Art Movements | Impressionism

My current Grade 10 batch of students is an interesting lot. They are eager to learn new things and they possess the ability to understand certain deeper concepts. Therefore, I decided to assign them some interesting topics to present. I chose various art movements beginning from the Renaissance to modern period (Renaissance, Realism, Romanticism, Impressionism, Post-Impressionism, Expressionism, Cubism and Surrealism). Though we mostly focused on art movements, I did have some literary movements and history topics included among them (La Pléiade, Molière, Dreyfus affair, Student revolution of May 1968).

I was completely surprised and greatly impressed by the amount of research the students had done and the way they presented it. When we sat and discussed about the experience in the end, everyone felt that they had taken a journey into the past. To me personally, it opened a few new ways of looking at history and observe certain trends that I had not noticed before. But it also developed in me an interest to discover art with the influence of the masters. 

I had always wanted to replicate one of my favourite paintings of Francisco Goya – Vuelo des Brujos (The witches' flight). I had had the opportunity to see this painting very closely when I had visited the Museo del Prado in Madrid. I had also analysed this painting for an assignment in my French class and have interesting interpretations of this artwork. I decided to sketch it and I was surprised how I could easily replicate it. Maybe next time, I shall try to paint a replica of this master piece. 

Inspired by Van Gogh’s post-impressionist paintings, I decided to take an Indian landscape and depict it in a post-impressionist style. I am again surpised with the result. I enjoy this new style that I have come up with. The idea of looking at nature with a new perspective excites me. 

All in all, the presentations in class turned out to be very productive. My students learnt a great deal about French/European history and art and I was exposed to new perspectives. I like how education is a tw0-way process. You teach the students and in turn learn from them. As St Augustine notes, this shared learning is what develops a special bond between the teacher and his students.