Matrix: Contemporary Printmaking - Museum of Fine Arts - Florida ...

Fall 2009
LESSON PLAN
Worksheet prior to Printmaking:
Hokusai’s The Great Wave
Name everything in this print that is similar to something you have seen before?
Hokusai lived in Japan, an island country surrounded by ocean. Where do you think
Hokusai saw a huge wave like this? What was the weather like when he saw this?
Hokusai also wanted people to look at Mt. Fuji, an important mountain in Japan. What is
the reason Hokusai placed it behind the water?
Hokusai made many pictures of Mt. Fuji. When you look at this print, do you think
Hokusai though the ocean was more important or Mt. Fuji was more important to Japan?
Florida is a peninsula, a state surrounded by ocean on three sides. Hokusai’s Great
Wave shows his experience of Japanese terrain and weather. What picture of Florida
would you create to show your experiences of Florida Terrain and weather? Do you think
the land or the ocean is more important in Florida? If you were sitting in a boat off the
coast of Florida and you could draw a picture, what would it include? What would you
want to show about the ocean? What would you show on the land?
Durer’s Rhinoceros
Where have you seen this animal before? Your house, the zoo, in the wild?
Albrecht Durer lived in Germany (in Europe) in the 1400’s. He was creating
pictures of animals that live in Africa. Where do you think Durer saw this animal?
Were there zoos 500 years ago? Where else might Durer seen a rhinoceros?
Why would Durer draw this animal as opposed to another type of animal? How
would you decide which animal to draw? Would you consider your own
fascination with an animal’s appearance? Would you consider the rarity of an
animal? That an animal is threatened with extinction? That an animal holds an
important place in a local ecosystem? Something else?
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