Curriculum Materials: Art in America
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Image 26 Bob Thompson Questions: |
Think Questions Teacher Answer Key
1. How do you feel when you look at this painting? What about the painting makes you feel this way? Do the bright colors affect the way you feel? How would your feelings change if the colors were darker? What if they were pastel colors?
2. Why do you think Bob Thompson chose to show the figures in this painting nude? (Perhaps to emphasize their freedom; to enhance the sense of warmth conveyed by the warm colors; to strip them of any specific identity.)
3. Jazz is a very improvisational music. What is improvisation? In what ways does Thompson's painting also appear to be improvisational? (Color is used freely throughout, and the frequent changes in color and shape create a sense of rhythm; the loose BRUSHSTROKES, such as those in the sky, give a feeling of spontaneity to the picture.)
4. This is an homage to the singer Nina Simone. What is an homage? (An expression of honor or respect.) How is this painting an homage? Based on this painting, how do you think Thompson felt about Simone and her music? What kind of music would you guess Nina Simone performs? What musician would you like to honor in a painting? What kind of music does she or he perform? What colors do you think would be most appropriate to represent the way you feel when you listen to this person's music?
5. For centuries, artists have looked closely at the work of other artists as inspirations for their own art. They often borrow poses of figures, entire COMPOSITIONS, and other ideas from the art that inspires them. Under what circumstances do you think it is okay to borrow something from a work of art to make your own work of art better? Are there any circumstances under which it is not okay to borrow something from another work of art? Why isn't Bob Thompson's painting considered a copy of Poussin's painting?
6. Compare and contrast Bob Thompson's Homage to Nina
Simone with Robert Koehler's Rainy
Evening on Hennepin Avenue. Do these works of art have
anything in common? If so, what? (They are both
paintings; both have loose BRUSHSTROKES; both place figures
in an outdoor space.) Compare
Thompson's treatment of the human
figure to Koehler's treatment.
(Consider: color, degree of
NATURALISM,
relationship to surroundings, dress.) What kind of mood
is expressed in each painting? How does each artist create
the mood? (Color, atmosphere,
COMPOSITION, dress,
use of line, etc.) What do you like best about the
Thompson? What do you like best
about the Koehler?
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