My first job out of college was a yearlong fellowship at the Kimbell Art Museum in Fort Worth. It’s a gorgeous museum with a stunningly high-quality collection, and it was such a privilege to be able to work under that glorious Louis Kahn vaulted ceiling every day. While there, I fell in love with this small, unobtrusive artwork by Romantic artist, Eugène Delacroix.
Eugène Delacroix, Selim and Zuleika, 1857
I have come back to this lovely artwork again and again throughout my career. I’ve discussed this artwork dozens of times over the last 15 years, and I can’t believe I have never written about it on here before! It’s perfect for an art interpretation discussion, because it has tons of narrative, excellent usage of the elements of art and principles of design that help contribute to the meaning, and some great opportunities for fun detective work by the students.
Today, I did a Facebook Live video about this artwork and how I discuss it with my students. Check it out!
Be sure to follow me on Facebook for more videos like this! I really enjoyed making it, so I hope to do more art interpretation discussions in the weeks to come.
FREE PRINTABLE
I’ve created for you a free printable to go along with this painting. This has some questions your students could answer about the artwork in writing before you lead your discussion!
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