CLASSIC WORKS OF ART

[Timothy Gangwer]

CLASSIC WORKS OF ART

The School of Athens by Raphael

Exposing students to great pieces of art is an easy way to enhance a lesson, provide a visual way to practice a skill, and educate our students beyond the prescribed curriculum.

For example, if you’re teaching students to “compare and contrast,” open with a couple interesting works of art then move to the text.

Here are links to some great works that you might use to spice up a lesson. I’ve tried err on the side of “school appropriate” when building this collection and almost all are in the public domain (Picasso’s work is one exception).

Naturally, it’s a work in progress. Feel free to shoot me some suggestions at [e-mail] or @ByrdseedGifted.

Raphael

• St. George and the Dragon
• Portrait of Pope Julius II
• One of Raphael’s works of architecture: Chigi Chapel
• The School of Athens

Van Gogh

• The Starry Night
• Irises
• The Potato Eaters
• Series of self portraits

Da Vinci

• The Last Supper
• Mona Lisa
• Self Portrait
• Study of a horse (Kids should see that Da Vinci spent time practicing and studying before creating a final piece)

Michelangelo

• The Creation of Adam
• A study for Libyan
• Pietà

Picasso

• Three Musicians Example of Cubism
• The Old Guitarist From the Blue Period
• The Actor From Picasso’s Rose Period

The Impressionists

• Monet’s Haystacks
• Monet’s Water Lilies
• Pissarro’s Children on a Farm
• Degas’ Dancers at the Bar
• Renoir’s Dance at the Moulin de la Galette

Japanese Art

• Hiroshige’s Man On Horseback Crossing A Bridge
• Hiroshige’s Great Bridge, Sudden Shower (Van Gogh replicated this painting here).
• Kanō Eitoku’s Cypress Tree
• Hokusai’s Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji, of which The Great Wave Off Kanagawa is the most famous.
• Tawaraya Sotasu’s Wind God and Thunder God

Other Interesting Examples

• Salvador Dalí’s The Persistence of Memory
• Lichtenstein’s Bedroom at Arles
• Munch’s The Scream
• El Greco’s View of Toledo
• Caravaggio’s The Calling of St. Matthew
• Matisse’s Luxe, Calme et Volupté
• Georgia O’Keeffe’s Ram’s Head White Hollyhock and Little Hills
• René Magritte’s The Son of Man – A great example of surrealism
• Norman Rockwell’s Freedom from Want
• Grant Wood’s American Gothic
• Edward Hopper’s Nighthawks
• Winslow Homer’s Breezing Up