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| Gabriele Muenter 'Clematis' 1947 |
Gabriele Muenter (Germany 1877-1963) was a versatile artist who bridged many styles. She belonged to the German Expressionist movement, the Blaue Reiter group, and the Art Nouveau movement. She was influenced by Fauvism, Van Gogh and Matisse, and belonged to a group of artist who worked to transform late Impressionism, New-Impressionism and Art Nouveau into the more radical, intuitive, non-representational and more abstracted painting style of the Expressionists.
Muenter painted countless landscapes, which my adults explored in an earlier project. We had such fun with her use of color, her intuitive painting style, and her reduced forms, that we decided to further explore her work by looking at another favorite theme of hers - flower bouquets.
My students interpreted Muenter's bouquets, utilizing her style of painting:
An ocher color underpainting
Quick, intuitive brushstrokes
A layered and textured background created by stippling layers of color
Strong light and shadow and each element. This can be done by beginning dark, and building up lighter values.
A black or blue contour on all elements
Process:
1. We drew out our composition in pencil.
2. Like Muenter, we created an underpainting in an ochre color. This gives our work a richness, depth and a subtle warmth.
3. With a small brush, we traced over our pencil lines in a dark color (black or blue). These contour lines will be kept intact during the painting process.
4. We began painting the flower bouquet first, then the background.
5. Contour lines were reemphasized, if desired, by painting over them with a small brush and a black or dark blue.
I love these. They are truly expressive and intuitive!
