Text Box: National GalleryText Box: Last week we went to the National Gallery for a class called “Every Picture Tells a Story.” Jennifer has done these before, and so we decided to take a chance on one. The kids had a blast. It was a beautiful spring day, and the lady who gave the tour was engaging, and very excited about art. It was nice to hear the perspective of someone who works for the most famous gallery in DC. It was especially good for me, because she talked about things I would forget to tell the kids...such as who the people are in the picture and why they were important enough at the time for artists to depict them, and what the story behind each of the paintings actual content was. Text Box: This was Mercury. He was sculpted on the face of another god whose job it was to puff him up to the clouds to deliver his messages. Our guide pointed out how he had wings on his feet and head. Next, we moved on to Monet. Below, you see “Woman with a Parasol.” The guide told us about the perspective, and told the story of what kind of a day it was...including the direction of the sun. She also talked about impressionism, the style of painting Monet made famous. Text Box: Mary Cassatt was a famous woman artist of the 19th century. Our guide had the kids make up a story about this picture. They were shy at first, but seemed to enjoy learning about where this girl was (France) and naming her dog, and telling the story about what had happened before, during and after this moment was captured on canvas. Below are two biblical stories, one of Daniel in the Lions Den (Audrey’s favorite) and the story of David and Goliath. Text Box: Above is Rembrandt, a self portrait. I love this portrait because if you compare an early self portrait he did when he was younger to this portrait, you will immediately understand why he is a master. Text Box: Above you see a man making a copy of a painting. The same is happening at the left, although the artist was not there at the time. The National Gallery has a program where you can apply to come and paint a copy of a masterpiece painting. This is very difficult to do. Both of these paintings are in the underpainting stage of development. You will notice the dimensions of the copy are different from the original. Do you know why??? Text Box: Home Oval: Return to main page