parcours decouverte - Musée des beaux

PARCOURS DECOUVERTE
LA MYTHOLOGIE DE L'OUEST dans l'art américain, 1830-1940
Collège -Version anglaise
Newell Convers Wyeth
Gunfight
vers 1916
Denver Art Museum
Parcours réalisé par Andrée Chapalain, Conseillère-relais, Service éducatif, Musée des beaux-arts de Rennes
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PARCOURS DECOUVERTE
LA MYTHOLOGIE DE L'OUEST dans l'art américain, 1830-1940
1. Portraits of Indian people
J. W. Jarvis
Blackhawk and his sonWhirling Thunder
A puzzling resemblance
The famous chief of the Sawks and the Foxes embodied the resistance of the Indians. Although he
was defeated by the U.S Army and made a prisoner, he remained strongly attached to his
convictions.
* Comment on the costumes, the faces, the feelings that are expressed : conviction / hope/
resignation/ determination
Parcours réalisé par Andrée Chapalain, Conseillère-relais, Service éducatif, Musée des beaux-arts de Rennes
George Catlin
In Philadelphia, he met a group of Indians on their way to Washington where they wanted to
advocate their cause. He was deeply impressed by their beauty, the majesty of their looks and their
determination. He, then, decided to leave his home and go to the great plains, to paint the Indians
so as to become a witness for the future generations. He had the intuition that their way of life,
which was so close to nature, was to be swept away. He gathered all his paintings into a sort of
museum : the Indian Gallery. With his numerous paintings, he travelled to several American
cities such as New York, Pittsburgh. In 1839, he sailed to Europe and showed them to Queen
Victoria in Windsor and to Louis-Philippe in Paris. On his tour, he was accompanied by Indian
dancers.
* Make a description of one of the portraits from the exhibition.
Give the name of the painting. Comment on : the environment, the attitude of the characters,
their costumes, their looks
Make a sketch and give your impressions
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PARCOURS DECOUVERTE
LA MYTHOLOGIE DE L'OUEST dans l'art américain, 1830-1940
John Mix Stanley
Last of Their Race
* What time of day is it ?
* Where is the main character standing ?
* Where is he looking ?
* Can you imagine the feelings of the characters ?
* Consider the details : bones, dead branches, weapons on the
ground,… What do they suggest ?
2. The wide spaces
« In the Beginning of the world was America » John Locke
a. The wild life
Parcours réalisé par Andrée Chapalain, Conseillère-relais, Service éducatif, Musée des beaux-arts de Rennes
William Jacob Hays
A Herd of Buffaloes on the Bed of the River Missouri
This painter stayed in Nebraska, Dakota , Montana and went west to Yellowstone river. At that
time, the great plains were not settled yet. Huge herds of buffaloes lived there. The killing of the
buffaloes was meant to deprive the Indians of their means of survival.
In 1800 there were about 60 million buffaloes.
In 1889 there were about 1000 buffaloes.
* Why did the painter choose to show a panoramic view ?
* To what extend can this painting be opposed to the
former one ?
The number of the buffaloes
The time of day
The general atmosphere
Albert Bierstadt
Surprising the Herd
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PARCOURS DECOUVERTE
LA MYTHOLOGIE DE L'OUEST dans l'art américain, 1830-1940
b. The landscape
Albert Bierstadt
The Merced River in Yosemite
Thomas Moran
Thomas Moran
Thomas Moran
Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone / Bridal Veil Fall, Yosemite Valley /An Indian Paradise
Use the phrases bellow, to describe one of the types of landscape from the exhibition.
The mountain can dominate the landscape
It can appear as a back cloth
It can be wild and fascinating
It can be impressive
Consider the light, the vegetation, the human element.
Parcours réalisé par Andrée Chapalain, Conseillère-relais, Service éducatif, Musée des beaux-arts de Rennes
3. The Indians, the settlers and the cowboys
Frederic Remington, The Smoke Signal
A true American, he is the most popular of all the illustrators. He worked for « Harper’s weekly »
which was, then, the first illustrated magazine in the world.
* What are the characters looking at ?
* Remember other details you saw in the exhibition and imagine what is happening to the left of
the painting.
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PARCOURS DECOUVERTE
LA MYTHOLOGIE DE L'OUEST dans l'art américain, 1830-1940
Charles Scheyvogel, Saving their Lieutenant /Frank Tenney Johnson, California or Oregon ?
* Make a comparison between these two paintings.
Similarities : The same type of foreground
Men turning their heads backwards
Horses on a barren land
* In what respect do these two paintings show a striking contrast ?
The main characters/ the light/ the movement/ the situation
James Earle Fraser
Harvey Dunn
The End of the Trail
The Scout
The crossed destinies of the west
* To what extend can these two pieces ( a painting and a sculpture) be compared ?
* Consider the posture of the horses, the attitude of the scout, the attitude of the Indian.
4. Paintings with depth, paintings with no depth
Parcours réalisé par Andrée Chapalain, Conseillère-relais, Service éducatif, Musée des beaux-arts de Rennes
Dans le premier cas les grandeurs diminuent dans le lointain, dans le second les figures sont
alignées au premier plan ; l’espace profond est peu ou pas traité.
Newell Convers Wyeth, Rounding up
* With a pencil, draw a line to show the winding path the animals are follwing. Start from the
foreground.
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PARCOURS DECOUVERTE
LA MYTHOLOGIE DE L'OUEST dans l'art américain, 1830-1940
Parcours réalisé par Andrée Chapalain, Conseillère-relais, Service éducatif, Musée des beaux-arts de Rennes
Newell Convers Wyeth, An Indian War Party
* The background almost disappears. The parade can be continued on both sides. Can you make
the drawing with your pencil ?
Newell Convers Wyeth
Rural Delivery (Where the Mail goes, « Cream of Wheat » goes)
* Complete the drawing with the elements of the landscape.
* Why do we get the impression of being in the middle of nowhere ?
* What advertisement can you read on the letter box ?
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PARCOURS DECOUVERTE
LA MYTHOLOGIE DE L'OUEST dans l'art américain, 1830-1940
Newell Convers Wyeth, Gunfight
* Can you make a sketch of the different characters in the painting (on the first page) ?
The figures seem to fit into one another.
Newell Convers Wyeth, Song of the Eagle that Mates with the Storm
* Pay a particular attention to the colours. Consider the effect of the light.
* Watch the painting carefully and imagine the story.
Parcours réalisé par Andrée Chapalain, Conseillère-relais, Service éducatif, Musée des beaux-arts de Rennes
5. Hunting
Charles Marion Russell
Spearing a Buffalo
Charles Marion Russell
Loops and Swift Horses are Surer than Lead
Russel taught himself. He led the harsh life of a cow-boy in the west. He claimed his painting was
national art. « I can’t see how a Dutch man or a French man can teach how to paint things of my
own country ».
* What hunting technique is pictured here ?
* How can we see that the animals are very strong ?
* Why is hunting so dangerous ?
* What accidents may happen ?
* What type of landscape is shown ?
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PARCOURS DECOUVERTE
LA MYTHOLOGIE DE L'OUEST dans l'art américain, 1830-1940
6. Multiple points of view
From above, from a distance, from beneath
* Make a drawing of the jump of the rider.
William Robinson Leigh
Greased Lightning
William Robinson Leigh
Panning Gold, Wyoming
* We can’t see the sky, yet, the painting is full of light. Why ?
* From the shadow on the ground, can you tell what time it is ?
Maynar Dixon
Hogback hill
* Can you place another figure of the west (a man or an animal) on the line of the horizon ?
Norman Percevel Rockwell, The Stagecoach
To what extend does this painting, by the most popular American illustrator, contain the main
ingredients of the myth of the west ?
Parcours : Andrée Chapalain, Conseillère-relais, MBA-Rennes, Version anglaise : Annie Bertin (Collège Les Ormeaux)
Maquette : Carole Marsac, Service éducatif, Musée des beaux-arts de Rennes, février 2008
Photographies : Patrick Merret - Mise en ligne : Jean-Charles Subile, Musée des beaux-arts de Rennes
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