The Teaching Palette

American Revolution Portraitist

Posted on 05. Oct, 2008 by Hillary Andrlik in All Posts, Music+Art

Unfinished George Washington by Stuart (appears on $1 bill)

You may not realize it, but you see a portrait painted by Gilbert Stuart practically every day. His George Washington portrait has appeared on the U.S. one-dollar bill for more than 100 years! He’s probably the most famous portraitist of the American Revolution with a portfolio that includes most of the Founding Fathers – Washington, Adams, Jefferson, Monroe, Madison, etc.

According to Wikipedia, his works can be found today at art museums throughout the United States and Great Britain, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., the National Portrait Gallery in London, and the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston.

According to the National Gallery of Art, because he portrayed virtually all the notable men and women of the Federal period in the United States, Gilbert Stuart was declared the “Father of American Portraiture” by his contemporaries.

Famous portraits by Stuart – Washington, Adams, Jefferson

To integrate music, below are mp3 clips from the album “Music of the American Revolution: The Birth of Liberty.” According to the New World Records website, this album “is a scholarly and well-programmed musical recreation of a defining moment in the nation’s history, mixing propaganda songs, psalmody, fife-and-drum music, and wind band music, the four types of music most prevalent and popular at the time.”

“The pieces on this disc have been chosen to illustrate some of the different kinds of music sung and played in the Colonies around the time of the Revolution. Sources for the music and texts of the pieces recorded are original wherever possible. No attempt has been made to recapture the untutored roughness with which much of the music was surely performed in its time. Rather, the goal has been to record polished performances by skilled singers and players,” reads the liner notes of the album.

If you’re planning to teach a lesson on portraits, consider referencing Gilbert Stuart. For added resource, below is a presentation by Martin Kalfatovic, a libraries coordinator and head of new media at the Smithsonian.

Degas and Ballet

Posted on 04. Oct, 2008 by Theresa McGee in All Posts, Music+Art

Image: Edgar Degas, "The Star", 1879/81

When discussing Degas and Impressionism I use classical music – preferably classical ballet – to set the mood. Here is some classical and classical ballet music to try:

                                                                                                                 Source: The Art Institute of Chicago

Discussion Questions:

1. Does hearing the music change any impressions about the work of art?

2. How might the scene change with each piece of music? How might the dance moves change? Would there be a change in costume?

Art Battles

Posted on 29. Sep, 2008 by Hillary Andrlik in All Posts, Cool+Creative, Music+Art, Neat Video

New York visual artists take the painting process traditionally reserved for studios or art schools and make it public with Art Battles, which are events that meld music and painting into a competition decided by public opinion. Check out the promo video below as well as the art battle event Femme Fatale below.

Does this inspire any classroom art activities?

(Trouble viewing video? Try this link.)

Femme Fatale from Art Battles on Vimeo.