Lesson 1 - LearningThroughMuseums

Art
25.B.2:
26.B.2d:
Understand how elements and principles combine within an art form to express ideas.
Demonstrate knowledge and skills to create works of visual art using problem solving,
observing, designing, sketching and constructing.
English Language Learner Standards
Standard 1 Reading: Arrange information on topics gathered from reading.
Standard 2 Communication: Edit and revise own writing to produce final drafts.
Objectives
• Students will compare and contrast different artworks.
• Students will identify the main idea in a painting.
• Students will analyze how authors and artists use elements of their art to communicate values in a
work of art or writing.
• Students will identify the values of a culture represented in an artwork.
• Students will create their own drawings to communicate their values.
Background Information
The artwork: The Weaver
The artist: Diego Rivera (Mexican, 1886–1957)
The topic: Inferring Values
Relevant Information:
• Diego Rivera’s paintings emphasize the dignity of farmers and laborers. Many of his works were
large murals that were publicly displayed for everyone to see. They were meant for the common
people to celebrate their importance.
• In the years following the Mexican Revolution, he began to paint such works in both Mexico and
cities in the United States, such as New York, Detroit, and San Francisco.
• The Weaver is a smaller painting with a theme similar to many of Rivera’s murals. He wanted to
promote native Mexican traditions such as weaving and spinning, and grinding of corn for tortillas.
His figures celebrate the skill and grace of such traditional art forms and crafts.
• There is not very much in the room with the woman weaving. Rivera has focused on her pose, her
loom, and her intense concentration on her work. The colors used highlight her presence and her
work. She is not only the subject matter, but she is important and she is heroic.
• Rivera’s artworks are like windows into Mexico; you can learn about the culture, heritage,
conflicts, and values that are central to its history.
The artwork: Harvest Talk
The artist: Charles Wilbert White (American, 1918–1979)
The topic: Inferring Values
Art Institute of Chicago • 95