Art history for the holidays.

Might Picasso have painted Mrs. Claus in a Cubist portrait or in his classic style? What would a Christmas tree designed by Jackson Pollack look like? Henry Moore's tree would surely have had negative spaces. Van Gogh's Starry Night could light up a holiday tree better than any commercial string of bulbs. Balla's menorah would radiate and glow like his street lamp. I can see Chagall's Santa dancing through the sky with a fiddle, while Grant Wood's Christmas couple would be very serious. Would Claes Oldenburg soft sculpture a wrapped gift or a Salvation Army kettle? Georgia O'Keeffe could have forced us to take a fresh look at the poinsettia. Such wild musings became classroom conversation and resulted in a most successful art project.

I was inspired by a student's comment after a slide presentation. In preparation for the holidays we discussed paintings by Giotto, Botticelli, Rubens, and other Renaissance and Baroque masters. Subjects were of a traditional nature: the Annunciation, nativity scenes, Madonna and Christ Child paintings and other sacred images. One student asked, "Don't modern artist do Christmas?" Later, while I pondered this question, I realized that I couldn't locate many examples of such subjects by contemporary painters.

The next morning I explained the class' assignment. "Search through your text, but, only consider artists beginning with the French Impressionists to the present. Study the style of an artist that interests you. What colors, shapes, lines, compositions and themes are typical? Then interpret a holiday subject in the style of your artist. You may choose a media appropriate to those your artist actually used."

To my surprise, students quickly became involved in the project. Conversations held between pupils were wonderful. "O'Keeffe's flowers are viewed close up rather than from a more expected perspective." "Giacometti's figures were always thin and stretched-out looking." "If your tree is by Seurat you must limit your palette to primary colors and apply the paint in dots." Books from my collection and the library supplemented our text and provided a wide choice of artists.

At the end of our studio time each student presented his or her finished work with a short verbal description of the artist's style. Examples of paintings by each artist were shared and the concept of artistic style was discussed.

Instead of making another traditional holiday project, my students learned art history through a studio experience. Even the title chosen had to be typical of the artist. Due to our school's schedule, my eighth grade art students are generally not academically inclined. They love to create art, but resist investigating works of art. Because I did not give a slide lecture and exam they were tricked into thinking their assignment was fun, and indeed it was.

Kathleen Thompson is an art teacher at Ellijay Middle School, Ellijay. Georgia.