Grace Hartigan's Billboard Grace Hartigan American, born 1922 Billboard,1957 Introduction About the Art Abstract Expressionism Style and Technique The Artist Look ~ Discuss ~ Explore Activities Glossary Text Only Teacher's Guide Look - Teacher's Key (Return to Look Questions) Look closely at the painting. What do you see? How many objects can you identify? Where do you see them? Look for the Ipana toothpaste smile, wine bottle (only the neck is visible) and glass, Dole pineapples, peaches and whipped cream, apple with a bite taken out, piano keys, lime Jell-O mold with fruit, figure from a soup ad, and oranges. Grace Hartigan said: "A line is like a lasso. You throw it over your head and you grab something. . . . It's like writing. You can read a line in a painting almost the way you can read a word." Examine the use of line in this painting. Where has the artist used line to outline? (glass and wine bottle). Where do you find straight lines? (toothpaste tube). Where do you find a series of lines? (piano keys). Where do you see lines that are curved? squiggly? jagged? thin? thick? Discuss how different lines evoke different responses (speed, movement, aggressiveness, passivity). Where is the largest shape of that color? the smallest? What colors surround it? Does the color appear to change? (Does the red of the apple look the same as the red of the lips on the face?) If it appears to change, discuss why (size, shape, surrounding colors, intensity). Discuss the use of complementary colors (red and green, yellow and purple, blue and orange). Where do you see two complementary colors together? What size and shape are they? Which is bigger? Which is brighter? Is the color composed of one large shape or many smaller shapes? (Complementary colors appear intensified when placed next to each other). Hartigan began Billboard by making a collage of flat, overlapping images taken from Life magazine. How is the painting similar to a collage? How is it different? Study the illusion of depth in this painting. Does the painting appear flat, or does it appear to have depth? Are there colors that appear to recede or advance? Discuss the use of cool colors (blue, green, purple) and warm colors (red, orange, yellow). How do the colors affect the impression of depth?