a PowerPoint, that shows pictures of the artist’s 2-D and 3-D art. Students can then reinterpret their 2-D artwork in a 3-D style that reflects one of the chosen artists. Remediation: When presenting information about Picasso, provide the students with video as well as books for the more visual/auditory learners. Have the vocabulary terms posted visually for the students, with examples of each. When creating the artwork, use developmentally-appropriate terms to describe the mood of the artwork. ESOL Modifications and Adaptations: ESOL students will need to look at the additional artwork on the different artists and discuss the mood (feeling in the art work) and period (time from when the artwork was created) to make sure they understand the context. For the opinion writing piece, the students will orally persuade someone to purchase the piece of artwork created by the student.

 

 ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

Pablo Picasso Rubric WikiArt Pablo Picasso (scroll to bottom to view artworks)

 

*This integrated lesson provides differentiated ideas and activities for educators that are aligned to a sampling of standards. Standards referenced at the time of publishing may differ based on each state’s adoption of new standards.

Ideas contributed by: Whitney Jones. Modifications, Extensions, and Adaptations Contributed by: Candy Bennett, Patty Bickell, Vilma Thomas, and Lori Young. Reviewed by Debbie Frost. Updated by: Katy Betts.

Revised and copyright: August 2024 @ ArtsNOW