Masterpiece: Four Ice Cream Cones By-Wayne Theibaud

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Masterpiece: Piano Lesson

by Romare Bearden

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Keywords:Collage, balance, color

Grade:6th grade

Month:November

Activity: Collage, visual jazz

Meet the Artist

Bearden was born in Charlotte, North Carolina in 1911.
He attended Boston University and New York University and planned on going to medical school. But when he started drawing and designing cartoons for a local black newspaper, he discovered that his future lay in art.
Bearden was a painter, poet, song writer, and even a baseball player. (He pitched for the Boston Tigers, an all-black team.)
He became famous for his work in collage.
In 1987, President Regan awarded him the National Medal of Art.
He was though of as the artist who painted only the black experience, especially in the South. But Bearden believed that his paintings described all of America, not only black America.

Possible Questions:

Is this a scene from long ago? How can you tell? (Although Bearden painted The Piano Lesson in 1983, this work, like many others he painted, it recalls personal memories of his childhood.)
What are these people doing in this painting?
What objects in the parlor tell us this is the house of a music teacher? (Alongside the upright piano is a large music stand. A triangular metronome sits on top of the piano.)
Can you guess what kind of music the girl is playing? (In discussing this painting, Bearden said. “No jazz was allowed in her parlor.” This teacher made sure her students played only classical music.
Besides color, what else helps move our eyes around the painting? (Shapes and lines are also repeated in different parts of the painting and help to balance the picture.)
What is balance? (Many paintings need to be balanced)
How did Bearden balance his painting? (He did it with color and shapes)
Compare the colors in the two sides of the painting. How are they alike? How are they different? Do you think they are balanced?
Now compare the shapes. What shapes do you see on each side? Do you think they fit together?
By repeating shapes and colors, Bearden has created a painting where everything is balanced and the separate parts are in harmony.

Activity: Musician Collage

Materials Needed: Scrapes of scrapbook/wrapping paper, construction paper (black 12x18, green 11x17), scrapes of construction paper, scissors, glue, black marker, scrapes of gold/silver foil.

Process:

1. Using scraps of paper, students cut out shapes to make their musicians. They should use hot and cool colors that suggest the kind of music the person is playing, as well as using patterned paper for the clothes. Encourage students to use mostly squares and rectangles.

2. Students arrange the shapes to create their musicians on the green paper. Once they are happy with their layouts, they glue the shapes in place.

3. Have each student choose an instrument their musician will play. Using the gold or silver foil, students cut out the instrument and glue it in place.

4. Students add details with a black marker.

5. Mount the pictures on black paper and share them with the class.

Art Masterpiece: November – 6th Grade – Piano Lesson

Today in Art Masterpiece the students learned about artist Romare Bearden and his print Piano Lesson. Bearden is an African American artist who planned to go to medical school but found his passion was in art. In 1987, President Reagan awarded him the National Medal of Art. Today the students discussed the art mediums: collage, balance and color. Each student created their own musicians and instruments using hot and cool colors, as well as, patterned material. Please take a moment to review their masterpiece with them.

Art Masterpiece: November – 6th Grade – Piano Lesson