Mini-Masters Monday: Claude Monet's Water Lilies

Continuing in our series of mini-masterpieces, we'll get into Impressionism with Monet's series of water lilies.

Fast Facts About Monet:

• Born: November 14, 1840 in Paris, France

• Died: December 5, 1926 in Giverny, France

• Famous works: Sunrise, Water Lilies, Haystacks, Woman with a Parasol

• Style/Period: Impressionist

• Around the age of eleven, Monet entered a school for the arts.

• Monet enjoyed painting outdoor scenes & experimenting with light. He would paint a series of the same scenes at different times of the day & in different types of weather.

• Critics did not like Impressionist paintings at first & because of this Monet was very poor because he could not sell his artwork. Monet did not give up though & his work began to sell & gain recognition.

• His most famous paintings were a series of waterlilies on the pond near his home in France. When finished, all the paintings together were over 6 feet tall & nearly 300 feet long.

Projects for little hands

Materials:

1 large sheet of white heavy-weight paper

Strips of tissue paper in shades of blue (Cut enough strips to fully cover the larger sheet when glued down.)

3 strips of tissue paper in shades of pink

Green construction paper

Glue mixture: 2 parts glue to 1 part water

Paintbrush

> Cut or tear strips of blue tissue paper. Paint the glue mixture onto the large white sheet, & affix enough blue strips to completely cover the background. This will be the "water."

> From the green construction paper, cut out 3 "water lily" shapes & glue them on top of the blue background.

> Now, crumple each of the pink tissue paper strips & glue them onto the center of the water lilies. These will be the "flowers."

> Allow the projects to dry & hang in your classroom or home gallery.

For Older Students

Materials

Bristol or cardstock paper

Variety of unconventional materials (Students may supply their own.)

Scissors

Glue

> Explain to students that, at first, the Impressionist movement was not popular among both critics & the public. In fact, the name "Impressionism" was originally hurled as an insult by the press for what they considered to be sloppy, unfinished work. From the beginning, Monet's paintings were considered unconventional, yet he continued to experiment with color, loose brushstrokes, and unique compositions.

> Ask students to pay homage to Monet by replicating one of his compositions using unconventional materials. These can include fabric, torn paper, ribbon, fruity cereal, Post-It notes, cupcake liners. Here's an example using colored tape:

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