Charles Wilson Peale's Science

Yesterday you learned about a great painter from the America’s revolutionary days. But Charles Wilson Peale did more than just paint portraits of famous Americans and foreign visitors. Peale is also known for his natural history museum and his contributions to science.

Peale put together the first scientific expedition in America. He and his crew went to New York and dug up a full mastodon skeleton. The mastodon is extinct, but it was kind of like an elephant. Below is Peale’s The Exhumation of the Mastodon. This painting shows Peale’s crew trying to dig the mastodon out of the ground. They are using to the buckets and wheel to empty the water out of the hole.
Peale also collected living snakes, toads, turtles, and fish. He stuffed other animals, including several species of birds. He classified everything using the Linnaean taxonomy. The Linnaean taxonomy is the same system we use today to classify living things (though it is much more complex today).

Charles Wilson Peale gathered all these animals and created a natural history museum in Philadelphia. He placed each animal in its own natural habitat. He put the mastodon’s bones back together to create a full, 3D skeleton. Neither of these things were common in natural history museums in the 1800s but you’ll notice skeletons and animals in natural scenes when you go the museum now. Above is Peale’s The Artist in his Museum. It shows Peale pulling the curtain to reveal his natural history museum. Notice the mastodon skeleton behind the curtain and the stuffed animals lining the walls.

**If anyone knows of a good site about Linnaean taxonomy for kids, please tell us about it in the comments. I couldn't find one to link to here, but it would be very helpful. Thanks!**

Edited to Add: Thanks to Ms. Julie for the link: taxonomy for kids. This site is very long but it's written in easy-to-understand language.

Also thanks to Peter for the classification link. Here you'll find a simple illustration of how to sort colored shapes the way we sort living things.

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Charles Wilson Peale

Art is a great window to history. I haven’t posted a lot of paintings of historical America and it’s time to change that.

Charles Wilson Peale was born in Maryland in 1741. When he was thirteen, he became an apprentice—but not to an artist. Peale learned how to make horse saddles. He then taught himself to silversmith, paint signs, and upholster furniture. Peale was interested in a lot of things, as you can see.

He went to London in 1767 to study painting. When he returned to America (the colonies) two years later, he painted the first portrait of George Washington (shown below). Peale painted almost 60 portraits of Washington over the course of his life.
Peale went to Philadelphia in 1776, a date you know as the year the colonies declared their independence from Brittan. In Philadelphia, Peale painted portraits of many members of the young American government.

In 1777, Peale joined the Continental Army. During his service, he captured the officers’ portraits in miniature paintings which he later copied onto larger canvases. Shown below is a portrait of Arthur St. Clair that was painted during this time. St. Clair tried to defend Fort Ticonderoga but was forced to retreat. Later, St. Clair was with George Washington when the British surrendered at Yorktown, the last major battle of the Revolutionary War.
Throughout his life, Peale painted portraits of many of the most influential people in the making of America. Below are some of Peale’s portraits.

John Adams who served as the 2nd president of the U.S.:
Thomas Jefferson who wrote the declaration of independence and served as the 3rd president of the U.S:

Meriwether Lewis (left) and William Clark (right) who explored the west:

Tomorrow, I’ll tell you about Charles Wilson Peale’s love for science.

Edited to Add: Ms. Julie has an art lesson posted at her site which uses Peale's portraits to teach about the Lewis and Clark expedition. Go check it out!

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Picasso and the Girl with the Ponytail by Laurence Anholt

Welcome to another Fantastic Fiction Friday! (Yes, I finally thought of a decent name for it.) Two things before we get to the book:

Happy Birthday, Mom!! Check out these artist palette birthday cakes!

AND

One more cool link (in case yesterday’s link madness wasn’t enough). This one is really fun. At Mr. Picasso Head, you can create your own Picasso-inspired portrait.
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I have recommended Laurence Anholt to you before. Remember The Magical Garden of Claude Monet? Today, I’d like to tell you about another book in the same series: Picasso and the Girl with the Ponytail. This book is also based on a true story.

Sylvette is a shy girl whose neighbor happens to be Pablo Picasso. When Picasso sees Sylvette he decides that he must paint her. He loves her face and her ponytail and thinks Sylvette would be a beautiful subject. She agrees to pose and Picasso creates many paintings and sculptures of his lovely neighbor. When the artwork becomes famous, Sylvette must really put aside her shyness. Eventually, Sylvette is able to achieve her own dream.

But you’ll have to read the book for yourself to find out what that dream is.

I love Anholt’s illustrations in this book. He did a great job of showing the way Picasso’s artwork changed over time.

This picture book has a lot of text and takes about 15 or 20 minutes to read aloud.

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Art Games

This has been a light posting week, huh? I know. I'm busy with my first weeks back to school and I'm sure you are, too. Soon everything will be back to normal, though. When you have a little time, enjoy the fun, interactive art games posted below.

Check out these interactive art games first. If you click on the guitar, you can interact with a cubist painting by Juan Gris. When you've finished, click the menu button. Then click on the picture next to the guitar to learn about portraits. At the end of the tour, the tour guide will paint your portrait. It's pretty funny. I was a pirate art teacher who lived in outer space! Try it for yourself!

Here's another interactive site I think you'll like. An alien lands in Manhattan, New York and decides to go to the Museum of Modern Art. You must give him a tour of the museum. Each exhibit gives you a little history about the artist, shows you a piece of art, helps you to explore the art, and gives you an idea to help you create your own artwork.

Older kids can check out this site that helps you create your own video about art. The site gives you some video clips but you can add pictures of your own artwork (just make sure to get permission first). You can also add your own writing to the video.

Finally, travel through time to Leonardo da Vinci's studio in this ArtEdventure. Someone has used a time machince to change history. You must figure out who and stop him or her from erasing one of da Vinci's paintings.

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Fun Links!!

I found a great cubism project that you might like. It looks like a fun, simple project to do with a group of kids. Create a Cubist Fall Tree.

Also, I added a link to the list in my sidebar but I forgot to tell you that I had done so. In case you haven't already found it, Jenny at Little Acorns has put together a 36-week art curriculum for her daughters. She has obviously put a lot of effort into it and it is fantastic. She has posted it free on her website. I hope some of you will use it this year. I look forward to reading about Jenny and her daughters' art explorations!

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