The Renoir Room

Albert Cullum

We turned our sixth-grade classroom into a Renoir Room! How exciting it was to step into the unknown world of this great French painter.

After emptying the room of all vestiges of school life “textbooks, bulletin boards, announcements, school menus, and the wastepaper basket “the magic began. Slowly but delightedly the students hung the first Renoir painting, and then the next, and the next, until fifty-four reproductions of Renoir paintings were displayed on the four classroom walls. Some were small, some large, some first-rate Renoirs, others not so good, but a magic was there, a greatness was there, and that’s all that mattered for the moment.

The desks were out in the hallway, and the chairs were arranged for a public school art gallery, that is, they were placed in small groups of threes and fours facing clusters of Renoirs.

Now we had a Renoir Room with no textbooks and no desks. No learning? Wrong! We had created the type of learning situation that really counts “a type of learning situation that helps a student to grow and at the same time proves to him the value of his skills and of learning to read.

The purpose of this project was to have students enter the world of Renoir through the beauty of his work, to engage in independent research to discover the man Renoir, and to digest and share this newly found world with the rest of the school.

The students ventured into the world of Renoir through intensive reading and research in the school library, the public library, and books at home and in the local bookstore, The Lighthouse. They pored over art books, biographies, and references. At one point the public librarian complained that too many students from my class were in the library and that it didn’t have that many books about Renoir.

A whole new world of words opened up to them “impression, spontaneity, inspiration, technique, contemporary, classical, realism, modern, creative freedom, palette, influence, neo-impressionist, opaque, original, vigor, sensibility, dynamic, master, exquisite, salon, composition, texture, bourgeois, progressive, austerity, chromatic, post-impressionism, and many, many more. What a wonderful new wealth of words the students learned, used, and understood.

The fifty-four Renoir paintings became more meaningful as each day progressed. The life of Renoir became alive. His rich, creative life became known to the entire class because, to be thoroughly prepared to talk about Renoir, students had to read more than the school’s encyclopedia. That’s why students come to school “not to learn how to read, but to read, to explore new worlds through reading, to digest challenging material, and to gain pleasure and enjoyment.

Once all the data had been accumulated by individual note-taking (no notes were scrutinized by me), the class had to determine what facts to use for the lectures they intended to give, The children had to decide how best to hold the attention of the various groups to whom they would talk about Renoir. What would be interesting for a sixth-grade class might not be of interest to a first-grade group, and then there was the problem of how to approach adult groups who were coming after school. As it turned out, not too many adults attended, for they did not fully grasp the importance of their roles in this lecture series.

It is not an easy matter to decide how to adjust a lecture to various age levels. As teachers we must give students every opportunity to organize and decide on their own. The classroom teacher sets up the structure “in this case the Renoir Room “but the students must make all the decisions. They decided with whom they would work, they decided what phase of Renoir’s art they would emphasize, they decided to what age-level group they would like to lecture, and they decided if they wanted to volunteer to participate in the project.

The day arrived when Ann and Louise were ready to give the first lecture to a third-grade group. It was Miss Hall’s class, and her youngsters were quite excited as they entered a classroom that was an art gallery “a new world for them. Good schools introduce students to as many new worlds as possible.

The third-graders were initially startled by the fifty-four paintings. After they were seated the lecture began. The two girls were nervous at first because they were not quite sure if they could capture the interest of these eightyear-olds. Soon, however, they perceived a quiet attentiveness in the room as the lecture progressed, and then they knew that those twenty-four third-graders were with them.

Louise left the makeshift rostrum and, with a pointer in hand, circulated about the gallery pointing out various masterpieces such as “Two Girls at the Piano,” “Madame Charpentier and Her Daughters,” “Luncheon of the Boating Party,” “The Swing,” “The Bridge,” and so forth. As she was talking, Louise sensed which paintings were favored by the group and which paintings did not impress them. After she finished her tour, Ann completed the lecture with some final comments about their being such respectful guests and reminded them to be sure to circulate about the Renoir Room and make any comment they chose to. Also, cookies would be served! The idea of cookies pleased everyone, and it was most interesting to observe the youngsters nibbling cookies and commenting about the art work:

“His women are fat!”
“I like his clouds.”
“I don’t like any of them.”
“He’s my favorite painter now.”
“I like the boy writing the best.”
“How much do they cost?”
“That woman is wearing a funny hat.”

Then it was time for Miss Hall’s children to return to their classroom. They thanked the two lecturers and filed out. That afternoon after school five third-graders returned to visit the Renoir Room “and only one asked for a cookie.

The Renoir Room lasted for two weeks during which many lectures were presented to all age groups. Every lecture was a success. The idea spread. The Midland School librarian allowed us to set up in her library a Picasso Palace that consisted of fifty Picasso paintings representing his five periods. At Osborn School the librarian began a program of lending reproductions for a week.

Children were being exposed to greatness, and they were responding positively.

Did every class visit the Renoir Room? Of course not! Why? It was not in the curriculum, and besides, how could a second-grader possibly understand Renoir? My answer was quite simple ““They would understand Renoir as a second-grader could understand Renoir.” I reminded the skeptics how, in response to a question about the meaning of his abstract works, Picasso once replied to the effect, “How does one explain the song of a bird? I paint for all ages, not just twenty-seven-year olds.”

Out of the Renoir Room came a love of a particular painting entitled “The Skiff.” Jimmy loved this painting so much that he requested that it be one of his Christmas presents, and I believe it is now hanging in the family living room. Also out of that Renoir Room came reading that would make the reading workbooks blush ... dictionary work that made sense and was practical ... speeches and recitations that had a purpose and were not just parrot work. Writing took place . . . writing ads to publicize the Renoir Room ... writing opinions of the work of Renoir. The students fed on Renoir “they feasted on this touch of greatness!

What does turning a classroom into a Renoir Room or a Cezanne Cellar have to do with school work? As one father so aptly expressed it, “I want my kid to go to school to learn ... yeah, even Renoir and all that crap!”

My phrasing is not quite that direct. I simply want children to be exposed to as many things as possible in all elementary grades. Sometimes at this level a tremendous impact occurs between student and greatness! Greatness can exist every day in each classroom “not only in the room of the specialists, but in every everyday classroom with every everyday teacher.

If a teacher doesn’t like the soft pastel world of Renoir, then why not turn the classroom into a Chagall Chamber, or a Degas Den, or a Modigliani Mansion? But do turn your classroom into something and at least once a year expose your students to an unknown quantity. Step back and let the students explore. Step way back, and let the experience be their success, not something you taught them. When children achieve success on their own, a love of the subject develops and they have an exhilarating sense of fulfillment that never fades away.

Prints needed for a classroom gallery are not expensive. Don’t wait for petty cash or school board approval, or your gallery will never open. Prints can be purchased in almost any book store for about $2 each, or they can be borrowed from most local public libraries. Obtain the cardboard prints for they are more receptive to rougher handling.

Why wait until students go to the art teacher to be exposed to a great painting? The same is true with music. Why wait till the music period? When children enter an everyday classroom in the morning, why shouldn’t Toscanini be conducting?

If the excitement of greatness does not exist in your own school, create your own room of greatness. Of course you can’t do it all by yourself, but you can obtain all the help you need from the painters of the world and the composers and the writers. Children grasp greatness very quickly!

This feature: Cullum, Albert. (1973). The Renoir Room. (From: Push Back the Desks). Goodell, C. (Ed.). The Changing Classroom. New York. Ballantine Books. pp.281-286.