What is a painting?
Discuss what a painting might be
“There are two problems in painting. One is to find out what painting is and the other is to find out how to make a painting.“
?Frank Stella, Pratt Lecture, presented at Pratt Institute, New York, Winter 1960.
Early in his artistic career, Frank Stella learned about painting by questioning what it is. Ask your students to discuss what constitutes their idea of a painting and what a painting can be about. Consider what materials and tools it is made with, what the support can be (for example, canvas, paper, wall, wood, metal, glass), who makes the painting, and how it is viewed.
a. You may want to ask younger students to imagine what they could paint with instead of brushes. For example, fingers, hands, or sponges.
b. Ask students to think about what makes a painting different from other types of art, such as a drawing or a sculpture.
c. If your class has recently done an art project or seen an exhibition at a gallery or an art museum, ask them to consider how the work that they made or looked at together as a class matches their definition of a painting.
Frank Stella (b. 1936), Gran Cairo, 1962. Alkyd on canvas, 85 9/16 × 85 9/16 in. (217.3 × 217.3 cm). Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; purchase, with funds from the Friends of the Whitney Museum of American Art 63.34. © 2015 Frank Stella/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York. Digital Image © Whitney Museum, N.Y.