WESTFIELD-Yamil Lorenzo-Garcia, a fifth grade student at Westfield Intermediate School, re-imagined a 1433 portrait by Jan van Eyck for a recent art assignment – capturing the stillness and intrigue of the subject – as well as adding a modern twist.
Yamil Lorenzo-Garcia, a fifth grade student at the Westfield Intermediate School, re-imagined the “Portrait of a Man in a Red Turban” by Jan van Eyck, 1433. (SUBMITTED PHOTO)
In Saturday’s Westfield News, we featured the works of several students from the school who had also participated in the assignment, and we incorrectly identified Yamil in the caption. We regret that error.
“It has been really great to meet students this trimester through their work,” said Kayla Reno, a visual art teacher at the Westfield Intermediate School. Reno and Melissa VanHeynigen, also a visual art teacher at the school, coordinate art projects and VanHeynigen spearheaded last week’s project.
VanHeynigen explained that the art assignment required students in grades fifth and sixth to recreate a famous portrait or self portrait – by adding a modern twist to their own portrait.
“Students were asked to recreate the portrait using things one would have at home and take a picture of it,” said VanHeynigen. “Students then had to screenshot the original painting and share both, as well as include pertinent information about the original portrait.”
Adam Jawarski, a fifth grade student at the Westfield Intermediate School, takes a modern twist to the 1964 masterpiece titled “Man in a Bowler Hat” by Rene Magritte. (SUBMITTED PHOTO)
Reno added that each week, she and VanHeynigen are offered a “new little glimpse” into the lives of their students.
“It has felt extra fulfilling when we get such amazing examples submitted from them,” said Reno.
The subject Yamil chose to emulate, Jan van Eyck, was a painter from the County of Loon (present day Belgium), who is considered one of the most significant representatives of Early Northern Renaissance art, according to Wikipedia. The original masterpiece was titled “Portrait of a Man in a Red Turban.”
“Yamil’s work has wonderfully captured the texture of Jan van Eyck’s famous painting,” said Reno, who is his teacher, adding, “I’m so proud of all of our students, and I’m excited to see what they create in future weeks!”
Since the Westfield Public Schools Facebook page started posting the photos last week, comments from city residents have ranged from “very talented students,” “this kind of assignment sparks the student’s imagination and it is so fun to see them own the assignment by being creative,” to “great job by these students and thanks for sharing their efforts.”
Westfield Intermediate School fifth grader Riley Young recreated Norman Rockwell’s 1954 piece titled “Girl at the Mirror.” (SUBMITTED PHOTO)
While some students chose to use family members or the family pet as the subject in their portrait, other students took center stage.
“My students have truly captured the lighting, texture and fine details that make up these recreated masterpieces while also having fun,” said VanHeynigen. “I’m so impressed with their effort and pride in their work. In such difficult times their creativity and resourcefulness has proven art’s vital role in our lives.”
Since many city residents noted on Facebook that they would welcome seeing more “masterpieces,” we are sharing two more here in addition to Yamil’s that came in after the newspaper’s deadline last week.
