Art From Many Cultures
Teacher resource for k-12
REVISED ©2012
Norton Museum of Art
1451 So. Olive Avenue
West Palm Beach, Florida 33401
www.norton.org
About this Teacher Resource Packet
The packet contains information about major artworks in the Norton Museum of Art
collection, and related interdisciplinary lessons that were developed to integrate a variety of
academic subject areas, in consideration of the National Standards.
We encourage you to read the background materials on the artworks and artist, as well as the
lesson plans. Please feel free to amend the lesson to suit your students’ grade and academic
levels, and to make the lessons as relevant as possible to your classroom. Please share your
feedback with us at [email protected].
Studies and practical experience shows that students benefit the most from their tours of the
Norton Museum of Art if they have a chance to explore these resources with you in the
classroom before the visit. If time does allow for this, please consider employing these lessons
after their tour, to reinforce what students learned at the Museum. Of course, if you can
integrate these materials into class work before and after their visit, students will reap the
greatest benefits.
About the Norton Museum of Art
The Norton Museum of Art was founded in 1941 by Ralph Hubbard Norton (1875-1953) and
his wife, Elizabeth Calhoun Norton (1881-1947). The Nortons were actively interested in fine
arts and developed a sizeable collection of paintings and sculpture.
An industrialist who headed the Acme Steel Company in Chicago, Mr. Norton retired in 1939
to make his permanent home in West Palm Beach, Florida. Upon moving south, the Nortons
decided to share their collection with the public. In 1940, the Norton Gallery and School of Art
was built on property located between South Olive Avenue and South Dixie Highway in West
Palm Beach. Mr. Norton commissioned Marion Sims Wyeth of the distinguished firm of
Wyeth, King & Johnson, to design a building to house the collection. The late Art
Deco/Neo-Classic building opened its doors to the public on February 8, 1941.
The museum Collection consists of 7,000 works of art concentrated in the following
departments: European, America, Chinese, Contemporary and Photography. In addition, the
Museum hosts several major special exhibitions each year. Our dedicated staff also creates
and supports a wide variety of educational programs for all ages. For more Museum
information, please visit www.norton.org
Colossal head of a Buddha
Limestone
R.H.Norton Fund, 61.14 China, Tang Dynasty,
7th century
Describe what you see.
What does the sculpture’s expression
suggest?
The features of this Colossal Head of a Buddha suggest serenity. The half-closed eyes that once
looked down upon worshippers enhance this meditative quality. Gently swelling volumes
contrast linear edges to animate the light and shadow upon the stylized features. The hair is
carved in a pattern of tight, snail-like curls. However, forms that originally stood beyond the
sight of viewers, such as the ushnisha, (the swelling on the Buddha's head that signifies
wisdom), are roughly carved.
According to tradition, the first Buddha, born in 563 BCE, was the son of king Shakyas of
Northern India. As a young man, the prince Gautama Siddhartha was troubled by human
suffering. He renounced his riches and status to search for enlightenment regarding the
human condition. He abandoned contemporary religious practices to find his own path to
enlightenment. After meditating in earnest, he achieved enlightenment as the Awakened
One, the Buddha.
Rather than entering a transcendent realm, he chose to remain on earth to proclaim the
"eternal truth" he had learned. The new religion of Buddhism proposed that one could
overcome life's desires and sadness by leading a spiritual life. The ultimate goal of this
spiritual practice was nirvana, a state of release from the endless cycle of birth, death and
rebirth promoted by religions such as Hinduism.
Several centuries after the Buddha’s life, the new religion entered China along the western
Asian trade routes. By 65 CE, Buddhism was practiced in the Han dynasty court. The religion
continued to flourish in China after the fall of the Han dynasty during the ensuing period of
political turmoil. Comparisons of stone samples have identified this Colossal Head of a Buddha
as a work carved for the cave temple complex at Longmen, near Luoyang.
Religion in China was a major component of society and the dynasties that ruled.
Confucianism, Taoism and Buddhism rose and fell as the dominant religions practiced.
Buddhism was introduced much later than Confucianism and Taoism and suffered periods of
persecution, but is still practiced in China today and by millions of people worldwide.
Vocabulary
Confucius, Confucianism - Confucius lived between 551 and 479 BCE during the Warring
States period. He sought to establish a code of moral conduct that would define the roles and
rituals of court and family life. After his death, his followers collected his writings that
influenced the development of Chinese culture, and has served as one of the world's enduring
philosophies.
Taoism - Attributed to a legendary figure named Laozi who may have lived during the sixth
century BCE, Daoism proposes a life engaged with nature, and with understanding the Tao,
“the way”. Collected in a book known as the Daodejing, Laozi's teachings suggest that
happiness can only be achieved away from the rules and rituals of daily life, and in harmony
with the qi (pronounced "chee"), the force that animates nature.
Hinduism- Dating from about 1500 B.C.E., Hinduism originated in India and remains the main
religion practiced there today. Primary beliefs of Hinduism are that god is infinite and without
attributes, meaning God is too complex for anyone to encounter. God manifests itself as other
“sub-gods” with attributes. Very popular gods are Vishnu and Shiva. Hindus also believe that
time and life are cyclic. After death, individuals are reborn in the body of another person,
animal, vegetable or mineral. Their new body is determined by the merit of the actions of their
soul in present and past lives, also known as karma. The ultimate goal is to reach nirvana, a
state where individuals are free from reincarnation and attain eternal bliss. The religion
developed with a caste system, a way to determine the social structure of society. Society was
originally divided into four groups, the educated elite, military, merchants, and laborers.
Coromandel screen
Qianlong (1736-1795), Qing dynasty,
Qianlong period (1736-1795), dated 1793,
carved lacquer on wood
Bequest of Leonard and Sophie Davis, 2001.177
Describe what you see on the
Coromandel screen. How many panels
can you count?
This imposing Screen is made of twelve wood panels, each almost nine feet tall and decorated
with a distinctive carved and colored lacquer technique referred to in the West as
“Coromandel lacquer.” The decoration of Coromandel screens conventionally reflects certain
subjects. This screen depicts a generic set of scenes usually referred to as “springtime in the
Han Palace Garden,” as though it were set in the golden age of the Han dynasty (206 BCE –
220 CE). All the figures in the central scene are women and children amusing themselves in
various activities in and around eight garden pavilions on an island surrounded by a moat.
Individual groups depict women viewing paintings, writing poetry, swinging on a swing, taking
children for a cart ride, playing music, and dancing. The decorative motifs around the border
of the screen include auspicious animals and designs, such as dragons among clouds along
the top, Chinese “phoenixes “on the sides and bottom, and organic and geometric forms.
Coromandel screens were commissioned as gifts, and several, like this one, have long
inscriptions on the back. Lacquer, a uniquely Far Eastern product, is the sap from a tree
indigenous to China and Japan called rhus vernicifera. It was used as early as the Neolithic
period in China, and was particularly useful as an impermeable coating for objects made of
delicate materials such as bamboo, wood and silk. It was valued not only for its resistance to
water but also for withstanding heat and insects, and for providing a surface that could be
brilliantly colored. The term “Coromandel lacquer” is a misnomer, implying a connection with
the Coromandel Coast of southeastern India, which, curiously, only came into use in the early
twentieth century.
Suggested Activity:
If you were to portray activities that children enjoy today, what would you include? Make a
list of these activities and discuss them.
Decide which of these activities you would like to draw and which ones your classmates
will draw.
Make separate sketches to refine your ideas, and then work together on a large piece of
paper to create your own large artwork. (This can be a mural).
Child Hassam,
American, 1859-1935 Gloucester Harbor, 1899
dated 1909
Oil on canvas Bequest of R.H. Norton, 53.77
Describe what you see
From what vantage point do you think the
artist captured this scene?
Childe Hassam’s Gloucester Harbor captures the light and atmosphere of this New England
fishing village, as well as the artist’s fascination with the interesting topography surrounding
the harbor. Hassam painted this vista looking down from Banner Hill into Gloucester Harbor
and Smith’s Cove. His view of the harbor extends beyond the painting’s edge on both sides.
Similar to a snapshot, the painting depicts only a portion of the busy harbor. The high
perspective upon the scene creates a pattern of bands of land and water. In choosing the
nearly square format of the canvas, which references the contemporary popularity of
Japanese block prints, Hassam seems to reject the traditional rectangular “window” of
conventional landscape painting in favor of a tapestry-like, surface design for the composition.
Gloucester, Massachusetts, on Cape Ann, served as an important artistic inspiration for
Hassam, as well as for many artists at the turn of the century. A busy fishing town since
colonial times, by 1900, Gloucester served as a popular vacation destination as well. The
juxtaposition of pleasure boats and larger ships in the painting underscores that this is a
transitional period in the history of the harbor. Artists favored Gloucester’s picturesque views,
and found confirmation of a particular vision of the nation’s history in Gloucester’s colonial
traditions and architecture. Hassam first visited Gloucester in 1882. Returning around 1899,
Hassam painted at least two images of the harbor, which are comparable in subject and
palette.
Born in Dorchester, Massachusetts, Hassam studied and practiced wood engraving, painted in
watercolor, and studied anatomical painting at the Lowell Institute in Boston. At the age of
twenty-two he traveled to Europe, and in 1886, he began a three-year course of study at the
Académie Julian in Paris. During his time in Paris he was profoundly influenced by the
techniques and sensibilities of the French Impressionist movement. Gloucester Harbor
exemplifies Hassam’s American Impressionist style as it had developed from French
influences. The sunshine reflecting on the water of the harbor allowed Hassam to explore the
effects of intense light. Hassam’s painting also shares the use of complementary colors, such
as the vivid pinks and greens.
After returning to America, Hassam settled in New York, where he befriended the painters J.
Alden Weir and John Twachtman. These artists purchased New England properties that
served as subjects of their own and Hassam’s paintings. At Hassam’s instigation,
Twachtman and Weir joined him in founding the loose affiliation of American painter’s called
“The Ten.” Dissatisfaction with the size and increasing mediocrity of the annual exhibitions
of the National Academy of Design and the Society of American Artists, led them to band
together in order to exhibit. At the height of his career, Hassam had ten works accepted for
exhibition in the famed 1913 Armory Show, which introduced major Paris-based modern
European art movements to America.
VA.4.S.2.1, VA.5.C.1.1, VA.5.F.1.1, VA.5.F.2.1,
Background notes and suggestions:
•
How does environment shape how people live and what they do all over the world?
•
Identify the complementary colors in the painting above by Childe Hassam.
(Complementary colors: red-green, blue-orange, and yellow-purple)
•
Color is what we see because of reflected light. Light contains different wavelengths of
energy that our eyes and brain "see" as different colors. When light hits an object, we
see the colored light that reflects off of the object.
•
Red, blue, and yellow are the primary colors. With paints of just these colors, artists
can mix all the other colors. When artists mix pigments of the primary colors, they
make secondary colors.
Red + Blue = purple Red + Yellow = orange Blue + Yellow = green
•
Did you know that your computer screen also works by using three primary colors? But
here, since the colors are light from the monitor and not paint, the three primaries are
not the same. Instead, your computer screen mixes other colors from red, blue, and
green.
•
One important thing painters know: using complementary colors—the ones across
from each other on the color wheel—make both
colors seem brighter and more intense. They seem to
vibrate and pop out at you, the viewer.
Jan Anthonisz Van Ravesteyn Dutch (The
Hague), 1572-1657 Portrait of a Young Woman,
1611, oil on wood Purchase, the R. H. Norton
Trust, 2006.41
Describe what you see
What about the portrait tells you the woman’s
social status?
Painted during the “Golden Age” of Dutch art, Van Ravetryn was probably commissioned to
celebrate the sitter’s engagement or recent marriage. Convention suggests that this portrait
was intended to be seen with a portrait depicting the young woman’s fiancée or husband. Van
Ravesteyn accentuated the sitter’s prominent features by contrasting her pale flesh against
the dark background of her surroundings and the black fabric of her attire. The sitter’s
elevated position in society is evident in the visual display of her wealth. Seated in an
undisclosed location, the young woman wears a gown made of black-on-black satin brocade,
a stomacher of silver Genoese velvet embroidered with silk thread, a two-tiered lace ruff, and
lace cuffs. In addition, she wears a braided gold chain that falls down her chest and wraps
around her waist. Prominent pearls and gold rings adorn her hands.
Portrait production flourished across Europe since the 14th century, but portraiture was still a
relatively new genre of painting within the Dutch Republic at the beginning of the 17th century.
After gaining its independence from Spain, the Dutch Republic experienced a surge in wealth
known as the “Golden Age.” Portrait painting thrived during the 17th century as a successful
middle class emerged and many became active patrons of the arts. The portrait format, a
posed image, allowed artists to create highly individualized and meticulously painted images
of their sitters. These works visually documented aspects of the patron’s identity such as
gender, marital status, class, or profession. Special occasions such as engagements and
marriages represented the first significant point in a person’s life to merit a portrait.
Jan Anthonisz Van Ravesteyn is included among prominent Dutch portrait painters from the
early 17th century. Born in 1572, he spent most of his life in The Hague, the seat of the Dutch
royal family, the House of Orange. The only known paintings by Van Ravesteyn are portraits
dated between 1610 and 1640. Believed to have painted hundreds of portraits, Van
Ravesteyn benefited from a steady flow of sitters from the monarchy and its court, in addition
to other patrons among the leading citizens and government officials. In 1611, the same year in
which he painted the Portrait of a Young Woman, he began painting a series of portraits of
high-ranking military officers. After 1641, Van Ravesteyn’s creation of portraits slowed and he
painted very little if at all. Still, he remained an important member of the artistic community.
Constantin Brancusi, Romanian, 1876-1957
Madame Pogany II, 1925
Polished bronze on limestone base
Bequest of R.H.Norton, 53.14
Describe what you notice
Why do you think an artist would choose to
interpret an image of a woman in this way?
The polished bronze surface of Constantin Brancusi’s Mademoiselle Pogany II brilliantly reflects
the light of its environment. Immediately, this quality distinguishes Brancusi’s sculpture from
that of other sculptors who traditionally applied a chemical patina to the bronze surface to
enhance its sense of mass, or even antiquity. As the viewer approaches Mademoiselle Pogany
II, the features of a face become more apparent. Arched eyebrows articulate the oval of the
head and meet at the delicate point of the nose. Dynamic curving forms express Pogany’s
hands tucked under her chin, her twisting neck and cascading hair. Coupled with the
unconventional polished bronze surface, these features radiate grace and elegance.
During the summer of 1910, Constantin Brancusi met the Hungarian painter Margit Pogany at
a restaurant. Pogany later wrote: “I sat for him several times. Each time he began and finished
a new bust (in clay). Each of these was beautiful and a wonderful likeness, and each time I
begged him to keep it and use it for the definite bust – but he only laughed and threw it back
into the box full of clay that stood in the corner of the studio…” Despite Pogany’s distress,
Brancusi’s studies allowed him to distill from her features the kind of essential presence that
he sought in his art.
After a troubled childhood, Brancusi studied art at the Craiova School of Arts and Crafts and
the National School of Fine Arts in Bucharest. He left his native Romania for Paris in 1904 and
worked briefly in Auguste Rodin’s studio in 1907. Brancusi’s art has often been characterized
as a challenge to Rodin’s heroic figurative art. The younger artist, however, like other sculptors
of his generation, absorbed seminal lessons from the French master. Like Rodin, Brancusi
realized that a fragment of the human figure could stand alone as an expressive whole. Also
like Rodin, Brancusi returned again and again to particular subjects in his work. He finished
three marble versions of Pogany’s image in 1912, 1919, and 1931, as well as several bronze
versions.
Brancusi remains one of the most important and innovative figures in the development of
modern sculpture. Unlike 19th century sculptors who created plaster and clay models for
others to carve from more enduring materials, Brancusi carved his own marble and wood
sculptures without the help of assistants. His sensitivity to materials led him to incorporate
their physical properties into the subjects that he developed. He also considered the ways that
the bases for his sculptures contributed to their presentation; this is apparent with
Mademoiselle Pogany II, where the cubic limestone base contrasts with the swelling forms
above. Brancusi’s awareness of diverse artistic traditions, from the Romanian folk art of his
homeland, to the African and Buddhist sculpture that he encountered in Paris museums, also
allowed him to broaden the vocabulary of sculptural form available to artists of his own time
and future generations.
NICK CAVE, American, born 1959
Soundsuit,2010
mixed media
90 x 30 x 23 in (228.6 x 76.2 x 58.4 cm)
Purchase, acquired through the generosity of the 2010 Contemporary
and Modern Art Council and the R.H. Norton Trust, 2011.11
What do you notice? Why did the
artist cover the face? Name some
reasons people might wear a mask.
Named for the sounds they make when worn, Nick Cave’s Soundsuits evoke various
associations, from high fashion and Mardi Gras costumes, to ceremonial dress of African and
Caribbean peoples. Yet, through these exceptionally designed works, Cave explores more
than design; for the artist, wearing a Soundsuit eliminates the model’ identity, and forces the
viewer to approach the figure without recognizing race, ethnicity or gender. Cave developed
these concepts in 1992, as he reflected on press descriptions of Rodney King, whose beating
by Los Angeles police inflamed racial tensions in that city and across the country. Cave’s first
Soundsuit made of twigs shielded him from the prejudice he experienced as a gay, African
American.
Through his unique sculptures, Cave has found ways to explore not only issues of identity, but
also of transformation, ritual, and myth through layered references and virtuosic construction.
Today, Cave works as a sculptor, dancer and performance artist; he is associate professor and
chairman of the Fashion Department at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago where he
teaches in the Fiber Arts Program.
Abstract self-portraits using a continuous contour line:
Students will use a black fine point marker, and working in pairs, take turns drawing the
person across from them using blind contour and not lifting their pen from or looking at the
paper.
Materials:
18X 24 vellum paper Fine point Sharpie markers
If students are careful to look only at their model, and not at their paper, they will produce
an abstract version of their model’s face.
For older students:
Students may then refine their drawings by deciding what features are most important and
should be emphasized, and which others might be eliminated. They can either redraw or trace
over their blind contour drawings to make these changes.
Students can then show both drawings to their classmates and discuss why they
emphasized or eliminated certain features.
Suggested standards: Social Studies, Language Arts and Visual Arts
LA.1.1.6.5, Will relate new vocabulary to prior knowledge
LA.3.5.2.1, Will recall, interpret, and summarize information presented orally
SS.5.A.1.1, Use primary and secondary sources to understand history
VA.912.C.1.2, Use critical thinking skills for various contexts to develop, refine, and reflect on
an artistic theme.
SS.K.A.1.2, Develop an awareness of a primary source
SS.1.A.2.2, Compare life now with life in the past
SS.2.A.1.2, Utilize the media center, technology, or other informational sources to locate
information that provides answers to questions about a historical topic.
SS.6.G.1.1, Use latitude and longitude coordinates to understand the relationship between
people and places on the Earth
SS.8.A.1.7, View historic events through the eyes of those who were there as shown in their
art, writings, music, and artifacts.
SS.912.A.1.6, Use case studies to explore social, political, legal, and economic relationships in
history.
LA.8.2.2.2, The student will synthesize and use information from the text to state the main
idea or provide relevant details;
LA.1112.2.2.3, Organize information to show understanding or relationships among facts,
ideas, and events (e.g., representing key points within text through charting, mapping,
paraphrasing, summarizing, comparing, contrasting, outlining);