Staines Memorial College
APPRAISING
FORMATIVE
NAME:_______________________________________
Visual ArtsTime allowed –
homework and class preparation followed by essay in class
Teacher: L. McClelland
YEAR 8
Date Assigned: Week 4
Due Date: Wednesday 20
August, Term 3 (week 6)
SPECIFIC CONDITIONS
Use this sheet as the cover sheet
Hand written work must be legible/ word processed work must be in black Arial font size 12
A reference list of URLs should be included at end of the essay
Spelling and punctuation should be checked before submitting
Appraising reflects the following Process
Research
Planning
Resolution
Final Assignment
Access a wide range of
referencing
Introduction, body &
conclusion
Basic out-line of points
Reflecting language and
referencing conventions
You will write a 400 word essay on the painting “Where Do We Come From?
What Are We? Where Are We Going?” 1897 by Paul Gauguin.
You will identify, classify, describe, analyse, interpret and give your informed opinion about the art
work. You should use the structural, subjective, and cultural appraising frames. (see attached handout).
You will be taught how to write this essay in guided steps, in the classroom. You will write this essay in
the classroom. You will be encouraged to research further, prior to the class work, if you wish.
Next term you will write another essay with some of this assistance, to be completed for homework.
Readings:
http://www.theartstory.org/artist-gauguin-paul.htm
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/art/8011066/Is-it-wrong-to-admire-Paul-Gauguins-art.html
In 1891, Gauguin left France for Tahiti, seeking in the South Seas a society that was simpler and more elemental
than that of his homeland. In Tahiti, he created paintings that express a highly personal mythology. He considered
this work—created in 1897, at a time of great personal crisis—to be his masterpiece and the summation of his
ideas. Gauguin's letters suggest that the fresco-like painting should be read from right to left, beginning with the
sleeping infant.
Paul Gauguin claimed that he did not think of the long title until the work was finished, but he is known to have
been creative with the truth. The picture is so superbly organized into three "scoops" - a circle to right and to left,
and a great oval in the centre - that I cannot but believe he had his questions in mind from the start. I am often
tempted to forget that these are questions, and to think that he is suggesting answers, but there are no answers
here; there are three fundamental questions, posed visually.
"On the right (Where do we come from?), we see the baby, and three young women - those who are closest to
that eternal mystery. In the centre, Gauguin meditates on what we are. Here are two women, talking about
destiny (or so he described them), a man looking puzzled and half-aggressive, and in the middle, a youth plucking
the fruit of experience. This has nothing to do, I feel sure, with the Garden of Eden; it is humanity's innocent and
natural desire to live and to search for more life. A child eats the fruit, overlooked by the remote presence of an
idol - emblem of our need for the spiritual. There are women (one mysteriously curled up into a shell), and there
are animals with whom we share the world: a goat, a cat, and kittens. In the final section (Where are we going?),
a beautiful young woman broods, and an old woman prepares to die. Her pallor and gray hair tell us so, but the
message is underscored by the presence of a strange white bird. It is Gauguin's symbol of the afterlife, of the
unknown (just as the dog, on the far right, is his symbol of himself)."All this is set in a paradise of tropical beauty:
the Tahiti of sunlight, freedom, and colour that Gauguin left everything to find. A little river runs through the
woods, and behind it is a great slash of brilliant blue sea, with the misty mountains of another island rising
beyond Gauguin wanted to make it absolutely clear that this picture was his testament.
Gauguin's style is marked with solidity, form, and unnatural colors. He abandoned principles of Renaissance
perspective and used outlines for definition. Objects were flattened and the figures he painted were not fully
natural, nor realistic. The greens used for the darks in the skin are blended to some degree but is very apparent in
his paintings. Gauguin's subject matter is more exotic than those of other artists of his time. He left the
materialized European world for one more raw and primitive in the South Seas, thus the paintings he produced
outside of Europe had subjects of unique characteristics. The dark skinned women he painted distinguish his
signature paintings in Tahiti and Marquises. Seeking the kind of direct relationship to the natural world that he
witnessed in various communities of French Polynesia and other non-western cultures, Gauguin treated his
painting as a philosophical meditation on the ultimate meaning of human existence, as well as the possibility of
religious fulfilment and answers on how to live closer to nature.
Inspired by the flat fields of un-modulated colour in Japanese prints, Gauguin cast realism aside in a quest for
more profound meaning, with his patches of strong, undiluted colour. He had no time for naturalistic appearance
or the Impressionists’ shimmering evocations of it: that was too superficial. He believed, rather, in “the music of
painting”, in finding a harmony of intense colours to reflect the deeper harmony of the universe.
But how sincere were Gauguin’s claims of taking painting to a higher realm? Many peers distrusted an exstockbroker who had turned to art only in his late twenties. “He’s not a seer, he’s a schemer,” one-time mentor
Camille Pissarro railed, arguing that Gauguin never really lost his capitalist streak; that with his paintings of sunsoaked islands, Gauguin was just cashing in on the Parisian bourgeoisie’s fondness for all things “other”
EXAMPLE OF AN ANALYTICAL ESSAY:
Identify the art work: Starry Night , Vincent Van Gogh, 1889
Classify the art work: This oil painting, is a nocturnal landscape, done in a semi - realist expressive style.
Context: Van Gogh suffered from clinical depression and was admitted into an insane asylum after slicing off his
own ear. It was in this asylum, which incited emotions of loneliness and abandonment, that Van Gogh found
inspiration to produce his famous oil painting, Starry Night (1).
Describe the art work: The painting depicts the top half of a Cyprus tree in the left foreground. The middle
ground is occupied by the scene of a small village set amidst trees on rolling hills. The horizon line of this scene
comes up about one third from the lower edge of the painting. The remaining background area is filled with the
sky. Stars and the moon are seen amidst swirling patterns.
Analyse the art work using the art elements and design principles: Most elements of art are exaggerated in this
painting. Intense colour heightens the emotional effect. The warm yellows are dramatic opposite s to the cool
purple blues. Line is a powerful directional force. Each stroke of colour builds swirling patterns around the stars,
and describing the forms of hills and the foliage of the Cyprus tree. This adds incredible energy and seems to
make these things come to life. The dark shape of the tree contrasts with the moon lit sky. It is broken up into
smaller curved shapes, echoing the shapes of hills so that all components have a semi spiral shape. These shapes
are distortions of actual shapes, so that exaggerations communicate emotions. The texture of the painting is built
with bold impasto – thickly applied oil paint. This paint application is aggressive, not soft and delicate.
Interpret the art work: Van Gogh's art exploited nature to reflect his inner vision and emotional state. He
manipulated art elements and design principles to express his personal interior world. In Starry night his desire to
reflect the simplicity of the material world is conflicted with his desire to express himself through symbols – the
tree rises up as if connecting us with heaven. So conflict within himself is communicated. We appreciate the
simple beauty in Starry Night, but we also feel the artist’s turbulent emotions. Van Gogh’s desire to live simply
and humbly, like the peasants is evidenced in his choice of subject matter as it is not a scene from affluent Paris
but God’s handiwork. The beautiful rendition of nature is proof of his religious beliefs and a desire to alleviate
spiritual suffering. Van Gogh’s admiration of his Dutch heritage of painting and the Dutch masters' skill at
detailed, observational painting conflicts with his sympathy with the French avant-garde and the desire to paint
based on ideas not simple observation. It is a naturalistic scene but ideas are communicated strongly. The artist
was completely absorbed in the effort to explain either his struggle against madness or his comprehension of the
spiritual essence of man and nature.
Judgement: My response to the painting Starry Night is one of wonder and admiration. I am drawn into the
artist’s passionate viewpoint, but also feel his pain. It is sad to learn that he was contemplating suicide and that
the stars seemed to be calling him. The artist was completely absorbed in the effort to explain either his struggle
against madness or his comprehension of the spiritual essence of man and nature, and I am drawn into his
thinking. He has made the sky alive and the beauty of creation is felt and you are made to think on life as being
more than just what you can see.
Teacher Comment:
ASSESS
ABLE
ELEME
E
Identification and
description of artworks
related to concepts and
media
(Identify and describe)
Creating
Knowledge and
understanding
CONDITIONS
practical
written
D
Identification and
description and
classification of the
artwork, with
consideration of
information about
meanings in
artworks relevant to
concepts, focuses
and media
Identification and
description,
classification and
analysis of
information about
visual language,
expression and
meanings in
artworks, relevant
to concepts,
focuses, contexts
and media
(identify, describe,
classify and
analyse structure,
with the
beginnings of an
interpretation)
B
Analysis and
interpretation of
information about visual
language, expression and
meanings in artworks,
relevant to concepts,
focuses, contexts and
media
(identify, describe, classify
and analyse the art
work’s structure, with
beginnings of an
interpretation of its
meaning with some
evidence from the
artwork or a quote by the
artist)
responding
reflecting
presenting
(Identify, describe,
and classify if the
work is a painting
and etching, a
sculpture..., its date,
location, size)
assessment criteria
C
Copied notes from
provided sources
Research is
defined as,
“diligent and
systematic
inquiry or
investigation into
a subject in order
to discover or
revise facts,
theories,
applications.
use of some language
conventions.
You have spell
checked, used some
punctuation
correctly, and
provided a basic
bibliography
some research from
several sources to
identify artworks
opinion based on
some research,
development,
resolution and
reflection
You have found
information and
then explained
your findings by
synthesising this
information
together
use of some
language
conventions
.
You have spell
checked, used
some punctuation
correctly, and
provided a basic
bibliography
occasional use of
suitable visual art
terminology and
language
conventions
including some
referencing and a
bibliography
An opinion justified by
effective research, with
some development, and
some resolution
You have found relevant
information and then
explained your findings by
synthesising this
information to make an
opinion
use of relevant visual art
terminology, referencing
and language
conventions.
A
Identification,
classification,
analysis,
interpretation, and
evaluation with
some synthesis of
information about
visual language,
expression and
meanings in
artworks, with
some
interrelationship
between the
chosen focuses,
contexts and media
relevant to
concepts
(identify, describe,
classify and analyse
structure, with
interpretation of
meaning, and clear
justification)
an independent and
informed viewpoint
substantiated by
comprehensive
research,
development, and
some resolution
and reflection
You have found
quality information
and then explained
your findings by
synthesising this
information to make
an opinion which
reflects a depth of
understanding.
skilful use of
relevant visual art
terminology,
referencing and
language
conventions.