Wassily Kandinsky: Abstract Expressionism for Second Graders

Monday, September 16: 

“If you painted a picture of your self, you would probably paint what you look like, the color of your eyes and hair, how tall/short you are, etc. But close your eyes for a minute and think about what you feel like. If you painted what you you feel like, it would be much different.”-Wassily Kandinsky

Kandisky inspired painting in-process

Grade Level:  Elementary

Objective:
Students will learn about abstract expressionism through visually analyzing the art of Wassily Kandinski. Students explore the relationship between music and visual art in a watercolor painting activity.

Materials:
Kandinsky Powerpoint, watercolor paint-set, water containers, watercolor paper, brushes, music, projector, laptop

As a young student, I benefited from a "Picture Lady" program.  Throughout elementary school, a parent volunteer came into my classroom several times a month with a portfolio full of paintings for my class to view.  We talked about cubism and surrealism, impressionism and expressionism.  At the end of each period my class voted on a painting to keep in our classroom until our "Picture Lady's" next visit.

Wonderful student artwork

When Kim (the head elementary teacher at the tiny school where I work) asked if I would do art with Ms, I thought of the Picture Lady program I'd experienced as a student.  I wanted to give M & M not only opportunities to paint and draw but a scope of artistic styles and a sense of creative possibility.  I think programs that bring art history into the elementary school classroom are important, not because kids need to be familiar with the canon of art, but because seeing different styles of art and learning about the artists who created them empowers students to innovate, exploring mediums and styles they may not have otherwise.

I looked through a variety of online materials before coming upon a Picture Lab program based out of Walla Walla, Washington.  Like the "Picture Lady" program I partook in as a kid, the Picture Lab curriculum at Walla Walla introduces kids to a variety of style, however I loved the way the Picture Lab provided not only artists to study and paintings to view but detailed curriculum and art-making activities on their websites.

I decided to start M & M with a lesson on Wassily Kandinsky.  When we painted watercolors last Friday, I loved the colors and expressive lines of M & M's paintings and I thought they might recognize some of their own artistic strengths in Kandinsky's work.

We started with a Powerpoint.  When I began teaching, I hated Powerpoint as a teaching tool.  I'd seen many of my professors use Powerpoint as a crutch, reading off the screen as a way of easily accessing their teaching notes.  However, as a graduate student I took half a dozen classes in the art history department, where my professors used Powerpoint, not to project notes but to display images, or even quotes, for discussion, analysis and class consideration.  For the most part, the Picture Lab Powerpoint  on Kandinsky functions in a similar way--using the Powerpoint medium to exhibit artwork.  (Although I still removed a bit of text from the early slides, to negate some of the distraction the words would create for the second graders.)

When M & M and I looked at Kandinsky's work we talked about shape and feeling, line and color.  We discussed how music influenced Kandinsky's artwork and looked at some of Monet's paintings to understand where Kandinsky found some of his early inspiration.

We ended class with an activity suggested by Picture Lab's lesson plan.  The kids painted to music.  I had them listen to Beethoven and draw lines which expressed the emotion the music made them feel.  When the symphony finished we switched to Mozart and the kids used watercolor paints to further explore their emotional relationship with music.  We finished class before M & M had a chance to complete their paintings but I'm looking forward to seeing and displaying their completed works Thursday.

Washington State Content Areas Covered: 

EALR 1: Visual Arts

Component 1.3: Understands and applies visual arts genres and styles of various artists, cultures, and times. 

-Understands, applies, and creates artworks using visual arts styles and genres of various artists, cultures, places, and times. 
-Uses personal experience and/or knowledge of people, communities, events, and cultures to create an artwork.
-Describes the attributes of artworks by specific artists or cultures. 
-Explains that people make art for many reasons (tradition, ritual, social and personal reasons, and so on).
-Uses visual thinking skills to discuss a variety of artworks.

Component 1.4: Understands and applies audience conventions in a variety of settings, performances, and presentations of visual arts.

- Understands the responsibilities of the audience and applies the conventions that are appropriate given the setting and culture.
-Focuses attention, listens actively, and uses appropriate viewing skills in visual arts settings.
-Demonstrates appropriate audience conventions in a variety of arts settings.
-Demonstrates respect for artists and artworks in the community and in a variety of visual arts settings.

The first watercolor Wassily Kandinsky did to music

M & M's favorite Kandinsky painting