HAVE FUN EXPLORING & MAKE SOME ART OF YOUR OWN

America Painting a nationCHILDREN’S TRAIL

Look, draw and have fun!

Go on a journey through the exhibition

Discover the artworks

front cover: Unknown artist He that tilleth his land shall be satisfied c1850 (detail). Philadelphia Museum of Art, the Collection of Edgar William and Bernice Chrysler Garbisch, 1965Children’s trail developed by the AGNSW Public Programs Department. Text: Victoria Collings; Design: Trudi Fletcher © Art Gallery of New South Wales 2013

Collect a pencil

America Painting a nationYou probably already know quite a bit about America from TV and movies, but this may be the first time you have seen American art.

Artists had to decide how they wanted to show their developing nation – its land and its people. This exhibition will take you on a journey through time, watching the American landscape change and cities grow. You will see the sorts of clothes people wore, how they behaved, how they travelled and what they did in their spare time. You will also see how the new colonists were establishing their own American way of life that suited their new country.

Strategic partners Official airlinePrincipal partners

The exhibition is organised by the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, the Philadelphia Museum of Art and the Terra Foundation for American Art in collaboration with the Art Gallery of New South Wales, and has been made possible through support from the Terra Foundation for American Art.

This picture of the Cadwalader family was painted to show off both their love for each other and their wealth.

Notice how they look at each other. Look at their clothes made of luxurious silk with buttons, lace and embroidery.

What would you wear if you were going to have your portrait painted?

This picture was painted so it could be hung in the Cadwalader’s home.

Draw what you think their home might look like.

At home draw or photograph your own family. Think about how you will pose everyone and what clothes they should wear to show off their personalities.

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Find this family portrait.

At home make your own farmyard scene out of recycled boxes and cardboard and add some toy animals or make your own.

Walk over to this farm scene.

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rtThis painting shows a large farmhouse, barns, paddocks and animals.

Notice how your eyes zigzag between the different parts of the picture.

Find the neat rows of vegetables growing in the paddock. Count the different types of animals.

Spot the three people coming down the path. What are they doing?

Draw a picture of where they are going.

This large painting shows Yosemite Valley with its huge granite cliffs and crystal clear waters.

Spot the teepees, or tents, of the Native Americans who live in the valley.

Yosemite has been a popular place to visit for over 150 years. Can you see the tourists on their horses?

Explore this epic landscape.

At home find out more about Yosemite National Park, its rock formations and what animals and plants live and grow there.

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Imagine you are one of the people in this scene. Write a postcard to someone telling them about the amazing things you have seen here.

Look at this group of children.

At home make your own toy or game using recycled or found materials. What will you create?

This picture shows them in a workshop. The boy on the left is being asked by the others to make a new wooden mast for a toy boat.

Look at the detail in the painting. Notice how realistic everything is – even the wood shavings and splinters on the floor.

Draw a toy or object that you would like the boy to make for you.

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At home paint a wintery scene of someone in the snow. How will you make it look cold?

Imagine being in this snowy landscape.

You can almost hear the wind and feel the cold in this painting of a boy and his horse.

Notice the different colours of the snow. Can you see the teepees in the distance?

See how the boy’s hair and the horse’s tail are being blown by the freezing wind. How do you think the boy is feeling?

Design a patterned blanket for this boy and his horse to wrap around themselves to keep warm.

Take a seat aboard this ferry.

At home research what the fashions of the 1880s looked like. Do you think they would be comfortable to wear? What did children wear? Design your own 1880s outfit for a trip to the city.

These passengers are crossing the East River in New York.

Cities like New York are filled with people, but they often don’t know each other.

Notice how few people are talking to each other on this ferry.

Find the following things in the painting:

someone who has fallen asleep

smoke and chimneys

a white handkerchief

a wooden bucket

two lamps

a stripy dress

a baby

a suitcase

an umbrella

This picture also shows us what city people wore over 100 years ago. Would you like to dress like any of these people?

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Look at this curving streak of colour.

Georgia O’Keeffe painted this abstract picture to remind herself of the night-time walks she took when she stayed in the Texas desert.

She wants us to use our imaginations to work out what she has painted. It could be the sounds she heard and the lightning she saw in the sky. What do you think?

Can you feel the movement created by the streaks of colour? Do they remind you of anything?

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At home find out more about Georgia O’Keeffe and her art. Which of her paintings do you like best?

Remember somewhere you have been and draw simple shapes and lines that give a sense of the sounds and things you heard and saw.

At home draw your own home but change parts of it and add a different background to create a sense of mystery. Make up a story to go with your drawing.

Find this large, quiet house.

Edward Hopper was well known for his paintings of American buildings. Instead of being homely and busy, these pictures are filled with a sense of stillness and mystery.

How does this house make you feel? What do you think could be happening in some of the rooms?

Notice how the bottom of the house is cut off. How many levels could be below what you can see?

Extend and draw the rest of the house and it surroundings.

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At home make a series of sketches of people doing everyday things then combine your ideas and drawings into a painting.

Find this busy train carriage.

Do you like watching the people around you in a busy place? Do you wonder who they are and what they are doing?

The artist, Reginald Marsh, took a sketchbook wherever he went in New York City so he could draw the people he saw going about their daily lives. This painting is based on sketches he made inside a train carriage, jam-packed with passengers.

Count how many people you can see.

Choose a person in the picture and invent a story about who they are and what they are doing.

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Stuart Davis was interested in all the things he could see around him in the city – the lights, shop signs, colours and shapes. He combined them together to create paintings full of energy and rhythm.

Describe what shapes you can see. Notice how they overlap each other. What letters can you recognise? Which parts of the painting ‘jump out’ at you? Why?

Davis was also inspired by jazz and swing music. Imagine what music would suit this painting. Would it be slow or fast?

Spot this colourful abstract painting.

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Make-a-postcard activity

Use the special postcard to write about your favourite things in this exhibition and draw a picture. Address it to someone you want to share your thoughts with.

You can display your postcard near the cafe or place it in the US mailbox and the Gallery will post it for you.