EnglishClub

Pre-listening vocabulary

• gallery: a place where people can go to see art
• decade: ten years
• psychiatric hospital: a place where people with mental illnesses are treated
• recover: to get better after an illness or injury
• iconic: very famous; well-known

Listening activity

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:14 — 1.1MB)

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Gapfill exercise

Vincent van Gogh was a Dutch . He was born in Zundert, Netherlands in 1853. Growing up, van Gogh was very . In fact, he had to leave school to find work when he was only 15. His job was selling art from a London gallery. He didn’t start making his own paintings until 1880. Van Gogh painted often through the last decade of his life, but his struggles with mental made it difficult for him to work. In 1888, he cut off his own . A few months later, he decided to move into a psychiatric hospital so that he could recover. While living there, he made the iconic painting The Starry Night. Van Gogh’s work is very well-known today, but almost nobody knew his name when he was alive. His paintings only became after his death in 1890.

Comprehension questions

[wp_quiz id=”20322″]

Discussion/essay questions

1. Do you like van Gogh’s artwork? Why or why not?

Transcript

Vincent van Gogh was a Dutch painter. He was born in Zundert, Netherlands in 1853. Growing up, van Gogh was very poor. In fact, he had to leave school to find work when he was only 15. His job was selling art from a London gallery. He didn’t start making his own paintings until 1880. Van Gogh painted often through the last decade of his life, but his struggles with mental illness made it difficult for him to work. In 1888, he cut off his own ear. A few months later, he decided to move into a psychiatric hospital so that he could recover. While living there, he made the iconic painting The Starry Night. Van Gogh’s work is very well-known today, but almost nobody knew his name when he was alive. His paintings only became famous after his death in 1890.

Pre-listening vocabulary

• employee: a person who is paid to work for a person or company
• display: to show something in public
• vandal: a person who destroys property
• replicate: to make a copy of something

Listening activity

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:35 — 1.5MB)

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | More

Gapfill exercise

The Mona Lisa is considered the most famous painting in the world. The piece was painted by Italian Leonardo da Vinci. It is currently displayed in the Louvre, a famous art museum in Paris, France. The painting gained international attention when it was from the museum in 1911. It was missing for two years before a former Louvre employee named Vincenzo Peruggia was caught trying to sell the painting. Peruggia had stolen the painting because he believed that it should belong in an Italian museum, rather than a French one. After Peruggia’s arrest, the Mona Lisa was returned to the Louvre. However, the Mona Lisa’s fame many vandals. In 1956, a vandal threw acid at the painting, causing damage. It is now kept behind bulletproof glass to it from any acts of vandalism. The Mona Lisa is also one of the most commonly replicated paintings. Since 1911, many artists have tried to recreate the Mona Lisa, and a few older exist that may have been painted by da Vinci’s students.

Comprehension questions

[wp_quiz id=”19328″]

Discussion/essay questions

1. The Mona Lisa’s fame came from the 1911 theft. If Vincenzo Peruggia had stolen a different painting, do you think that painting would have the same popularity that the Mona Lisa has today?

Transcript

The Mona Lisa is considered the most famous painting in the world. The piece was painted by Italian artist Leonardo da Vinci. It is currently displayed in the Louvre, a famous art museum in Paris, France. The painting gained international attention when it was stolen from the museum in 1911. It was missing for two years before a former Louvre employee named Vincenzo Peruggia was caught trying to sell the painting. Peruggia had stolen the painting because he believed that it should belong in an Italian museum, rather than a French one. After Peruggia’s arrest, the Mona Lisa was returned to the Louvre. However, the Mona Lisa’s fame attracted many vandals. In 1956, a vandal threw acid at the painting, causing damage. It is now kept behind bulletproof glass to protect it from any acts of vandalism. The Mona Lisa is also one of the most commonly replicated paintings. Since 1911, many artists have tried to recreate the Mona Lisa, and a few older copies exist that may have been painted by da Vinci’s students.