Themed Resources
Art of China
This teaching resource highlights fifteen objects that reflect the diversity of artwork created in China over the last two thousand years. It is organized around five themes: religious beliefs, belief in the afterlife, exchange between China and the West, reverence for the natural world, and auspiciousness. Classroom presentation and book available for download.South Asian Art
This teaching resource highlights eleven works of art that reflect the diverse cultures and religions of South Asia and the extraordinary beauty and variety of artworks produced in the region over the centuries.Classroom presentation and book available for download.
Looking to Write, Writing to Look
This teaching resource features twenty-five remarkable works of art from the Museum’s collections and uses them as inspiration for an array of writing activities for K-12 students. The works of art represent a wide range of time periods and cultures, and the writing exercises include narrative, descriptive, expository, and persuasive writing, as well as poetry. Looking to Write, Writing to Look is generously supported by the Sherman Fairchild Foundation, Inc.
This kit includes the following works of art:
Available online.
- Tomb Figures: Bactrian Camel and Central Asian Groom, China
- Horse and Man Armors, Germany
- Tapestry showing the Triumph of Constantine over Maxentius at the Battle of the Milvian Bridge, Peter Paul Rubens
- Still Life with a Ham and a Roemer, Willem Claesz. Heda
- Celebration of the Wedding of Manohar and Madhumalati, India
- White-Headed Eagle with Yellow Catfish, John James Audubon
- The Burning of the Houses of Lords and Commons, October 16, 1834, Joseph Mallord William Turner
- Yabu Lane below Atago, Utagawa Hiroshige I
- Railroad Bridge, Argenteuil, Claude Monet
- The Thinker, Auguste Rodin
- The Life Line, Winslow Homer
- Breaking Home Ties, Thomas Hovenden
- Portrait of the Artist’s Mother, Henry Ossawa Tanner
- The City, Fernand Léger
- Reeds and Geese, Kim Jin-Woo
- Dog Barking at the Moon, Joan Miró
- Woman of Tehuantepec, Tina Modotti
- Bicycle Race, Antonio Ruiz
- Three Brillo Boxes, Andy Warhol
- Exit, George Segal
- Hydrangeas Spring Song, Alma Thomas
- Woman’s Hat, Hubert de Givenchy
- "Tar Beach 2" Quilt, Faith Ringgold
- Portage, William Kentridge
- South Philly (Mattress Flip Front), Zoe Strauss
Art Speaks
Art Speaks is a museum visit program designed specifically for fourth-grade classrooms in Philadelphia public schools. The focus is art and the many ways we can learn about and respond to what artists create. The learning strategies are literacy based and connect to The School District of Philadelphia’s fourth-grade language arts curriculum. Download the teaching booklet, image cards, worksheets, and a classroom presentation.Finishing Techniques In Metalwork
Works of art made of metal are decorated through a variety of methods, which are referred to as finishing techniques. These techniques can be classified into two major categories: chemical (by chemical processes) or physical (by mechanical means). This teaching kit describes several finishing methods along with a brief history of their use.Available online.
Learning to Look: Works of Art Across Time and Cultures
This teaching kit uses four themes—Stories, People, Things We Use, and Nature—as lenses for looking at works of art in the Museum's collections. Included are objects and images from a variety of time periods and cultures. Learning to Look: Works of Art Across Time and Cultures was developed by the Division of Education and made possible by the Comcast Foundation, The Delphi Project Foundation, and Reliance Standard Life Insurance Company.
This kit includes the following works of art:
Available online.
- Prometheus Bound, c. 1611–12, by Peter Paul Rubens (painting)
- Surgiva Takes Rama to the Mountain Cave Where Sita's Jewels Are Kept, c. 1820 (painting)
- Noah's Ark, 1846, by Edward Hicks (painting)
- Fireman's Coat, nineteenth century
- Mandarin in His Study, eighteenth–nineteenth century (hanging scroll)
- Bust of Benjamin Franklin, c. 1700, by Jean-Antoine Houdon (sculpture)
- Three Musicians, 1921, by Pablo Picasso (painting)
- Malcolm X, 1970, by Barbara Chase-Riboud (sculpture)
- Tile Mosaic Wall Panel, sixteenth century
- Armor, for Use in a Tournament Fought on Foot , 1612, Attributed to Christian Müller
- Sunburst Quilt, 1839, by Rebecca Scattergood Savery
- Leopard Stool, twentieth century
- "Bullies" Wallpaper, 1992–97, designed by Virgil Marti
- Bamboo Under Spring Rain, c. 1460, by Xia Chang (painting)
- Sunflowers, 1888 or 1889, by Vincent van Gogh (painting)
- A Huntsman and Dogs, 1891, by Winslow Homer (painting)
- Ceremonial Teahouse Sunkaraku, c. 1917, designed by Ōgi Rodō
- Night Sea, 1977, by Edna Andrade (painting)
Asian Art Teaching Kits
These three teaching kits focus on the arts of Japan, Korea, and China. Each kit includes slides, image cards highlighting works from the Museum's Asian arts collection, and a video, as well as a resource book featuring looking questions, related classroom activity suggestions, a map, time line, glossary, and bibliography. A CD-ROM version of all the elements in the kit is also included. Asian art teaching kits are made possible by a generous grant from the Freeman Foundation of New York and Stowe, Vermont.Learning from Asian Art: Japan
This kit features ten objects in the Museum's Japanese collection. Works of art from a variety of mediums and eras have been chosen, from a 4,000-year-old ceramic Jōmon Jar to a nineteenth-century woodblock print by Katsushika Hokusai.
This kit includes the following works of art:
Available in an online version.- Jōmon Jar, 2500–1500 B.C. (ceramic)
- Amida Buddha, late thirteenth century (sculpture)
- Calligraphy of a Poem, early seventeenth century, by Hon'ami Kōetsu (hanging scroll)
- Hand Drum, seventeenth century
- Courtier on Horseback, seventeenth century (painting sliding doors)
- Tea Storage Jar, c. 1700 (porcelain)
- Recumbent Bull, c. 1755, by Soga Shōhaku (ink painting)
- Pilgrims at Kirifuri Waterfall on Mount Kurokami in Shimotsuke Province, c. 1831–32, by Katsushika Hokusai (color woodcut)
- Fireman’s Coat, nineteenth century
- Ceremonial Teahouse Sunkaraku, c. 1917, designed by Ōgi Rodō
- Video: Sunkaraku: The Japanese Teahouse at the Philadelphia Museum of Art
Learning from Asian Art: Korea
Focusing on the Museum's collection of Korean art, this kit introduces students to ten different works. A wide variety of objects and eras have been chosen, including an eighth-century bronze Buddha and eight hanging calligraphic scrolls by a contemporary Korean artist.
This kit includes the following works of art:
Available in an online version.- Boy Attendant, eighteenth century (sculpture)
- Roof Tiles, sixth to eighth century
- Buddha, eighth century
- Wine Ewer in the Form of a Melon, late eleventh to early twelfth century (ceramic)
- Flask, fifteenth century (ceramic)
- Dragon Jar, eighteenth century (porcelain)
- Tiger and Magpies, eighteenth to nineteenth century (ink painting)
- Treasure Cabinet, nineteenth century
- Ch’aekkori Screen, mid-nineteenth century
- He Who Tries to Travel Two Roads, 2001, by Son Man Jin (calligraphy)
- Video: Mountain Dreams: Contemporary Ceramics by Yoon Kwang-cho
Learning from Asian Art: China
Ten different works in the Museum's collection of Chinese art are featured in this kit. The works of art chosen represent different mediums and eras, from a 4,500-year-old ceramic Banshan Jar to an embroidered robe for a Daoist priest made at the end of the nineteenth century.
This kit includes the following works of art:
Available in an online version.
- Banshan Jar, c. 2600–2300 BC (ceramic)
- Tomb Figure of a Bactrian Camel, 618–907 (sculpture)
- Seated Guanyin, 1271–1368 (sculpture)
- Bowl, early fifteenth century (porcelain)
- Landscape, c. 1500, by Shen Zhou (ink painting)
- Reception Hall from the Palace of Duke Zhao, first half of the seventeenth century
- Seated Lady Holding a Fan, late seventeenth to early eighteenth century (watercolor painting)
- Dog Cage, 1736–95 (cloisonné)
- Moon Crystal, 1736–95 (sculpture)
- Daoist Priest's Robe, c. 1850–1900
- Video: Painted Splendor: Reception Hall from the Palace of Duke Zhao
African American Artists: 1859 to the Present
This set includes works of art in the Museum’s collection made by African American artists from the Civil War through the Civil Rights movement. Featuring the works of both known and anonymous artists.
This kit includes the following works of art:
- African American Pottery, by anonymous artists and David Drake
- The Annunciation, by Henry Ossawa Tanner (painting)
- Pieced and Appliqué Quilt, by Marie Hensley
- Mr. Prejudice, by Horace Pippin (painting)
- Portrait of James Baldwin, by Beauford Delaney (painting)
Images of the Middle Ages
This set, featuring works of art from the Museum’s medieval collection, introduces five distinctly medieval art forms and five distinctly different mediums.
This kit includes the following works of art:
- Roundel Depicting Holofernes' Army Crossing the Euphrates River, from the Sainte-Chapelle in Paris
- Illuminated manuscript page from Saint Augustine’s The City of God (French version)
- "Admiral" Heraldic Carpet, from Spain
- Recumbent Knight from a Tomb Sculpture, from France
- St. Nicholas of Tolentino Saving a Ship, painting from an Italian altarpiece by Giovanni di Paolo
The Figure in the Impressionist Era
This set contains six works that discuss paintings from the Museum’s nineteenth-century collection, including Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec's At the Moulin Rouge: The Dance.
This kit includes the following works of art:
- Portrait of Alexander J. Cassatt and His Son Robert Kelso Cassatt, by Mary Cassatt (painting)
- Portrait of Madame Cézanne, by Paul Cézanne (painting)
- The Moorish Chief, by Eduard Charlemont (painting)
- The Ballet Class, by Edgar Degas (painting)
- At the Moulin Rouge: The Dance, by Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec (painting)
- Portrait of Madame Augustine Rouline and Baby Marcelle, by Vincent van Gogh (painting)
Arts of Asia
This set of five works explores art from the Museum’s extensive Asian art collections.
This kit includes the following works of art:
- Dancing Ganesha, from India (sculpture)
- Avalokiteshvara, from Cambodia (sculpture)
- Porcelain Plate with Dragon, from China (ceramic)
- Two Hares in Moonlight, from Korea (painting)
- Flowering Plum Kimono, from Japan
Five Women Artists
This set contains five works that examine works in the Museum’s collection by women artists. Works of art from a variety of mediums and eras have been chosen.
This kit includes the following works of art:
- Embroidered Picture, Artist/maker unknown (needlework)
- Study for “Divine Law”, by Violet Oakley (painting)
- Red and Orange Streak, by Georgia O’Keeffe (painting)
- Mother and Child, by Elizabeth Catlett (sculpture)
- We Are Your Circumstantial Evidence, by Barbara Kruger (photograph)
Mexican Art
This set contains works of art created by Mexican artists, including sculpture, painting, and photography.
This kit includes the following works of art:
- Figura de una diosa / Goddess Figure, from Teotihuacan (sculpture)
- Jarrón con asas / Jar with Handles, from Puebla de los Ángeles (ceramic)
- Caída de un balcón / Fall from a Balcony, Artist/maker unknown (ex-voto painting)
- Caña de azucar / Sugar Cane, by Diego Rivera (mural painting)
- Mujer ángel, Desierto de Sonora / Angel Woman, Sonora Desert, by Graciela Iturbide (photograph)
Pennsylvania Art: From Colony to Nation
This set features six works of American art from the Museum’s collection that were made during the late 18th and early 19th century, including John Singleton Copley’s Portrait of Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Mifflin and Charles Willson Peale’s Staircase Group.
This kit includes the following works of art:
- Chest over Drawers, Artist/maker unknown
- Cut-Paper Profiles, Moses Williams
- Embroidered Picture, Sarah Montgomery Thompson
- Portrait of Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Mifflin (Sarah Morris), John Singleton Copley
- Staircase Group, Charles Willson Peale
- The Peaceable Kingdom, Edward Hicks
Rodin Museum
Auguste Rodin’s sculptures inspire us. They engage our eyes with dramatic forms, grip our hearts with powerful emotion, challenge our minds with complex ideas, and hold our attention with layered meaning. The Rodin Museum in Philadelphia invites you to integrate Rodin’s art into your classroom curriculum and deepen students’ understanding of his work through close observation and thoughtful response.For more information, please contact Education: School & Teacher Programs by phone at 215-684-7580, by fax at 215-236-4063, or by e-mail at .