Lesson Plan for Brooks Museum Tour
The Art of Abstraction (Grades 6-12)
Comprehensive Art Education Goals:
Art History-
The learner will see various examples of the way artists from different cultures
have created abstract art from the past to the present.
Art Production- The learner will explore the various ways that artists use abstraction such as
simplification, exaggeration, repetition, changing colors, changing perspective,
altered scale, or use of materials.
Art Criticism-
The learner will discuss their response to an abstracted work of art and assess
the merits and characteristics of the work of art.
Aesthetics-
The learner will discuss the artist's success in conveying the meaning of the work
of art through the use of the Elements of Art, and the Elements of Design.
Classroom Preparation Prior to Visit
1. Review vocabulary.
2. Suggested Discussion with Students: Seeing in a New Way
1. Artists work in many different styles. Some artists create realistic works of art, designed to
match the “real” world as accurately as possible. Other artists create abstract works by
exaggerating what they see or instead, they see with their imaginations.
2. Artists often try to make us see the world in a different way. Why would an artist choose to
paint or draw what he or she saw in an abstract style rather than in a realistic style?
3. Suggested Project :Changing the Familiar
1. Distribute drawing paper and markers or crayons to each student.
Artists working in abstract styles change the appearance of everyday objects in a variety of
ways. Look at examples of abstract art with your students.
Find a picture of something that you see every day. It could be something you see on your
way to school, something you see at home, in the classroom, etc.
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Draw an abstract picture of this familiar object, changing it so it appears different. You
might:
…draw it from an unusual angle
…crop it so that only part of it is visible
…change the color, the size, or the relationship of the object to other things around it
…change it so much that it no longer looks like itself
Have students discuss their drawings. How did they change the everyday object? Why did
they choose to change it in that way? Can other students still recognize the object? If not,
how does this affect the meaning of the work of art?
2.
Museum Activities
1. (Optional) View video “The Nature of Abstraction.”
2. A guided tour of the museum’s collections will focus on examples of abstraction in modern and
contemporary art, African art, and/or pertinent temporary exhibitions.
3. In the studio, students in grades 4-8 will create a series of abstract drawings. Working from an
actual still life, students will create a sketch and a finished work using concepts discussed
during the tour. Materials include drawing paper, charcoal pencils, crayons, markers, and oil
pastels.
Follow-up Suggestions for the Classroom
1. Suggested Discussion with Students: Why Abstraction?
1. Review techniques that artists use to abstract what they see. What if an artist…
…represents only a small part of the whole image?
…paints an object a different color than it appears in nature?
…makes an object appear much larger or smaller than it does in real life?
Ask students which technique they preferred and why.
2. Suggested Project: Completing the Series
1. Have the class reexamine the sketch (phase I) and drawing (phase 2) that they completed in
the studio
.
2. Remember Theo Van Doesberg’s Cow series? He began with a simple sketch then made
four more drawings, each one more abstract than the drawing before. His final drawing (phase
5) looked less like a cow than any of the other drawings, but it still retained some “cow”
characteristics – the geometric figures in the drawing were massive, heavy and stable, just like
a cow.
3. Distribute drawing paper and drawing materials to the students. Have students complete
phases 3, 4 and 5 of their abstraction series. They no longer have the actual still-life to draw
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from, so their final drawings will be based only on their original drawings. This will force them
to abstract their compositions even further.
4. Hang each student’s drawings together in a classroom exhibition. Have students create
museum labels for each work in their series:
ARTIST: (student’s name)
TITLE:
(series title), phase __ in a series of five drawings
DATE:
(date the work of art was created)
5. You may also ask students to write “wall text” for their series, a brief paragraph explaining how
their
series began and how it changed over the five drawing phases.
Vocabulary
By studying and discussing this vocabulary prior to your visit, you can help make the museum
experience more enjoyable for your students.
Realistic / realism- A work of art is realistic if the subject can be recognized readily and easily
as it is seen real life.
Abstract / abstraction-Abstraction is the process of taking something that you see in nature
and changing it so that it looks different. There are many ways to abstract
what we see, including: simplification, exaggeration and repetition. The
process of abstraction may also involve changing the colors of the objects
represented or changing the perspective from which they are seen.
Figurative art:
Figurative art portrays images that are clearly derived from real objects. All
realistic art is figurative, but not all figurative art is realistic. (The noun
"figure" usually refers to the human figure but not necessarily in the case
of figurative art.)
Non-objective art- Non-objective art contains no recognizable figures or objects. It is based
entirely on the artist's imagination. All non-objective art is abstract, but not
all abstract art is non-objective.
Perspective-
Shape-
Memphis Brooks Museum of Art
Perspective is a method used by artists to create the illusion of a threedimensional space on a two-dimensional surface. Perspective allows
objects in a drawing or painting to appear as they do in nature.
When two lines meet and enclose space, such as a circle drawn on paper.
Geometric shapes are simple curves and straight lines enclose to form
circle, squares, etc. Free-form, or organic shapes are irregular shapes.
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Form-
When a shape encloses space and takes up space, form is threedimensional. Sculptures are forms, but form can also be implied in
painting, drawing, and printmaking by using perspective, shading, etc.
Still life-
A still life is a work of art that depicts inanimate objects.
Sketch-
A sketch is a quick, simple drawing used to establish a composition.
Sketches are concerned with representing the "general appearance" of a
composition, not with tiny details or exact representations
Curriculum Connections
Language Arts-
The concept of abstraction in art can be used to teach abstraction in
language. Discuss the differences between concrete and abstract
language (i.e. “chair” and “house” are concrete, “love” is abstract).
Math-
Use mathematical concepts to abstract a drawing, enlarging its
proportions by various ratios.
Science-
Compare and contrast examples of “abstract” science (i.e. Einstein’s
theories) and “practical” science.
Social Studies-
How do we understand abstract art? Are abstract representations
interpreted across language barriers? Do different cultural backgrounds
influence our interpretations of abstract art, ideas and symbols?
Please contact the Education Department at (901) 544-6215 if you have questions.
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