What do you think the painter thought was the most important part of the picture?

(Grant Wood was first interested in painting the house in the background. He added the farmer and his daughter after painting the house with the pointed window.) What do you think these people are thinking? Do they seem mad or just serious? (Some people think they look very unpleasant, almost angry, but Wood said he painted typical Americans who were strong and steadfast. The woman is actually Woods sister and the farmer is his dentist.)
American Gothic by Grant Wood 1930 American Art Gallery 263

How many straight pointy lines can you find? (The pitchfork is probably the first pointed object your see, but look closer. The farmers clothes have many straight lines, including the piping on his overalls that looks just like a pitchfork. The roof and window are pointed and there is even a pointed spire way off in the distance. Dont miss the spiky cactus on the porch.)

The artist painted another shape over and over. Can you find it? (Circles are repeated in the buttons and broach on the clothing. The glasses are round and the dress has a circle pattern. Even the faces have a oval shape) Can you find the artists name? (Grant Woods signature and the date are signed on the farmers pocket.)

There isn't just one way to look at a painting. Sometimes we need to look up close, far away, and even from the side to see what the artist wants us to see. Let's start from far away and see what we can spot. Looks like a sunny day, but I can still see several umbrellas. How many can you count? (There are at least seven.) The animals seem to be enjoying the weather, too. What kind of animals do you see? (There are three dogs and a monkey. The little yellow spots in the center are butterflies.) Everyone seems to be so still. Do you see anything looks like it is moving? (The little girl in the red dress is skipping and the small dog appears to be on the lunge, but everyone else looks like they are not even breathing.) Let's move closer and see what we spot. (Dots and spots! Seurat placed dots of color next to each other instead of blending them before he painted. From far away the eye blends the colors together to make the picture.)

A Sunday on La Grande Jatte by Georges Seurat 1884 Medieval to Modern Gallery 240

Let's look at this painting one more way before we go. First find the biggest thing in the picture. Why do you think this lady and gentleman are so much bigger than everyone else? Let's look at the painting from an angle. (Move to the right corner of the painting and look from a 45 degree angle. This was the angle from which the artist wanted the painting to be viewed, so the people look to be the right size from that perspective.)

How do you think these people feel about each other? What makes you think that? (The mother and child certainly love each other. You can tell from the closeness of their heads and the gentleness of their hands.) Is this bath time the same as your bath time at home? (Baths have changed a great deal since the end of the 1800s. One of the reasons that Cassatt painted this subject was to encourage people to begin to bathe more and be cleaner. It was not uncommon for people to only bathe once a month!) What is the first thing you notice when you look a this picture. This is the focal point. (The two dark heads against the pale skin are most noticeable.)

The Childs Bath by Mary Cassatt 1893 American Art Gallery 273

Where do you see straight lines? Where do the lines seem to point? (The lines in the mothers dress point towards the bath tub and the toes. If you draw two imaginary lines from the noses, they also point towards the bath tub. The artist wants to make sure you dont miss the bath tub.) Where do you see round shapes? (The faces are both round, as is the tub and the pitcher. The round shapes give a soft feeling to the painting.)

How many people do you see? What do they seem to be doing? Do you think they know one another? (There are four people. One of them is a server and the others seem to at least have something to drink. The man and the woman facing us seem to know each other, as their hands are close together. Otherwise, they all seem like strangers.) What do you think these people are saying? What do you think they are feeling? (The people could be talking, but it seems as though they are all lost in their own thoughts. Every person in the picture is slumping and appears to be sad and lonely. Hopper started painting this picture right after the attack at Pearl Harbor, so maybe he was feeling sad too) From where is all the light in the picture shining? (The bright lights from the diner are the only lights in the picture. Everything else is dark. The diner has fluorescent lights, which had just been invented.)
Of course, it is night, but what time of night do you think is shown in this painting? (It seems to be

The Night Hawks by Edward Hopper 1942 American Gallery 262

very late at night, as there is no traffic on the street and the area around the diner is completely deserted.) Would you want to go in this diner? How do you think you would get in? How do you think these people will get out? (There do not seem to be any doors in our out. Everyone in this picture is trapped. Even you are trapped. You can see inside, but there is no way in.)

How many people do you see? How many boats do you see? (There are two people fishing in the boat and there appears to be at least four schooners in the distance and one dory in the front.) What part of the painting is closest to you? What part is furthest away? (The man and boy fishing in the boat are in the foreground and the schooners are in the background.) Can you see where the land and the sky meet? (The waves and the sky meet in the background. This line is called the horizon line.) What things do you see hanging off of the small boat? (The young boy with his net and the net full of herring are hanging off opposite sides of the boat. In real life, these two things keep the boat balanced and they also help the painting to feel balanced.)

The Herring Net by Winslow Homer 1875 American Art Gallery 171

What do you think the weather is like in this picture? What clues does the painter use to tell you about the weather? (The foggy, gray sky and giant waves tell us that the fishermen are fishing in windy or stormy weather. The cool colors (blue, grey) give the painting a feeling of coldness.) What feeling do you think the painter wants us to feel when looking at this painting? How would this feeling change if it were a sunny, calm sea? (The painter wants us to feel respect for the dangerous job of fishing. A sunny sky and sea would give us the feeling that fishing was an easy or a fun job.

Whose bedroom is this? Can you guess what this person does for a living? Does it seem to be a person who is rich or poor? (This is Van Goghs bedroom in Arles and because he was quite a poor painter it is furnished simply. You cannot guess from his room that he is a painter, as there are no paintbrushes or other supplies. You can see Van Goghs hat and cloak that he would have used daily as he painted outside.)
The Bedroom at Arles by Vincent Van Gogh 1889 Medieval to Modern Gallery 241

What color do you see the most? What color pops out at you when you look at the painting? What happens when you cover up the red bedspread. (The majority of the colors are muted blues, browns, and greens. The red bedspread is the one color that stands out among the others. Without the red bedspread, the painting looks depressed, but the red gives the picture a happy feeling.) What do you think is outside the window? (You cant see outside the window, but there seems to be lots of light and color.)

Why are his belongings in pairs. How many pairs can you find? (There are two chairs, pillows, washbowls, two drawings, two paintings, and two doors. Van Gogh began painting this series of paintings when he was expecting Gauguins visit. Perhaps he was looking forward to friendship and partnership.)

Who is this man? (Its hard to tell much about this man. We cant tell what he is feeling or thinking. His face and body seem frozen in time.) Where do you think he is going? (He seems to be going somewhere, but he is definitely not moving. He is frozen with one foot in front of the other.) What do you think it would feel like to touch this sculpture? How does the texture of the sculpture make you feel? Would you feel differently if the sculpture was smooth and shiny? ( The sculpture is rough and jagged and would feel sharp to the touch. The rough texture gives a harsh feeling to the sculpture. What words would you use to describe this man? (Skinny, hungry, thin, broken, decayed, bumpy, stick figure, etc)

Walking Man II by Alberto Giacometti 1960 Contemporary Art Gallery 398B

Have you ever seen a sculpture like this before? What makes this sculpture different from other sculptures? (Most sculptors start with a large block of stone or other material and subtract pieces until they make the shape that they want. Giacometti worked in the opposite way. He started with a thin frame and then added bits of clay until he built up the shape that he wanted to create. This is called additive sculpture.)

How many people do you see? Count the number of eyes. Do you think you can stand the way that these people are standing. (There are four people in the carving-three large people and one very small person. The Egyptians had a special style of art called frontalism in which the shoulders are turned to the front, but the feet, hands, and head are facing the side. Only one eye is shown) Why do you think three people are so big and one person is so small? (The three large people are adults, one is Thenti and the other two are his wife and son. The smallest person is a child, his granddaughter . Children were always shown much smaller than adults. This child also has her finger in her mouth, another common way to show Egyptian children in art. Do you see any animals in this carving? Look closely. (The carving is surrounded by Egyptian hieroglyphs which are picture symbols that make up the Egyptian language. Snakes and birds are two of the hieroglyphs that are shown in the carving.)

Wall Fragment from the Tomb of Thenti Old Kingdom Dynasty Ancient and Byzantine Art Gallery 154

What are these people doing and why are they doing it? (Thenti and his family are eating a feast. The table is piled with mountains of bread. The Egyptians created pictures for their tombs that would show them doing all the things that they would do in life, so that they could continue to do them after death. This painting would be a way for Thenti to enjoy eating a feast with his family even after his death.