Artists Paint Flowers & Plants First Grade Art Docent Program - Earhart Elementary School

Flowers in Vase Georges Rouault [1871 - 1958] was a French artist who, before he decided to become a painter, had been trained in a stained glass shop. Many of his works deal with religion. This picture is very different from all the other paintings that the artist painted a frame around it. Do you see the little lines & circles? Can you tell what kinds of flowers these are? Can you see his brushstrokes & how he quickly applied the paint? Does this painting remind you of stained glass windows? Have you ever seen a stained glass window?

Spring Breeze Brings Warmth 馬蓬 [Ma Peng] [1945 - ] was born in SanDong and currently living in Beijing China. In 2005, he has published an album of flowers and bird painting. His little brother is also an artist. This is watercolor & ink painting on Xuan [rice] paper, which can be stored without damage for thousand years. It is a kind of paper originating in ancient China used for writing & painting. It is renowned for being soft & fine textured, suitable for conveying the artistic expression of both Chinese calligraphy & painting. Do you know the name of the flowers? Besides the flowers, what else do you see? [Click for answers] Peony, Swallows, Rock

Iris Vincent van Gogh [1853 - 1890] was a lonely unhappy man, who only devoted himself to art for the last ten years of his short life. He had health problems & spent his last two years in & out of hospitals. It was during this time that he painted this picture of iris. Do you recognize the flowers in this painting? Vincent van Gogh used quite a few different greens. Can you find some blue-green? Light green? Yellow-green? Do you see how he painted an outline around some of the leaves? Do you know why he did that?

Virgin Forest Henri Rousseau [1844 - 1910] was born in France. He is the most famous of the primitive painters. Primitive means that he had no formal training in art but taught himself how to paint. This is a jungle filled with exotic flowers & plants. Can you count how shapes of the leaves? Do you see the cactus-like plants in the center with their little red blossoms at the top? Do you see a man & a leopard? Do you think there really are flowers such as big as these or could they have been products of the artist’s imagination? What was the artist’s favorite color?

Cattleya Orchid & Hummingbirds Martin J. Heade [1819 - 1904] was one of the longest & most varied of any American artist. He liked to travel & record his impression in his paintings. How many hummingbirds do you see? Where is the nest? Have you ever watched hummingbirds? Have you seen one with the long tail like the one at the right? Does the flower look as real as photograph? Would you like to make a picture about flowers & birds?

El Vendedor Diego Rivera [1886 - 1957] was born in Mexico. When he was three, he was making sketches of the world about him. He studied in Europe in 1909. He married Frida Kahlo, who was also a fine artist. Anyone remember Frida Kahlo? She was the artist with her self-portrait in “Artists Paint Self-Portraits.” Who knows the name of the flowers? We see two hands on either side of the basket & two feet below it. Can you see someone’s head at the top middle of the calla lilies? Is the basket heavy or light? Have you seen any calla lilies? Sometimes flowers don’t have to be colorful, people love calla lilies because of the large white form that holds the yellow spadix in the center.