Visit the Musee Thyssen-Bornemisa, in Madrid, on Google Art Project. Scroll through the collection and click on images, or use the museum viewer, to look at the different works of art on display.
From the collection, select two works of art: one by Paul Cezanne or Edgar Degas and one from the Italian Renaissance. Respond to the series of questions provided to explore them in depth.
Complete this activity after you have explored the Musee Thyssen-Bornemisa in Madrid site through the Google Art Project.
1. Describe the two works by providing the following information for each:
a. Who is the artist?
b. What is the title of the work?
c. When was the work created?
d. What medium is the work in (e.g., sculpture, painting)? What medium was used (e.g., clay, bronze, oil, acrylic)?
e. How large is the work? Provide dimensions.
f. Is the work realistic? Abstract?
2. Look at the way each painting uses line, shape, light, color, texture, and other elements of art.
a. How do you react to the works differently based on their respective uses of line to bring the subject to life?
b. How does the color palette in each painting affect its mood? Do the drastically different styles play into this as well?
c. Identify the differing uses of brushstrokes in each painting. How and to what effect does each artist use texture?
d. As a technique, how does the use of space in each painting work alongside elements like line, light, and color?
e. Do you see motion in either painting? If so, how does the artist depict it?
3. Given the way in which the visual elements are employed in each painting, what is each artist trying to convey? A work can have more than one meaning or several layers of meaning.
a. How do the visual elements work together to create those layers?
b. In what ways do they complement each other?
4. Recall your initial reasons for selecting the two works.
a. What were your first impressions?
b. Do the uses of the visual elements in these two paintings reflect how they are commonly used in time periods they come from?
c. How have your impressions changed after you looked at the two works closely?
