FAME: Puccini and Fragonard

This morning was our second fine arts mini-experience with our teachers, Mrs. Thompson and Mrs. Lewis. Mrs. Thompson taught the class how to water color in December and today we used acrylic paints to make a special Valentine's Day project. To get started this month, we learned about the famous artist of the Rococo period, Jean-Honoré Fragonard. 

We discussed the painting above - "The Love Letter" - as we discovered the techniques involved in Fragonard's works. In this work of Fragonard, by comparison, for example, with that of Boucher, finish is a relative term. Here, over a brown tone, Fragonard shapes the composition in darker shades of brown, drawing and modeling with the tip of the brush and with strokes of varying thickness. Color and white are confined to passages under strong light toward the center of the canvas: the young woman's powdered face, her dress and cap, writing surface and stool, flowers and dog.

It has never been possible to decipher the inscription with any degree of certainty, to identify the model, or to decide whether this famous canvas from the early 1770s should be read as a portrait or a genre scene.

Mrs. Lewis then introduced us to the world of opera and taught the class about the different traits and styles that set opera music and performances apart from other musical stylings.

The artist of the month is Giacomo Antonio Domenico Michele Secondo Maria Puccini, an Italian composer whose operas, including La bohème, Tosca, Madama Butterfly, and Turandot, are among the most frequently performed in the standard repertoire.  Some of his arias, such as "O mio babbino caro" from Gianni Schicchi, "Che gelida manina" from La bohème, and "Nessun dorma" from Turandot, have become part of popular culture.

Once we had a little bit of both artists - Puccini and Fragonard - it was time to get to work on our painting. We enjoyed opera music in the background while we got started with our designs.

I even decided to get in on the act this morning. I call it Cœurs Patriotiques, or Patriotic Hearts. As a friend put it, it's kind of like a little bit Valentine's Day and a bit President's Day. Either way, this morning's lesson was a great success and I am trying to make sure to include the fine arts as a way to help our students enjoy a well-rounded education.