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Suggested Grade Level:
4-6
Estimated Time: One to two class periods
Introduction:
Students use two 19th-century paintings of people in leisure settings
as inspiration for dramatic presentations.
Lesson Objectives:
- Learn to describe and analyze works of art
- Develop oral-presentation skills
Key Terms:
Instructional Materials:
Procedures:
Discussion:
- Examine Lunch at the Restaurant Fournaise (The Rower’s Lunch).
Encourage students to use their imaginations when answering the following
questions:
- Who are the three people and what are they doing?
- How do the "props" in the painting tell us what is happening?
- What do the gestures and facial expressions of these characters
reveal about their moods and relationships to one another?
- Explain that Renoir was concerned with the motion of light in his
art. Discuss the technique of the painting. Start discussion by asking:
- How has Renoir used paint to suggest light and shadow on objects
in this outdoor scene?
- Conduct a similar discussion with At the Moulin Rouge, asking:
- Who are these people and where are they? (Explain that
most of the figures have been identified and that one is the artist
himself.)
- How has Toulouse-Lautrec portrayed the people as if they are characters
in a play? (through extraordinary perspectives,
as if the figures are making stage entrances or exits)
- Who is the main character of the scene? (Possibly May
Milton on the right, because she seems to be dancing or
floating out of the scene and into the viewer’s space)
- How does color create dramatic effects?
- Describe the "stage lighting."
Activity:
- Divide students into groups of three and ten (corresponding to the
number of figures in each painting). Have each group collaborate to
write a dialogue between the characters and then act out the scene.
The conversation at Renoir’s
table could be based on a sporting event, meal, or walk. The dialogue
developed from the Toulouse-Lautrec
painting could relate to a recent performance at the dance club. Props,
music, and costumes can be added for dramatic effect.
Evaluation:
Base students’ evaluation on their participation in class discussion
and dramatic presentations.
Illinois
Learning Standards
Language Arts: 3-4
Fine Arts: 25-26
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