Grade 10, Unit 2 (Task 1- Visual Literacy)
PHOTO CHALLENGE: RECREATE A FAMOUS
ARTWORK
Study Images, read the accompanying text, and then answer the questions that follow.
Image A
The Death of Marat
Jacques-Louis David (1793)
Oil on canvas
In 1793, Jacques Louis David, the official
artist of the French Revolution, painted
the Death of Marat as a tribute to his
slain friend, the revolutionary
propagandist Jean-Paul Marat, in the
wake of his assassination.
https://news.artnet.com/art-world/jacques
-louis-david-death-of-marat-3-facts-1894
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Image B
Marat (Sebastião)
Vik Muniz (2008)
Pictures of Garbage
Brazilian artist Vik Muniz specializes in
reproducing masterpieces with recycled
materials.
The documentary “Waste Land” focuses on
Muniz’s project in Rio de Janeiro, in the
world’s biggest wasteland. For this project, Vik
Muniz worked with “pickers” who collected
waste for a living and survival. The pickers
helped Vik Muniz collect and assemble trash
based sculptures. He also used the pickers as
subjects in his artworks.
At the end of the project, the artist
documented the sculptures photographically
and sold the photographs. All the proceedings
were donated to the pickers who participated
in the project.
https://blog.artsper.com/en/get-inspired/top-10
-of-recycled-art/
Grade 10, Unit 2 (Task 1- Visual Literacy)

1. Provide a brief description for Image A.

In that image we can see a man in the bed who is trying to survived of a wound and he is
writing a letter or his testament.

2. Study Image A, discuss how the artist has created space within this painting?

He has creted space because he draw the drawing in 3d, this makes that we can see
space and that things looks real, also because the backgroung has different types of
colors and tones, and the artist add shadows.

3. Study Image B; what is the focal point of the artwork?

The focal point is Marat because is the only thing or object that contrast with the trash that
is in the background, so the first thing you identify when you look the artwork is Marat
because is the only diferent thing.

4. Study Image B, using the elements and principles of art and design, examine and
explain how the artist has created a focal point.

It’s easy for the artist to create a focal point because the only thing you need to do is

5. Image A is an example of an artist who has used idealism to depict his subject.
Do you agree or disagree with this statement? Provide a reason for your answer.

Not because in painting we only see an image, we do not see thoughts, thinking subjects,
or ideas, we only see the object.

6. Both these artists (Image A & B) have elevated their subjects - discuss the
techniques and ways they have chosen to do so.

They used contrast and reality, also they used in image a blending technique.

7. Compare Image A and Image B. Has Vik Muniz successfully recreated The Death
of Marat? Give a reason for your answer.

Yes, because he draw marat like in a tumb dying like the priginal artwork with a testament
recreating the death, the only things is that the background is trash.

8. Refer to Image B, what layers of meaning could the choice of the artist's material
add to the recreation of this artwork?

That it is a recent work, because today practically anything is art, also before they did not
make those contrasts as in the work of art, before everything was formal and had to be
elegant but today things change.

9. Refer to Image B, discuss the advantages of using the mod of photography to

document this artwork.

The advantages are that when you photograph something the image will have all
the details and will be like real and realistic, so the advantage is that you don’t
need to paint or to write something to document it, only by taking the picture you
will have a real and detailed image.