Arts Explorer #3: Fine Art Critique

This week my class took a trip to the Royal Ontario Museum. We were there to look do a fine art critique but also to get some better ideas of how to get children to develop and interest in art and how to help them with analyzing it. You can ask them how they think the artist felt when they made the artwork, how the child feels when they look at it or why the artist chose to draw/paint/sculpt what they did. There are various questions that you can ask all children across different age groups. I initially wasn't too excited about the trip because I had always thought that I wasn't a museum person. But to my surprise I really enjoyed my time and hope to go back soon. Below is the picture that I found and chose to write about.
 

Photo Retrieved From: http://www.canadianart.ca/online/reviews/2008/07/31/kim-ondaatje/

The above artwork is a painting by Kim Ondaatge known as Hearn Plant, Toronto Harbour. Kim was born in Toronto, ON in 1928 and this painting was done in 1974. She created this painting using acrylic paint, masking tape, and canvas. When I first walked into the room where this picture was hung I was immediately drawn to it. I wouldn’t say that it is one of my favourite paintings but it really grasped my attention. I’m not sure if it was how large it was in comparison to the other artwork or if it was the simplicity of it. The painting consists of a few colours with the majority if it being white and the boat having a bold colour. 

Before reading the title of the painting, I was able to recognize it as the Toronto harbour front. When I saw the boat in the water I thought of driving down the Gardiner Expressway and seeing all the boats at port. The overall look of the picture made it really easy for me to imagine the cold winter scene. I could imagine that if I was standing there it would be freezing, with a strong cold wind and no one being around because they are in their warm homes. The scene in the picture also brought me to realize how different the lakeshore was. In this picture there is one smokestack and industry with one docked boat. When you think of the lakeshore now, it has about 10 times the boats and industries. I found that Kim Ondaatge’s picture transported me to this exact place where I would be surrounded by simplicity and a cold Canadian winter.

For more information about the ROM here is a link

http://www.rom.on.ca/

Definition of the week: Space
When it comes it art, space is determined by the size of the canvas (Schimmacher & Fox, 2009). Space can be either positive or negative. In a positive space you would expect to see it filled with lines, colours, shapes and form(Schimmacher & Fox, 2009). With a negative space there is room between or surrounding subject matter, symbols or shapes(Schimmacher & Fox, 2009).

References:
Schirrmacher, R., & Fox, J.E. (2009). Art and creative development for young children, sixth edition. Belmont, CA: Delmar