Grade 1 Henri Matisse Cut Outs

In first grade, we have been learning about different types of shapes including organic, rounded shapes, and geometric shapes with straight edges. During this lesson, we looked at some of Henri Matisse's "Cut-Outs." Critics said that Matisse "Painted with Scissors" as he cut beautiful shapes out of brightly colored paper and assembled them onto a white background. We watched a video from the Tate Museum in London here and looked at his artwork on the board. We also noticed his technique and made cut outs of our own. Here are some results below!

National Visual Art Standards BY grade 4

1.1 Use a variety of materials and media, for example, crayons, chalk, paint, clay, various kinds of papers, textiles, and yarns, and understand how to use them to produce different visual effects

1.2 Create artwork in a variety of two-dimensional (2D) and three-dimensional

(3D) media, for example: 2D – drawing, painting, collage, printmaking, weaving; 3D – plastic (malleable) materials such as clay and paper, wood, or found objects for assemblage and construction 

1.3 Learn and use appropriate vocabulary related to methods, materials, and techniques

1.4 Learn to take care of materials and tools and to use them safely

2.1 For color, explore and experiment with the use of color in dry and wet media

 Identify primary and secondary colors and gradations of black, white and gray in the environment and artwork

Explore how color can convey mood and emotion

For example, students mix light and dark values of colors or predict the results of overlapping and blending primary colors. 

2.2 For line, explore the use of line in 2D and 3D works

Identify a wide variety of types of lines in the environment and in artwork

For example, students take a walk around the school and note jagged, straight, curved, thick, and thin lines. 

2.3 For texture, explore the use of textures in 2D and 3D works

     Identify a wide variety of types of textures, for example, smooth, rough, and bumpy, in the environment and in artwork

Create representations of textures in drawings, paintings, rubbings, or relief

2.4 For shape and form, explore the use of shapes and forms in 2D and 3D works

Identify simple shapes of different sizes, for example, circles, squares, triangles, and forms, for example, spheres, cones, cubes, in the environment and in artwork

2.5 For pattern and symmetry, explore the use of patterns and symmetrical shapes in 2D and 3D works

Identify patterns and symmetrical forms and shapes in the environment and artwork.

Explain and demonstrate ways in which patterns and symmetrical shapes

3.1 Create 2D and 3D artwork from direct observation

For example, students draw a still life of flowers or fruit, action studies of their classmates in sports poses, or sketches of the class pet having a snack or a nap.

3.2 Create 2D and 3D expressive artwork that explores abstraction

For example, a student simplifies an image by making decisions about essential colors, lines, or textures.

3.3 Create 2D and 3D artwork from memory or imagination to tell a story or embody an idea or fantasy

For example, students draw members of a family from memory; illustrate a character in a folktale or play; build a clay model of an ideal place to play; or make images that convey ideas such as friendship.

4.1 Select a work or works created during the year and discuss them with a parent, classmate, or teacher, explaining how the work was made, and why it was chosen for discussion

For example, a first grader chooses a painting and tells how she mixed the colors, and talks about the decisions she made.

4.2 Select works for exhibition and work as a group to create a display

4.3 As a class, develop and use criteria for informal classroom discussions about art

5.1 In the course of making and viewing art, learn ways of discussing it, such as by making a list of all of the images seen in an artwork (visual inventory); and identifying kinds of color, line, texture, shapes, and forms in the work 

5.2 Classify artworks into general categories, such as painting, printmaking, collage, sculpture, pottery, textiles, architecture, photography, and film

5.3 Describe similarities and differences in works, and present personal responses to the subject matter, materials, techniques, and use of design elements in artworks 

6.1 When viewing or listening to examples of visual arts, architecture, music, dance, storytelling, and theatre, ask and answer questions such as, “What is the artist trying to say?” “Who made this, and why?” “How does this work make me feel?”

6.2 Investigate uses and meanings of examples of the arts in children’s daily lives, homes, and communities

For example, children learn and teach other children songs in languages other than English; interview parents and community members about dances, songs, images, and stories that are part of their family and cultural heritage.

7.1 Investigate how artists create their work; read about, view films about, or interview artists such as choreographers, dancers, composers, singers, instrumentalists, actors, storytellers, playwrights, illustrators, painters, sculptors, craftspeople, or architects

For example, teachers invite an illustrator of children’s books to school to show how she creates her illustrations.