“Forces of Nature in Art”
Recommended for Grades 3-5:
Wind, rain, snow! Volcanic eruptions!
Misty mountaintops and sunny summer
days. Learn how artists capture the
forces of nature in works of art.
North Carolina Common Core and Essential
Standards Correlations:
Science:
3.E.1, 3.E.2, 3.L.2
4.E.1, 4.E.2
5.E.1, 5.L.1, 5.L.2
Visual Arts:
3.V.I, 3.V.2, 3.CX.1, 3.CR.1
4.V.1, 4.V.2, 4.CX.1, 4.CR.1
5.V.1, 5.V.2, 5.CX.1, 5.CR.1
English Language Arts:
3.SL.1, 3.SL.2, 3.SL.3, 3.SL.4, 3.SL.6
4.SL.1, 4.SL.2, 4.SL.3, 4.SL.4, 4.SL.6
5.SL.1, 5.SL.2, 5.SL.3, 5.SL.4, 5.SL.6
Pre-Visit Key Questions:
• What adjectives would you use to describe a
force of nature like a volcano? A snowstorm?
Bright sunshine? Heavy rains?
• What colors and details would you use to
make a work of art showing the season of
spring? Winter? Summer? Fall?
• How many different kinds of natural
materials can you think of that artists might
use to make their works of art?
Ludolf Backhuysen, Ships in a Stormy Sea off a Coast
(Dutch, c. 1700-05)
Thomas Hart Benton, Spring on the Missouri
(American, 1945)
Frederick Carl Frieseke, The Garden Parasol
(American, c. 1910)
Esaias van den Velde, Winter Scene (Dutch, 1614)
Geogia O’Keeffe, Cebolla Church
(American, 1945)
Milton Avery, Blue Landscape
(American, 1946)
John Beerman,
Three Trees, Two
Clouds
(American, 1990)
Albert Bierstadt, Bridal Veil
Falls, Yosemite
(American, c. 1871-73)
Jennifer Steinkamp, Mike Kelley (video loop)
(American, 2007-08)
Philips Wouwerman, Stag Hunt in a River
(Dutch, c. 1650-55)
Thomas Moran, "Fiercely the red sun descending/Burned his way along the heavens"
(American, 1875-76)
Pierre-Jacques Volaire, The Eruption of Mt. Vesuvius
(French, 1777)
Andrew Wyeth, Winter 1946
(American, 1946)
Skunder (Alexander) Bognossian, Night Flight of Dread and Delight
(Ethiopian, 1946)
Bill and Mary Buchen (American), Wind Reeds
(installed at NCMA in 2010)
Louis Remy Mignot, Landscape in Ecuador
(American, 1859)
Vollis Simpson (American),
Wind Machine, 2002
Model of a Boat
(Egyptian, c. 1985-1650 BC)
Greek, Neck Amphora,
c. 530-520 BCE
Canaletto, The Rialto Bridge and the
Church of S. Giorgio Maggiore
(Italian, c. 1750)
Ursula von Rydingsvard (American, born
in Germany), Ogromna, 2009
Post-Visit Key Questions:
• Did you have a favorite work of art
that you saw today? Which one,
and why?
• What were some “surprising”
forces of nature you learned about
today? Think: materials, outdoor
sculpture, wind, light and shadow…