Unit 1: Henri Matisse Mini-Compositions in Collage LTC 4240: Art for Children Spring Semester 2016

Henri Matisse: Lawyer to Artist Henri Matisse was born in Northern France in 1869. His formal education was in law, but was introduced to painting by his mother in 1889 while recovering from appendicitis. “From the moment I held the box of colors in my hands, I knew this was my life!” Henri Matisse Matisse with his mother, 1889

Henri Matisse: “Wild Beast” After a summer in St. Tropez in 1904, Matisse’s use of color became more daring, imaginative, and expressive. Matisse became a leader among a group of like-minded painters called the “fauves,” or “wild beasts,” by art critics. One critic stated, "A pot of paint has been flung in the face of the public!” (Tynes, 2010, para. 2) When exhibited in 1905, “Lady With a Hat” received particularly sharp criticism. Fauvism was the first of the avant-garde movements that flourished in France in the early years of the twentieth century. The Fauve painters were the first to break with Impressionism as well as with older, traditional methods of perception. Their spontaneous, often subjective response to nature was expressed in bold, undisguised brushstrokes and high-keyed, vibrant colors directly from the tube. Henri Matisse, “Lady With a Hat,” 1905

Henri Matisse: Triumph from Tragedy A cancer diagnosis and related surgery in 1941, confined artist Matisse to a wheelchair. He could no longer stand at an easel. This represented a creative turning point in the life of the artist For the next 14 years of his life, Matisse would express his phenomenal creativity and artistic abilities through an art process he called “painting with scissors.” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rLgSd8ka0Gs

Mattise, the French artist once identified as a fauvist painter . . .

. . . developed a new ARTIST IDENTITY with the art of collage. In the last 14 years of his life, Matisse “developed his final artistic triumph by cutting into color." (National Gallery of Art, 2013)

Matisse’s Process Matisse’s paintings and paper cuts appear spontaneous and easily executed, but they were not. He constantly worked to reduce a figure, object, or scene to its essence. Henri Matisse, “La Danse I, 1909” Henri Matisse, “La Danse II, 1910”

STUDIO ACTIVITY: Educational Lineage IN COLLAGE Design Problem: Create a cut-paper collage that captures the essence of the teachers who most strongly impacted your identity through the use of simple lines, shapes, colors, and space. Discuss what this means…. Your inner self, the outter self and the self that you think people see….etc…..

Create three categories, Outstanding/positive teachers and the positive teacher traits you associate with them. Neutral, you remember them but they were neither here nor there, what traits describe this sort of teaching? Negative impact, again, list traits. Demo / Example You may use collaged text and found images as well. News paper, magizines etc.

Select a color to represent each group Consider the feeling associated with each group: Are they sharp? Smooth? Humorous? Etc HOW can that feeling be represented or expressed through simple shapes? Cut-out when ready. Consider what you learned from the BANG power point homework and the placement of shapes. Experiment with arrangements of these shapes on a background piece of paper. Overlap, rotate, and change them until you are satisfied. Then, glue them in place.

As you work: Pay attention to your experience as a student, what does this process feel like? What do you need to know how to do in order to accomplish this task? Consider as a future teacher, how you might employ a strategy such as this in your own classroom? What skills will your students need to know? How might working through ideas visually enhance and deepen learning?

Can I? You have the freedom to color outside the lines… if you are inspired to push beyond the criteria I have set forth, you are welcome to.

References: National Gallery of Art (2013). Matisse Cutouts. Retrieved from http://www.nga.gov/exhibitions/matisseinfo.shtm Smith, K. S. (n.d.). Pure essence: What makes Matisse great. The National Catholic Review. Retrieved from http://americamagazine.org/issue/pure-essence Tynes, T. (2010, July 19). Matisse at MoMA. [Web log]. Walking off the Big Apple. Retrieved from http://www.walkingoffthebigapple.com/2010/07/matisse-at -moma.html Welton, J. (2002). Artists in their time: Henri Matisse. New York, NY: Scholastic Books.