LE MUSEE DE BEAUX ARTS DE BELLEVILLE
A WEBQUEST
Introduction
Tourism is a major industry in France, and small towns must compete for tourists' dollars. Belleville, a tiny town in a little known region, needs your help selecting works for a special exposition in its 16th century château, in hopes of attracting art connoisseurs from around the world. As a team, you will study art movements, visit major museums, and recommend works of art for the special exposition at le musée de Beaux Arts de Belleville.
The Task
Belleville is putting together a special art exposition in its 16th century château with funds generously provided by an anonymous benefactor, a retired French teacher from the United States. You and your classmates have been charged with selecting the works of art for the exposition.
You must choose works that represent the major art movements:
- Classicism (also called Neo-classicism)
- Cubism
- Impressionism
- Post-Impressionism
- Romanticism
- Surrealism
Working in teams, you will choose works by French speaking artists from each movement. Each team will create a PowerPoint presentation for the museum's benefactor to convince him (or her!) to include the works that you have selected.
The Process
- Learn how to look at art by participating in two web activities: Inside Art and Art Detective
- Research the art movements
- Decide which member(s) of the group will be responsible for each art movement
- Determine which artist best represents each movement
- Create a PowerPoint slide show (6-8 slides) showing work typical of your artist
- Make the PowerPoint slide presentation in class, explaining the style and themes of your artist
- Select one or two works by your artist to include in the exhibit. Where is the painting currently on display?
- Write a short persuasive paper in French describing the paintings and citing your reasons for selecting the works you have chosen
Resources
Find Paintings on the Web
Art History / Art Movements
- Artchive
- Artcyclopedia (Art search engine)
- Carol Gerten's Fine Arts: Virtual Gallery
- Jim's Fine Art Collection
- Dali
- Magritte
- Webencyclo (An online encyclopedia in French)
- WebMuseum Paris: Artist Index
Museums
- Art History Resources
- Art History
- Dynamic Movements
- Périodes de l'Histoire de l'Art
- Histoire de l'art: Mouvements et périodes (Yahoo.fr)
- Yahoo: Art Periods and Movements
- WebMuseum Paris
- Classicism
- Cubism
- Impressionism
- Impressionism
- L'Impressionnisme (Enyclopédie Brittanica)
- L'Impressionnisme (en français)
- Post-Impressionism
- Post Impressionism
- Romanticism
- Surrealism
There are numerous art books, prints, slides, transparencies, CD-ROMS, and other resources in the classroom and in the school library.
For vocabulary and writing resources, refer to the following:
- Mon Tableau Préféré , Pete Jones, Pine Ridge Secondary School, Pickering, Ontario
Vocabulary for Describing Artwork, J.T. Knox, St. Catherine's School, Virginia
Timeline
We will work on the project over a period of a month. Some of the research will be done at home. You can plan for the following:
- three to four days in the computer lab or in the library for research (save pictures as you work)
- two days in class to do research
- two days in the computer lab to create PowerPoint presentations
- one day in class to work on compositions
- two days to do presentations in class
Evaluation
Projects will be evaluated according to the criteria on the rubric.
Acknowledgements
The château is available from Demeures de France
A Young Girl Reading, by Fragonard, National Gallery of Arts
Copyright © 2000 Beverly Larson
All rights reserved.
05/01/00
