In the heart of western art country...

France is a wonderful place to learn about the historical, philosophical and aesthetic transitions between classical and modern western art - we have seen lots of art since we hit Paris in early September. So I embarked on an “art history” lesson of sorts with the kids - taking ”the last supper” as a theme, and examining its representation by different western artists from 12th through 21st centuries - medieval and gothic, renaissance, baroque, mannerism, neoclassicism, realism, Impressionism, post-Impressionism, cubism, fauvism, surrealism, pop art, etc... it’s been done across the eras. it is a pretty interesting exercise to isolate the subject like this, and look solely at the differences in style, technique, perspective, light, and elements of historical and social context - I may have found this more fascinating than my children did... but i am ever hopeful that it will all be stored somewhere in their brains for future inspiration! Everyone then did some research on an artist of choice, and created their own versions of their artists’ work. Picasso, Van Gogh, Chagall, and Maud Lewis (Geoff stayed true to his Canadian roots). I am also including some of the kids’ art since then... they are clearly finding their own styles. Today we head out for a three day explore of Provence, with Art history on the agenda (though the sunflowers in Arles have long gone!) LaraRead more