Sunday, January 06, 2019

Art as Inspiration: Using "Washington Crossing the Delaware"


Emanuel Leutze "Washington Crossing the Delaware "

The painting of "Washington Crossing the Delaware" by Emanuel Leutze is a historically significant piece of art in the United States. It is so iconic it has become inspiration for pop art. Read about pop art here

Below is one example of using the painting to create a pop art piece. Compare the two pieces of art, what is similar and what is different?

By WatermelonRat

Assignment

  1. Create your own piece of pop art using the knowledge you learned from the Wikipedia page. Use "Washington Crossing the Delaware" as your inspiration.
  2. Check with me if you have any questions.

Art History or Art as History?

Washington Crossing the Delaware is a very famous painting. Its use in popular culture probably even led to a contest to pick the best George Washington impersonator to re-enact the crossing every year. Watch this video to find out more about the contest. 


After watching the video, lets look at the paining. What do you see? Can you find any historical inconsistencies? You can find more information about the painting of Leutze's Washington Crossing the Delaware.

Emanuel Leutze "Washington Crossing the Delaware "
The painting creates a lot of questions. Why was this painted? Is it historically accurate? Who is the artist Emanuel Leutze? Check out the article below to find out these answers.

Assignment 

In the comment section of this post answer the following questions:

  1. In "Being George" why do you think portraying George Washington is so important to the contestants?
  2. Why did Leutze paint "Washington Crossing the Delaware"? 
  3. Identify three historical inaccuracies in the painting. 
  4. Should art be historically accurate? Explain why or why not. 

Copy and paste the following frame for your comment:
  1. Portraying George Washington is important to the contestants because
  2. Leutze painted "Washington Crossing the Delaware" because
  3. Three historical inaccuracies in the painting are
  4. Yes, art should be historically accurate because/No, art should not be historically accurate because