Eugéne Delacroix (French, 1798 – 1863) Street in Meknes, 1832 Oil on canvas, 18 x 25" Collection Albright-Knox Art Gallery Elisabeth H. Gates and Charles W. Goodyear Funds, 1948

LESSON PLAN: TRAVELING ABROAD

INTRODUCTION

Before beginning the lesson plan with your students, please be sure to read it all the way through. The plan was written for middle and high school students. However, the plan can easily be adapted to elementary school students (grades 3 – 6). Several suggestions for elementary school adaptation can be found below.

SUPPLIES

• map of the world (preferably topographic)
• overhead projector
• paper and pencils (for writing and sketching)
• scissors and glue
• watercolors and brushes (optional)

BEFORE BEGINNING

Display the painting for the class. Ask them to describe what they see. Share any of the background information on the last page that you feel would be helpful in doing Parts II, III, and IV.

PART I: GETTING THERE

It’s 1832, and your students are part of a large group of French men and women traveling from Paris to the city of Meknes, Morocco, in North Africa. Show them a map of the world.

• Without planes, trains, or automobiles, what are possible transportation options for the journey?
• Without telephones or travel agents, how will they make arrangements, both for getting there and for accommodations once they arrive?
• What types of things will they take with them? Have them guess, based on their current knowledge of North Africa.
  These questions can be answered through discussion or in writing.

PART II: BEING THERE

Once the group arrives in Meknes, they will experience extreme differences in climate, language, religion, architecture, food, costume, and customs.

• Have the students research Arab and North African culture to discover how it differed from that of nineteenth-century France.
• Ask students to pretend that they are French ambassadors writing to the King of France about Morocco — how would they describe it based on their research?
• Did they pack properly? What did they forget? What did they bring that they don’t need?

PART III: MEETING EACH OTHER

With the permission of the Sultan of Morocco, Delacroix roamed the streets of Meknes, sketching and making notes on what he saw. He was not only one of the first Europeans to be allowed into the city, he was also the first European that some of the inhabitants had ever seen.

Activity 1

1. Divide the class into groups of five (a group can have more than five if necessary, but not fewer than five). Each of these groups will do the same activity.
2. In each group, one person will take on the role of each individual in the painting. The fifth person (and any extras in the group) will take the role of the artist.
3. The students playing the inhabitants of Meknes need to look carefully again at the painting. Once they have studied their counterparts, ask them to recreate the painting against a classroom wall, paying special attention to spacing, gesture, body language, and facial expressions.
4. The other member(s) of the group should record through sketches and notes their impressions of the four "Moroccans." NO TALKING should be allowed during this portion of the activity, which should last at least five minutes.

Activity 2

1. Re-divide the groups based on the parts that they played: all those who posed as the young girl together, etc.
2. Have each group that played an inhabitant of Meknes come up with a description of their character, answering the following questions:
• How old is he or she?
• What is his or her occupation?
• What five words could be used to describe his or her personality and attitude? What are the reasons for their word choices?
• How did he or she feel about being observed and sketched?

Have the students who played the artist do the following things:

• show each other their sketches
• discuss how they felt watching and sketching people
• discuss how it might have been different for Delacroix, who was in a completely foreign country surrounded by strangers; as a group, have them write their ideas in the form of an imaginary journal entry by Delacroix

Activity 3

1. Put the students back into their original groups.
2. Make copies of all the sketches so that each group gets one of each.
3. Have each group cut, paste, and color (with markers or watercolors) the artists’ sketches to create a group portrait on a large, single sheet of paper, with your classroom as the setting.
4. Display the artworks.

ADAPTATION SUGGESTIONS FOR YOUNGER CLASSES

• Part II can be omitted for younger grades if desired.
  
  
  OR
  
  You can tell your students about Arab and North African culture, along with a little about life in the United States at that time. Then, have them write a letter to United States President Andrew Jackson describing how Morocco was different from America.
• For Part III, consult with an art teacher about the best strategy for doing the drawings. Younger students will need guidance if you wish them to draw from observation.
  
  
  OR
  
  Divide students into four groups and assign each group to one of the figures in the painting. Have them answer the questions listed in the first part of Activity 2, step 2.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION FOR TEACHERS

Eugène Delacroix (oo-zhen de-la-quah) was the leading painter of the Romantic movement, in which artists expressed feelings and emotions in their work through the choice of dramatic and moving themes. Sources for Delacroix’s painting included the literary work of Dante, Lord Byron, and Sir Walter Scott, tragic political events of his own time (such as the war between Greece and Turkey), and the story of the life and death of Jesus. Another important source of subject matter for Romantic painters was the exotic — people and places that the majority of Europeans would never see, but that were a source of constant fascination. One of the most exciting events in Delacroix’s life was the 1832 trip to Morocco and Algeria that inspired this painting. During his five months in North Africa, Delacroix filled seven notebooks with sketches and observations that he used later to create oil paintings once back in Paris. Unfortunately, four of those sketchbooks have been lost.

In January, 1832, Count Charles de Mornay left for Morocco as the goodwill ambassador for the King of France. France had just taken control of Algeria, and the King wanted to be on good terms with the Sultan of its neighbor. The Count wanted to take an artist on the expedition to record the events, and met Delacroix through a mutual friend.

No Westerner had ever seen Meknes, and Count de Mornay’s group was given permission to walk around the city. However, anyone who wanted to do so, such as Delacroix, had to hire an armed guard, since some parts of the city were not safe for foreigners. Delacroix wrote of Meknes: "the picturesque abounds here. At every step there are ready-made pictures that would ensure the fortune and glory of twenty generations of artists."

Delacroix was fascinated by the attire and noble appearance of the inhabitants, as well as by the clear, strong light of the region. In this painting, the quality of the North African sunlight is conveyed through the sharp contrasts between the brightness of the walls of the building and the darkness of the alcove. Delacroix did not see this actual scene; rather, it is a composite of his impressions, painted to satisfy European curiosity about exotic peoples and places. The four figures represent a variety of ages and types: an old Arab sleeps in the alcove, a young Islamic man is seated on the right, and a small boy and Jewish girl (identified as such by her clothing) stand to the left. The costumes of the people, the architecture with its Islamic-style arch and window, and the pottery and textiles in the alcove give the viewer a glimpse into Moroccan culture. The rifle, the large knife worn by the young man, and the curious and perhaps challenging facial expressions, might reflect the potential danger that would have required the use of a bodyguard.

Traveling Abroad was written by Nancy Spector and Mariann Smith and was made possible, in part, through the generous support of the Cameron Baird Foundation, sponsor of the Albright-Knox Art Gallery’s Looking and Learning program.