Looking at Self-Portraits: Vincent and Paul

Looking at Self-Portraits: Vincent and Paul Year 7
	Context Lesson Advantages Other links Download

	Context
	A Year 7 class was doing a project on self-portraiture adapted from Unit 7A Self-image of the QCA scheme of work. As a visual starting point pupils had considered two self-portraits by Vincent Van Gogh and Paul Gaugin, each dedicated to the other, with particular reference to the character traits that might be read from the paintings, as well as their formal similarities and differences. Pupils had also done some contextual research into the lives of the two artists and their stormy friendship. One lesson had been spent using the whiteboard to explore the interactive website of the Van Gogh Museum Amsterdam created for the Van Gogh and Gauguin exhibition in 2002 (see link below). For this follow up lesson the teacher prepared a quiz to reinforce and share what the pupils had discovered about the artists’ friendship, their brief period of nine weeks together in Arles and their final quarrel. The teacher had also divided each self-portrait into 12 pieces in image software and saved them to two separate pages in the interactive whiteboard software.

	*Top*
	Lesson
	Activity 1 The teacher began by dividing the class into two teams named after the artists and showed them their respective jumbled self-portraits. The object of the game was to reassemble the painting by dragging and dropping a puzzle piece after each correct answer. The first team to achieve this would win.

	Download a quiz to use with this lesson: Quiz questions Word [51KB] PDF [50KB] Quiz answers Word [52KB] PDF [54KB]
	Click on the button to download a Microsoft Word viewer if you do not have the program. Click on the button to download the latest version of Adobe Acrobat Reader.
	Activity 2 The class then compared the two self-portraits, noting differences and similarities, and discussed what clues they gave to the different moods of the artists, including the significance of their titles. NB "Bonze" is a Buddhist priest and "Les Misérables" is a reference to Victor Hugo's novel, the inspiration behind the musical, and its hero Jean Valjean.
	A B
	A Self-Portrait Dedicated to Paul Gaugin (Bonze), 1888 B Self-Portrait Dedicated to Vincent Van Gogh (Les Misérables), 1888
	Activity 3 Finally, the teacher opened up a Word document on the interactive whiteboard and asked pupils to describe one personality trait they saw in each self-portrait with reasons, and identify one similarity and one difference between the paintings. The images were annotated using the whiteboard software, but the teacher switched back to the application to type suggested answers. Pupils were given the illustrated worksheet to complete individually for homework.
	Download a Compare and Contrast worksheet to use with this lesson: Word[160KB] PDF [98KB]
	*Top*
	Advantages
	Using an interactive whiteboard for this lesson was effective in several ways:
	It facilitated whole class engagement in a variety of activities for contextual studies that stimulated discussion and promoted learning about codes and styles of representation in portraiture. The images could be projected in colour and on a scale large enough for the whole class to see. It provided fun opportunities for reinforcement through active participation and practice. The reassembling activity was motivational and encouraged detailed observation of the artworks. The prepared activities can easily be adapted and used in future. Photocopies of the compare and contrast activity or the quiz questions can be completed for homework for further reinforcement and reference.
	Other Links
	Van Gogh and Gaugin http://www.vangoghgauguin.nl/ This is the special website of the Van Gogh Museum Amsterdam in connection with the Van Gogh and Gauguin exhibition 2002. It is an exciting, imaginative and highly original interactive multimedia experience, with all text from the letters of Van Gogh and Gaugin. See the paint colours Van Gogh asked his brother Theo to send him; compare their portraits and paintings of the same sitters and subjects; assemble one of Van Gogh’s sunflower paintings; fill the painters’ glasses with absinthe to read their quarrelsome words; follow the course of their troubled stay together at the Studio of the South in Arles, ending in Van Gogh’s hospitalisation; and read their continuing correspondence which ceased with Van Gogh’s premature death 18 months later. http://www.vangoghmuseum.nl Find illustrations of the collection, biographical information, a virtual tour and more at the site of the Van Gogh Museum Amsterdam. http://www.artic.edu/aic/exhibitions/vangogh/slide_intro.html The Art Institute of Chicago has a slide show called The Studio of the South, based on the Van Gogh and Gauguin exhibition. It is simpler and more linear than the Van Gogh Museum site, but also works well with interactive whiteboards. The biographical pages give a useful textual account of the friendship. Interactive Jigsaw Puzzle http://www.tibosoftware.com Make fully interactive puzzles from your own images (BMP, JPG or TIF) with this simple-to-use free promotional program from Tibo Software. Jigs@w Puzzle is a virtual jigsaw puzzle with 3D appearance and smooth movements that emulate the real thing. You can also add your own background music. As the puzzles are .exe files they can also be used interactively with an ordinary whiteboard. Try my interactive jigsaw puzzles of the two self-portraits by clicking on the screenshots below:


	Download
	Right-click on the filename and select Save Target As to download the flipchart for this lesson: *vincentandpaul_puzzle.flp* [221 KB]
	*Top*
© RKM 2002 - 2007
Home - Animation - Video - Projects - Image Manipulation - IWBs - Interactive - Presentations - Multimedia Tutorials - Other Tutorials - Art Links - Gallery - About