introduce inquiry into your day using the exercise below.

lesson created by learning coordinators victoria brill and betsey gravatt

recommended for grades 4-12

ask your pupils to spend 2-3 quiet minutes looking at the images of holmes’ work. ask them to focus deeply and to look carefully, noticing everything that they can.

when they’ve had enough time to digest the artwork, ask them: what do you see?

• as you lead this discussion, accept any response! praise your child for sharing their thoughts.

• paraphrase your child’s answer using your own words to make sure you’re both have the same understanding.

• after each answer or idea is revealed, prompt them to look deeper by asking, “what else?”

• when you’ve come to the end of their lines of thought, ask another question.

remind them to only make observations about what they see (what’s really there—the figure, posture, facial expression, text, etc).

what did you notice first about this image?

• why do you think this caught your attention first?

what colors do you see? 

• why might the artist have chosen these colors?

who might the figure be?

• what age do you think the figure could be?

what do you think the setting of this painting may be?

• or, if we were standing inside of this painting, where might we be?

• what, if anything, do you think could be happening outside of the boundaries of this painting?

take a moment to try to mimic the man’s expression with your own face.

• how do you feel?

• what might that tell you about how this man is feeling?

think of one word to describe his facial expression. 

• why did you choose that word?

what text do you see on the painting surface?

• why do you think the artist wrote this on the painting?

• why might the artist have chosen to write the text in white?

• how might the image be different without the text?

it seems to me like the artist is intentionally leaving the scene vague and mysterious, keeping the focus on only a few elements. what additional information about this image do you wish you knew?

• first consider making a list of what you can assume just by looking at the painting:

1.  

2.  

3.  

• now, make a list of what we don’t know. for example, the man’s identity, where he might be located, etc.

1.  

2.  

3.

after you have explored the painting, take some time to create a drawing. draw yourself in the figure’s position.

• where are you sitting?

• what kind of environment are you in?

• what text did you include in your drawing, and why?

• what might this mean to you?