Art that tells a story is called narrative art. It often contains realistic images with diverse subject material. Narrative art reveals to the viewer what is happening in the painting and it can often leave us wondering what will happen next, encouraging us to fill in the gaps with our imagination. A lot of historical events have been recorded through visual art. Narrative painting was very popular in Victorian times and is helpful today for understanding what life was like in the past.

Gill Watkiss, Walking Out, Blaenau Ffestiniog, 1989

ACTIVITY: EXPLORING NARRATIVE PAINTINGS

Select some artworks and in a group discuss what you think is happening. It’s a good idea to get everyone to observe the artwork carefully and to note down what they see in terms of objects, people, actions, scenery.

Questions you could discuss:

• What story do you think the painting is trying to tell?
• What in the picture makes you think that?
• When do you think the painting was painted?
• Why do you think the artist included the people, objects, or landscapes?
• Discuss the scene and the people in it. Are they happy or sad? What are they doing?
• Do you think the colours in the artwork help to tell the story and if so, how?
• What do you think is going to happen next? What part of the painting makes you think that?
• Does it remind you of any stories?
• What does the artwork make you feel?
• If you had to give a title to this painting, what would it be?

William Powell Frith, The Railway Station, 1862

MATERIALS

• Enlarged images of narrative paintings
• Large screen connected to a laptop to see paintings as a group
• Post-it notes

Artist Inspiration: Julius Caesar Ibbetson, William Powell Frith, Gill Watkiss, David Wilkie

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