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Summary and Objective
Students will understand that although many artists worked out of a studio, some traveled the countryside to find work. These itinerant artists were largely untrained and self taught. Students will examine the work of artists who left their mark in Western Massachusetts in the 1700's and 1800's.
Teaching Plan
Step 1.
Give a brief overview of itinerant artists: they traveled the countryside looking for work and had little or no formal training. Their paintings were not only portraits, but also decorative painting. Explain that they will be looking at paintings of local people and places.
Step 2.
Divide class into two groups and distribute prints of the paintings to each group. Ask students to first reflect on what they see in the paintings. What does the painting say about the subject? Why do you think these paintings were made? When do you think they were made?
Step 3.
Ask students to imagine the life of a traveling artist. Why didn't they set up a studio and stay in one place? How did they get around? How were they paid? Who would ask them to paint for them and why? What were the advantages and disadvantages of traveling about?
Step 4.
Ask students if they can see ways to group the paintings. Can they find similarities between them?
Step 5.
Give students the text for each print. Would they group them in another way with the new information? What information can they find about each artist and their subject?
Step 6.
Students may search this website, the Currier Museum of art website, or other sources for more information about itinerant artists and their work.
Step 7.
Students could create a time line and display the paintings at the appropriate dates.
Students could plot the travels of itinerant artists on a map of New England.
Step 8.
Two picture books that might be of interest to younger students are Little Girl in a Red Dress with Cat and Dog by Nicholas B. A. Nicholson (written from the viewpoint of the subject of a painting) and Fancy That by Esther Hershenhorn
(written from the viewpoint of the artist).
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