Art TheftLost Art Sculpture

Creating sculptures inspired by stories of looted,

stolen, and destroyed art from around the World

Essential Questions

Preserving and Destroying Visual Culture:

What does it mean to preserve an art work?

Who decides what art should be preserved?

Why is art stolen, looten, or destroyed?

How does the preservation or erasure of art impact culture?

Artwork by London Street Artist Banksy

Adolf Hitler - Failed Artist turned Deadly Nationalistic Dictator

Before his rise to power - Okay artist but his work was unoriginal and lacked imagination according to critics.- Rejected by two famous art schools. Overly confident Adolf was devastated.- Had a little success selling small oil and watercolor paintings of buildings and

landscapes copied from Italian postcards.- Became obsessed with politics and anti-semitism while living in Vienna, Italy.

During his Reign - Degenerate Art Show

The Nazis confiscated art works from museums and from families they detained.

They insulted these mostly modern artists and artworks owned by Jewish families by hosting an art show. Hitler convinced people that these artworks weren’t just examples of bad art, but also were evil and threatened the German way of life.

2 million people attended this show; three times more people came to this show than the other show down the street that showed art the Nazi’s liked. (Realistic, Traditional, & Mostly German)

After the show, the Nazis sold or destroyed the 650 paintings along with 21,000 sculptures and art objects.

https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-24819441

After the show, Hitler ordered that all the art, which consisted of 650 paintings and 21,000

art objects be destroyed or sold.

It is said that Hitler is responsible for looting over 500,000 artworks and in the process,

destroyed 43% of all Polish cultural heritage.

Famous ‘Degenerate’ ArtistsPaul Klee, Wassily

Kandinsky, Emil Nolde, Georg Gros, Marc Ernst,

Gustav Klimt

Hitler’s IDealistic Fav’s

6

How were these artworks used as propaganda?

Objective: Recreate an artwork that was lost or stolen during WW2 as a result of the Nazi’s unjust persecution of Jewish people, artists, and others.

By recreating these artworks, we are bringing justice to the artists who created these works and/or the families who would have owned these artworks.

Step 1: Do research by visiting the

Lost Art Database!- Search ‘sculpture’

- Click 5,321 objects

- Look for titles that interest you (use google translate if it is in another language)

- You can only choose artworks that DO NOT have a picture since the ones with pictures are usually FOUND art objects not LOST art objects.

- Write down 3 sculptures: You need to know the title, the artist name (if known), and height/material or technique (if known).

Step 2: Create sketches!Create two sets of different sketches that show what the sculpture will look like from three different perspectives (front, side, back or top)

- Your sketches can be of one idea done two different ways or two different ideas completely.

- You must be inspired by a title of a lost art work, but you can get creative! Think abstract or symbolic!

8

Create the Armature - skeleton or basic form created or used by an artist to support what is being modeled

Upcycle! Use recyclable objects and masking tape to create the basic form of your sculpture. Use objects that will dry out easily since we will paper mache and paint this

object.

Building the Armature - sound coming soon

Recyclable Ideas: Thin Cardboards from cereal boxes and other food packaging, tissue boxes, and toilet/paper towel rolls.Plastic: water bottles, milk jugs, soap dispensers, soda bottles, containers.(If you use plastic, you MUST cover it with a paper tape (masking or painters) so the paper mache with stick and dry)Adding volume? Try newspaper, advertisements, bubble wrap, grocery bags, tissue paper.9

Artwork inspired by ‘Fisherman’ from the Lost Art Database. Surrealism was not considered art worthy of being by Hitler and the Nazi Party. Artworks like this might have been found in the degenerate art show.

To create this, I used: a soap dispenser bottle, tissue paper, thin cardboard, toilet paper rolls, ziploc bag box, and masking tape.

Create the Armature - skeleton or basic form created or used by an artist to support what is being modeled

Upcycle! Use recyclable objects and masking tape to create the basic form of your sculpture. Use objects that will dry out easily since we will paper mache and paint this object.

Recyclable Ideas: Thin Cardboards from cereal boxes and other food packaging, tissue boxes, and toilet/paper towel rolls.Plastic: water bottles, milk jugs, soap dispensers, soda bottles, containers.(If you use plastic, you MUST cover it with a paper tape (masking or painters) so the paper mache with stick and dry)Adding volume? Try newspaper, advertisements, bubble wrap, grocery bags, tissue paper.

10

Audio coming

soon.

11

Student Generated Building Advice/Tips/Techniques:

- If bottles aren’t working for you, try scoring cardboard and fold into shape you want.

- If you need to make something bigger or more realistic, take bubble wrap, tissue paper, plastic bags, paper towels, or newspaper and put it inside whatever your project is to make it stand out or beef it up.

- You can use the long cardboard strips that you score to create the outline for the form or sculpture.

Sphere/Spherical -

Triangular Prism -

12

Student Generated Building Advice/Tips/Techniques:

- If you have a slippery surface like plastic, try adding tape on top so that it is easier to cut through.

- You can also add tape to create a smoother surface.

- Try cutting slits into your cardboard so that you have places to attach with. This technique will create less space between your connection (watch video on slide 9).

- Tape pieces together where you need them to be while they are flat then fold them to make it 3D. Rectangular Prism

In-Person Students -Unit Plan Summative - Must Include:1. Unit Information (Title, Essential Question, Objective) - 10 pts2. Practicing Drawing From Multiple Perspectives (full set - 3 sketches) - 10 pts3. Research: THREE titles of stolen/lost art work, artist name (unknown if not given), and height or material (unknown if not given) - 10 pts4. Set of Sketches #1 with at least 2 perspectives drawn - 10 pts5. Set of Sketches #2 with at least 2 perspectives drawn - 10 pts6. Photo of Armature from at least 2 perspectives - 10 pts

13

Apply Paper Mache to the Form!Apply paper mache to cover the basic form of your sculpture.

14

Students learning from home, find a container with a lid. Create a liquid glue and water mixture. Try a 1:1 ratio of glue to water. Add more water if needed. You can use copy paper, notebook paper, or tissue paper to use a your paper for paper mache.

In-Person Clean Up Jobs: 4 people - put away sculptures

4 people - spray desks, paper towel

2 people - check floor

2 people - check bins at tables

2 people - give out mask points

Struggles & Solutions

Write an Artist Statement - Due on Tuesday, March 2nd. This should be paragraph that is at least 6 sentences long.

In-person students: must be written on paper IN CLASS. Must be turned in to class period bin. Remote students: Use google docs and turn in to correct Google Classroom post. Use a readable

font like Arial, Times New Roman, Helvetica, etc.

1. Tell us about your inspiration for the project! Explain the objective and your research from the Lost Art Database (slide 7).

2. Describe how you built your armature. Talk about the materials you used, the techniques you tried, and what 3D shapes you had to create (slides 9 -12).

3. Describe the challenges you faced and how you persevered or problem-solved.

15

Escribe una declaración de artista: vence el martes 2 de marzo. Este debe ser un párrafo que tenga al menos 6 oraciones. Estudiantes presenciales: deben estar escritos en papel EN CLASE. Debe entregarse en el contenedor del período de clases.Estudiantes remotos: usa documentos de Google y entrega para corregir la publicación de Google Classroom. Utilice una fuente legible como Arial, Times New Roman, Helvetica, etc.

1. ¡Cuéntanos tu inspiración para el proyecto! Explique el objetivo y su investigación de la base de datos de Lost Art (diapositiva 7).

2. Describe cómo construiste tu armadura. Hable sobre los materiales que utilizó, las técnicas que probó y las formas 3D que tuvo que crear (diapositivas 9 a 12).

3. Describa los desafíos que enfrentó y cómo perseveró o resolvió el problema.

16

Paint your sculpture!Demonstrate your understanding of proper painting techniques, creating

value with acrylic paint (tint, tone, shade), and color mixing & the color wheel.

17

Tint, Tone, Shade Color Wheel MAIN Demo Video

If you are learning from home and don’t have paint, get creative! For example, you could try covering it in colored

paper or tissue paper. You can make paint from food coloring and water or dried out markers and water.

Paint Inspiration - Porcelain

Demonstrate your understanding of the style of the art works that were stolen and

lost or destroyed.

18

Paint Inspiration- Precious Metals

Demonstrate your understanding of the style of the art works that

have been stolen and lost or destroyed.

19

Paint Inspiration - Colorful, Abstract

Demonstrate your understanding of the style of the art works that were featured

in the Degenerate Art Show.

20