Conversations Family Guide

download Conversations Family Guide

of 16

Transcript of Conversations Family Guide

  • 8/9/2019 Conversations Family Guide

    1/16

    Smithsonian

    National Museum of African Art

    f a m i l y

    g u i d

    e C o n

    v e r s a

    t i o n s : A f r

    ic a n a n d A f r i c a n Am e r i c a n A r t w

    o r k s

    i n D

    i a l o g

    u e

    f r

    o m t

    h e

    C o l l

    e c t i o

    n s

    o f

    t h e

    S m i t h s o

    n i a n N a t i

    o n a l M u s e u m o f A f r i c a n A r t a n

    d C a m

    i l l e O

    .

    a n

    d W i

    l l i

    a m

    H .

    C o s

    b y

    J r .

  • 8/9/2019 Conversations Family Guide

    2/16

    LOOK CLOSELY IMAGINE SHARE

    Artists everywhere have stories to tell that speak toaudiences across time, places, and cultures. Justlike authors who tell tales with words, artists use

    visual language to invite us into a world of images,ideas, and imagination. Lend your imagination toan exploration of forms, styles, techniques, andmaterials in Conversations: African and African

    American Artworks in Dialogue from the Collectionsof the Smithsonian National Museum of African Artand Camille O. and William H. Cosby Jr.

    Encounter some of the common threads that weaveour stories together as part of the narrativeof the human family. Look closelyat works of artwhat materials andtechniques are used by artists toexpress their ideas? Imagine

    what story each artist might betelling. Share your ideas withthose around you.

    We respond to works of art for manydifferent reasons. Build your visual

    vocabulary with the words you find inpurple to help you exchange ideas withothers in your group.

    Written by Deborah StokesEdited by Colleen ForanDesigned by Lisa Buck VannPhotographs by Franko Khoury unless otherwise noted

  • 8/9/2019 Conversations Family Guide

    3/16

    Use this guide to help you readthe artworks on display throughthoughtful looking. Learn the

    ABCs of visual vocabularyform, style, material, andtechnique and reflect onthe special role that art playsin all our lives.

    people

    places

    things

    1

  • 8/9/2019 Conversations Family Guide

    4/16

    Look for other mother-and-child pairsas you tour the galleries. How manycan you find?

    If you designed a sculpture to depict amother and child, what materials andtechniques would you use? What poseswould you portray?

    What materials are used on these twoartworks? Which sculpting techniques?How do these choices changethe way the artworks look?

    A sculpture is a three-dimensional (height + width+ depth) work of art made by carving, modeling, or

    welding materials like wood, stone, metal, andclay into works of art.

    These two sculptures were created approximately 100 years apart. The Kongo artist and ElizabethCatlett created them to provide a visual representa-tion of motherhood in their own cultures. Whatelements are alike? different?

    What symbols

    do you see on thesetwo sculptures?Are any of them

    abstracted?

    Look for symbols in works of art that express orrepresent a particular idea, quality, or characteristic.

    An abstraction uses imaginative lines, shapes,textures, and colors to create new ways to representthe ideas associated with a person, place, or thing.

    An abstract style can be puzzling, with details andsymbols that might require more thought.

    2

  • 8/9/2019 Conversations Family Guide

    5/16

    What materials were used to makethese objects? Do any of the materialslook like they have been added to thesculptures later on?

    How do the elements of these sculpturescreate powerful presences?

    Stand tall like Toussaint Louverture.Now pose with your arm raisedlike the nkisi describe how thedifferent poses make you feel.

    Sculptors work in three dimensions, the way objects exist in the space around us. TheSenegalese artist Ousmane Sow has chosen

    as his subject the 18th century Haitian leaderToussaint Louverture. By constructing an artwork

    larger than life, the artist recognizes the impor-tant role of this historical figure and asks the viewerto look up to see the commanding gaze of the figuretowering above us. Do you need to know the history of Haiti to feel these powerful emotions?

    FUN FACTThis sculpture is

    over seven feet tall!How tall are you?

    An nganga is a ritual specialist who communicates with thespirit world and offers spiritualguidance through the use of acarved figure called an nkisi.

    After the sculpture was com-pleted, the nganga oftenattached or hid additionalsubstances inside the nkisi,increasing the figures sacredand healing power. Theseaccumulative materials revealhow the objects form changedover time.

    3

  • 8/9/2019 Conversations Family Guide

    6/16

    Realistic details can tell us a lot aboutthe subjects of portrait and genrepaintings. Notice what each personis holding in these two artworks.

    What would you be holding in yourportrait? What would it say aboutyour personality?

    Both of these artworks represent amother and child, but their clothesand poses are very different.Describe how they representdifferent versions of life.

    A portrait represents a particu-lar person and displays his orher personality and character.The artist often frames the sitterfrom head to waist and includesclues about the persons social positionor status. Joshua Johnston painted this portrait ofMrs. Thomas Donovan and her daughter Elinormore than 200 years ago!

    A genre painting is a scene from everyday life.

    Notice how the artist, James Amos Porter, uses thelight glowing from the doorway to direct our eye tothe mothers face. Where does your eye go next?Porter chose to place the forms in his painting ina triangular composition. Can you see it? Follow the mothers arms down to the laundry basket andthen to her daughter in the background.

    FUN FACTFruit was often used

    by artists as a symbolof kindness, abun-

    dance, humility, and

    modesty.

    4

  • 8/9/2019 Conversations Family Guide

    7/16

    Naturalism is an artistic style that aims to depictsomeone or something as observed in the real world.

    Notice the man and the boy are notlooking at each other or the viewer.What are they doing? What is theartist telling us?

    What words describe how you feelwhen looking at this scene?

    In this painting, Henry Ossawa Tanner wanted topaint a scene viewers would recognize from theireveryday lives. Does this scene remind you of any-thing from your own daily life?

    5How does the artist use light in thispainting? What might it symbolize?

  • 8/9/2019 Conversations Family Guide

    8/16

    Describe some of the details in thelandscape. Do they make you feelhaunted, sad, or happy?

    Pose like the girl in the painting.Imagine what you might see orhear in the distance.

    Theres a hiddensymbol in this

    paintingcan youspot it?

    Realism is an artistic technique where an artistpaints accurate details of the world around us inorder to make the viewer feel a certain way. Realistpaintings often make the viewer feel as if they areinside the painting.

    Hughie Lee-Smith uses realism to create the illusionof three dimensions. At the center of the painting,a woman has her back to the viewerwhat do yousuppose she is thinking?

    Do you think this painting represents areal or an imagined landscape? Whichdetails make you think so?6

  • 8/9/2019 Conversations Family Guide

    9/16

    How do these works look similar? Howdo they look different? How do thetechniques used to make the artworkschange the way they look?

    Imagine the mood of the paintedscene. Now imagine the mood ofthe photographed one. How arethey similar? different?

    Describe the details you see inthe painting and the photograph.Can you spot any that are thesame in both?

    Archibald J. Motley, Jr.s paintings depict many scenes of African American city life. In Stomp, Motley uses details to express the sophistication of jazzmusic and the excitement of crowded dance floorsat a late night Chicago dance club.

    Add yourself in!What would you

    be doing?

    Malick Sidib used his camera to capture every detailof an African dance club through photographs.Photographers like Sidib frame real scenes to expressideas about their subjects. How is this different fromhow painters create artworks? This photograph showsa couple dancing together in Mali.

    7

  • 8/9/2019 Conversations Family Guide

    10/16

    What is the first thing you see?Look closely at the compositionand use of light in the painting.

    What do you see out of the window?Imagine yourself in the landscapebeyond.

    Describe where the composition takesyour eye . . . and your imagination.

    A still life is an arrangement ofeveryday objects, such as fruit orflowers, used as subjects in draw-

    ings, paintings, and photographs.

    While in France, Lis Mailou Jones captured light, color, andatmosphere in this dazzling stilllife painting that includes alandscape in the background.

    8

    FUN FACT

    July 29th hasbeen declared Lis

    Mailou Jones Day inWashington, D.C.!

  • 8/9/2019 Conversations Family Guide

    11/16

    What words come to mind when youlook at these two artworks? peaceful?busy? noisy? calm?

    Describe what you would hear, smell,and feel in each painting.

    Which would you rather visit, thelandscape or the cityscape?

    A landscape is a scenic view depicting naturalfeatures like the sky, mountains, trees, deserts, andrivers. A cityscape is a view depicting featuresmade by humans such as skyscrapers, roads, and

    houses. Which of these paintings is a landscape? Which is a cityscape?

    Look for the place in the painting of the waterfall where the earth meets the sky. This is called thehorizon line. Can you find it? Is there a horizonline in the cityscape?

    David Koloanes cityscape and Robert S. Duncansonslandscape both have a figure in the foreground.Can you find them? Think about the size of thefigures. Which is bigger and which is smaller? Why do you think the artists chose to paint their subjectsdifferent sizes compared to the background?

    9

  • 8/9/2019 Conversations Family Guide

    12/16

    Bearden was inspired by music,especially the blues and jazz.What sounds do you hear?

    What materials did Bearden use tocollage this artwork?

    Describe how a collage looks differentfrom the other art techniques shown inthe exhibition.

    A collage (ko-LAAHj), from theFrench to glue, is a techniquecombining paint with various

    materials such as magazineand newspaper clippings, coloredpaper, cloth, or other found objectsthat are then glued to the paperor canvas.

    Romare Bearden was a masterof collage and improvised ways

    of combining different materialsand inventing new surfaces andforms. In this collage depicting ajazz musician, the artist createsa composition of lively angles,colors, and patterns to convey anillusion of sound and movement.

    How manyshapes and colors

    can you find?

    10

  • 8/9/2019 Conversations Family Guide

    13/16

    Think about the choice of color in thisartwork. What mood does it conveyto you?

    With this technique, the artist couldmake the same image in a differentcolorwhat color would you choose?

    How would this image look different ifit were a painting? a photograph?

    Solomon Irein Wangboje made this image of an African drummer using a special technique knownas linocut he cut into a piece of linoleum, rubbedink onto it, then pressed the carving onto a sheet ofpaper to make a print. (Linocuts can also be inked

    and printed again to repeat the same image many times, like a stamp.) Carving the image first allowsthe artist to emphasize angles, patterns, and boldforms, like a drummer would emphasize rhythms.

    Clap your handsto create some

    musical rhythmsand patterns.

    11

  • 8/9/2019 Conversations Family Guide

    14/16

    Ringgold used painting and traditionalquilting to make her artworkcan youpoint out where she combinedthe two techniques?

    On the quilt, how many portraits can youcount? how many squares?

    What type of fabrics are you wearing?What techniques do you think were usedto make your clothing?

    Textile artists use cloth andfibers as materials to constructboth useful and artistic works.

    Faith Ringgold is an artist knownfor her painted story quilts, whichcombine painting techniques

    with quilted fabric materials.

    Notice how the artist conveys thetheme of family by repeated useof painted portraits and sewn

    quilt squares. What story do youthink Ringgold was telling? Thecarefully constructed compositiondisplays many artistic choicesdivision of forms, space, size,shape, color, and patterncom-bined to express both a feelingof improvisation and unity.

    African artists have a long history of producing textiles. Some tech-niques include loom woven,factory printed, photo-transfer,appliqu, and embroidery. Can

    you find examples of some ofthese techniques in the exhibition?

    Do you think making a clothusing such methods would beeasy or challenging?

    12

  • 8/9/2019 Conversations Family Guide

    15/16

    Smithsonian InstitutionNational Museum of African Art950 Independence Avenue SWWashington, D.C.africa.si.edu

    FRONT COVERAlma Woodsey Thomas18911978, United StatesA Fantastic Sunset (detail)1970Acrylic on canvas120.8 x 120 cm (47 1/2 x 47 1/4 in.)Collection of Camille O. andWilliam H. Cosby Jr.Photograph by Frank Stewart, permissioncourtesy Charles Thomas Lewis

    BACK COVERSara-Nar artists, Chad;Bachama, Bura, Gaanda, Hona,and Tera artists, NigeriaBowlsLate 20th centuryGourdDimensions varyNational Museum of African Art,

    gifts of Ellen Patterson Brownand Mildred A. MortonCLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT2000-29-4, 2000-29-11, 2000-29-26,2000-29-31, 2000-29-48, 94-2-6

    PAGE 1, LOWER LEFTGerard Sekoto19131993, South AfricaBoy and the Candle (detail)1943Oil on canvas46.2 x 36 cm (18 3/16 x 13 1/4 in.)National Museum of African Art,

    museum purchase, 2000-3-1

    PAGE 2, LEFTKongo artist, Angola, DemocraticRepublic of the Congo,Republic of the CongoFemale figure with child (niongi) Late 19th to early 20th centuryWood, pigment, mirror glass54 x 27.9 x 26.4 cm(21 1/4 x 11 x 10 3/8 in.)National Museum of African Art, giftof the Eugene and Agnes E. MeyerFoundation, 72-41-4

    PAGE 2, RIGHTElizabeth Catlett19152012, United StatesMaternity 1980Marble66 x 61 x 21.6 cm (26 x 24 x 8 1/2 in.)Collection of Camille O. andWilliam H. Cosby Jr.Photograph by Frank Stewart, Catlett Mora Fam ily Trust/Licensedby VAGA, New York, NY

    PAGE 3, LEFTOusmane Sowborn 1935, SenegalToussaint Louverture et la vieille esclave (Toussaint Louverture and the Elderly Slave) 1989Mixed media (iron, earth, jute, straw)220 x 100 x 110 cm(86 5/8 x 39 3/8 x 43 5/16 in.)National Museum of African Art, museumpurchase, through exchange from EmilEisenberg, and Mr. and Mrs. NormanRobbins, and with funds from Stuart Bohartand Barbara Portman, 2009-8-1

    PAGE 3, RIGHTKongo artist, Democratic Republicof the CongoMale figureLate 19th to mid-20th century

    Wood, glass, iron, pigment, cloth,plant fiber, horn, nails42.7 x 26.6 x 19.3 cm(13/16 x 10 1/2 x 7 5/8 in.)National Museum of African Art, gift ofDr. and Mrs. Robert Kuhn, 91-22-1

    PAGE 4, LEFTJoshua Johnstonc. 1765c. 1830, Baltimore area, MarylandMrs. Thomas Donovan and Elinor Donovanc. 1799Oil on canvas76.8 x 64.8 cm (30 1/4 x 25 1/2 in.)

    Collection of Camille O. andWilliam H. Cosby Jr.Photograph by Frank Stewart

    PAGE 4, RIGHTJames Amos Porter19051970, United StatesWasherwomann.d.Oil on canvas45.8 x 33 cm (18 x 13 in.)Collection of Camille O. andWilliam H. Cosby Jr.Photograph by Frank Stewart

    PAGE 5Henry Ossawa Tanner18591937, United StatesThe Thankful Poor (detail)1894Oil on canvas90.3 x 112.5 cm (35 1/2 x 44 1/4 in.)Collection of Camille O. andWilliam H. Cosby Jr.Photograph by Frank Stewart

    PAGE 6Hughie Lee-Smith19151999, United StatesFestivals End #2 1987Oil on canvas97.8 x 98.5 cm (38 1/2 x 38 3/4 in.)Collection of Camille O. and William H.Cosby Jr.Photograph by Frank Stewart, Estate of Hughie Lee-Smith/ Licensed by VAGA, New York, NY

    PAGE 7, LEFTArchibald J. Motley Jr.18911981, United StatesStomp (detail)1927Oil on canvas76.3 x 91.5 cm (30 x 36 in.)Collection of Camille O. and

    William H. Cosby Jr.Photograph by Frank Stewart

    PAGE 7, RIGHTMalick Sidibborn 1935, MaliNuit de Nol (Happy-Club)1963, printed 2008Gelatin silver printSheet: 61 x 50 cm (24 x 19 11/16 in.)Image: 42.5 x 43 cm (16 3/4 x 16 15/16 in.)National Museum of African Art,museum purchase, 2009-12-3

    PAGE 8Los Mailou Jones19051998, United StatesNature Morte aux Geraniums (detail)1952Oil on canvas73.3 x 59.8 cm (28 7/8 x 23 1/2 in.)Collection of Camille O. and William H.Cosby Jr.Photograph by Frank Stewart,permission courtesy of the Los MailouJones Pierre-Noel Trust

    PAGE 9, LEFTDavid Koloaneborn 1938, South AfricaMoon and Dog 1995Acrylic on canvas109.3 x 104 cm (43 1/16 x 40 15/16 in.)National Museum of African Art,museum purchase, 96-31-1

    PAGE 9, RIGHTRobert S. Duncanson18211872, United StatesFalls of Minnehaha 1862Oil on canvas92 x 71.8 cm (36 1/4 x 28 1/4 in.)Collection of Camille O. andWilliam H. Cosby Jr.Photograph by Frank Stewart

    PAGE 10Romare Bearden19111988, United StatesSitting In at Barrons (detail)1980Collage on Masonite100.8 x 75.5 cm (39 5/8 x 29 3/4 in.)Collection of Camille O. andWilliam H. Cosby Jr.Photograph by Frank Stewart,

    Romare Bearden Foundation/ Licensed by VAGA, New York, NY

    PAGE 11Solomon Irein Wangboje19301998, NigeriaThe Music MakerMood V (detail)1965Linocut on paper36.2 x 29.8 cm (14 1/4 x 11 3/4 in.)National Museum of African Art, gift ofAmbassador and Mrs. Benjamin HillBrown Jr., 76-3-18

    PAGE 12Faith Ringgoldborn 1930, United StatesCamilles Husbands Birthday Quilt (detail)1988Painted and pieced canvas and silk269.3 x 207.8 cm (106 x 81 3/4 in.)Collection of Camille O. andWilliam H. Cosby Jr.Photograph by Frank Stewart,Faith Ringgold 1988

    Now choose a workof art that you liked best.

    Explain your choiceto your group.

  • 8/9/2019 Conversations Family Guide

    16/16

    Create your own work of art at home or at school

    and write a story that draws on some of the ideasthat you collected today!

    Looking at thesecalabashes, count

    how many differentshapes and patterns

    you can find.

    A commonly found material in households across

    Africa is a dried calabash (gourd). They are oftenhollowed out and used as containers to carry

    water, food, and drink. Larger ones are made intopercussion instruments. Artists use a techniquecalled pyroengraving carefully cutting intothe hard surface with a heated knife or bladetocreate finely detailed designs.

    Did you miss something in theexhibition? You don't have to seeeverything at one time. Visit themuseum again and again!

    Want to find out more? Visit the museumonline at africa.si.edu.

    THE ARTSCAN TAKE

    US PLACES!