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Introduction:
Van Gogh created
many paintings to decorate his yellow house in southern France,
including this view of his bedroom. He also painted still
lifes of flowers and landscapes
of the countryside. Although he lived alone at the time he painted
the bedroom, van Gogh wanted to invite other artists to visit
him and live in Arles.
He hoped to form a community of artists in the south of France,
but this plan never came about.
Discussion Questions:
Look at the painting carefully.
- What objects has van Gogh painted in his bedroom? What would
you add?
- How do the colors make you feel?
- Does the room look inviting? Why or why not?
Activity:
Design your own bedroom.
Steps:
- Cut one or more "windows" out of the sides of a
shoebox, leaving the left side of each window uncut so that
it can be opened and closed. Imagine what is outside the window
and draw it on the moveable flap.
- Decorate the "floor" and "walls" of the
shoebox as if it was a bedroom. Consider using fabric for a
rug and patterns from magazines and gift wrap for wallpaper.
Add curtains to the windows if you’d like.
- Cut out pictures of furniture from magazines and paste them
inside the room. You may also want to construct your own furniture
out of small boxes and other household objects.
- On small pieces of paper, draw pictures for the walls of your
"bedroom" and paste them into the shoebox.
- Use paper or other household objects to create other items
for the room (extra pillows, books, toys, a bathrobe).
More Fun:
Paint or draw a picture of your own bedroom.
Next Family Activity >>
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Materials
| Shoebox |
| Paper |
| Watercolors |
| Paintbrush |
| Cup of water |
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