Uses for Masterpiece Cards

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Uses for Masterpiece Cards

Posted by Susan Benford

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An art history blog post from Famous Paintings Reviewed.

How do teachers, students and travelers use Masterpiece Cards?

Let us count the ways!

*To illustrate specific terminology like chiaroscuro.Pass around de la Tour’s Magdalen with the Smoking Flame, Leonardo’s Mona Lisa, and Caravaggio’s The Conversion of St. Paul, and they’ll see it while they hold it. Quickly.

*To study the characteristics of styles and movements. Spread out the famous paintings created from the 1500s to 1600s, and identify the Mannerist, the Baroque, and key traits differentiating Italian versus Northern European/Spanish works.

*To analyze evolution in a famous painter’s style: what influenced Picasso from Les Desmoiselles to The Three Dancers to Guernica? Or Goya from The Duchess of Alba to The Family of Charles IV to Executions of the Third of May?

*To study how famous art historians analyze and write about art. Great practice for the essays required on class and national exams.

*To create a visual timeline – or to challenge your students to do the same.

*To assess political and social influences: Compare the works accepted at Salons with those in the Salon des Refusés.

*To fashion an itinerary of what famous paintings to see in art museums. Pull out the lime-bordered New York Cards, and visit the ‘must see’ works at The Frick Collection, Met, Whitney, Hispanic Society of America, Guggenheim, and Museum of Modern Art.Going to Paris? Let us show you what masterpieces to view at the Pompidou Center, Musée d’Orsay, Musée Gustave Moreau, Musée Marmottan, and the Louvre.

*To refresh one’s memory… or to establish new ones.Learning or re-learning, the art historian analysis will teach you why each famous painting is deemed a masterpiece.

Have others? Post your idea here (and get a chance to win a set of Masterpiece Cards!)

Comments

Comment:
I've done this with home-made flashcards: hand out a card to each student and have them put them in chronological order on a table or row of desks or the chalk rail. Time them, and next time challenge them to beat their record. Or divide them into teams and give prizes for the fastest team. Or tape them on their chests (put in ziplox first so the tape doesn't damage the cards) and have them line themselves up in order (good for long periods when they need a brain recharge). Or tape them on their backs and let them ask each other yes/no questions to find out the work they represent.

Betsy Petersen.

Posted @ Wednesday, January 14, 2009 9:10 AM by Susan Benford

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