10 Fascinating Friedensreich Hundertwasser Art Projects for Kids
Think beyond the straight line and get creative with these Fascinating Friedensreich Hundertwasser Art Projects for Kids!
“If we do not honor our past, we lose our future. If we destroy our roots, we cannot grow.”
Who is Friedensreich Hundertwasser?
Friedensreich Hundertwasser Early Life
Hundertwasser was born to a Jewish mother in Vienna, at a time when Jews were being persecuted by Nazis. Nevertheless, Hundertwasser’s family managed to escape and he started learning art at a very young age. He was so caught up in observing art everywhere that he carried a set of paints with him at all times so he could capture whatever caught his eye.
Hundertwasser was no ordinary architect who simply loved buildings. He was keenly aware of the impact of humans on the planet and ensured all his constructions were sustainable, ecologically built, and reflective of the local culture. He himself lived in a house that used solar panels and biological water purification facilities.
If you look at Hundertwasser’s work, you’ll notice lots of bright colors, layers, spirals, and a clear absence of straight lines. In fact, Hundertwasser hated straight lines so much he called them ‘godless and immoral’. Even the floors he made were uneven! In short, all of Hundertwasser’s art is a celebration of individuality and a deviation from the straight, boring paths everyone seems to take.
This is also probably why this artist’s work appeals to children so much. They’ll enjoy the fantasy land-like creations in his paintings and his buildings. Let them celebrate their own uniqueness and learn that it’s fun to color and draw outside the lines as well!
10 Friedensreich Hundertwasser Art Projects for Kids
1. Hundertwasser Lollipop Flowers Watercolor Art
A common feature in many of Hundertwasser’s paintings are ‘lollipop flowers’, which are basically concentric circles in several colors. He believed that each of us was made of many layers, and these circles represent those layers. Deep Space Sparkle has a detailed watercolor project that focuses on the beauty of these layered flowers.
2. Recycled Hundertwasser Houses
Hundertwasser was a big proponent of eco-friendly living and avoiding wastage. Klassenkunst has a project that truly celebrates this philosophy with a recycled craft! Let kids gather odds and ends from around the house and build their own Hundertwasser-style house!
3. Hundertwasser Style Self Portraits
Being a great champion for individuality, Hundertwasser was amazed at why people would want to dress and live the same way as everyone else. He claimed that our clothes and our houses had to reflect our identity and our uniqueness. Help kids internalize this fact with a self-portrait done in Hundertwasser-style. Details over at Art Projects for Kids.
4. Hundertwasser Inspired Print Making Art
Mary making has a project that puts the focus on Hundertwasser’s love for houses. Make a stamp out of foam and use it to create houses of different shapes and sizes. Don’t forget to ensure each one is different from the other!
5. Hundertwasser Collage Portrait Paintings
Hundertwasser believed that each of us has five skins – the epidermis or actual skin, our clothes, our houses, our identity, and our earth. Suffield Elementary Art Blog tries to bring all this together in a fun project that includes multiple art techniques and inserts a picture of the child for a completely unique work of art!
6. Hundertwasser Houses Art
If you observe Hundertwasser’s art, you’ll see some recurring themes – bright colors, lots of spirals, and squiggly and wavy patterns. A Faithful Attempt has a project that attempts to bring together all these symbols into a single work of art. Make your own kind of houses and color them in a way that would make Hundertwasser proud!
7. Hundertwasser Inspired Collage Art
We know that the concentric circles in Hundertwasser’s art depict our layers or skins. But they are also representative of the cycles of nature, of which we are also a part. Deep Space Sparkle uses the collage technique to play around with concentric circles creating another lollipop flower art.
8. Hundertwasser Dreamscapes in Marker
This project by Art Room Britt is inspired by the painting ‘Irinaland over the Balkans’, which features a woman whose face extends on both sides into her surroundings. This artwork was created very intricately, and this project can help kids learn more about the techniques used.
9. Hundertwasser Haunted House Art Lesson
Hundertwasser considered himself the ‘Architecture doctor’ who healed ‘sick buildings’. Of course, for him, sick buildings were ones whose life was drained away by straight lines and boring symmetry. Faber Castell helps us do a little healing of our own by turning a standard haunted house into something very Hundertwasser!
10. Recycled Hundertwasser Collaborative Art
Hundertwasser’s mother was Jewish, and many of her relatives were killed in Nazi concentration camps. Hundertwasser believed that while maintaining our own unique identity, we needed to remember that we were all temporary residents of planet earth and had to stay united. Zilker Elementary Art Class celebrates this thought with a collaborative project made with recycled elements.
Looking at Hundertwasser’s work is something that you could do for a long time, observing all the little details and symbols he integrated into his work. These Hundertwasser Art Projects for kids should help them appreciate his work while also thinking about all that he stood for. Hundertwasser believed that every person had a right to decorate his or her own house in an individualistic manner, even if they lived in apartment complexes. Encourage kids to bring out their own uniqueness and let them know that there is no one out there as the theme!
Responses