Art is very subjective. Everyone has different opinions about it. What do you think makes art “good”? Why?
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Pablo Picasso was a Spanish artist. He was born in 1881, in Málaga, Spain. When he was just 14 years old, Picasso was accepted into an art school in Barcelona. He had his first exhibit in Paris in 1901, and he moved there three years later. Throughout his life, Picasso became very famous. He was best known for being a pioneer of the Cubist art movement. Along with French artist Georges Braque, he created paintings that deconstructed objects and showed multiple angles at once. However, he also experimented with many other art forms, including sculpture and Surrealist painting. Picasso died in 1973, at age 91. He is known today as one of the most important artists of the 20th century.
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
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Discussion/essay questions
Do you like van Gogh’s artwork? Why or why not?
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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 TheStarry 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.
Frida Kahlo was one of many creators who have used art to cope with pain. Why do you think people find comfort in art and creativity?
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Frida Kahlo was a Mexican painter, best known for her self-portraits. She was born in 1907 in Mexico City. At the age of five, Kahlo contracted polio, which left her with a permanent limp. Later, as a teenager, she was seriously injured in a bus accident. Throughout her life, Kahlo had to have surgery often in order to stay alive and healthy. Because of this, she spent a lot of time recovering in bed. In fact, many of her most famous works were painted from her bed. Though the accident caused a lot of pain in her life, it also inspired much of her artwork. Almost half of her paintings were self-portraits, most of them meant to symbolize her pain. Kahlo’s work has often been classified as surrealism, a style of art that is inspired by dreams. However, Kahlo disagreed with this, because she had always seen her art as an expression of real life. As Kahlo got older, her health got steadily worse. She died in 1954, when she was only 47. Although Kahlo died young, both her life and her artwork are still celebrated today.
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?
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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.
