Teaching Packet

Process and Product: Sculpture

Part of Process and Product

Explore activities, ideas, and artworks to learn more about sculpture techniques- and get inspired to create! This unit features a video with a contemporary working artist who makes sculptures, image galleries of sculptures from the National Gallery's collection, an explainer that dives into the basics of sculpture, and a lesson for beginner experimentation with a sculpture technique. This resource is intended for grades 6-12.

Lynda Benglis, Sparkle Knot XII, 1972, aluminum wire mesh, cotton bunting, plaster, paint, and glitter, Dorothy and Herbert Vogel Collection, 2007.6.90

Grade Level

Subject

Hear From An Artist About Her Work

In this video, artist Jenny Wu discusses her approach to sculpture and how she developed her personal style as an artist.

After you watch the video, talk about these questions.

  • Why did the artist experiment with a variety of techniques?
  • What materials did she use to create sculptures?
  • What does she find intriguing about sculpture as a medium?
  • What interests you about sculpture?
     

Sculpture From the National Gallery of Art

Artists use different methods and materials to create three-dimensional sculptures. As you look at each group of images, consider these questions.

  • How does each artist use scale, color, line, and shape?
  • What materials are used in these sculptures?
  • How do you think the artists prepare to make these sculptures
  • How do you see the artists manipulating space in these sculptures
  • What feeling or story does each sculpture communicate? Why do you think that?
  • What about these sculptures surprises or inspires you?
This rectangular, tangerine-orange panel has rounded corners and a black dot at the center. It hangs on a dove gray wall and is about three times as tall as it is wide. The surface appears streaked with golden yellow where light reflects off some areas of the wax, especially in the top half.
Lynda Benglis, 1st Wax Work, 1966, purified pigmented beeswax, dammar resin, and powdered aniline dye on Masonite, Dorothy and Herbert Vogel Collection, 2016.11.4
Lynda Benglis, Sparkle Knot XII, 1972, aluminum wire mesh, cotton bunting, plaster, paint, and glitter, Dorothy and Herbert Vogel Collection, 2007.6.90
Lynda Benglis, Comet, 1982, bronze wire mesh with sprayed zinc, aluminum, and copper, Dorothy and Herbert Vogel Collection, 2019.154.2
Lynda Benglis, Untitled, 1968, poured pigmented latex, Dorothy and Herbert Vogel Collection, 2016.11.2

Lynda Benglis (born 1941) is an American artist who incorporates a wide variety of materials, such as aluminum, cotton, latex, and beeswax, into her three-dimensional works of art. Benglis experiments with techniques to create various forms, and she often thinks of her sculptures as extensions of her body’s movements.

A dark-colored hoop, perhaps black, is shown against a white background. A sliver of lemon yellow is painted across the top edge of the hoop. The nearly perfect symmetry of the circle is broken only by a slight bend on the upper right.
Martin Puryear, Blue Blood, 1979, polychromed pine and red cedar, Corcoran Collection (Gift of the Truland Foundation), 2014.136.288
A long, thin arm ending in a round loop curves up and away from a snail shell-shaped panel in this freestanding, abstract sculpture. The arm is about twice as long as the panel, and it reaches to our left in this view. The sculpture is photographed in a room with a wood floor and a pale beige wall with molding.
Martin Puryear, Lever No. 3, 1989, carved and painted wood, Gift of the Collectors Committee, 1989.71.1
Martin Puryear, Minion, 1981, painted ponderosa pine, Gift of Nancy and Carl Gewirz, 2020.114.1

Martin Puryear (born 1941) lives and works in Washington, DC. He usually sculpts single blocks of wood, using his skills in carving to transform wood into works of art. As a young artist Puryear travelled to West Africa to study basket weaving and woodworking. These craft traditions influenced his methods as a sculptor.

Claes Oldenburg, Glass Case with Pies (Assorted Pies in a Case), 1962, burlap soaked in plaster, painted with enamel, with pie tins, in glass-and-metal case, Gift of Leo Castelli, in Honor of the 50th Anniversary of the National Gallery of Art, 1991.54.1
Claes Oldenburg, Frank Grasso, Donald Lippincott, Gemini G.E.L., Sneaker Lace Sculpture, started 1988, published 1990, hand-painted, cast stainless steel, Gift of Gemini G.E.L. and the Artist, 2016.63.4
Claes Oldenburg, U.S.A. Flag, 1960, muslin, plaster, tempera, and wire, Gift of John and Mary Pappajohn, 2004.154.1
Claes Oldenburg, Lou Faibish, Frank Doose, Pete Hoefer, Paul Muff, Bud Rogers, Frank Arnott, Myron Judson, Gemini G.E.L., Ice Bag—Scale B, started 1969, published 1971, yellow Nylon, gray Fiberglas, zipper, and Velcro with animated mechanical components, Gift of Gemini G.E.L. and the Artist, 1981.5.139

Claes Oldenburg (born 1929), an artist born in Sweden, makes large-scale sculptures of everyday objects, including tubes of toothpaste, food, and jewelry. Oldenburg uses rigid, durable materials for his outdoor sculptures, while many of his other works are made of vinyl, nylon, and other soft but sturdy materials.

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Educational Resource:  Process and Product: Sculpture

Educational Resource:  The Elements of Art: Symbolism and Place

A man and two women standing near a bar nearly fill this vertical painting. Though made with oil on cardboard, the paint is applied in thin strokes, so parts of the painting look more like a drawing, and the tan of the cardboard is visible in many areas. Shown from the thighs up at the center of the composition, the man stands with his back to us, looking away from us to our left, almost in profile. The camel-brown of the cardboard acts as the color of his jacket and the skin of his face, which are otherwise delineated with cobalt-blue and violet-purple lines. He wears a dark bowler hat, and a white cigarette dangles in his lips. A few scribbled black lines could suggest a mustache. Hands thrust into his pockets, he looks down at the bar, which a runs along left edge of the composition. Squeezed between the man and the glasses on the bar, a woman wearing a teal-blue feather boa leans one elbow on the bar and looks back at the man from the corners of her eyes. Her skin is rose-pink and she has curly red hair. Her arched, thin eyebrows and snub nose are set in a round face with a double chin, and her crimson-red lips are pursed. She wears a ruby-red dress or coat and a turquoise-blue, wide-brimmed hat with bubblegum-pink ribbons or feathers. Two small, stemmed glasses sit on the bar in front of the man and woman. Behind the bar, along the left edge of the painting, a man wears a dark vest over a shirt with sky-blue sleeves. A light cloth lies over the shoulder closer to us and he has dark hair. The rest of his features are lost behind the woman’s hat. To our right, beyond the man’s shoulder, a woman stands with her body facing us as she tips back and looks off to our right. She wears a long, black tie over a pale blue, high-necked shirt. One hand is tucked into a pocket on the front of her jacket, which is streaked with mint green over the brown cardboard. Loosely painted vertical stripes below her waist suggests she wears a skirt, indicating this is a woman, though it might otherwise be difficult to tell. She wears a low, royal-blue cap with an emerald-green feather curling up from the back over a cloud of yellow hair. Only the gray bowler hat, ruddy skin around the ear, and a teal-green jacket of a fifth person are visible between that woman and the right edge of the composition. The wall at the back of the space is tan with shell-pink streaks, and a sign with a red triangle against a turquoise background is cropped by the right edge of the painting. The scene is sketchily painted so features are outlined with blue or brown and filled in with streaks of pale color. The artist inscribed the painting in the lower right corner, “pour Metenier d'apres son Alfred la Guigne HTLautrec,” with the HTL overlapping to create a monogram.

Educational Resource:  Process and Product: Painting

Explore activities, ideas, and artworks to learn more about painting techniques- and get inspired to create! This unit features a video with a contemporary working artist who makes paintings, image galleries of paintings from the National Gallery's collection, an explainer that dives into the basics of painting, and a lesson for beginner experimentation with various painting techniques. This resource is intended for grades 6-12.