Getting to Know the World

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Getting to Know the Worlds Great Artists
Tulsa Public Schools Eighth Grade Art Assessment
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Getting to Know the Worlds Great Artists
Oklahoma Fine Arts Standard Two Visual Art
History and Culture
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Getting to Know the Worlds Great Artists
Oklahoma Fine Arts Standard Two Visual Art
History and Culture
The student will recognize the development of
Visual Art from an historical and cultural
perspective.
Describe and place a variety of specific
significant art objects by artist, style and
historical and cultural context Identify themes
and purposes of works of art and artifacts in
history and culture Demonstrate a basic
knowledge of several fields of art such as
painting, sculpture, drawing, computer graphics,
printmaking, architecture, and fiber
arts Identify how visual art is used in todays
world including the popular media of
advertising, television, and film
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Getting to Know the Worlds Great Artists
You will look at the work of three artists from
the United States. They painted in the 19th and
20th Centuries. Their names are Frederick
Remington, Georgia OKeefe, and T. C. Cannon.
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Introducing the Art Work of Frederick Remington
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With his dynamic representations of cowboys and
cavalrymen, bronco busters, and Native Americans,
19th Century artist Frederic Remington created a
mythic image of the American West that continues
to inspire American today.
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Remington was born in Canton, New York, in 1861.
He briefly attended the Yale School of Art and
the Art Students League of New York before
heeding the call to Go West. As a young man he
traveled widely throughout the country, spending
most of his time sketching the people and places
in the new American frontier. In 1886, he was
hired by HARPERS WEEKLY magazine to capture the
beauty of The West for their readers.
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His illustrations showed big open scenes, heroic
figures, and moments of danger and conflict.
Many say that his illustrations and later his
sculptures each tell a story, and often his
favorite theme was the life and death struggles
of the individual against overwhelming
forces. Look at this sculpturecan you guess why
it is called a Norther? Can you feel the wind
blowing?
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Remington painted many night scenes, call
nocturnes. A lack of light effects how clearly
we see color. Squint your eyes and the bright
colors you normally see become grey or neutral.
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Remington worked hard for several years to
capture moonlight by doing outdoor studies at his
home in New York. You rarely see a moon in the
picture. He kept the source of moonlight just
off the page.
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For Remington, night was dangerous and
threatening but always on the verge of
extinction. Day was coming but not just yet.
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Remingtons Nocturnes all take the peacefulness
out of rural night scenes. They are full of
psychological tension and danger.
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His nocturnes show mystery and danger. Sometimes
the danger is seen, as in this wolf. In other
paintings the danger is threatening or coming.
In all of the paintings, the silence of the night
is ominous.
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This painting was finished only one year before
the artist died. The warriors stand before a
large fire off of the canvas to the bottom left.
There is a solemn stillness about the scene.
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Over the course of his career he painted more
than three thousand drawings and paintings, 22
bronze sculptures, a novel, a Broadway play, and
over one hundred articles and stories
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In each of these works of art, he returns again
and again to his vision of the west as a place of
independence, individualism, and stoic heroism.
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In the mid-1890s, Remington turned his talent to
sculpture and quickly mastered the medium. Each
sculpture has tiny details that are true to the
life in the west. Each of his 22 sculptures
tells a story about a western character.
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Some say that his romantic depiction of the West
encouraged the settling of the West. Others
claim that many Western movies are based upon his
work. Director John Ford claimed that his film
She Wore a Yellow Ribbon, starring John Wayne,
was inspired by Remingtons work
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Several U S stamps feature the work of Remington.
Look at the price of this stamp. How much are
first class stamps costing today?
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You may want to see a Remington sculpture or
painting in person. The largest collection in
the world is housed in the Gilcrease Museum in
Tulsa.
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Introducing the Art Work of Georgia OKeefe
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Georgia OKeefe loved to paint flowers,
mountains, seashells, leaves and animal bones she
found in the desert. She painted them large and
up-close.
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Georgia OKeefe was born on her familys large
Wisconsin farm in 1887, twenty six years after
Frederick Remington. Her bright, clear paintings
show the beauty she found in the simple, natural
things around her.
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Although she painted things from nature, she
rarely painted people or animals. She was very
knowledgeable about plants, flowers, and
landscapes. If you look closely, you can see
the details of how these leaves colors are
changing. Do you know what tree they come from?
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Georgia OKeefes mother thought art was very
important, she and made sure Georgia and her
sisters had art lessons while they were growing
up. Georgia did so well with her lessons that
her parents encouraged her to go to art college
after she graduated from high school. At one
school in New York City she won a prize for her
paintings.
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Here are two pictures of Georgia OKeefe from
when she was much older. They were taken by a
very famous photographer whose name was Alfred
Stieglitz. He took many pictures of her
throughout her life. When she was younger, she
was very beautiful. Use your imagination and try
to imagine her younger. Alfred Stieglitz asked
her to model for him. They fell in love and
later married.
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Here is a picture of Georgia when she was
younger. It is not a flashy picture. Stieglitz
was trying to show the beauty of her character.
What could you guess about her character from
looking at this picture? Is there a beauty that
shines from within?
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Gerogia OKeefe and Alfred Steiglitz lived in a
hotel in New York City. She loved the wide-open
view she saw, and started painting pictures of
the city.
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White Shell with Blue, 1938, Pastel on Paper
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Georgia made many still life paintings. She
often rearranged things she saw and simplified
them. She made the seashell above very large to
give it a special power and strength.
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Here are two of her landscapes. Georgia OKeefe
loved the mountains of New Mexico. The New
Mexico state theme is The Land of
Enchantment. Georgia was enchanted with New
Mexico and built a home there in the desert. She
spent most of the year there painting.
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She loved the large, clear and dramatic skies.
She was excited with the power of the thunder
storms and dust storms. She loved looking at the
millions of stars at night.
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Ranchos Church, 1930, Oil on Canvas
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When Georgia became an older woman, she started
spending more and more time painting in New
Mexico. She and Alfred would travel back and
forth between New York and New Mexico. When he
died, she moved there permanently.
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Red Canna, 1923, Oil on Canvas
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A red canna is a flower. This painting is such a
deep close-up it doesnt even look like a flower.
It is an abstract painting.
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An abstract painting takes something that is real
and changes it or distorts it into something else
entirely. Georgia OKeefe did many abstract
paintings that were based on nature.
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A Student interpretation in the style of
Georgia OKeefe
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• You may view an actual OKeefe painting in the
  following museums
• Chicago Art Institute
• Brooklyn Museum-New York
• Cleveland Museum of Art
• Indianapolis Museum of Art
• Metropolitan Museum of Art-New York
• Museum of Modern Art-New York
• Philadelphia Museum of Art
• Phillips Collection, Washington D.C.
• Sheldon Art Gallery, Lincoln Nebraska
• San Antonio Museum of Art
• University of Arizona Museum-Tuscon

A Student interpretation of the style of Georgia
OKeefe
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Introducing the Art Work of T. C. Cannon
Deer in snow
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Osage With Van Gogh, Wood Block Print, Philbrook
Museum
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T. C. Cannon was a member of the Caddo-Kiowa
tribe. He used humor to comment on his status
as a Native American artist. He never wanted
his background to limit the way people looked at
his art. As he put it, I have something to say
that comes out of being an Indian, but it is also
a lot bigger than just my race.
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Indian Wrapped in Flag, Oil on Canvas
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T. C. Cannon was born in 1946 in Lawton,
Oklahoma. His full name is Thomas Wayne Cannon.
He is considered one of the most creative and
influential American Indian artists of the 20th
Century.
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Through his art work, he had a important role in
helping change the direction of traditional
Indian painting. He used bold colors and modern
artifacts in combination with Indian traditions.
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Washington Landscape, Oil on Canvas
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During the 1930s and l940s Indian Art was
flat and very stylized. T. C. Cannon studied
all different art styles in art school. He
learned different techniques from the
traditional and blended them into his work.
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One might say that he was a bi-lingual artist.
He used two different languages of
art.traditional Indian symbolism and Western
experimentation.
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Collector 2, Oil on Canvas
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T. C. Cannons work became very popular both in
the United States and abroad. He exhibited in
many art museums and galleries while he was
alive. Often his shows sold out.
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In many of his paintings, Native American people
were the topic. They show both traditional
clothing and modern accessories. What things
from both cultures do you see?
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The colors he uses are bold and contrast so that
vibrate against each other creating the illusion
of movement and rhythm. His brushstroke is
quick, yet controlled. Bits of under painting
sometimes show through.
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His work is praised because he can capture the
past and the present together, using a solitary
Native person as his focus.
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Buffalo Dancers, Oil on Canvas
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Placing a traditional image in a modern setting
illustrated that Indian people are modern people
who maintain their heritage in contemporary times.
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He stated that an Indian Painting was any
painting done by an Indian. He believed that
there was an Indian sensibility, the idea that
Indians share a history and an upbringing.
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Note cards that may be purchased on the
internet today
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T.C. Cannon was only 32 years old when he died in
an automobile crash. His work may be found all
over the world today. Philbrook Museum is one
local place you can visit to see his work.
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• Lets think about Art
• If you were to make a drawing or a painting in
  the style of one of these artists what would you
  include?
• Would you consider bright intense colors or night
  time colors?
• Would you paint common people and places,
  romantic people and
• places, or traditional people and places?
• Would you paint or draw a portrait, landscape, or
  a still life?
• What aspect of the United States of America would
  you draw or
• paint.and why?
• Think about one of the three artists and make
  either a portrait, a still life, or a landscape.
  The portrait can be a self-portrait. Use
  crayons, markers or paints. Use forms and
  shadows to give a mysterious quality to your art
  work or use bright contrasting colors to make a
  bold statement.

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The End Many thanks to the Visual Arts Assessment
Committee Carole Odierno-Memorial High
School Carol Dvorak-Carver Middle School Fran
Kallsnick-Byrd Middle School Joe Sizemore-Nimitz
Middle School Linda Barnett-Wright Elementary
School Janet Gillis-Carnegie Elementary
School Janet Lefler-Key Elementary School Ann
Tomlins-Fulton