Resources

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Piero di Cosimo, Vulcan and Aeolus (detail), c. 1490, oil and egg tempera on canvas.

Piero di Cosimo, Vulcan and Aeolus (detail), c. 1490, oil and egg tempera on canvas, 155.5 x 166.5 cm. Purchased 1937. National Gallery of Canada

 

Post visit activity

In every visit to the National Gallery of Canada, students develop the skills of looking and thinking critically about artworks. Continue this exercise back in the classroom with artworks nearby:

Looking and Learning

Each student selects an artwork s/he likes. It might be a photograph in an ad, a painting in their house, a sculpture in the park… something that they like:

  1. Spend some time studying it. Look at every detail. Try to find something you never noticed before. Test yourself: if you turned your back on it, can you describe it to someone else?
  2. Ask yourself: What’s going on in this artwork? What makes you think that? Write down your answers.
  3. Write a short story about this artwork. Your artwork could feature at the beginning, the middle or the end of your story.

Take it further (writing & presenting):

  • Research this artwork and see how it compares to your story. (This might involve art historical texts, media studies, public records, etc.)
  • Present your story and your research to the class.
     

Take it further (art-making):

  • Using materials around you: paint, collage, photograph, draw or assemble found objects to create an image that fits the narrative you created. Or stage and photograph the scene and replace the figures with your friends/family in a location that is familiar to you.
  • Notice how your response to the original is different or the same.
     

Assessment

Defining and measuring (providing evidence to support) Seven Measures of Critical Thinking1 relevant to learning with works of art:

  1. How does the student OBSERVE? (Notice specific features of works of art. Eg. It looks dark. The clouds are pink and yellow.)
  2. How does the student INTERPRET? (Develop a narrative about the figures in the artwork, what emotions they show, what activities are they engaged in. Eg. All the people are sad because one is crying.)
  3. How does the student EVALUATE? (Express personal opinions about the artwork. Eg. There are so many brushstrokes, it must have taken a long time to paint this.)
  4. How does the student ASSOCIATE? (Using personal experience or prior knowledge as a basis for understanding a work of art. Eg. It must be a school room, because that is an old-fashioned desk.)
  5. How does the student PROBLEM FIND? (Looking for information or generating questions based on puzzling or interesting aspects of the artwork. Eg. I wonder what that hoop in her hand is because it’s too small to hula hoop!)
  6. How does the student COMPARE? (Notice similarities and differences between artworks. Eg. The sky and the ground are the same in these two, but the people are small here and large there.)
  7. How does the student demonstrate FLEXIBLE THINKING? (Remaining open to multiple possibilities. Eg. He might be the chief because his headdress is bigger, but the others all have special clothing too.)

 

1 Jessica J. Luke, Jill Stein, Susan Foutz and Marianna Adams Source: The Journal of Museum Education, Vol. 32, No. 2, Critical-Thinking Skills in the Museum (Summer, 2007), pp. 123-135.

 

 

Gallery Highlights

In this series, produced in collaboration with the Independent Learning Centre, Ontario’s designated provider of distance education, learn about key artworks and artists in the Gallery’s collection with Educator, Béatrice Djahanbin.

Watch the videos

 

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