WHICH PICASSO?

 

Introduction

   You work at an art brokerage firm.   A rich entrepreneur, Ms. A, contacted your firm.  She made millions of dollars from the stock she bought in computer technology 10 years ago.  She is highly interested in art of all types.  Her art collection includes works from Renoir, Da Vinci, Monet, Rembrandt, Calder, and Miro.  Now she wants to buy two artworks by Pablo Picasso, one of the most famous artists of the twentieth century.  The style of his artwork changed more in his lifetime than any other artist.  Because of this, Ms. A. wants a piece of art from two different styles of Picasso’s work for her collection.  Your job is to research Picasso’s work, choose two artworks and convince Ms. A. that these are the ones she should add to her collection.

The Task

Ms. A. is a very important client.  Prepare a presentation that will persuade her to buy the artwork you choose.  Write a short biography of Pablo Picasso’s life including a brief description of each of the art periods.  Select one artwork from each of two different art periods in Picasso’s life.  Print a copy of each of the artworks.   Give the title, date, art period and description of both works of art.  Using terms such as line, color, shape, space, proportion and mood, compare and contrast the two artworks.  You may also use other elements or principles of design to describe the artworks.

 

Resources      

 WEB SITES     

     You can find all of your information at the web sites listed below.

Teacher’s Site

 

Books:   

    .   Getting To Know The World’s Greatest Artists; Picasso

          Written and illustrated by Mike Venezia

 

 

The Process   

   

  1. Look for your information on web sites or in a book.
  2. Take notes on Pablo Picasso’s life, artwork, periods of art and any other information that you think is important. 
  3. Select one artwork from each of two different art periods in Picasso’s life and print a full-page copy of them.
  4. Write a biography on Picasso.  Give his name, birth date, date he died, and where he lived.  Include two other interesting facts.  Write a brief description of each art period in his life.  Be sure to include each of these art periods:  the early years, blue period, rose period, cubism, and the late years.
  5. Write about the two artworks that you chose.  Give the title, date it was done, art period and description of both artworks (two paragraphs).  Using terms such as line, color, shape, space, proportion and mood, compare and contrast the two works.  Compare means to name things that are the same or similar in each artwork (Pablo Picasso used straight horizontal and vertical lines in both artworks.)  Contrast means to name things that are different about the two artworks (Picasso used straight, vertical, and horizontal lines in picture A and curved lines in picture B.)  In addition, you may use other elements or principles of design; however, you must use four of the first six terms already listed.
  6. Create a four-slide PowerPoint presentation to convince Ms. A to buy the artworks you chose.  In the first slide, give the title of your presentation.  Include Picasso’s name, date he was born and died, and two interesting facts about him.  As an option, you may include a picture of Picasso.  For the second slide, choose a slide with lines and a blank for a picture.  Include a picture of one artwork you chose.  List the title, date it was done, period it was done, and media he used (oil paint, bronze, ink, etc.).  In slide three, repeat step B., but use the other artwork you chose.   For slide four, list three reasons why Ms. A should choose to buy the artworks you chose for her.  You may use bullets (short phrases).                                                                                                                                                             

 

  1. Write a persuasive piece to convince Ms. A to buy the artwork you chose for her.  Include the things you included in your PowerPoint presentation.   Your reasons may include the elements of design, popularity of the artwork; period it is from, cost of the artwork, or any other valid reason.

 

Learning Advice     

Before you start step 3, read the rubric for the entire lesson on handout A.  Then ask for assistance, if you need it, to enlarge the artworks from the Internet and print them for step 3.  To help you on step 5, refer to the rubric on handout B.  For step 6, use paper and pencil to create your PowerPoint presentation before you create it on a floppy disk.             

Conclusion  

            In this lesson, you wrote a biography on Pablo Picasso and learned something about the periods of his art.  You chose two artworks from different periods of Picasso’s art, described them, compared them, and contrasted them.  Your description and comparison should have included some of the elements of art. All of these things should have helped you to come up with reasons for Ms. A to choose the two artworks you chose for her to buy.  Your PowerPoint presentation and persuasive piece should have included these reasons.  

This page written by Evelyn Cox
Last updated date.

This page was adapted from Bernie Dodge 's WebQuest_Template1.html by Tom March