12 August 2021
During Week 3 the Junior School celebrated our 2021 Junior School Art Exhibition – PICASSO – Colour, Curiosity and Cubism. Our exhibition followed parts of Picasso’s life and the journey of his artworks evolving through time as celebration of our creativity and the influence Picasso’s artwork has had on us.
Over the course of five weeks, the Junior School boys in Reception to Year 6, explored different materials and techniques that Picasso experimented with. Here’s what each year group focused on:
- Our Reception students followed Picasso’s simplicity of collage, incorporating colour, line and shape to create portraits.
- Our Year 1 students studied Picasso’s artwork ‘Seated Woman’, emphasising Picasso’s use of colour and his fascination of line and linear overlay that was predominant in his work.
- Our Year 2 students followed Picasso’s interest in clay and drawing onto clay while still featuring his use of colour. Painting studies reinforced his attention to line, shape and constant goal of ‘child-like’ simplicity.
- Our Year 3 students studied Picasso’s famous ‘Weeping Woman’, assembling and arranging facial features to the point of abstraction. Colour and shape enhanced each painting providing the freedom of creativity. Year 3 transferred this learning onto clay to form 3-dimensional vessels filled with colour and shape.
- Year 4 studied Picasso’s love of animals and birds, focusing on his owls. Drawing studies incorporating line provided inspiration for their sculptural works. Shape, symmetry and assemblage of 3D objects were transformed into bird sculptures. Year 4 were also inspired by Picasso’s use of line in portraiture highlighting Picasso’s interest in printmaking. The boys were surprised at the speed Picasso applied to create his artworks.
- Year 5 explored Picasso’s interest in collage and the assembling and arrangement of different materials. With multiple materials, found objects, multiple shapes and neutral colours, Year 5 explored artworks in 2-dimensional form with colour and then transferred their learning into 3-dimensional artworks with wood, card and string.
- Year 6 explored Picasso’s love and freedom of clay. Exploring shape, Year 6 students created sculptural and functional forms with the clay, representing function, sculpture, line and portraiture in different ways.
Our exhibition represented the creativity and diversity of learning our boys have achieved. Picasso’s creativity and inspiration has had a profound impact on the visual arts, and the diversity of his work has allowed our students to be immersed in his artistic world.
Aarav Kochar (Year 6)
Junior School Art Captain