Art Inspired by Piet Mondrian

Oct 22, 2015
2 min read

Grade 2's Art Lesson inspired by Piet Mondrian

What the lesson was about:

This art lesson was inspired by the abstract artist, Piet Mondrian (1872-1944).

The objective of the lesson was to introduce students to the artist.

Mondrian is known for using primary colours and geometric shapes.

Students got the opportunity to create a work of their own inspired by Mondrian.

What worked well in the lesson:

- Students were able to construct meaning into what they were doing when creating their own body of work. They were inspired after looking at a few popular paintings ("Broadway Boogie Woogie" and "Trafalgar Square") created by Mondrian.

-Students worked cooperatively throughout the lesson. They were sharing certain materials such as paintbrushes, paint, etc.

- The students were able to follow the specific steps that I had shown them (step 1: creating the outline, step 2: glue paper strips, etc). From experience, breaking down what is expected of the students works really well with my class, which is why I enforced everyone doing the lesson step by step.

What did I learn/ What I would change?

- I am a strong believer in the importance of process rather than product, especially when it comes to art. The students exceeded my expectations in this particular lesson. As previously mentioned above, the step by step approach of conducting the lesson worked really well. Each student created a unique work of art that focused on primary colours and geometric shapes. I was blown away at the steps each student took to complete their final product. I found that students really took the time to "plan out" their design.

- The one thing that I would have love to do is bring in more information about the artist himself. A video clip or a book on his life would have been a great addition. Even though, I mentioned where he was born and we discussed a few of his works, I feel like there could have been more of an introduction into his life as a painter and how he influenced many abstract artists.

-Unfortunately, there was no time to have a Mondrian inspired art exhibition. I think it would have been nice to have students talk about their experience and process of how they created the art work.

In this art lesson, I've developed the Professional Competencies 1, 2, and 8.

To take a closer look at the lesson plan, please click here.