Below, you will find links to posts Introducing The World’s Greatest Artists series as well as materials, arts, and crafts inspired by the Art History unit study. Observation is one of the greatest skills children develop as they explore art and art history, and learning to see beyond the obvious and to really see the world around them is a quality that will benefit them throughout their life.
Vincent van Gogh (born March 30, 1853 ) – The World’s Greatest Artist
Read here about Vincent van Gogh.
See here “Vincent van Gogh’s 🎨 Birthday 🎂 ” Inspired Sunflower Craft.
Oscar-Claude Monet (born November 14, 1840) – The World’s Greatest Artist
Read here about Claude Monet – Introducing The World’s Greatest🎨Artists.
“I would like to paint the way a bird sings.” Claude Monet. Claude Monet – the father of impressionism, and one of the most famous artists in modern art history – was a master of observation. He studied and painted the haystacks that were a common sight across the French countryside in the late 1800’s. Monet was fascinated by nature. He studied light and color like a scientist! He’s known for taking one subject – Water Lilies, Cathedrals, Haystacks – and painting them over and over again so that he could capture the effects of the changing seasons and lighting at different times of the day. The thing I love about exploring Impressionist art with kids is the instantaneous nature of the art. Impressionists wanted to capture the feeling of a moment, so they worked quickly. Intuitively. Spontaneously. Their colors are bright. Their compositions are dynamic. Impressionist art is just fun! When kids are making art inspired by the Impressionists, there’s no need for them to make a “realistic” looking painting. It’s ok for things to be sketchy, gestural, and imperfect.
See here our Art Project 🎨 inspired by Claude Monet’s Poppy Field (Light and Colors ❤️️+💚).
See here “Claude Monet 🎂Birthday •🎨Inspired 🌸Irises in Monet’s Garden.”
Salvador Dali (born May 11, 1904) ~ The World’s Greatest Artist
See here “Salvador🎨 Dali’s🎂 Birthday” – How We Celebrate.
Pierre-Auguste Renoir (born February 25, 1841) ~ The World’s Greatest Artist
See our resources here Pierre-Auguste Renoir ~ Introducing The 🌎World’s Greatest 🎨Artists
See here Pierre-Auguste Renoir ☔Umbrellas Project Color Tones
Paul Klee ~ The World’s Greatest Artist
See here Paul Klee 🖼Lines Inspired Kids Washi Tape Resist Oil Pastels 🎨Craft
Some of the types of paintings are:
- a portrait ~ a picture of a person, usually of person’s face ~ ex.Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa
- a landscape ~ a picture of natural scenery ~ex. Claude Monet’s haystack or Lily-pond paintings
- still life ~ a picture of an inanimate object or of an object that does not move ~ think of Paul Cézanne’s fruits painting.
What would you consider this painting be? Julia drew off a picture I took of Smithsonian Gardens in Washington DC? Would you consider it still life or landscape? And by the way, we had a lesson on pastels and these pastel sticks are as close to professional quality at an affordable price as possible! (Buy pastel paper-pad here. )
ART IN ACTION
We absolute love Art in Action 1 book ~ which introduces young children to the world of art with 24 creative projects inspired by 12 masterpieces!
Project “Color Tones” is perfect for smaller children (Julia did it when she was 2 yo) and is a great introduction to color grading. All you need is a ruler, masking tape and red and white paint. You can also make shades of your child’s favorite color too!
Georges Seurat ~ The World’s Greatest Artist
We absolutely love Getting to Know the World’s Greatest Artists Series! Simple text, humorous illustrations will keep your little ones learning about famous artists in no time! Today, we are reading about Georges Seurat ~ the life and career of the nineteenth-century French Neo-Impressionist artist Georges Seurat, best known for inventing the painting technique known as Pointillism.
To learn about Georges Seurat’s techniques hands-on, we did with Julia (at 3 yo) a project called “Dot Picture” from a book Art in Action 1. What you need is sand-paper, wax crayons, and a warm iron.
This “dot” picture-art is perfect for smaller children who lack the skill or patience to reproduce a true Pointillism technique. Make sure to supervise the ironing process and watch the amazement on your child’s face when the masterpiece-print emerges!
Puzzles are great to introduce children to artists and their famous paintings. Sunday At La Grande Jatte is probably Seurat’s most famous large-scale painting. I would suggest this 30 pc jigsaw puzzle for children 3 and up.
Another project from a book Art in Action 1 is “Spray Picture” and it is an absolute favorite form of art with my children. There is something about using a toothbrush (and not brushing teeth) and splattering paint that makes this form of art super fun, creative and perfect for smaller children who do not yet possess an advanced fine motor skill.
The idea is to simulate “dot painting” (placing un-mixed tiny dots of paints next to each other) also known as Pointillism ~ a style of painting Seurat is so famous for. The idea of not blending colors first is that when you apply colors close to each other (for example yellow next to red), the eye would “blend” them to orange color once you “zoom out” even though on a close look you can discern a separate red and yellow.
What you will need: a pencil, masking tape, a toothbrush, and paints.
This is a form of tape-resist art (see here), and the last step is to carefully remove the masking tape ~ then observe your masterpiece emerge!
Hokusai ~ The Great 🌊Wave
Inspired by a woodblock print “The Great Wave off Kanagawa”, also known as The Great Wave or simply The 🌊 Wave ~ by the Japanese ukiyo-e artist Hokusai with a twist ~ by adding Julia’s favorite sea animal ~ 🐬a dolphin. Oil on canvas. Anya, 2018.
Johannes Vermeer
3D Girl with a Pearl Earring DIY
Julia had a school project, which had to be based on a famous piece of art and the requirements were to make it 3D (three -dimensional) model from familiar or recycled materials. We are all long fascinated by the mystery of the Girl with a Pearl Earring painting by Johannes Vermeer, so the decision was made! After searching the Pinterest and not finding much inspiration, Julia came up with this 3D model utterly from her imagination: she took a plastic cup and glued corks all around it. She then traced facial features with a Sharpie and glued a pearl “earring” to one side. Thereafter, Julia placed the plastic cup on top of the recycled tissue box, gluing it securely, and decorated it with felt and a silk scarf. We referenced 13 Artists Children Should Know, a heavily illustrated book featuring the world’s greatest painters, which is an excellent introduction for young readers to artists and their works.
Stay tuned for more World’s Greatest Artists …
