Introduction

Imagine this: you are the head curator of the Metropolitan Museum of art which is one of the largest museums in the world. You, an assistant curator, and a collector have to find at least 30 portraits each to hang in an upcoming show titled Artists of the Century Portraits. Your job is to look for the portaits to hang in the upcoming show. Keep in mind the more you find the better the show will turn out. You will be using Hyper Studio and Astound to present your selections to the class.

The Quest

In this activity you will search for the works of the most interesting artists of the past century. Remember each group will be looking for different art styles. They are the Renaissance, Expressionistic, and Cubism periods. Groups will be putting portraits into a multimedia presentation susing either HyperStudio or Astound.

The Process and Resources

In this WebQuest you will be working together with three to four students in each group. Each group will answer the task. As a member of the group you will explore Webpages from museums and web sites about Artists portraits.

You'll begin with everyone in your group getting some background information before dividing into roles where people on your team become experts on one part of the topic.

Phase 1 - Background: Something for Everyone

Use the Internet information below to answer these basic questions:

• What is the name of the artist?
• What is the nationality of the artist?
• When was the portrait done?
• What kind of art style does it represent? What medium is it done?.
• Where is the painting located?

  Be creative in exploring the information so that you answer these questions as fully and insightfully as you can.

  • Art Institute of Chicago - The Art Institute of Chicago is one the worlds largest art museums, and its Web site attempts to complement an actual visit.
  • Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco - Rather than provide a mere sampling, this museum has its entire 65,000 works of art available online.
  • The Lourve - You can take a virtual trip to Paris and visit the Lourve at th same time through The Paris Pages.
  • Museum of Modern Art - The home page of New York City's Museum of Modern Art offers not only general information about the museum, such as hours and exhibits currentlt on display, but samples from its collection as well.

Phase 2 - Looking Deeper from Different Perspectives

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Individuals or pairs from your WebQuest team will explore one of the roles below.

2. Make sure you either bookmark your portraits or websites. A good idea is to store it in a folder.

3. Remember you will be putting the portraits into a multimedia presentation; such as HyperStudio or Astound.

Curator

Use the Internet information linked below to collect information specifically related to the Curator:

As the head curator your job will be to find 10 portraits in the Expressionist Period.

• Metropolitan Museum of Art - The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York is one of the largest art Museum in the world. Its collections include more than more than 2 million works of art spanning over more than 5,000 years of world culture.

Assistant Curator.

Use the Internet information linked below to collect information specifically related to Assistant Curator:

As the assistant curator you must find seven portraits during the Renaissance period.

• The Lourve - You can take a virtual trip to Paris and visit the Lourve at th same time through The Paris Pages.

Collector

Use the Internet information linked below to collect information specifically related to Collector:

As the collector you are to find seven portraits that are in the cubist art style.

• Official Picasso Web Site - Wonderful collection of portraits.

Phase 3 - Debating, Discussing, and Reaching Consensus

You have all learned about a different art style of Artists portraits. Now group members will come back to the larger WebQuest team with expertise gained by searching from one perspective. You must all now complete the Task / Quest(ion) as a group. Each of you will bring different art styles to the group.

Phase 4 - Real World Feedback

You and your teammates have learned a lot by dividing up into different roles. Can you demonstrate how history, culture and the visual arts can influence each other in making and studying works of art? Now's the time to put your learning on to the Hyper Studio or Astound. You will then present to the class.

Conclusion

After becoming Curators and Collectors for a few days was it interesting for you? Did you enjoy viewing everyones portraits of the different art styles, which styles do you prefer? Does one style look better in a show? Can you name at least two of the artists? Can a curator find more portraits than a collector? Can you demonstrate how history, culture and the visual arts can influence each other in making and studying works of art?

---