Piet Mondrian and Abstract Art
Objectives:
- Be able to describe abstract art in own words
- Be able to tell one fact about artist Piet Mondrian
- Participate in a discussion about lines
Vocabulary:
- Piet Mondrian-an artist know for is abstract art pieces
- Abstract Art-art that does not look like something we see in nature
- Geometric shapes-
What You Need:
- Mondrian prints
- Black or white paper-one per student
- Glue sticks-one per student
- Pre-cut construction paper geometric shapes of rectangles and squares in all shapes and sizes in red, yellow, blue, green, and black
Discussion:
Hello. My name is _________. Today we are going to talk about abstract art. Can anyone describe abstract art?
One artist who is famous for his abstract art is named Piet Mondrian. He was a Dutch painter who was born in 1872. Like many other abstract artists of his time he started as a realistic artist painting landscapes. (Pause to ask students to describe realistic art). Later in his career he started making his paintings abstract by representing objects by using lines, shapes and color. Eventually, he began to paint only geometric shapes divided by black lines. He used blocks of primary colors within the lines, but also left many of the geometric shapes within the lines white.
Student Activity:
- (Show Mondrian Prints) What geometric shapes do you notice in these pieces? Which print do you like best? Why?
- Pass out white paper.
- Tell students to squint eyes while looking at something familiar. Can you see all the details of the object? Do you see only shapes and color? This is how Piet Mondrian began to paint in the geometric style of using shapes and color to depict the world he saw.
- Pass out various geometric shapes and glue sticks to table groups.
- Using glue sticks and pre-cut construction paper shapes allow students to create an abstract work of art like Piet Mondrian.
Books and Resources:
Online color page- http://www.enchantedlearning.com/cgi-bin/paint/ns/artists/mondrian/coloring/matrix.shtml