Lesson Title Son of a Gamblin’ Man: Grade Level: 5-8 The Life and Art of Robert Henri

Lesson Overview/Intro/Brief Description

This lesson brings Nebraska reading and writing and National Visual Arts standards together. It focuses on the life and work of Robert Henri. The students will learn and apply the research process as they study the life of Henri and develop a collaborative biography of him. They will analyze his portraits and create an “Important Book” about his work. After students examine Henri’s portraits, including Portrait of Miss Eulabee Dix (Becker) in Wedding Gown, they will work with partners to take photographs of each other. They will use the photographs to create self-portraits.

Art Exemplar

Title: Portrait of Miss Eulabee Dix (Becker) in Wedding Gown

Artist: Robert Henri (1865-1929)

Media: Oil on canvas

Date: 1910

State Standard/Curriculum areas

Nebraska Language Arts 8.1.2; 8.2.1; 8.2.2; 8.2.5

National Visual Arts 3, 4, 5, 6

Objectives

· The students will investigate the life of Robert Henri by selecting and analyzing research materials.

· The students will interpret the life of Robert Henri by collaborating to compile research into a biography of Robert Henri.

· The students will compare Robert Henri’s portraits by discussing the artist’s techniques and summarizing their findings in an “Important Book”.

· Students will determine effective composition and lighting for their subject by arranging their subject in different situations and photographing it.

· The students will select and use elements of art to create a self-portrait.

· The students will integrate compositional choices into their self-portrait by creating mood in their self-portrait drawing.

Assessment

Use the state or district for language arts and visual arts.

Rubric generators

Resources

Museum of Nebraska Art

Art information/vocabulary

Sheldon Memorial Art Gallery

Robert Henri: His Life and Art, Bennard B. Perlman

Son of a Gamblin’ Man, Mari Sandoz

Portraits, Penny King and Clare Roundhill

Feelings in Art, Clare Gogerty

My People: The Portraits of Robert Henri, Valerie Ann Leeds

Self-Portraits, Michael Koortbojian

Wonder Why? Photography, Lucerne Media (Video)

The Important Book, Margaret Wise Brown

Robert Henri Online, ArtCyclopedia

Materials

Construction Paper

Note Cards

Digital Camera

Photographic Paper

Colored Pencils

Drawing Paper

Vocabulary

Bibliography

Biography

Composition

Mood

Portrait

Triptych

Teaching

1. Introduce/review the concept of biographies with the students. Discuss the various sources available for locating information about a person: books, magazines, Internet, etc. Explain the advantages and disadvantages of each type of source.

2. Divide the students into small groups and model how to use the web-based library card catalogs to locate books and other resources about Robert Henri.

3. In the same small groups, model how to find Internet websites about Robert Henri and how to evaluate the usefulness of those sites for research purposes.

4. In a large group, discuss what type of information they want to learn about Henri. Help them to see that the information they want to learn basically fits into 3 categories: Life/Family, Education, and Art. As the students take notes, they will classify the information into those 3 categories. (It is good to have a miscellaneous category as well.)

5. Using 12 x 18 construction paper, explain how to take notes and how to write a bibliographic entry. Show them how to indicate the category of information on the top left-hand corner of the card. Also show them how to indicate the source and page number on the bottom right-hand corner of the card.

3. Make transparencies of at least 2 of the shorter articles about Henri. Model how to take notes and write bibliographic cards on these two sources.

4. Divide the students into small groups and give each group a portion of the book Robert

Henri: His Life and Work. Have them work together to take notes on the section they

Have been given.

5. Explain and model how to create an “outline” by arranging the note cards in the order they want to write the information.

6. Ask the students to arrange their note cards and use them to write a portion of a biography of Robert Henri. Follow the writing process of plan, draft, revise, conference, edit, and publish.

Aesthetics/Criticism

1. Give the students time to examine various portraits by Robert Henri. Lead them in a discussion about what they have observed in his technique and style. List common attributes they observe in his work.

2. Read The Important Book.

3. Have the students write an “Important Story” about the portraits of Robert Henri.

4. Follow the writing process of plan, draft, revise, conference, edit, and publish.

5. Compile the stories into an “Important Book”.

Process

1. Have the students bring baby picture of themselves. Scan these pictures and print them.

2. Discuss composition in art. Note the composition in the baby pictures.

1. What is your posture in the photograph?
2. Which direction are you facing?
3. Do you have any “props” in the photograph?
4. What color are you wearing? What color is the background?
5. Is your photograph done professionally or was it taken at home? Is there a difference in composition between professional photographs and photographs which were taken at home?
6. Have the students work in pairs to recreate their baby pictures. Ask them to match the composition as well as they can.

3. Discuss “mood” with the students. Explain that an artist creates mood in a painting by the composition he/she chooses: colors, light and shadow, and content. Have the students examine various artworks and discuss the mood that is created and how the artist created that mood.

4. Examine Henri’s “Portrait of Miss Eulabee Dix (Becker) in Wedding Gown” with the students. Discuss the composition in the portrait. Discuss the mood of the portrait. Ask the students if the mood in the portrait matches the mood you would expect in a portrait of a woman posing in her wedding gown? Ask why they think Henri painted Ms. Dix in so serious a mood.

5. Identify the mood in the student’s recent photograph. Create a self-portrait that communicates a different mood than the one they displayed in the photograph.

6. Create a triptych using their baby picture, recent photograph, and self-portrait.

Closure

Robert Henri overcame a challenging childhood to become one of the most influential American artists of the late 1800s and early 1900s.

Display the students’ triptychs.

Extension/Related Activities

Research/Writing

• Students can research another artist and write a biography.
• Students can use the biography to create a “script” which can be used as a presentation. They could pretend to be the artist talking about him/herself.

Art

• Students could examine the works of another artist and create an “Important Book” about that artist.
• Students can explore the use of different types of cameras: digital, Polaroid, and 35mm, finding the advantages and disadvantages of each.
• Students can examine more Henri pieces and compare/contrast them to his portraits.