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Lesson Plan -- AP Drawing Portfolio: SurrealScapes
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by Andrew Zaller
Junction City High School
Junction City, Kansas
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| | Introduction, Goals, and Expected Student Outcomes
In this lesson, students learn not only how surrealism influenced the art of its time but also how it is still used in many media, as both contemporary fine art and commercial art. The students produce their own surreal images in an original landscape composition and discuss their creation process in an oral presentation to the entire class.
The lesson begins with a discussion of early-twentieth century art that led to the development and implementation of surrealism. The "metaphysical paintings" of Giorgio de Chirico can be seen as precursors of the surrealist movement.
The lesson then introduces and analyzes the works of several surrealist artists: Spanish artists Joan Miró and Salvador Dalí, French artist Yves Tanguy, and German artist Max Ernst. These artists developed unique personal means of artistic expression.
In addition to a visual presentation of surrealist works, teachers should include a discussion of the philosophical elements of the surrealist movement, as expressed by André Breton.
Motivation/Anticipatory Set
This introduction and motivation segment should take one to two class periods. Begin by discussing the works of de Chirico. Two excellent examples are Mystery and Melancholy of a Street (1914) and The Disquieting Muses (1918). They can be found at:
 Mystery and Melancholy of a Street (1914), Giorgio de Chirico
The Disquieting Muses (1918), Giorgio de Chirico
After studying de Chirico, show and discuss the works of Dalí, Ernst, Miró, and Tanguy.
For Dalí, The Persistence of Memory (1931) is always a popular and intriguing place to begin a discussion of surrealist images in a landscape setting. Another recommended landscape painting by Dalí is The Pyramids and the Sphinx of Gizeh (1954). Images of these paintings can be found at:
VirtualDali
For Ernst, Lone Tree and United Trees and Seascape (1921) are good examples:
Lone Tree and United Trees (1940), Max Ernst
For Miró, I recommend Landscape (The Hare), 1927, and Catalan Landscape (The Hunter), 1924:
Landscape (The Hare) (1927), Joan Miró
Catalan Landscape (The Hunter) (1923/24), Joan Miró
After a discussion about Dalí's The Persistence of Memory, the other works of Dalí and of Ernst, Miró, and Tanguy (cited above) can be introduced. Students will become aware of the different interpretations of the surrealist movement as they view and discuss works.
The instructor can bring in examples of contemporary fine and/or commercial art to show how surreal images are still popular. Ads in magazines are good sources to show unusual juxtapositions of people, places, and things.
Students can discuss various surreal images that they have seen on television and in the movies. MTV and music videos are usually good sources, as are numerous movies that are currently playing. Students can identify the surreal elements, their purpose, and their effectiveness. Students might also bring in their own examples of ads that use surreal images.
Student Activities
After the introduction and motivation segment, students begin planning their surreal landscapes.
First, they produce sketches of their intended compositions. During this process, students make decisions about what materials they plan on using. The size of the artwork should be 18 by 24 inches.
The instructor meets with each student and discusses the preliminary sketches. Suggestions might be offered at that time. After this consultation stage, students can begin their landscapes. The initial stage (sketches plus conference) should take approximately two class periods.
The works should be completed approximately a week after the actual landscape is begun. Of course, time will vary due to the possible complexities of the artwork, but students should be given a definite time of completion at the start of the lesson.
Materials and Resources
Students have latitude in terms of what materials they can use. The surface can be drawing, pastel, or watercolor paper, mat board, or canvas panels. Materials can be limited to one basic drawing implement or a mix of pencils, pastels, oil sticks, ink, markers, or paint. Collage elements can also be included.
Resources include the Web sites listed in "Motivation/Anticipatory Set" section.
Teachers can order slides of those works or other works by Dalí, Ernst, Miró, and Tanguy through Universal Art Images. The company offers individual slides, slide sets, books, videos, and so on:
Universal Art Images
Evaluation/Closure
After the works have been completed, the teacher engages the students in a class discussion or critique. Students are expected to turn in a brief written statement (one to two paragraphs) that explains the student's intent (the content of the work), why certain materials were selected, and any particular sources for the work. They are expected to present this statement orally to the class during the critique.
As a bonus (extra credit), students can turn in a one- to two-page report on the life and contributions of a surrealist artist other than Dalí, Miró, Ernst, and Tanguy. The artist could be contemporary.
Grades assigned by the instructor can be based on the rubric that is used to evaluate the AP portfolios. A score of 5 or 6 might translate to an A, a score of 4 might be a B+, a score of 3 might be a B-, a score of 2 might be a C, and a score of 1 might be a D or an F, depending on circumstances.
When assigning the grade, the instructor should also provide a written explanation. A follow-up conference between the instructor and the student might be advisable if any questions arise as a result of the grade given.
New Vocabulary and Concepts
Automatism: A form of "doodling" that became a favorite technique of surrealist artists. It basically consists of allowing the subconscious to dictate the images produced by the artists: shut your eyes and draw, and the subconscious will do the rest.
André Breton (1896-1966): After World War I, Breton, influenced by the theories of Sigmund Freud, evolved a theory of art and literature based on psychoanalysis. His writings were published in surrealist manifestos and were influential to the thought processes of surrealist artists.
Salvador Dalí (1904-1989): He was a Spanish artist who was a major figure in surrealism. His visual world is populated by strange (often sexual) figures and images from his dreams and fantasies painted in meticulously fine detail with lush colors. In his later years, Dalí turned to religious themes. His outlandish personality and political views were often in conflict with the surrealist establishment (notably André Breton).
Giorgio de Chirico (1888-1978): This Italian painter was introduced to Picasso and the Parisian art world. He served in World War I, and during a stay in an Italian hospital, he met Carlo Carrà. Together, they abandoned the then-popular cubist style in favor of a quasi-surrealist movement known as pittura metafisica (metaphysical painting). De Chirico produced paintings that consisted of hallucinatory views of mainly uninhabited cities painted in dark, earthy tones. A figure or a torso or various structures might be included in these strange works.
Max Ernst (1891-1976): This German artist was a member of the presurrealist Dada movement that basically questioned the validity of the traditional European culture and was a reaction to early-twentieth century art as well. He was a founder of the surrealist movement and exhibited his work in the first surrealist show in Paris in 1925. In his early years as a surrealist painter, he was interested in psychology. He was also known for his collages.
Joan Miró (1893-1983): Although a contemporary of Dalí, this Spanish artist developed a completely different surrealist visual vocabulary. Unlike Dalí, his work tended to be very abstract, with simple, playful images crossing a flatly painted canvas. He claimed that these fanciful creations (simplified versions, often linear birds, figures, objects) were always meant to represent something. His long and productive career featured ceramics, fiber works, and murals, almost all of which featured bright colors and black.
Surrealism: Surrealism was an early-twentieth century literary and art movement that blossomed in the 1920s and is still popular today. It had a long artistic ancestry in the art of any other artists (e.g., Bosch, Goya, Redon) who were interested in weird and sometimes fantastic images from their imagination. It was defined by André Breton as a process to "express the true process of thought, free from reason." The objective was to free artists from the usual association of pictorial ideas and images so they could create according to the dictates of their subconscious minds and vision. Different surrealist artists had different approaches, ranging from highly realistic to very abstract.
Yves Tanguy (1900-1955): Tanguy was a French surrealist. His paintings rarely contain recognizable forms or structures, but they are strange, often lunarlike landscape compositions populated by amorphous, organic "beings." These unidentifiable forms are nevertheless painted in a very lush, realistic manner.
Andrew Zaller's background includes degrees from Queens College (B.A.) and Hunter College (M.A.), a certificate from the School of Visual Arts in New York City, and an Ed.D. from the University of Tulsa. He has served as a Reader for the AP Studio Art portfolios for the past six years. After 29 years in education in Oklahoma, he is now an arts teacher in Junction City, Kansas. His book Dancers, a photographic and artistic exploration into the world of dance, was published by AuthorHouse in 2004.
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