Impressionism at the Ashmolean

In January for our winter/snow theme for our learning, we looked at Monet's Magpie painting and studied impressionism. We read a few biographies and good books about impressionism (some of our favorite art books for kids are the Katie... series in which a little girl climbs into various paintings.

Since nothing beats seeing actual real-live art in person, I also scheduled a trip to Oxford's stunning Ashmolean Museum to see their small but lovely room of impressionism. We've been to the Ashmolean several times before to wander its many rooms, but this was probably our favorite trip. This was the first time we went only to focus on a small part of the museum and to really look at just a few paintings in depth.

Having read about the impressionists and their style, the kids could see in the paintings what we had learned about. I learned a lot, too! Did you know that Monet had a studio on a boat so he could paint the various water scenes he so loved? I also found it fascinating that the style and techniques of impressionism were made possible by recent inventions such as tubes of paint. Prior to that invention, artists had to mix their paint from powder, which required being inside. Tubes of paint allowed painters to take their paint on the go, and facilitated the "en plein air" subject matter that impressionists have become famous for.

In any case, at the Ashmolean we searched for all our favorite impressionists. We found a startling variety for such a small collection: Monet, Manet, Renoir, Pissarro, Sisley, Cassatt. And then we searched the painting for all the trademark elements of impressionism. And then we chose our favorite paintings and analyzed them for those same elements. Both kids really enjoyed it and got so much out of it. (Well, Justin liked the train there and back more than anything, but he did say he liked this visit to the museum more than any other time.)