Name ______

Homeroom Teacher ______

Date: ______

Grade: O G S U

Limner Portraits

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INTRODUCTION TO LIMNER PORTRAITS

WHAT IS A PORTRAIT?

A portrait is a work of art that represents a specific person, a group of people, or even an animal. Portraits usually show what a person looks like as well as revealing something about the subject's personality.

Whose portraits are these? ______

Are they self-portraits? ______Why or why not?______

Portraits are not always painted of famous people. Sometimes artists paint themselves, which is called a self-portrait. Sometimes artists paint their family members or friends for practice. Sometimes, artists are paid to paint portraits, which are called COMMISSIONS. Here are a few examples of portraiture:

Traditionally, artists spend time with the person that they are painting, which is called a SITTING. The person to be painted is called the SUBJECT or SITTER. Artists use sitting to practice painting what a person looks like, talking to their subject to better understand his or her personality, and discussing what kind of picture the sitter may want. Portraits can be read much like a book, if you pay attention to what is in the picture and how it is painted!

Many wonderful portraits have survived from Colonial America. Artists followed the traditions of Dutch portraiture by painting subjects in exchange for money, including symbols of the sitter’s personality, and using a high level of realism. Photography had not been invented, so paintings were a great way to document a person’s image.

In colonial times, there were no art schools and artists were usually self-taught. Paintings take much longer to make than do photographs. Likewise, there would have been very few famous or wealthy subjects, which would have made it extremely difficult for portrait artists to make a living.

Artists found that the solution these working conditions was that they become very practical in making their portraits. Like the practicality of pottery, quilting and metalwork from this time period, colonial painters used an assembly-line type of painting called “LIMNER”. Because many colonists could not afford to pay high prices to painters, the artists would paint a series of bodies and backgrounds in their studios in the winter and then fill in the heads during sittings during travels in the summer. Often this made the portrait look disjointed and out of proportion. Nonetheless, Limner portraits reflect the traditions and conditions of Colonial times.

Here are some examples of LIMNER portraits:

Mrs. Hezekiah Beardsley, c. 1785-1790, oil, Yale University Art Gallery, NJ. / Portrait of Mrs. Elizabeth Freake and Baby Mary, 1671-4, Artist Unknown, Worcester Art Museum
Portrait of Catherine Adams, artist unknown / Andrew Jackson Ten Broeck 1834, by Ammi Phillips
Frederick A. Gale, 1815 by Ammi Phillips / Portrait of Catherine Ten Broeck, 1719 by Nehemiah Partridge

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Your Assignment – Part 1:

With the help of a partner, choose one of the Limner portraits above and answer the following questions:

Subject:

·  Who is the person in the portrait? ______

·  How old is the person? ______

·  Does anything that the person is wearing give you any clues about the person? (Clothing, jewelry, makeup, hat, etc.) ______

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·  Besides the person himself/herself, are there any other objects in the portrait that give the viewer any clues? ______

·  Does the way the person is standing or sitting tell you anything? ______

When, where and why

·  What does the picture tell you about the time that the subject lived? ______

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·  Can you guess whom it was painted for? ______

·  Do you think this is a self-portrait? ______

·  What makes this portrait unique? ______

Feelings and Emotions

·  How does the portrait make you feel? ______

● How do you think the artist felt about the person he/she painted? ______

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·  Do you like the way the artist has shown details and why? ______

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·  Can you predict if a male or female artist created this portrait and if so, how? ______

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Set Up

·  If there is more than one person in the picture, are they touching? What could this mean?

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·  What does the background and the objects in the background of the picture tell us? ______

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Art Elements: Shape, Line and Space

·  What shapes can you see in this portrait? ______

·  Are the lines in the portrait straight or curved? ______

·  How often does the artist repeat certain colors or shapes within the portrait? ______

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Your Assignment – Part 2:

You will begin a Limner self-portrait painting during your next art class.

When the questions above are completed, please work by yourself and use this space to sketch ideas for your Limner portrait. What symbols and pictures will you include from your own life, to help show your unique personality, conditions and traditions?

Draw here:

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YOUR LIMNER SELF-PORTRAIT

Now that you have sketched some ideas for your Limner self-portrait, you should choose a partner and begin to trace one another in a pose that reflects something of your personality. Please use the techniques as demonstrated by your teacher. Once your Limner self-portrait is traced, you may use this time to write descriptively about what traditions and conditions you will depict in your portrait (hobbies, environment, ideas, concerns, favorite clothes, jewelry, etc.). The better that you describe your ideas in words here, the better your portrait and final written assignment will be.

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FINAL WRITTEN ASSIGNMENT

You have by now completed a functional piece of pottery and a Limner self-portrait. Both of these types of art follow in the traditions of Colonial American art, and sprung from the conditions of life in colonial times.

Your final project will be to write an original paragraph based upon 1 of the following readings:

1) “Colonial America” by Rena Neumann Coen. Artwork includes Penn’s Treaty with the Indians by Benjamin West and Penn’s Treaty with the Indians by Edward Hicks

2) “A Famous Patriot” by Rena Neumann Coen. Artwork includes Midnight Ride of Paul Revere by Grant Wood and Paul Revere by John Singleton Copley

3) “George Washington” by Rena Neumann Coen. Artwork includes George Washington by Gilbert Stuart.

4) “Indians” by Rena Neumann Coen. Artwork includes The Death of Jane McCrae by John Vanderlyn and The Death of Jane McCrae by an unknown artist

5) “Colonial Children” by Shirley Glubok. Artwork includes James Badger, Master Stephen Crossfield, Eleanor Darnell, and John Van Cortlandt.

6) “The Earliest Painters” by Shirley Glubok. Artwork includes the untitled 1670 limner of a child and The Freake Limner.

In order to get a “G” for your grade, you must do the following:

___ Create an original paragraph using your own ideas and words - no copying from the readings!

___ Use your new vocabulary words such as "Limner", “Portrait” and “Functional” correctly

___ Describe the artwork in your assigned reading by name, artist, date, and historical conditions

___ Summarize your writing from Page 7 of this packet to explain what symbols, traditions and conditions from your life you included in your Limner self-portrait

___ Compare and contrast how your Limner self-portrait is similar to the artwork in the assigned reading

BONUS: If your paragraph is really good, you may have the chance to read it to a live audience at the Spring Musical!!

WRITE FINAL ASSIGNMENT HERE, AND TURN IN WHEN COMPLETED:

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Final Writing Assignment (Continued):

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