This Must be the Place --How do artists create art about their homes?

 Our homes are very important.

Everyone’s home is a little different because you include things that are special to you and your family.

Henri Matisse’s home 1946

Because people feel so connected to their homes, it is something you can see explored throughout art history

Vincent Van Gogh The Yellow House, 1888. The Bedroom, 1888

The artist Do Ho Suh has created a lot of art about his home! This is a huge replica of his home made out of fabric. He said 

“I want to carry my home with me all the time, like a snail” 

Why do you think he would want to do this?

Let’s Look at a few other artists that have explored the idea of HOME in their art.

In South Africa the Ndeble homes are a work of art in itself

Many people believe the heart of the home is in the kitchen.  Why might they say this?

The milkmaid, Johannes Vermeer, Around 1660, From the collection of: Rijksmuseum

 Painted nearly 400 years ago, this young woman is very focussed on her duties.  It shows a woman pouring milk preparing for a meal.  Many art historians believe she is pictured making bread pudding – suggested by the slow measured trickle of the milk being poured into the pot.

Liza Lou created an art installation called "Kitchen," this artwork is a tribute to women who have throughout history have often had a duties in the kitchen

Trenton Doyle Hancock The Den, 2012 

The artist Trenton Doyle Hancock created this painting about the kitchen floor in his grandmother’s house. This floor is so special to him because he drew there all the time when he was young.  

Is there a place in your home That is extra special to you? Why is it special?

Roy Lichtenstein Interior with Waterlilies, 1991

This painting of a bedroom is 10 feet tall and 14 feet wide!

Why do you think this artist made this work so BIG?!? 

Yayoi Kusama also creates interior (inside) space installations. Rooms you might have in your home become works of art.

Artists Like Nijdeka Akunyili Crosby create scenes of daily life as artists have done throughout history.  A conversation around a table becomes the subject of a painting. 

The artist Carrie Mae Weems created a series of photos focusing on a special place in her home

Carrie Mae Weems Kitchen Table Series, 1990


Is there a spot in your home where your family gathers often?

Some things inside of our homes are special because we can only see them when we are at home, like a pet goldfish!

Henri Matisse Goldfish, 1912

And somethings in our homes maybe don't seem that interesting, but are very important because we need to use them all the time… 

Mark Dion 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, 2004

Artists can work in both 2D and 3D to create the idea of HOME!

American Gothic, Grant Wood. Heather Benning, The Dollhouse: Dusk #3, 2007

Art can transform a home and community in a positive way.  Graffiti artists got permission from the city of Pachuca De Soto (30 minutes north of Mexico City) to transform these hillside homes into one of the world’s largest murals.  This work of art has become a tourist attraction and some believe this art has reduced crime. 

Home can also be our community where we live.  Romare Bearden used his collaged art to show a record of what was happening in his Harlem community.  He cut out openings in the windows and collaged scenes of his friends and neighbors.

"...churches, shops, teenagers and homeless people that comprised the bustling Lenox Ave. between 132nd and 133rd streets of his adopted home of Harlem. Bearden watched the street from his friend’s apartment and recorded his observations, in part, by cutting out “look-ins” that record the happenings taking place on the other sides of his neighbors’ windows and doors."

Beverly Buchanan creates art from her childhood memories of barns and small houses she would see in the South where she grew up 

The artist and architect Frank Lloyd Wright thought carefully about the location of this home.  How can you tell?

Fallingwater by Frank Lloyd Wright in 1935

Built in pennsylvania, The house was built partly over a waterfall The house was designed as a weekend home After its completion, Time magazine called Fallingwater Wright's "most beautiful job"[5] and it is made lists of places to see

*in collaboration with Julia Mack