(Preston, 1930)
UNIT plan overview
Unit Title: Expressionism Portraiture
Year Level & Subject: Year 9 Visual Arts
Duration: 4 x 90-minute lessons
Essential learnings, Concepts, and Understandings:
-How artists use Portraiture to convey features of one’s individual, community, or cultural identity
-Applying the elements of portrayal to communicate information or impressions about a subject
-Exploring the work of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artists and analysing the beliefs, values, and intentions embedded in their work/practice
-Exploration of ideas and concepts behind ‘place’ representation within Portraiture
-Knowledge of the Expressionism movement, its conventions and techniques/processes, and its significance in communicating meaning, emotion, and themes of identity
Download full unit plan
Teaching and Learning Strategies:
Place-Based pedagogy - used to include learning structures that intend to connect students with places of personal meaning, reflecting important parts of their identity.
Collaborative pedagogy - for teachers to prompt group discussion and inquiry activities, positioning students to learn from and seek understanding from others.
Instructional/Explicit pedagogy - structure and scaffold procedural tasks and learning opportunities, establishing clear and manageable objectives.
Technological pedagogies - blended and integrated learning modes using technologies to frame formative tasks and reinforce digital skills.
Dialogic/Questioning pedagogy - activate purposeful discussion through topics to improve whole-class understanding. Intentionally encourage students to generate their own inquiries.
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lesson 1 - introduction to portraiture
Exploring the art form of Portraiture, its history, and its contextual role throughout time in communicating aspects of an individual’s identity
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lesson 2 - expressionism and representation
investigating the themes of the Expressionism art movement, learning how techniques and processes are used to create impressions of an individual’s character
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Lesson 3 - Planning for production
Understanding art elements and principles, and developing a plan towards the direction of the upcoming assessment project
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lesson 4 - project production
Working through the production of the Expressionism Portraiture task, aiming to demonstrate the use of portrayal elements and techniques and processes
Additional Notes:
Consider exploring new and interesting ways to reinforce arts vocabulary when students are making and responding to their own works and those of others, such as glossary words, elements and principles, descriptive word lists, word walls etc.
To enhance engagement throughout lesson 2, you could get students to draw several quick, small portraits in rapid succession to free them up and encourage them to be more expressive. You could use a range of drawing media such as charcoal, pencils, pastels, etc with students along with trialling and mark-making techniques such as blending, hatching/cross-hatching, stippling, contour drawing, etc. that they can then apply to their main portrait. Aim to be experimental and exploratory.
References:
Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA). (2010). Visual Arts F-10 Curriculum. https://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/f-10-curriculum/the-arts/visual-arts/
Brack, J. (1955). Self-Portrait. [Oil on canvas]. National Gallery of Victoria. https://www.ngv.vic.gov.au/school_resource/who-are-you-australian-portraiture/
Britannica. (2023). Expressionism. https://www.britannica.com/art/Expressionism
Courbet, G. (2023). Gustave Courbet. [Oil on canvas]. Metropolitan Museum of Art. https://www.metmuseum.org/exhibitions/listings/2008/gustave-courbet/photo-gallery
Flat Icon. (n.d.). Download button. [Image]. https://www.flaticon.com/free-icon/download-button_532
Franz, M. (1911). Blue Horse I. [Oil on canvas]. Google Arts and Culture. https://artsandculture.google.com/asset/blaues-pferd/ZAFpPn_oQwEIwQ?hl=en-GB
Heckel, E. (1919). Portrait of a Man (Männerbildnis). [Woodcut]. Museum of Modern Art (MoMA). https://www.moma.org/learn/moma_learning/erich-heckel-portrait-of-a-man-mannerbildnis-1919/
Hurst-Euless-Bedford Independent School District. (2023). Elements and Principles of Art. Retrieved 10 May, 2023. https://www.hebisd.edu
Kirchner, E. (1908). Czardas dansers. [Oil on canvas]. Gallerease. https://gallerease.com/en/magazine/articles/all-about-expressionism-in-the-art-of-painting__5f392969152d
Lee, S. (2010). Learn Together: Introduction to Portraiture and Identity. National Portrait Gallery. ePublishing Partners. Retrieved 10 May, 2023. https://npg.si.edu/sites/default/files/gac_introduction_to_portraiture.pdf
Marc, F. (1913). Mandrill. [Oil on canvas]. Invaluable. https://www.invaluable.com/blog/german-expressionism/
Munch, E. (1893). The Scream. [Tempera and casein on cardboard]. Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/art/Expressionism
Museum of Modern Art (MoMA). (2023). Expressionist Portraits. [Gallery Resource]. https://www.moma.org/learn/moma_learning/erich-heckel-portrait-of-a-man-mannerbildnis-1919/
National Gallery of Victoria (NGV). (2023). Who Are You | Australian Portraiture. [Gallery resource]. https://www.ngv.vic.gov.au/school_resource/who-are-you-australian-portraiture/
Perry, A. (1939). Rachel Roxburgh. [Oil on canvas]. National Gallery of Victoria. https://www.ngv.vic.gov.au/exhibition/who-are-you/
Picasso, P. (1905-6). Gertrude Stein. [Oil on canvas]. Metropolitan Museum of Art. https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/488221
Preston, M. (1930). Self Portrait. [Oil on canvas]. Art Gallery of NSW. https://www.artgallery.nsw.gov.au/artboards/portraiture/identity-and-place/item/xpvh6h/
Schiele, E. (1912). Self-Portrait with Physalis. [Oil on canvas]. Wikipedia.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egon_Schiele
Sherald, A. (2009). They Call Me Redbone, But I'd Rather Be Strawberry Shortcake. [Oil on canvas]. Hauser and Wirth. https://www.hauserwirth.com/artists/11577-amy-sherald/
The Art Story. (2023). Expressionism. https://www.theartstory.org/movement/expressionism/
Van Gogh, V. (1887). Self Portrait with Straw Hat. [Oil on canvas]. Vincent Van Gogh Organisation. https://www.vincentvangogh.org/self-portrait-with-straw-hat.jsp#:~:text=The%20artist%20painted%20twenty%2Dtwo,suffering%20physical%20and%20emotional%20stress.
Van Gogh, V. (n.d.). Self Portrait. [Oil on Canvas]. Pixelz. https://pixelz.cc/images/vincent-van-gogh-self-portrait-painting-uhd-4k-wallpaper/
Van Gogh, V. (1889). The Starry Night. [Oil on canvas]. Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/art/Expressionism/images-videos
Vincent Van Gogh Organisation. (2009). Self Portrait with Straw Hat, 1887 by Vincent Van Gogh. https://www.vincentvangogh.org/self-portrait-with-straw-hat.jsp#:~:text=The%20artist%20painted%20twenty%2Dtwo,suffering%20physical%20and%20emotional%20stress.
Whiskey, K. (2021). Seven Sisters Song. [Enamel paint on road sign]. National Gallery of Victoria. https://www.ngv.vic.gov.au/explore/collection/work/147970/