Attention Parents and Teachers

The Morgan Library and Museum is proud to invite your students to our

Woodcut Workshop. This workshop is designed for G/T level art

students attending Middle School. This workshop is for children who

excel and have an interest in the fine arts.

The workshop offers a tutorial on making woodcut prints and teaches

students the history of the woodcut in the nineteenth and twentieth

centuries.

Go to our website for more information. If you would like to schedule a

workshop with your class, please contact us directly at this e-mail

address:

woodcutworkshopinfo@morgan.org

***Tools and materials used for making*** woodcuts will be provided

by the institution

Pre-Visit Activity:

Part One: Before students visit the Morgan Library and Museum to visit the exhibition,

make sure that they are a little familiar with the material that they will soon see in person. On the day before their field trip to the Morgan, use the woodcut style guide, so that they could become familiar with the various

artistic movements that influenced the art of the woodcut. Help them become familiar with the modern woodcut and the woodcut revival.

Part Two: After reviewing the material, give them the attached questionnaire that they

can fill out in class. Note: There is not right or wrong answer, this questionnaire allows students to find out what they may or may not already know about the art of the modern woodcut. These are not to be graded. But a filled out questionnaire can be graded for class participation.

In-Class Questionnaire:

What is a woodcut? Have you seen a woodcut before? What does it look like?

List any materials you think are used in the making of a woodcut:

What do you want to know about the woodcut?

Why do you think woodcuts were so popular for publications and magazines?

Do you know any artists who used woodcuts? If so, list them here:

Exhibition Activity (Lesson Plan):

Idea and Description: Although its origins date back to the Middle Ages, the woodcut was still influential and a source of inspiration during the 19th and 20th centuries in Europe and the United States. Woodcuts are one of the only mediums that allow the artist, creator, or publisher to combine image, ornament, and type in the composition. Students will visit the exhibition to view different woodcuts from different periods and movements in modern art history. They will explore how

cultural, social, or political changes may have influenced the art of the woodcut, and most importantly, why the woodcut lasted for so many centuries.

Goals and Objectives:

Students will: Understand the materials and techniques that were used to make the

woodcut. Learn about the various artistic movements and styles that influenced the

imagery of the woodcut. Develop a sense as to why the woodcut survived over time. Draw inspiration for when they make their own woodcuts in class.

Essential Questions:

How does one make a woodcut?

Why was it so popular?

Materials:

Woodcut Tool Guide handout Woodcut Style Guide handout Sketchbook (no photography please)

At the Exhibition:

Please explain to students that the goal for their museum trip is to learn about the history of the woodcut to draw inspiration. Upon arriving at the exhibition, give students 20 minutes to freely look at the objects on display and explore the exhibition. Remind them that they are encouraged to cross-reference the objects on display with their handouts.

After twenty minutes, handout the worksheet for students to fill out at the exhibition. Students are welcome to work in pairs.

Worksheet:

1. Here is an example of a woodcut. Label the word, ornament, and image in this woodcut:

2. Short Answer: These are the tools one uses to make a woodcut. Please label them and briefly explain why they are used.

3. In this frame, draw an interesting ornament design that you see in this exhibition. Why did you choose this design? Write down the title and the artist of the woodcut that you drew inspiration from.

4. Now pick out a style or movement that you liked and copy it in the space below. Why did you choose this design? What period it is from? Did it have words? An ornament? Were the lines thick or thin? Explain.

4. Now make your own sketch of your own woodcut. It needs to have an, image, an ornament border, and at least one word somewhere in the composition. You will turn these sketches into your very own woodcut in class. Or if you prefer to copy a woodcut that like, feel free.

Draw here:

Visit Wrap-Up:

Once your students are back together in one group, invite them to share their sketches to the class.

Then hand out the questionnaire again (same questionnaire, but a clean version). Ask students to fill it out again now that they had visited the exhibition. Before you leave, collect the questionnaires from the class.

Post-Visit Activity:

Students are now instructed to use their sketches from the trip to make their own woodcuts. Make sure to go over the Handbook on Woodcut Safety before starting the lesson. Students can only start making their own woodcuts after they pass the woodcut safety quiz. (Teachers are also encouraged to get signed

permission from the students’ parents or guardian before letting them make their own woodcuts). Then review the students’ worksheet in class to refresh their memories on the compositional elements of the woodcut.

Students should make enough prints for everyone in class. At the end of the exercise, students can trade and share their prints with one another. This will give them a chance to share their inspirations with their classmates.

Evaluation:

To evaluate the success of the session, students will be graded on the two questionnaires that were completed before and after the museum visit, the worksheet they completed during the visit, and the short reflective essay. After the students are finished making their own woodcuts, they will have twenty to describe why or how they made their woodcut. They are encouraged to write about the tools they used, any styles or periods that may have influenced them, and whether or not they enjoyed the exercise.

Woodcut Style Guide:

RomanticismArtist: William Blake

1757 – 1827

England

German ExpressionismArtist: Ernst Ludwig Kirchner

1880 – 1938

Germany

Neo-ImpressionismArtist: Felix Vallotton

1865 – 1925

France

American Post-ModernArtist: Rockwell Kent

1882 – 1971

United States

ModernismArtist: Vanessa Bell

1879 – 1961

England