Lesson Plan #2: The Literary Palette: Connecting Art & Literature

Instructional Objectives:

Students will:

1. continue connecting the relationship between van Gogh and Gauguin through literature.

2. appreciate how illustrations enhance the written word.

Time Required: Days 5 & 6 (see timeline) 40-minute periods

Advanced Preparation: Preview Visiting Vincent van Gogh by Caroline Breunesse and “An Explosive Friendship” – Art & Man Magazine

Materials: Books and magazines entitled: Visiting van Gogh by Caroline Breunesse and Art and Man Magazine – Working with Color, Vincent van Gogh 

Vocabulary:

Day 5: self-portrait, portrait, illustration

Day 6: author, illustrator, reproduction

Procedure:

Day 5: Teacher reads aloud to students, Visiting van Gogh by Caroline Breunesse. Upon completion of the read-aloud, students will respond to the following during class discussion.

-          How do the color reproductions of van Gogh’s paintings enhance the story?

(you can feel the emotion in his colors and brushstrokes)

-          What did the Post - Impressionists try to capture in their paintings?

(feelings and emotions – van Gogh, imagination –Gauguin

Using classroom chairs as models, students will begin sketching ideas for their own chair constructions.

 - Day 6. Students will silently read “An Explosive Friendship” (Art & Man Magazine, Sept./Oct. 1990, Working with Color, Vincent van Gogh).

They will respond to the following in their notebooks:

1. How did van Gogh feel when he moved to the town of Arles in the south of France? (He loved the bright colors he found there and he painted steadily, but felt very lonely and isolated.)

  2. How did van Gogh feel about having Gauguin come to live with him? (He was looking forward to it. He prepared the house with furniture and paintings. He wanted to make a good impression on Gauguin.)

 3. How did Gauguin feel about Vincent after having lived with him for a while? (The tension between them was unbearable. He was afraid to be with him.  He felt he had gone mad.)

  4. What triggered van Gogh to cut off his ear? (At an evening cafe, van Gogh threw his glass at Gauguin’s head.  He stormed out of the cafe, and Vincent ran after him with a razor in his hand.  He slashed his ear with the razor and was taken to the hospital. Gauguin left, and the two never saw each other again.)

  5. Compare van Gogh’s The Night Café (see illustrative materials) with Gauguin’s Portrait of van Gogh Painting Sunflowers in Arles (see illustrative materials). How is these two artists’ painting style reflect their emotional state of mind and begin to take on a sense of “modern art”?  (Van Gogh uses opposite colors that clash, the light yellow floor brushstrokes seem to shimmer and vibrate.  The distorted perspective and empty chairs add to the feeling of tension and loneliness.  Gauguin uses complementary pairs to express tension as well.  He uses imaginative, flat areas of color in an expressive way.  The flowers do not seem real, rather as an extension of van Gogh’s paintbrush.)

Students will complete their chair sketches and add color pencil.