Woman with a Fan - Metzinger

We just learned about the painting Portrait of Jacques Nayral by French artist Albert Gleizes.

Another famous work of art is the painting Woman with a Fan by French artist Jean Metzinger in 1912.

This is another painting in the abstract art style of cubism.
You can see in the painting that there is a woman with a fan, sitting on a bench.
The different shapes and colors are there to show the many different sides and different shapes in the world, and the wild shapes almost make it look like the painting is moving.


(from: wikipedia - femme à l'éventail)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Neptune - Voyager 2

Portrait of Jacques Nayral - Gleizes

We just learned about the famous painting Simultaneous Windows on the City by French artist Robert Delaunay.

Another famous work of art is the painting Portrait of Jacques Nayral by French artist Albert Gleizes in 1911.

This is another painting in the style of Cubism.

(from: wikipedia - portrait of jacques nayral)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Uranus - Voyager 2

Simultaneous Windows on the City - Delaunay

We just learned about the famous painting Woman in Blue by artist Fernard Léger.

Another famous work of art is the painting Simultaneous Windows on the City by French artist Robert Delaunay in 1912.

Delaunay was another artist who was part of the abstract art and cubism movement.

His paintings used strong colors and shapes to try and show a different artistic side to something real, like his painting of windows looking out on the city.


(from: wikipedia - robert delaunay)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Saturn - Cassini-Huygens

Woman in Blue - Léger

We just learned about the famous work of art Fruit Dish on a Checkered Tablecloth - GrisHouses at L'Estaque by French painter Georges Braque.

Another famous work of art is the painting Woman in Blue by French painter Fernand Léger.

Léger's painting is a part of the Cubism style of Abstract Art.
In his style, he sometimes used lots of shaded shapes that looked like tubes. So some artists nicknamed his style tubism instead of cubism.

In his painting Woman in Blue, he used shapes to try and make a different picture of a woman using interesting shapes.


(from: wikipedia - fernard léger)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Saturn - Pioneer 11, Voyager 1 & 2

Fruit Dish on a Checkered Tablecloth - Gris

We just learned about the famous work of art Houses at L'Estaque by French painter Georges Braque.

Another famous work of art is the painting Houses at Fruit Dish on a Checkered Tablecloth by Spanish painter Juan Gris in 1917.

Juan Gris's painting is a part of the Cubism style of Abstract Art, where the painter liked to use lines and triangles to try to show a different side of a picture, making it look very strange, but still very interesting.


(from: wikipedia - Juan Gris)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Jupiter - Pioneer, Voyager, Ulysses, Cassini-Huygens, New Horizons

Houses at L'Estaque - Braque

We just learned about the famous work of art Farewell by August Macke.

Another famous work of art is the painting Houses at l'Estaque by French painter Georges Braque.

This was a painting of some houses in the French town of L'Estaque.
Looking at the painting, it may be hard to tell what the shapes are, because it looks like cubes, triangles and lines.
When one of the art critics saw Braque's painting, he said it looked like little cubes, and because of that this type of art was nicknamed Cubism.

Braque was very famous for helping start the Cubism movement, along with Pablo Picasso.


(from: wikipedia - houses at l'estaque)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Mars - Pathfinder, Opportunity, Spirit & Curiosity

Farewell - August Macke

We just learned about the famous work of art The Tower of Blue Horses by German artist Franz Marc.

Another famous work of art is Farewell by German artist August Macke in 1914.

Macke was part of a group of artists called Der Blaue Reiter who worked together to make art that used strong colors and shapes, was exciting and had meaning behind it but didn't look like a picture of real people.

His painting Farewell was made when World War I started, and it shows the sadness of people because of the war.


(from: wikipedia - august macke)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Mars 2 - 6, Viking 1 & 2

The Tower of Blue Horses - Franz Marc

We just learned about the famous work of art When Will You Marry? by French artist Paul Gauguin in 1892.

Another famous work of art is the The Tower of Blue Horses by German artist Franz Marc in 1913.
This picture is very large, over 6 feet tall and over 4 feet wide.

It is painted with very bright bold colors, and not the real colors of horses, but it is supposed to show how strong and beautiful they are.

The different lines and circles and other shapes are used to make it look like parts of the picture are in motion, and the colors of the picture go from darker at the bottom to lighter at the top to show how light shines down on the horses and their strong colors.

(from: wikipedia - the tower of blue horses)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Mars - Mars 1, Mariner 4, 6, 7 & 9

When Will You Marry? - Gauguin

We just learned about the work of art La Blanchisseuse by Toulouse-Lautrec.

Another famous work of art is the painting When Will You Marry? by French artist Paul Gauguin in 1892.
This painting was of two women from the land of Tahiti, where Gauguin traveled to try and see what people lived like in other places.
The woman in front is dressed in bright colors and has a flower in her hair, and is looking for someone to marry.

Just like Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec and Vincent Van Gogh, he painted in a style called Post Impressionism, using bright colors and lots of thick paint.

Gauguin and Van Gogh were actually friends and worked together for a while.
They had a fight and Gauguin left, and right after that was when Van Gogh went crazy and cut his own ear off!


(from: wikipedia - when will you marry?)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Mercury - Mariner 10, Messenger

La Blanchisseuse - Toulouse-Lautrec

We just learned about the famous work of art Le Pont de Moret, effet d’orage by French artist Alfred Sisley.

Another famous work of art is La Blanchisseuse by French artist Henri de Toulouse Lautrec in 1886.

Toulouse-Latrec was part of what was called the Post-Impressionism group of artists, where they liked to use bright colors and lots of thick paint.
They liked to make paintings of real things like people and places, but sometimes try to make shapes stand out more or use crazy colors to make an effect.

(from: wikipedia - la blanchisseuse (toulouse-latrec))


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Venus - Venera 7-16, Mariner 10, Pioneer Venus

Le Pont de Moret, effet d’orage - Sisley

We just learned about the famous work of art Le Boulevard de Montmartre, Matinée de Printemps by Pissarro.

Another famous work of art is Le Pont de Moret, effet d’orage by French artist Alfred Sisley in 1887.

Sisley was an Impressionist painter like Claude Monet.
He mostly painted outside things, using mixed up bright and dark colors, and tried to show the way sunlight looked on things outside.

He lived in a place called Moret, a town which has a river going through it called Le Loing.

He made many paintings of this river, from different parts of the town.
The painting Le Pont de Moret, effet d’orage means The Bridge of Moret, Storm Effect.

You can see that even though the water is blue and the sky is white, when you look closely there are colors of red, pink and orange mixed in.

(from: wikipedia - alfred sisley)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Venus - Venera 3-6, Mariner 5

Le Boulevard de Montmartre, Matinée de Printemps - Pissarro

We just learned about the painting Woman with a Bag by German artist Karl Schmidt-Rottluff.

Another famous work of art is Le Boulevard de Montmartre, Matinée de Printemps by Pissarro.

This painting is interesting because the artist painted this same street in Paris for different times of day and seasons.
He painted it in spring, in fall, in winter, at night and with or without lots of people.

He made 14 paintings total, to show a vision of how a busy street can change so much all year long.



(from: wikipedia - le boulevard de montmartre, matinée de printemps)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Venus - Mariner 2

Woman with a Bag - Schmidt-Rottluff

We just learned about the famous work of art Broadway Boogie Woogie by artist Piet Mondrian.

Another famous work of art is Woman with a Bag by German artist Karl Schmidt-Rottluff in 1915.

The artist finished this painting right before he left to join the military.

The painting has dark colors and the woman looks sad to show the sadness of war.

(from: wikipedia - karl schmidt-rottluff)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Solar Flares

Broadway Boogie Woogie - Mondrian

We just learned about the painting Charing Cross Bridge by artist André Derain.

Another famous work of art is Broadway Boogie Woogie by Dutch artist Piet Mondrian in 1943.

When the painter moved to New York, he was impressed by the city streets forming a grid in New York city, and he really liked the music called boogie woogie music.
The lines and sounds are for the cars and people moving all over in the city.
And the colors help give the feel of the fun boogie woogie music.


(from: wikipedia - broadway boogie-woogie)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Sunspots

Charing Cross Bridge - Derain

We just learned about the famous work of art Landscape in Graubünden with Sun Rays by Ernst Ludwig Kirchner.

Another famous work of art is the painting Charing Cross Bridge by French artist André Derain in 1906.

Derain was part of a group of artists painting in a style called Fauvism which came from the French words les Fauves, meaning the wild beasts.
This kind of art used lots of strong colors and wild shapes.

Derain's painting is of the Charing Cross Bridge in London, which goes over the River Thames and is in front of the Palace of Westminster which is the castle where the royal family and leaders of England are.

All of the colors are very bright, and the shapes are thick.
The sky is pink which was a color used a lot in Fauvism paintings for the brightly colored sky during a sunset.
The castle is green, and the hills are blue.
The businesses on the left are all different colors, and the river is reflecting the buildings, bridge and sky in bright colors.

The colors and shapes are wild and different, and that is to try and show the beauty of a painting that might look boring if it was just painted to look exactly like the real world.

(from: wikipedia - andré derain)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Solar - Magnetic Field

Landscape in Graubünden with Sun Rays - Kirchner

We just learned about the famous work of art The Basket of Apples by Paul Cézanne.

Another famous work of art is Landscape in Graubünden with Sun Rays by German artist Ernst Ludwig Kirchner in the 1930s.

Kirchner was part of a group of people called the Die Brücke or "The Bridge", who were trying to help bring people to a new type of art, from things that looked real to things that looked so different that it made people feel some way, called expressionism.


(from: wikipedia - ernst ludwig kirchner)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Solar - Corona

The Basket of Apples - Cézanne

We just learned about the famous work of art First Abstract Watercolor by Kandinsky.

Another famous work of art is The Basket of Apples by French artist Paul Cézanne in 1895.

Since it's a painting of something not moving like fruit, it's called still life.

Some people have noticed that the painting looks like tilted and unbalanced.
The bottle is tilted, the basket is tipped and the tablecloth looks like it doesn't match up right.


(from: wikipedia - the basket of apples)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Solar Photosphere

First Abstract Watercolor - Kandinsky

We just learned about the work of art Primavera by Sandro Botticelli.

Another famous work of art is the painting First Abstract Watercolor by Russian artist Wassily Kandinsky in 1910.

Around the time Kandinsky painted this, people were starting to change the way they made art.
For a very long time artists tried as hard as they could to make paintings that looked real.
But people started to want to make paintings that were different, like paintings that didn't look like people or things or really anything at all.
They called this style Abstract Art.

Kandinsky's First Abstract Watercolor is just a bunch of shapes and colors, and isn't really supposed to be a picture of anything.
It really doesn't even have a name, it's just the first abstract painting he did in water color, so they call it Kandinsky's First Abstract Watercolor.

Many other artists made abstract paintings after Kandinsky, but people usually think of his painting as the first ever famous abstract art painting.

(from: wikipedia - kandinsky's first abstract watercolor)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Solar - Convection Zone

Primavera - Botticelli

We just learned about the work of art The Fox Hunt - Winslow Homer

Another famous work of art is Primavera by Italian artist Sandro Botticelli in 1482.

This painting is showing people from stories long ago, where seasons like spring and fall were powerful magical people.

On the right the person in dark is Zephyrus, the cold wind from March.
He is colored dark and scary because of the cold hard days sometimes in March.

Next to him is Flora, the first wind of Spring, and you can see flowers coming out of her mouth.
Next to Flora is Primavera who stands for all the flowers and life of Spring.

After Flora comes Venus, who is like the Queen in the back watching over everyone.
There are three women dancing together who are known as the Graces, who are for beauty and nature.
Above the Graces is cupid, ready to shoot his love arrows at them.

Last on the left is Mercury, and he is holding up a staff that is keeping the garden safe from clouds.

Since this painting is trying to tell a story, many people for many years have talked about it, and even had arguments about which person stands for what, or what the whole painting means.


(from: wikipedia - primavera (painting))


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Solar - Radiation Zone

The Fox Hunt - Winslow Homer

We just learned about the famous work of art His Station and Four Aces by C. M. Coolidge.

Another famous work of art is The Fox Hunt by American painter Winslow Homer in 1893.

In this painting you can see that it is winter, a time when it is hard for animals to find food.
There is a fox looking for food, and a berry branch that he might be able to eat.
Above the fox are crows that are flying and looking down at the fox like they might eat him.

The painting shows the cycle of life and how different animals survive.

When Homer was painting this, someone gave him a real fox and crows that were no longer alive, and he used them to try and get all the colors and actions right. He went out and made a lot of sketches of crows while they were jumping and flying around, and used that to try and make a painting that looked real.

(from: wikipedia - the fox hunt)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Solar Core - Energy