Year 5’s Artwork Chosen to Appear in This Year’s National Gallery Take One Picture Exhibition

Just before Easter, Year 5 were delighted to learn that their artwork is set to appear in this year’s ‘Take One Picture’ exhibition at the National Gallery, London, as part of a national programme for primary schools which aims to inspire a lifelong love of art and learning.  

The Junior School has a long tradition of entering the highly regarded initiative and this will be the fifth time that its artworks will go on show at the Gallery.

Each year the National Gallery takes one picture from its collection to inspire cross-curricular work in classrooms across the UK.  This year the Gallery focused on ‘The Battle of San Romano’ by Paolo Uccello, showing the Florentine victory at San Romano in 1432.

In interpreting their response to the painting, Year 5 used plaster bandage to make sculptures of soldiers, horses and lances.  An armature strong enough to hold the weight of the plaster was required, with pupils making this by drilling into a wooden base and inserting dowels and solid art straws. They then worked in pairs to apply the plaster bandage, shaping it to the right forms, but also trying to convey different feelings. Once dry, some painted their work black to create two opposing sides, a bit like a chess set, or the black and white horses in the original painting. 

Commenting on their sculptures, Year 5 said:

• ‘In my sculpture the horse is swivelling its body to escape the arrows and spears’ Charlie 
• ‘My sculpture shows movement and sadness’ Omar 
• ‘My work shows kindness, because the soldier is patting the horse before he gets on’ Bertie 
• ‘There was an amazing transformation from some sticks and masking tape to an actual sculpture’ Sophie 

(Take One Picture exhibition date to be confirmed by the National Gallery according to government guidelines)

You can view images of the children developing their artwork, as part of a recent Junior School Art gallery, below.

Flickr album: Take One Picture - Junior School | Height: auto | Theme: Default