Author: Lauren C. Watkins, Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago At first glance: Describe this work of art. How do you think it was made? How does the artist use color to provide information? Does this map seem useful if you need directions? Why or why not? Read to build knowledge: Colored lines dart around the […]
The Promised Land – The Grayson Family
Author: Jennifer Siegenthaler, Terra Foundation for American Art At first glance Look closely at the painting. What do you notice in the foreground, middleground, and background? What kind of setting are the people here shown in? What do you see on the ground near them? What might their clothes and belongings tell you about them? […]
Black Horse Ledger
Author: Newberry Library Staff At First Glance Describe this artwork. Look at the paper the artist used. Have you seen or used this kind of paper before? What do you think the figures are doing? Who might have created it? Read to Build Knowledge Think about the important traditions in your life and community. How […]
Emigrants Crossing the Plains
Author: Newberry Library Staff At First Glance Describe the people in the foreground. What are they doing? How do you think they are related to each other? What is their relationship to the line of wagons in the distance? Read to Build Knowledge As the sun sets, a family has stopped by a stream to […]
Memories of the Chicago Fire in 1871
Author: Chicago History Museum Staff At First Glance What do you notice first in the painting? Why is your eye drawn there? What do you think is happening in this scene? What do you see that makes you think that? What colors do you see? Why do you think the artist used those colors? Read […]
Cover to a supplement to The Inter Ocean for the Chicago Day Edition, October 9, 1893
Author: Chicago History Museum Staff At First Glance Name three things that you see in this picture. Do they remind you of anything? This work of art includes two very different scenes. Describe each one. Why do you think they are shown together in the same picture? Look at how the woman in the picture […]
Golden Doorway of the Transportation Building: World’s Columbian Exposition, 1893
Author: Chicago History Museum Staff At First Glance What is the first thing you notice in this painting? What colors stand out? What details do you see on or around the buildings? Why do you think there are so many flags? What kind of place do you think this is? How might you feel if […]
Frank Lloyd Wright Home and Studio Playroom
Author: Frank Lloyd Wright Trust Staff At First Glance These photographs show the two ends of one playroom. Does this room look big or small? What objects are in the room? Based on what you see, what kinds of activities could have happened here? Where is the light coming from? What colors do you see? […]
Along the Plaisance, Chicago Tribune supplement
Author: Chicago History Museum Staff At First Glance What is the first thing you notice in this picture? What details do you see? Where do you think this scene is taking place? How would you describe this scene to somebody who hasn’t seen this work of art? Read to Build Knowledge Pretend you are living […]
The Art of Joseph Yoakum
Author: Intuit: The Center for Intuitive and Outsider Art Staff At First Glance Use the slideshow to the right to look at the two images. Where are the points of focus or interest in each of these images? How does the artist lead you into each of these landscapes? How are space and movement implied […]