This work shows immigrants working in a New York sweat shop having their meal break. The image can be used for discussion of immigration/emigration visualising cultural transition in the Ghetto. A book containing contemporary photographs of the Lower East Side (New York) and images of the ghetto is available in the gallery library, in addition to the book ‘The Spirit of the Ghetto’ for which Epstein created the illustrations.

Strong emotions are conveyed in this pose of Van Gogh’s girlfriend Sien. He was concerned by social conditions (and how they had been depicted by Victorian artists and illustrators) and how circumstances led to ‘fallen women’ and not an inherent wickedness within themselves. If society improves their conditions, they will no longer have to rely on prostitution to survive. Van Gogh was attempting to save Sien by living with her (she was 5 months pregnant in picture but not with his child), and he produced a series of ‘family’ domestic interior scenes when the child was born (Sien left him after about a year and went back to being a prostitute). Van Gogh also hoped that by having this image reproduced as a lithograph print he could bring art to the masses cheaply but it failed to sell. The picture also contains elements of Symbolism (spring flowers showing new life and hope overhung by a gnarled dead branch which threatens that everything will die and wither), Japanese print influences are echoed in the tree at the side of the picture.

This scene of war provides a lively, action picture that can relate to contemporary photojournalism and the scenes and consequences of war that appear in our newspapers. It also relates to many contemporary computer games.

This shows a classical pose in the tradition of Greek or Roman art and can be followed by study of his painting ‘The Raft of the Medusa’ depicting exotic and emotive subject matter shown with a theatrical and sentimental idealism. This contrasts with the Cezanne picture, which shows the classic male posed in a less epic sense. It depicts four men in a contemporary leisure pastime picture with images of summer holidays or swimming.

This portrait shows a young man getting a job and leaving home, leaving his family, with this portrait to remind them of him. Pupils could make a picture to celebrate leaving Key Stage 3 summing up the things for which they would like to be remembered.

Mühsam was a Jewish artist, a friend of Kathleen and her family, and was one of many Dutch and German refugees who lived near them. This links as a talking point with 20th century conflicts, the holocaust and Hitler and with refugees fleeing and starting again in another country. Theo Garman himself had to go to South Harting to live with his grandmother when the three children were billeted out of London during the war time when many children were evacuated to avoid the bombing.

These pictures and the stories behind them give pupils the chance to reflect on the life events and concerns of previous generations and to look at and reflect on their own life through their study of art.

New Zealand (Maori) 'Hei-Tiki' GR324 (FIGURE STUDIES) a talisman worn around the neck.

Jacob Epstein 'Study for the Rock Drill' (Charcoal) GR72 (FIGURE STUDIES)

Use the rock drill image to construct A wall relief out of rolled-up newspaper, sellotaped and covered with papier mache.

Changes to your living space (bedroom design)

These images reflect public places where people meet to shop, worship, play, work etc. often a lively, busy place full of interactions but sometimes, as in the Gauguin print, with a more spiritual, private feel of the harmony between people and nature. We can reflect on our own observations and how we’ve changed within our environment and how the environment itself has changed (leisure centres, health centres, shopping malls etc.) in recent years.

The study of personal spaces may include designing a model of a den in a garden or a bedroom where people can create a magic space or a hiding place using visual and tactile qualities to realise intentions. More reflective, intimate, personal

images in the gallery include –