Lesson Plan
Alabama Learning Exchange

Alex: Ambiguous Pictures/abstract Art

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
In this lesson learners will use art, writing, and technology to explore abstract art. Students will use digital cameras to take extreme close up shots of objects that will resemble abstract art.
Activity
Read Works

Read Works: Forms of Art Abstract Art

For Teachers 4th Standards
[Free Registration/Login Required] This nonfiction article shares information about abstract art and the insights of the artist Mark Rothko. This passage is a stand-alone curricular piece that reinforces essential reading skills and...
Website
Other

Abstract Art: Contemporary Abstract Art

For Students 9th - 10th
Discover Contemporary Abstract Expressionism, Abstract Illusionism, and Lyrical Abstraction through artists that paint in these styles. Biographical information and visuals of artists work.
Website
PBS

Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art: Hofmannopoly [Pdf]

For Students 9th - 10th
If you have access to a color printer then you can print and play Hofmannopoly! Assemble the game board according to the directions and grab a friend to play. You will be an art student traveling through the world of Hans Hofmann. Learn...
Website
Jewish Museum

Jewish Museum: Action/ Abstraction: Pollock, De Kooning, and American Art

For Students 9th - 10th
This resource provides information about abstract expressionism, its leading practitioners (especially Pollock and de Kooning), and its place in American art during the period from 1940-76.
Website
Canadian Museum of History

Canadian Museum of History: Gallery

For Students 9th - 10th
This article is easy to navigate for students of all ages. Provides examples of Chinese artwork: plants and flowers, birds, mammals, landscapes, portraits, semi-realist landscapes, symbolic art, and abstract art.
Handout
Smithsonian Institution

Smithsonian American Art Museum: Adolph Gottlieb

For Students 9th - 10th
The Luce Foundation Center for American Art presents a biographical, multi-media take on the abstract expressionist painter Adolph Gottlieb. The New York native Gottlieb was a central figure in the development of American abstract art.
Lesson Plan
Other

Abc: Abstraction

For Teachers 3rd - 8th
Alma Woodsey Thomas is the focus of this lesson plan that introduces students to abstract art. Students will come to understand how the art elements can be used to express emotion and communicate ideas without including objects in the...
Lesson Plan
Smithsonian Institution

Smithsonian Education: Art to Zoo the Museum Idea 1976

For Teachers 3rd - 8th
Some ideas for you to try before making a visit to a museum of any kind. Also included are a worksheet for students to research various museum careers and a fun article about abstract art.
Graphic
Other

Whitney Museum of American Art: Georgia O'keefe: Abstraction

For Students 9th - 10th
Find a full-featured analysis of an abstract work by Georgia O'Keeffe that communicates many key elements of her art, such as her use of color, the inspiration she found in nature, and her approach to abstraction. Includes insightful...
Graphic
National Gallery of Art

National Gallery of Art: Wassily Kandinsky, "Improvisation 31"

For Students 3rd - 5th
This site analyzes Kandinsky's abstract painting "Improvisation 31." Discusses colors, shapes, line, and mood. Has a short matching exercise involving simple geometric shapes.
Graphic
National Gallery of Art

National Gallery of Art: Jackson Pollock

For Students 9th - 10th
An exhibition that examines the many influences that Jackson Pollock absorbed before breaking with past traditions to create a new kind of abstraction. Beginning with Thomas Hart Benton, who was Pollock's first teacher, Pollock learned...
Interactive
Quia

Quia: Art Movements Abstract Expressionism

For Students 9th - 10th
A scavenger hunt that could be used as a review for students. Site provides ten questions on abstract expressionism.
Handout
Smithsonian Institution

Smithsonian American Art Museum: Hans Hofmann

For Students 9th - 10th
The Luce Foundation Center for American Art in the Smithsonian American Art Museum, presents this short biography, a photographic portrait of the artist and an example painting with a map to its exhibit location in the museum, by the...
Handout
Smithsonian Institution

Smithsonian American Art Museum: Ad Reinhardt

For Students 9th - 10th
The Luce Foundation Center for American Art presents the biography and photographic portrait of American abstract artist, Ad Reinhardt.
Handout
Smithsonian Institution

Smithsonian American Art Museum: Jacob Lawrence

For Students 9th - 10th
The Luce Foundation Center for American Art presents the African-American painter and Harlem Renaissance figure, Jacob Lawrence, with a short biography, image, and description of his work on view in the collection and a video interview...
Lesson Plan
Kinder Art

Kinder Art: Abstract Art: Line, Shape, and Color

For Teachers K - 1st
KinderArt provides an art project idea with the objective of creating an abstract artwork.
Handout
ArtLex

Art Lex: Cubism

For Students 9th - 10th
Introduces art movement of Cubism. Defines Cubism and the three phases as well as examples of artists and their works. Provides related links.
Graphic
Other

Abstract Art: Mark Rothko

For Students 9th - 10th
This website from Abstract Art presents a blurb on Mark Rothko, an abstract expressionistic painter.
Handout
Art Cyclopedia

Artcyclopedia: Artists by Movement: Abstract Expressionism

For Students 9th - 10th
This Artcyclopedia site offers a brief overview of Abstract Expressionism and a timeline that links to each artist.
Website
University of California

University of California: Art, Geometry and Abstract Sculpture

For Students 9th - 10th
This resource gives many examples of how math and geometry are used by visual artists to create abstract sculpures.
Handout
BBC

Bbc: Simon Schama's Power of Art: Rothko

For Students 9th - 10th
From the BBC's documentary series on art "Simon Schama's Power of Art", this is the web-page synopsis version of the program on the American abstract-expressionist painter, Mark Rothko.
Unit Plan
TED Talks

Ted: Ted Ed: What Is Abstract Expressionism?

For Students 9th - 10th
If you visit a museum with a collection of modern and contemporary art, you're likely to see works that sometimes elicit the response, "My cat could make that, so how is it art?" But is it true? Could anyone create one of Jackson...
Unit Plan
ibiblio

Ibiblio: Web Museum: Abstract Expressionism

For Students 9th - 10th
This online museum page provides an overview of the artistic form of Abstract Expressionism.

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