Procedure:

1. Introduce and discuss the role of the artist as an interpreter of source material. Compare and contrast artist with historian in Step 4.

The Artist:

• Interprets data, makes choices, organizes, and creates something unique.
  
• Represents the world or something imagined or ideas, including both real and imagined qualities.
  
• Filters history, current events, and cultural and political occurrences for ideas.
  
• Answers questions he/she is interested in and creates something new.
  
• Conveys something that he/she wants to be valued and remembered.
  
• Reflects, critiques, and entertains society.

2. Print out color copies of Andy Warhol’s Jackie and Flash Series, or project these digital files for students to view during class discussion. Use the questions about each artwork on the handouts to guide class discussion.

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From left to right:  1. Source material from which Warhol cropped Jackie’s face for his portrait series. The Archive of the Andy Warhol Museum, Founding Collection Pittsburgh, The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts Inc.
2. Andy Warhol, Jackie (source for Warhol's "Jackie" series), 1963-64  Graphite, newspaper, and magazine collage on board 14 3/8 x 9 15/16 in. (36.5 x 25.2 cm.) The Andy Warhol Museum, Pittsburgh Founding Collection, Contribution The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc. Includes source photo by Henri Dauman
3. Andy Warhol, Studies for Jackie and Flowers, 1960s Felt-tip ink on wove paper 11 1/2 x 8 5/8 in. (29.2 x 21.9 cm.) The Andy Warhol Museum, Pittsburgh Founding Collection, Contribution The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc.

Jackie Series:

View and discuss the Jackie Series. Students should use visual clues in the images to inform their answers to questions on the handout.

1. Identify the artist’s source materials and determine whether they are primary or secondary sources.

2. While looking at the sources and the artwork continue to analyze the artist’s:

• Selection of images
  
• Editing
  
• Use of scale
  
• Use of printing
  
• Final presentation

3. Students should write their interpretation of the artwork. It should include what they think the artwork means and an explanation of how the artist achieved this communication.

4. Read the interpretation of Patricia Pugh Mitchell, Director, Kuumba Trust:

“I am immediately transported back to that dreadful day in Dallas when it all fell apart, and the curtains closed on the final act of Camelot. I was 10 years old when Jack Kennedy was assassinated. Those from my era may recollect the set of 77 collectable photo cards of the JFK family. My mother had meticulously saved anything and everything about Jack and Jackie, so I asked her to pull out the cards. She knew exactly where to go—the next day she placed the cards in my hand. My mom wore hats and cute suits just like Jackie—although she would never admit it. When I looked at my mother dressed for church—she was a mirror image of Jackie with a tan.”

5. Have students compare and contrast their interpretations with that of Ms. Pugh Mitchell.

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Andy Warhol, Flash - November 22, 1963, 1968 Three prints from portfolio of eleven screen prints, colophon and teletyle text on paper, 21 x 21 in. each. The Andy Warhol Museum, Pittsburgh Founding Collection, Contribution The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts

Flash Series:

View and discuss the Flash Series. Students should answer the questions on the Flash handout based upon visual clues in the images.

1. Students should identify Warhol’s sources for Flash, basing their answers on what is visible in the artwork.

2. Evaluate the accuracy of their answers. Warhol’s sources included:

Pictures of Lee Harvey Oswald, an advertisement for the Mannlicher-Carcano rifle, a photograph of the Book Depository’s sixth floor window, the presidential seal, press clippings of Jackie during the motorcade, photographs of John F. Kennedy taken from the television screen, news wire bulletins fabricated by the poet Phillip Greer to reconstruct the AP wire bulletins of that day, and a picture of a movie clapboard.

3. Students should identify whether these sources are primary or secondary.

4. While looking at the artwork, they should continue to analyze the artist’s:

• Selection of images
  
• Editing
  
• Use of scale and color
  
• Use of printing
  
• Final presentation

5. Students should compare and contrast their answers for the Flash Series with answers for the Jackie Series. Discuss whether having the source material along with the artwork aids in their understanding—explaining why or why not.

6. Have students write their own interpretation of the Flash Series.

7. Review the interpretations of Flash and Jackie in class.

Optional Activities:

Newspaper Activity link to activity in Art and Activities >

Analyze Critical Points of View: (link to POVs)
Compare and contrast these points of view with the students’ interpretations.