Plum+Estate--Utagawa+Hiroshige

Introduction:
Japanese art in Western culture is often associated with the Ukiyo-e prints of the seventeenth century, including those by Utagawa Hiroshige. //The Fifty-Three Stations of the Tokaido// and //One Hundred Views of Edo// are often considerred Hiroshige's most well-known series. Hiroshige extended the tradition of Ukiyo prints and challenged concepts regarding traditional representation of famous Japanese places. His incorporation of Western perspective, through a use of traditional representational modes, created a rich and dynamic visual-vocabulary for his series. Hiroshige's influence can be seen in the works of Western artists, such as Vincent van Gogh, Claude Monet, and James Abbott McNeill Whistler. //Plum Estate, Kameido// (print #30) provides viewers with a look at an estate in Kameido-Tokyo, Japan, and is connected to the spring series of //One Hundred Views of Edo//. The image is one Hiroshige's best known pieces and was reproduced by Vincent van Gogh in 1887. The eclectic nature of this print, its flat shapes and unique perspective, seems reminiscent of a time of blossoming in Edo. The work speaks profoundly to the Japanese tradition and woodblock printmaking.

The //Plum Estate, Kameido// is a woodcut print that focuses on the branch of a plum tree with a background consisting of varying washes of color. A reddish-pink sky gradually fades into white, in turn transferring once more into the green hue of the ground. The middle ground of the piece shows twelve people on the other side of a fence and it appears as if they are going about their daily business. The middle ground also possesses several other plum trees, all of which seem in the beginnings of their bloom. Closest to the viewer, the focal point of the piece, stands the main Plum tree with its branches swinging from the left at sharp angles and moving to the right. Although most of the shapes appear flat, with limited shadows, the estate contains greater depth through an incoporation of proper scale, perspective, and overlapping qualities. Near the top of the piece small green and red rectangles add to the design, their locations in the upper right and lower left corners playing upon one another in a pleasing manner. The scroll-like shapes contain Japanese script, said to contain the artist's name and other information.
 * Visual Description:**

//One Hundred Views of Edo// is a series of landscape prints in the Ukiyo-e tradition. Each express depictions of Edo, or modern-day Tokyo. Utagawa Hiroshige produced these prints between the years of 1856 and 1858, having been commissioned to produce the series by Sakanaya Eikichi, a publisher who provided the financial backing for the project and its distribution. Ukiyo-e, a genre of Japanese woodblock prints, was developed in the seventeenth century and the literal translation of Ukiyo-e expresses the theme as “pictures of the floating world”. Traditionally speaking, Ukiyo refers to the Buddhist notion of the transient nature of reality, but later in the seventeenth century this concept evolved into a more broad representation of every-day life, with images of beautiful women, landscapes, kabuki actors, street scenes, and people at work (often including advertisements for theateres and other entertainment). The reason for such range of use for Ukiyo-e images can be expressed by the ease in which these pictures could be mass-produced. In such a manner, they were often used for advertisements, illustrations on fans, postcards, and prints for the populace.
 * Formal Analysis: **

“Meisho Edo hyakkei” translates to “One hundred views of the famous places of Edo”. This is the format by which Hiroshige took the commission into a visual and poetic exploration of Edo landscapes. "Meisho," or “famous places,” better translates into “places with names,” which seems to resonate in a more poetic fashion in regard to the attributes and characteristics of the places depicted. In the Western world these famous places signified power and wealth, but “meisho” provides the place itself in a lesser signifigance and the connection to its serene and contemplative qualities as more valuable. To such ends, the images would typically depict Buddhist temples and Shinto shrines. In //One Hundred Famous Views of Edo//, Hiroshige reconfigures the notion of “meisho” by exploring places that might not be famous, but are important to the history and evolution of Edo and its topography. //One Hundred Views of Edo// acts as a journey through gardens, landscapes, street scenes, temples, and studies of different social classes in the fabric of the city. The images are very serene yet, dynamic and quite unconventional in their use of flat shapes that seem reminiscent of traditional Rinpa prints.

The images are categorized by seasons through Hiroshige's notion of “meisho” and depicted in realtion to the seasons that they are best viewed in, as such, the Plum Estate at Kameido (one of the most famous images of the views of Edo) is captured in Spring. The image of the "sleeping dragon plum" stands cropped in the foreground in a way that captures the natural quality of its growth and the reality that this type of plum tree tends to grow with its limbs in the ground, breaching the surface once more to create peculiar shapes. Hiroshige depicts the plum in spring, its blossoms full, conveying meaning to the Japanese culture.

The image of the Plum Estate is a detailed, cropped view of the space that focuses on the plum tree that divides the pictorial space into dynamic shapes. The bright-white double-blossoms of the plum tree are believed to keep darkness away and their domination within the space give the scene a sense of life. In Japanese culture blooming gardens become the focus of many traditions and cultural practices. In the Heian Period, the Japanese were greatly influenced by China, including the practice of flower viewing in the spring, while fruit trees were in full blossom. The plum tree, with its large white blossoms, was originally one of the most highly acclaimed trees in China. This idea made its way to Japan and symbolised early spring, while the cherry blossom found association with late spring.

Because plum blossoms were believed to keep evil sprits away they were planted in the northeast portion of a garden, facing the direction of evil sources. Whether plum or cherry, the blossoms and flowers on the spring trees possess transcendental qualities often associated with Buddhist beliefs and principals. These blossoms symbolize a transience of nature, the cycles of life, death, and rebirth observed in the changing seasons. Spring blossoming trees are symbolic of life and birth, followed by a stage of bearing, death, and reincarnation. In fact, it could be said that Hiroshige used the blossoming trees in his views to reference a catastrophic earthquake that took place in 1855, taking more than a hundred thousand lives in Edo. If one were to see the correlation they may surmise that the city has regrown, its rejuvenation and reconstruction connect with the blossoms of the plum.

Exhibitions of Hiroshige's prints include the University of Michigan Museum of Art Exhibit of Spring 2006, where Hiroshige’s //Fifty Three Stages of the Tokaido// were presented as a part of the “Landscapes of Longing: Journeys through Memory and Place” exhibit, which was an inventory of spaces through the eyes of the artists that canonized and spiritualized the places they portrayed. The exhibit excited exploration of images that have become formal associations of their particular sites, thus becoming depictions of certain cultural qualities that tie the image to a memory of that moment in time. Hiroshige’s views of Tokaido are that type of the poetic imagery, they have become iconic in association to Japanese culture. These idealized images of Japanese landscapes portray the Japanese culture as an embodiment of all things serene, spiritual, and meditative. This exhibit, a rare occasion to view all of the //Fifty Three Stages of the Tokaido,// provided a larger dynamic, like a poem, moving from one site to another creating narrative of the places important to Japanese culture.



Influences:
During his lifetime, Utagawa Hiroshige made over 5,400 prints. Many prints made their way into Europe, causing a fascination with Japan. Many European artists drew inspiration from Hiroshige’s wood block prints. Painters loved the bright, rich, colors of the Ukiyo-e prints, as well as their sense of depth, unusual perspectives, and relation of vantage points. Impressionist painters, such as Monet and Van Gogh, emulated the rich colors that were uncommon in earlier European paintings. Van Gogh copied many of Hiroshige’s //One Hundred Views of Edo,// enamored with the contrast between the jagged braches of the plum tree and the softness of the people walking behind the orchard. Even non-impressionists were influenced by Hiroshige's pieces. Gustav Klimt and Ivan Bilibin both referenced Utagawa Hiroshige’s prints for their own and Hiroshige’s prints have had an influence on artists such as Roger Shimomura, who used the Ukiyo-e style to make paintings addressing social issues like racism.

Artist Background:
Hiroshige was born Andō Hiroshige, in Edo (present-day Tokyo, Japan). Hiroshige was quickly marked as an artist, due to his skill at drawing, though it is rumored that he officially decided to become an artist after viewing works by the artist Hokusai. Hirsohige was not originally an artist, but instead had followed his father's profession and had become a firefighter for the local shogunate. Eventually, perhaps due to the meager wages made as a fireman, Hiroshige sought a form of employment that better suited for him. Whatever inspiration led to a change in professions, he found his artistic ambition realized by becomming an apprentice at Ukiyo-e Master Utagawa Toyohiro’s studio. It was here that Hiroshige was given the name Utagawa, by Toyohiro. Utagawa Hiroshige went on to produce great prints in the Ukiyo-e style, later producing the series of landscape prints known as //One Hundred Views of Edo//, which includes Plum Estate. In 1856. He retired as an artist to become a Buddhist monk. Unfortunately, Hiroshige died soon after the release of his prints in 1858. he'd died from cholera, an epidemic of the time. The Edo series actually contains 118 prints and it was the last work that Hiroshige produced. || ||

Historical Context:
During the time Hiroshige's art was released, great changes were occurring with Japan’s relationship with the West. Japan had recently endured the great earthquake of 1855 and were coming to terms with an economic relationship being forged with the United States. In 1854 the __Treaty of Kanagawa__ was signed, opening trade with the United States. This set in motion a series of treaties with Japan and Western powers. Treaties signed in 1858 fully opened Japan’s ports to the West and set fixed import/export percentages, putting Japan at a disadvantage. Hirsohige's work, however, would have a renewed audience.

Kameido Shrine:
Today, the Kameido shrine sits in the heart of Tokyo's Sumida district. It had been destroyed by Allied fire-bombs in 1945 but has been rebuilt. Sadly, most of the original architecture did not survive and the plum orchard no longer exists. The shrine, originally famous for a statue of Sugawara no Michizane, a famous scholar, poet and politician, is now known for its hanging wisteria garden and large drum-bridge. || ||

<span style="color: #000000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">References 1. Adele Schlombs, //Hiroshige, Basic Art// (Los Angeles: Taschen, 2007).Bibliography
<span style="color: #000000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">2. Ando Hiroshige and Henry D. Smith. //Hiroshige One Hundred Famous Views of Edo// (New York: George Braziller, 2000). <span style="color: #000000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">3. Brooklyn Museum, //Asian Art: Plum Estate, Kameido (Kameido Umeyashiki), No. 30 from One Hundred Famous Views of Edo,// 2009, accessed March 16th, 2009, [|http://www.brooklynmuseum.org/opencollection/objects/4202/Plum_Estate,_Kameido_(Kameido_Umeyashiki),_No._30_from_One_Hundred_Famous_Views_of_Edo]. <span style="color: #000000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">4. Forrer, Matthi, Suzuki Juzo, and Henry D. Smith. //Hiroshige// (Grand Rapids: Prestel, 2001). <span style="color: #000000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">5. G reg Kucera Inc., //shimomura,// 2009, accessed April, 2009, []. 6. Hiroshige.org, //100 Views of Edo,// 2009, accessed March 16th, 2009, []. 7. Taschen Books, //Edo - Images of a city between visual poetry and idealized reality//, 2009, accessed March 16th, 2009, []. 8. The Independant, //Sue Hubbard, Utagawa Hiroshige: The Moon Reflected, Ikon Gallery, Birmingham,// vol. 1, Jan. 2008, accessed April, 2009. []. 9. Ukiyo-e Gallery, //A Visit to Tokyo's Kameido Tenjin Shrine,// Ed. Thomas Crossland, accessed April, 2009. []. --


 * Lesson Title:** A Virtual Fieldtrip and the Floating World
 * Grade Level:** Elementary school (Grades 4-6)
 * Time:** 9-10 Class Periods (45 minutes per period)

This lesson meets the following [|National Standards for Art Education]: NA.VA.k-4.1 - Understanding and applying media, techniques, and processes (1,2,3) NA.VA.k-4.2 - Using knowledge of structures and functions (1,3) NA.VA.k-4.4 - Understanding the visual arts in relation to history and cultures (1) NA.VA.5-8.5 - Reflecting upon and assessing the characteristics of artworks in various eras and cultures (1,2,3)
 * Standards:**

This lesson meets the following National Educational Technology Standards: 1. Creativity and Innovation (a, b) 2. Communication and Collaboration (a, c) 3. Research and Information Fluency (a, d) 4. Digital Citizenship (a, b) 5. Technology Operations and Concepts (a, b)

Ukiyo-e Prints - Ukiyo-e roughly translates to "pictures of the floating world of the common man." Ukiyo-e prints are the first known woodblock paintings that emerged in Japan in the 1600s and became much more popular during the 1800s.
 * Central Concepts:**

Ukiyo-e, meaning "floating world", refers to the Japanese culture that flourished in the urban centers of Edo (modern-day Tokyo), Osaka, and Kyoto, that was a world unto themselves. It is an allusion to the term "Sorrowful World", the earthly plane of death and rebirth from which Buddhists sought release. This world is usually one of entertainment and relaxation, an escape from the aspects of the physical world. Most are woodblock prints, first produced as drawings by artists and then created as a woodblock print from the original drawing. The woodblock print permits a large number of prints (or copies for mass production) to be produced. This made them affordable and available to the townspeople who could not afford original works of art. In this manner they are the forerunner of modern digital prints. The first prints were made using only India ink; later some prints were manually colored using a brush. The art form rose to great popularity in the metropolitan culture of Edo (Tokyo) during the second half of the seventeenth century. //Ukiyo-e// were often used as illustrations in picture books, but came into their own as single-sheet prints (postcards or //kakemono-e//), and as posters for the //kabuki// theater. Kabuki theatre, known for elaborate makeup, is theatre based on the art of singing and dancing.

There are two key periods for ukiyo-e: The Edo period - comprising ukiyo-e from its origins in the 1620s until 1867, wherein this commercial form of art first developed in Japan. The Meiji period - from 1867 through 1912, the period was characterized by new influences to Japan as it opened its borders to trade from the West. Woodblock prints of the Edo period often depicted courtesans, geisha, and kabuki actors of the urban lifestyle. With time the subject matter expanded to include famous romantic scenes and eventually, in the final years of the nineteenth century, dramatic historical events. These pictures featured popular scenes that appealed to the wealthy townspeople of the period, but could be purchased by many people. These prints carried a distinction in their subject matter, between a focus on the landscape and a focus on people engaging in their everyday lives, the natural world and the figurative world.

The natural world is characterized by: The figurative world is often viewed as:
 * Landscapes - often with a seasonal theme
 * Different views of famous places, often done as a series. Such as Hokusai's //Thirty-Six Views of Mount Fuji.//
 * Pictures of animals and/or flowers at different seasons of the year.
 * [|Seasonal Imagery in Japanese Art] offers more detail on this concept.
 * Scenes of everyday life in Edo
 * Story-telling, especially history stories or fables.
 * Musha-e - picture of a warrior (//bushi -// also known as samurai//)//
 * Yakusha-e - pictures of actors in kabuki roles in the theatre.
 * Bijin-ga - pictures of beautiful women, usually courtesans or geisha (girls trained in singing and dancing), but occasionally girls from middle-class households.
 * Kabuki in Edo was defined by extravagance, stark makeup patterns, flashy costumes, fancy [|keren] (//stage tricks//), and bold [|mie] (//poses//).

During the Kaei era (1848 - 1854), the point in which Japan began to open trade to the West, a number of prints recorded historical scenes, such as depictions of foreign merchant ships coming to Japan. The ukiyo-e of that time, therefore, reflects the cultural changes taking place.

//Hishikawa Moronobu// (1618-1694) - His works were known by their vivid and colorful qualities.
 * Renowned Ukiyo-e artists:**

//Suzuki Harunobu// (1718/1725-1770) - He is said to have developed the technique of polychrome printing, which allowed for the production of full-color prints, called nishiki-e.

//Kitagawa Utamaro// (1754-1806) - His paintings depicted all the traditional subjects, portraits, landscapes and court scenes; he is known especially for his masterfully composed studies of women, known as //bijinga.//

//Katsushika Hokusai// (1760-1849) - During his life, Hokusai produced over thirty thousand book illustrations, theater programs, paintings, and color prints, depicting landscapes and nature.

//Utagawa Hiroshige// (1797-1858) - His subjects included flowers, fish and birds, but his most important prints are landscapes, often intimate, lyrical scenes of snow, rain, mist or moonlight. His genius was recognized in the West by the Impressionists and Post Impressionists, many of whom were influenced by his works. James Abbott McNeill Whistler drew inspiration from Hiroshige for his nocturnal scenes.

//Toshusai Sharaku// (unknown) - The dates of his birth and/or death are unknown, yet he was of strong influence in 1794-1795, in regard to his ukiyo-e prints. His realistic portraits were more complex psychologically than those of his contemporaries; he depicted not only the character played by an actor, but the feelings of the actor himself. His work was not popular among his contemporaries, and he was recognized by the Japanese only after his work became highly regarded in the Western world.

Utamaro, Hokusai, Hiroshige, and Sharaku were the prominent artists of the Edo period. - They borrowed ideas from European landscape art, such as the use of receding perspective, and combined them with traditional Japanese and Chinese techniques to create this exciting new art form known as Ukiyo-e.

A 19th century style of art in the West in which the artist captures the image of an object //as if they just caught a glimpse of it//. They painted the pictures with a lot of color and most of their pictures were outdoor scenes. Their pictures are very bright and vibrant. The artists like to capture their images //without detail but with bold colors//.
 * Impressionism:**

Impressionist Artists worked to record light as it actually occurred in nature. Monet was particularly interested in capturing the light as it changed at different times of day and seasons.

There were several renowned Impressionist artists, such as Claude Monet, Pierre Auguste Renoir, Edgar Degas, Gustav Klimt, Camille Pissarro, Paul Cézanne, Édouard Manet, and Vincent van Gogh. Of these artists, Vincent van Gogh, Claude Monet, Edgar Degas, and Gustav Klimt, Ukiyo-e acted as a source of inspiration in their own Impressionist works. They were especially affected by the lack of perspective and shadow, flat areas of strong color, the compositional freedom in placing subjects off-center, and with the use of a low diagonal axis to the background.

Impressionism is known for:
 * Short, thick strokes of paint are used to capture the essence of the subject, not its details.
 * Colors that are applied side-by-side with as little mixing as possible. The mixing of colors occurs in the eye of the viewer and is known as optical mixing.
 * Wet paint is placed into wet paint without waiting for previous applications to dry, producing softer edges and intermingling of color.
 * Natural light is very important and close attention to the reflection of colors, from one object to another, form the basis of the movement.
 * In paintings made //en plein air// (outdoors), shadows are boldly painted with the blue of the sky as it is reflected onto surfaces, giving a sense of freshness and openness that was not captured in painting previously. (Blue shadows on snow inspired the technique.)

Sites in Japan which are famous for their associations with specific poetic or literary references. In addition to being referenced in poetry and literature, meisho often made appearances in theatre, ukiyo-e, and other visual art forms.
 * Meisho ("famous places"):**

Ando Hiroshige's "[|Famous Places of the Eastern Capital]" and "[|One Hundred Famous Views of Edo]" both serve as examples of Meisho.

Ukiyo is translated as "floating world" in English and points to the idea of a temporary world of fading beauty and a realm of entertainments. In this world people could escape from the responsibilities of the everyday world and live for the moment, turning their attention to the pleasures of the moon, the snow, cherry blossoms, and singing songs; just floating, refusing to be depressed. This subject was most popular during the 1600s through the 1800s and began in Japan, moving West once trade was opened between the two. Because //Ukiyo-e// could be mass-produced, it was intended for the urban middle-class, who were generally not wealthy enough to afford an original painting. As such, the original subject was city life, later adding landscapes to the theme of these works, as the middle-class enjoyed viewing these places that they may not be able to visit, but could imagine visiting through these artworks.
 * The Floating World -**

**Activity 1: Exploring Ukiyo-e, 2** class periods.
--* Introductory PowerPoint on Ukiyo-e and //The Plum Estate// --* Touch on basic knowledge relating to woodblock prints and Utagawa Hiroshige

Main Points:
 * //Ukiyo-e//, "pictures of the floating world," is a genre of Japanese woodblock prints and paintings produced between the seventeenth and twentieth centuries, depicting landscapes, the theater and scenes from the entertainment districts of Japanese cities.
 * Woodblock Prints were texts and images first written or drawn on a piece of thin paper, then glued face down onto a wooden plate. The characters and images were carved out to make a reverse-image wood-block printing plate that was used to print the text and/or images.
 * Utagawa Hiroshige (1797 in Edo (Tokyo) – October 12, 1858) also had the professional names "Andō Hiroshige" (sometimes romanized as "Andro Hiroshige and "Ichiyusai Hiroshige") was one of the last great Ukiyo-e masters of the color wood-block print. His subjects included flowers, fish and birds, but his most important prints are landscapes, often intimate, lyrical scenes of snow, rain, mist or moonlight. His genius was recognized in the West by the Impressionists and Post Impressionists, many of whom were influenced by his works. James Abbott McNeill Whistler drew inspiration from Hiroshige for his nocturnal scenes.

--* Interactive Lesson where students can chose links in the PowerPoint to look at prints.

Link One, [|The Woodblock Prints of Ando Hiroshige], features many categories of prints and information regarding each category and the works within.


 * [[image:teachartwiki/36_views_fiji_1.jpg width="557" height="386"]] || [[image:teachartwiki/36_views_fiji_2.jpg width="229" height="388"]] ||
 * Hiroshige - //36 Views of Mount Fuji - 1852: #6 Back View of Mt. Fuji// || Hiroshige - //36 Views of Mount Fuji - 1858: Noge and Yokohama// ||

Link Two, [|Brooklyn Museum Collections: Utagawa Hiroshige (Ando)], showcases several works, with thumbnail images next to the works information, on the initial page. From here students can navigate and explore larger images of each work.


 * [[image:teachartwiki/65_of_100_Edo_pt2.jpg width="256" height="387" align="center"]] || [[image:teachartwiki/27_of_100_Edo.jpg width="262" height="388" align="center"]] ||
 * Hiroshige - //One Hundred Famous Views of Edo// - #65 || Hiroshige - //One Hundred Famous Views of Edo// - #27 ||

Link Three, [|Art of the Edo Period], provides a smaller selection of works, but connects directly to the Edo Period's works. Like the Brooklyn Museum page, this link offers information and a set of smaller images to first peruse, then allowing further exploration to more detailed images by following the images individual links.

//One Hundred Famous Views of Edo// - || Hiroshige - Dyer's Quarter //One Hundred Famous Views of Edo// - ||
 * [[image:teachartwiki/festival.jpg]] || [[image:teachartwiki/dyers.jpg]] ||
 * Hiroshige - Festival -

--* Create a construction-paper artwork based on //The Plum Estate// --Materials Needed: Plum Estate picture, tracing paper, construction paper (//green, grey, brown, white, black, red, and yellow//), scissors, glue, pencils, erasers, ink and brushes (//fine tipped//**)** --Project Steps: Students will use a light-box to trace images from the //Plum Estate// picture and then cut shapes from this tracing and create their own works based on the original piece. Step One: Trace the Plum Estate picture onto tracing paper. Step Two: Trace shapes from their tracing paper onto appropriate colored paper. Step Three: Cut and place the different shapes onto a backing paper, gluing the pieces once they are satisfied with their placements. Step Four: Detailed lines and highlights will be added with pencils and ink to strengthen the line-work of the picture and add detail. Step Five: Create and add small boxes with text to replicate those on the original image. Step Six: Frame the final piece by adding a frame (border) over the artwork.

**Activity 2: Inspiring Impressions, 2 class periods.**
--* PowerPoint on Impressionism and the artists Monet, Whistler, and Post-Impressionist van Gogh. --* Touch on basic knowledge relating to Impressionism.

Main Points: (//Blue shadows on snow inspired the technique.//)
 * Lack of Detail: Short, thick strokes of paint capturing the essence, not details.
 * Side-by-Side: Colors applied side-by-side with as little mixing as possible.
 * Optical Mixing: The mixing of colors occurs in the eye of the viewer.
 * Wet Paint: Wet paint is placed into wet paint without waiting for previous applications to dry, producing softer edges and intermingling of color.
 * Natural Light: Natural light is very important and close attention to the reflection of colors, from one object to another, form the basis of the movement.
 * Outdoors: Paintings made "en plein air" (outdoors). Shadows are boldly painted with the blue of the sky as it is reflected on surfaces, giving a sense of openness.


 * Monet: Claude Monet was a French Impressionist painter. The term "Impressionism," which came to describe the art movement, is derived from the title of his painting //Impression, Sunrise.// Monet's famous "water lilies" paintings are among the most famous paintings not only of his era, but in world history.


 * [[image:teachartwiki/Monet_1.jpg width="374" height="300"]] || [[image:teachartwiki/Monet_2.jpg width="349" height="300"]] ||
 * Monet's - //Impression, Sunrise - 1880// || Monet's - //Water-Lily Pond - 1880s// ||


 * Whistler: James Abbott McNeill Whistler was an American-born, British-based, painter that opened the way for artistic freedom of expression in the Impressionist movement and modern art. While Whistler was not directly influenced by Ukiyo-e or other Japanese arts, his contributions to Impressionism and scenes of nature show a similarity and connection to the themes used in Ukiyo-e.


 * [[image:teachartwiki/Whistler_1.jpg width="258" height="387"]] || [[image:teachartwiki/Whistler_2pt2.jpg width="258" height="387"]] ||
 * Whistler's - //Nocturne in Black and Gold - 1872-77// || Whistler's - Nocturne in Blue and Gold - 1872-77 ||
 * Van Gogh: Vincent van Gogh is one of the world's best known and most beloved artists. He is perhaps as widely known for being a madman and cutting off his own earlobe as he is for being a great painter. Van Gogh copied many of Hiroshige’s //One Hundred Views of Edo,// enamored with the contrast between the jagged braches of the plum tree and the softness of the people walking behind the orchard.


 * [[image:teachartwiki/VanGogh_1.jpg width="301" height="387"]] || [[image:teachartwiki/VanGogh_2.jpg width="280" height="387"]] ||
 * van Gogh's - //Plum Estate// || van Gogh's - //Cafe terrace on the Place du Forum - 1888// ||

--* Interactive Lesson where students can chose links in the PowerPoint to look at paintings. //During this portion of the lesson it is important to ask the students to pay attention to the composition and the use of color in the works.// Link One, [|Impressionism:], This site covers an overview of the Impressionist movement and artists that were associated with the period.

Link Two, [|Monet], a page dedicated to information on Claude Monet.

Link Three, [|Whistler], a page dedicated to information on James Whistler.

Link Four, [|van Gogh], a page dedicated to information on Vincent van Gogh.

--* Create a water-color artwork based on Monet's preference for landscapes views, with the representation of the elements, such as //The Great Wave at Kanagawa//, by Hokusai Katsushika.


 * [[image:teachartwiki/Great_Wave_1.jpg width="500" height="344"]] || [[image:teachartwiki/Monet_3.jpg width="393" height="344"]] ||
 * Hiroshige - //The Great Wave at Kanagawa// || Monet's - //Rough Sea at Etretat - 1883// ||


 * [[image:teachartwiki/monet_4.jpg width="411" height="368"]] || [[image:teachartwiki/monet_5.jpg width="437" height="359"]] ||
 * Monet's - //Poppy Field Near Giverny - 1885// || Monet's - //The Sea at Fecamp - 1881// ||

--Materials Needed: Water-color paints, brushes, water-color paper, water cups, paper towels, and images for reference and inspiration (//such as those shown above//).

--Project Steps: Step One: Students can choose to recreate an image based off of one of the landscape pictures they saw during the lesson, or they can create their own unique landscape painting based on a picture that they have in their head or that they bring from home. Step Two: After the student has selected the subject for their painting they need to draw a rough sketch (lightly with pencil) on their paper. Step Three: Once the student is happy with their idea they may begin to paint the picture. Ask them to think about the composition and elements of Impressionism and Ukiyo-e that they we discussed. Step Four: Students will mount their paintings on thick paper or board and display them in the halls of he school. //...//

**Activity 3: My Miesho, 4 class periods.**
--* PowerPoint on Miesho (famous places). --* Touch on basic knowledge relating to Meisho (famous places).

Main Points:
 * Famous Places: Sites in Japan which are famous for their associations with poetic, literary, or theatrical references.
 * Hiroshige: Ando Hiroshige's "[|Famous Places of the Eastern Capital]" and "[|One Hundred Famous Views of Edo]".
 * Floating World: The idea of a temporary world of fading beauty and a realm of entertainments. In this world people could escape from the responsibilities of the everyday world and live for the moment, turning their attention to the pleasures of the moon, the snow, cherry blossoms, and singing songs.
 * Mass Production: The prints could be mass-produced. They were intended for the middle-class, who were not wealthy enough to afford an original painting. As such, the original subject was city life, later adding landscapes to the theme of these works, as the middle-class enjoyed viewing these places that they may not be able to visit, but could imagine visiting through these artworks.

--* Class discussion where students talk about famous places they know of.

--* Students will start to collect pictures/postcards of famous places for their "digital backpacks" (a tool where they will place these pictures on Flickr or a school website).

--Materials Needed: Pictures and postcards collected from home, books, the internet, or wherever they find something that they feel would be an interesting image for their digital backpacks. They will also need access to the internet, namely Flickr, and a means of scanning images and uploading them to their Flickr folders.

--Project Steps: Step One: At home and during class trips to the computer lab, students will look for images to copy and place in a digital portfolio, called a digital backpack. While at school the students will have access to a limited number of sites provided by the teacher. //Travel Agency sites or images collected from these sites and posted on the teacher's Flickr page would be a good start.// At home the students should seek assistance from their siblings and parents to find pictures and images from the Internet, magazines, and books or family albums. Step Two: Once each student has 10+ pictures they will share these images with their table groups and select five favorite pictures. Step Three: Once the students have selected their five favorite pictures they will scan those that need to be scanned or have digital images sized to an appropriate size (6x6 inches, perhaps). In the computer lab students will place the images into their Flickr folders, with the assistance of the teacher, after which the teacher will create a page containing links to each of the students' pages. Step Four: Students will be asked to share these links with their family and to write down information (//students' names and something to identify the pictures//) on two of the images that they liked, for later discussion. Step Five: Students will discuss, in class, the pictures that they chose. What do they like about them? What kind of activities could be done in the image's floating world?

--* Choose one of the pictures from their "digital backpack" and create a drawing that will then be painted (tempera paint cakes) in an Impressionist manner or similar to a woodblock print. //Perhaps the creation of a scenario for the students, relevant to a current social or cultural event, could assist in this project's connections to the student's everyday life.// Students may chose to work from either a Ukiyo-e or Impressionist point of view in order to portray their Miesho. //It is important to ask the students to pay attention to the composition and the use of color in their work.// --Materials Needed: paper, pencils, erasers, and an image from their digital backpack, tempera paints, brushes, water and paper towels.

--Project Steps: Step One: Students will select an image from their digital backpack and draw the image, through simple lines, on their paper. Step Two: Students will choose colors that compliment and contrast one another, comprising a theme for their composition. Step Three: Once satisfied with their drawings, students will paint the scene using thick strokes of side-by-side colors and other elements of Impressionism or similar to a woodblock print, in order to create a picture that has the essence of their image, and not be too worried about details. Step Four: Once the paintings are completed and have dried, students will mount them on thicker paper or board and display them in the hallway of the school. ...

**Activity 4: Exploring Our Floating Worlds (A Virtual Fieldtrip), 1 or 2 class period(s).**
--* Working with their parent/guardian, each student will write a short paragraph that talks about their floating world. Students should express why they chose the picture and what it means to them, as well as what their floating world represents and what types of entertainment and activities people can do there. What did they like most about their floating world? (//This will be done at home. Collaboration with the classroom teacher could also be useful.)// --* Students will post their pictures along the wall in the classroom, or a few will be placed at the front of the room for the class to view from their seats (repeating until they have all been viewed). The class will talk about what they like about each place and what kinds of things they think that people might do there to get away from everyday life. --* Students will select a piece of construction paper to use as a mounting board for their art and glue the painting to it, for display in the school. Each paragraph will be placed near, under, or in the corner of the piece for viewers to read. --* Each of the works will be scanned by the teacher and displayed in the student's "digital backpack" for the class and linked to the school's website, an art page on a class website, or other community-based website, in effort to showcase not only the student's works, but also to enlighten viewers to the influence of the visual arts and the world around them.

Activity One: Artwork Assessment, per rubric Activity Two: Artwork Assessment, per rubric Activity Three: Artwork Assessment, per rubric Activity Four: Artwork (Reflection Paper) Assessment, per rubric Overall: A final Artwork Assessment, per rubric, based on the entirety of the lesson and the previous assessments, with more weight applied to this assessment.
 * Assessment:**

(Promptness, use of time, care and use of materials, participation, and cooperation.)
 * Artwork - Assessment Rubric**: To be used on visual art projects. //Each point acts as a percentage of the total, which can provide up to 100% to assess the whole of the grade.//
 * Participation/Timeframe - 1-10 pts x2/% __

(Perspective - depth perception, composition, balance, and proportion.)
 * Organization/Content - 1-10 pts x2/% __

(Use of tools, neatness, gluing/pasting, painting, drawing, and clean-up.)
 * Craft/Production - 1-10 pts x2/% __

(//Layout, concept, line, color, etc.)// (__//Reflections, attention, and working to potential//__//.)// //...// //...// __Rating__: Above Expectations Good - As Expected Fair - As Expected Below Expectations
 * Design/Creativity - 1-10 pts x2/% __
 * Insight/Understanding - 1-10 pts x2/%

__Comments__:

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__**References:**__

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