HAVE FUN EXPLORING & MAKE SOME ART OF YOUR OWN CHILDREN’S TRAIL

CHILDREN’S TRAIL
HAVE FUN EXPLORING &
MAKE SOME ART OF YOUR OWN
Look, draw and have fun!
Collect
a pencil
Go on a journey
through the
exhibition
Discover
the artworks
Sydney moderns: art for a new world
Nearly one hundred years ago Sydney was a much
quieter place with few cars, no tall buildings and
no big shopping centres. Around the world things
began to change – people moved to the cities, cars
filled new roads, buildings got bigger and taller,
and new department stores attracted shoppers.
Sydney became a bustling city and the building of
a bridge to join one side of the harbour with the
other was celebrated around the world for its giant
span of steel.
This exhibition celebrates the artists who
responded to the new city with new ideas and
colourful, light-filled artworks.
Anniversary partner
Developed by Victoria Collings, Public Programs
Department
© Art Gallery of New South Wales 2013
Strategic partners
front cover: Eric Wilson Abstract – the kitchen stove
1943 (detail)
All works © the artists’ estates. Margaret Preston
licensed by Viscopy, Sydney
The artist Grace Cossington Smith
loved the curves and shapes of
the bridge’s steel girders and she
painted and sketched it many times
when it was being built.
Spot the following things:
tiny construction workers
building materials
boats on the harbour
buildings in the distance
Add some buildings and boats to
this picture of the bridge to create
a busy city scene:
At home find pictures of the Sydney Harbour Bridge being built
and create your own drawings or sculpture.
Grace Cossington Smith The curve of the bridge 1928–29
Find this painting of the Sydney Harbour Bridge.
Roland Wakelin painted this view of Berry’s Bay outdoors so he
could look at the effect of light and colour in the landscape.
Look at the flecks
of light on the grass.
Describe the colours
you can see. Are they
surprising? Notice
how your eyes zigzag
between the different
parts of the picture.
What is the man doing? Draw yourself into this landscape doing an activity you enjoy:
At home paint pictures outdoors at different times of the day to
see how the light and colours change.
Roland Wakelin Down the hills to Berry’s Bay 1916
Walk over to this harbour view.
Roy de Maistre painted this picture using different colours to match
musical notes and to make us feel different emotions.
How does this painting
make you feel?
Imagine the music that
this painting might be like
and move your body to
sway to it.
Create a drawing of
shapes and patterns to
go with this music:
Twin-kle, twin-kle lit - tle star, How I won-der what you are
At home listen to different types of music and make artworks
inspired by the sounds and rhythms of the music.
Roy de Maistre Rhythmic composition in yellow green minor 1919
Explore this colourful painting.
Margaret Preston has painted a still-life picture of cups and saucers,
a jug and two glasses – what is in the glasses?
Observe how the dark shadows in the picture line up with the shapes.
Notice the colours and describe how they make you feel.
Imagine this still-life is part of a cafe scene. Extend the picture to
draw the cafe around it:
At home draw a still-life of objects from your kitchen. Think
carefully about how you arrange the objects and light them to
create strong shadows.
Margaret Preston Implement blue 1927
Find this still-life painting.
Thea Proctor made this print for the
cover of a magazine called The Home.
Imagine what the women might say
to each other.
Design your own cover for
The Home magazine:
At home collect magazines about interior design and create a
collage or mood board of inspiration and colours that you would
love to have in your home.
Thea Proctor The rose c1928
Find this woodblock print.
Frank Hinder has created a
bustling scene of parents with
their pets collecting children from
school on a wet day.
Count how many dogs you can
see. Spot the umbrellas.
Design a pattern for this umbrella
using shapes and patterns in this
exhibition to decorate it:
At home draw a picture of your school playground filled with
children enjoying lots of different activities.
Frank Hinder Dog gymkhana 1939
Find this busy school playground.
Max Dupain has taken this photograph of an industrial scene through
the windscreen of a car.
Look at the photograph and
work out what is inside the
car and what is outside the
car. How could you tell?
Observe how the shadows
create patterns.
Draw a view of a factory or
a city through this
windscreen and add what
is behind the car in the rearvision mirror. Add strong
shadows to your drawing:
At home find photos and images of Sydney and make a series of
black & white drawings of the different types of buildings you find.
Max Dupain Silos through windscreen c1935
Look at this unusual scene.
The designer Hera Roberts created this modern living room for a
special exhibition.
Observe the shapes you can
see in the patterns of the
fabrics and rugs. What do the
shapes of the furniture remind
you of? Would you like a living
room like this?
Design your own furniture for
this empty room:
At home make your own room for one of your toys in a cardboard
box using cardboard, containers and fabrics to make the furniture.
Beard Watson advertisement illustrating Hera Roberts design for living room, The Home October 1929
Find the recreation of this living room.
Eric Wilson has
painted shapes and
forms from a kitchen
overlapping them in
a cubist-style.
Find the following
things:
pots and pans
brick walls
timber flooring
a sign
fried eggs
At home make a cubist-style picture combining parts of one of the
rooms in your home.
Eric Wilson Abstract – the kitchen stove 1943
Find this abstract picture.
Ralph Balson loved to use geometric shapes to create patterns and
structures. He called them ‘constructed paintings’.
Describe the shapes you
can see and how they
overlap each other.
Which parts of the painting
‘jump out’ at you? Why?
Fill this shape with
overlapping geometric
shapes to make your own
abstract picture:
At home cut out lots of shapes in different colours and overlap
them to create your own constructed collage. Add colourful circle
stickers to highlight certain parts of the picture.
Ralph Balson Construction in green 1942
Find this colourful abstract painting.