Lesson V: Jonathan Green, Dorothea Lange: Poverty and Abundance

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Lesson V Jonathan Green, Dorothea Lange
Poverty and Abundance
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Jonathan Green Gullah artist (1955-)
What are the distinguishing traits of the work of
Jonathan Green?
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VocabularyWhat language do I need to know in
order to speak effectively about these subjects?

• Gullah a member of a group of blacks inhabiting
  the sea islands and coastal districts of South
  Carolina, Georgia, and northeastern Florida
• Lowcountry a low-lying country or region
  especially the part of a southern state
  extending from the seacoast inland to the fall
  line

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In your opinion does this piece of artwork by
Jonathan Green reflect poverty or abundance?
Justify your answer.
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What is Jonathan Green remembering about his
childhood? Where is this scene repeated in
todays world?
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Based on Jonathan Greens work, how would you
describe the agricultural community of the Gullah
people?
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Red Tomatoes How is math integrated in this
piece of art?
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Family Strolling Mr. Green painted scenes of
everyday life in the Carolina Lowcountry.
What are the distinguishing traits of the work of
Jonathan Green?
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It is the small, but critical tasks of daily
life that I find most stimulating and reflective
of the quality of essential, personal, community,
and social values."
Why would people take pride in their daily tasks?
Do you take pride in any daily task? Explain.
The Baptism
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What have you noticed about the subjects in
Greens paintings?
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Quitting Time
Analyze art using the (6) components.
Color LineShapeLightTextureSpace
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"I wanted to go back to my roots."The older
people were dying, and I began to see the
Gullahs differently. I saw them as a people with
a strong link, probably the strongest link with
Africa of any of the black American people.
Braiding Hair
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What are the similarities and differences between
these two paintings?
Portrait of a womanIbrahima Sall b. 1939,
SenegalAfter 1967 Paint on glassGift of the Wil
and Irene Petty Collection, 2008-5-6
Bessie Mae by Jonathan Green 1989. Acrylic on
canvas, 24x20.
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                                  The Blessed
FamilyTwins Seven-Seven (1944 -), Oshogbo,
Nigeria2006Ink, acrylic and colored pencil on
paper(17" h x 13"w
Compare and contrast these works of art.
Tales. Jonathan Green. Oil on masonite.1988
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Poverty and Abundance

• (Lesson III) How I can analyze primary sources
  to learn about the Dust Bowl photography of
  Dorothea Lange

Primary source Primary sources are materials
from, or directly related to, the past.
Immigrant a person who comes to a country to
take up permanent residence
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Dorothea Lange (1895-1965) was one of the best of
the American photographers who used their art to
document, and ultimately to alleviate, the human
suffering caused by the Great Depression of the
1930s. As she viewed it, photography was not an
end in itself, but a means of exploring the world
so as to improve it.
How does the study of the Dust Bowl relate to
poverty?
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Langes father abandoned the family, one of two
traumatic incidents in her early life. The other
was her contraction of polio at age seven which
left her lame throughout her life.
Can you have an abundance of hope in spite of
poverty?
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Lange was comfortable with everyone that she
encountered, but particularly with the
down-and-outers, the silent and invisible
population suffering from circumstances beyond
their understanding or control. Such people
trusted her, and she viewed and exhibited them
with compassion and respect.
Analyze this Dorothea Lange photograph.
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Years later, Florence Owens Thompson, the woman
pictured here, did not want her picture used
anymore because she was no longer poor. Would
you have honored her request? Do you think if a
subject agrees to be photographed, should they be
able to control later how the picture is used?
(Ethics)
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• Journal a Response to each Prompt
• What are the distinguishing features of Greens
  work?
• What are the distinguishing features of Langes
  work?
• What did you learn about the artists from the
  subjects of their work?

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Using Microsoft Publisher, create a front page
of a newspaper depicting poverty and abundance in
your world.
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