ART HISTORIANS/ ART TEACHERS, URGENT help needed. ..ofsted next week.

[noonar]

hi, i'd like to request the help of anyone who as a decent knowledge of picasso's guernica.

i have ofsted next week and am planning to introduce the painting to my primary school class, as it fits in with our world war 2 topic. i want to look at the symbolism in the painting in a very simple way, as the children are only 10.

has anyone got any ideas about how i can get the children to reflect upon/ respond to the painting? what questions could i ask them? which images in the painting should i draw their attention to?

sorry . i realise this is quite a'specialist' thing to ask, but MN in full of v clever people. please help if you can

Absolutely no idea, but having had our ofsted last term, I offer you lots of luck

Hi, art teacher to rescue..however must warn you am on mat leave and brain dead. Have just missed OFSTED in our school due to mat leave (shame).

It was painted about Spanish civil war, and a good one to show with it would be Weeping Women.

Ask about: use of colour. Why do you think Picasso has used these colours? What do they make you think of? Are they happy or sad colours. What do you think it might have looked like in other colours.

Have just looked on a website, and think you would be better looking at that for images and secret messages. It would take ages on here!

However ask about mood, composition, use of focal point (where the eye is drawn to first)
Sort of images and shapes used. General mood of painting eg/sad/violent etc.

Most important thing to get Brownie points from OFSTED is to ask kids what they think of it, and most importantly why.

Will now try and do links to 2 websites and probably fail dismally.
\link
{http://web.org.uk/picasso/secret_guernica.html}

and
Another important thing is scale, it can be difficult for kids to get their head around scale of painting,ask them why they think it is so big.

links failed again.

Try that one on failed link and the one I am going to cut and paste.

Here web.org.uk/picasso/guernica.html

Message withdrawn

panicpants, thankyou!

fizzbizz, thats a huge help. will follow up your 'link'. very practical advice.

cod, thanks, yes i do. and have used it in class before, but many years ago.

i've just googled the painting and am a bit worried that i may have bitten off more than i can chew, subject knowledge wise. so your help is really appreciated.

Weeeping women is meant to be a pic of a widow who has lost husband in civil war (I think, not 100% sure)

It is a very emotive painting, showing violence of grief, with lots of yellow and clashing colours.

Do the kids know background of cubism and Picasso?

Also, if they are 10 do they now about primary, complementary, and harmonious cols etc. If you get them to use subject specific language in use of colur OFSTED will wet themselves.

From memory the painting is mainly in blue, grey and brown. (I think, can't find a colour version on line) So if you could get them to talk about tertiary, harmonious and cool colurs will push rating higher

dont think so fizz. it could well be their first experience of the artist. we chose the painting because its about war.

ps i gather that it was painted during his surrealist phase. not sure what that means, tho....see what i mean about being out of my depth?!

were you talking about colour in the other painting? guernica is blackand white, surely. we know v little about colour!

Last thing I promise!

Picasso is cubist and also semi-abstract. I.E, not realism painting, or total abstraction, but in between. Kids often say abstraction doesn't look like anything, what they mean is it doesn't look realistic. But abstraction conveys moods and images through use of colour and shape, rather than realistic images.

Use as much subject specific language as poss to shut ***Ofsted up.

Good luck. Am really going now.....

Noonar, I can't bloody remember the sodding cols in Geurnica, and I've seen the sodding thing!

Is it in B&W?.

It was painted in his surrealist period....do kids know what surrealism is?

yes fizz. it is black and white. i dont think i'll mention cubism or surrealism. maybe just mention that picasso's work was quite abstract- (and ask them if they think his painting contains realistic looking images. what dyou reckon?)

Yes of course it is in B&W .

Yeah that sounds fine, ask them what shapes and images they can see.

The bull is pretty important, as is the face looking up.

Good job I wasn't Ofsteded, I would have failed

nonsense!