TITLE: Set Adrift on Ships of Bliss

WORLD HISTORY: Luxury Liners and Art

TEKS:

6.3 A, B 6.22 A, B, C, D, E

OBJECTIVE:

The students will discover various luxury liners such as
Titanic, Lusitania, and the Queen Mary through the lithograph Adrift by
artist Robert Stackhouse.

MATERIALS:

• See image below

OVERVIEW:

Robert Stackhouse was born in Bronxville, New York in 1942. Throughout his life he was always very comfortable near water; this would highly influence his works of art. He loved life at the beach, sitting on docks, drifting in rowboats, and sailing model boats at his family's lake house in New York. In 1991-1992, Stackhouse explored images of historic luxury liners such as The Titanic and The Queen Mary. It was through these images he discovered large-scale painting offered the greatest expression of his feeling about these subjects. Currently, Stackhouse is a visiting lecturer at both the University of Hawaii and the University of Denver, Colorado. He resides in Kansas City, though he considers New York his permanent home. The Lithograph Adrift conjures up ghostly images of ocean liners that were lost at sea during the early years of the 20th century. The Titanic, the largest ship of her day, on her maiden voyage, was lost to the depths of the North Atlantic on a cold night in April 1912 after striking an iceberg. The Lusitania sunk off the coast of southern Ireland in May 1915 by a German Torpedo.

DISCUSSION:

Students should view the lithograph by Robert Stackhouse and discuss the
following questions:

1. What do you think lithograph and adrift mean?
2. Describe what you see in the lithograph. What is your interpretation of
   this image?
3. Why do you think Robert Stackhouse named this lithograph Adrift?
4. Why do you think Robert Stackhouse used the colors he did in the
   lithograph, Adrift?
5. Do you think this lithograph is an historical interpretation of maritime
   disasters? Explain your answer?
   

ASSIGNMENT:

After researching articles on luxury liners of the twentieth century, the
students should prepare investigative reports on luxury liners of their
choice, using written sources as well as photographs and share their findings with the rest of the class.

RESOURCES:

Publications:
Ballard, Robert. Exploring the Lusitania. New York: Warner Books Inc.,
1995.
Education Packet, Amarillo Museum of Art
Gruber, J. Richard. Stackhouse. Georgia: Morris Museum of Art, 1999.
Marriott, Leo. Titanic. New York: Smithmark Publishers Inc., 1997.

Internet Links:
http://www.ask.com (type in Robert Stackhouse) various web sites to explore.
http://www.ask.com type in Titanic, Queen Mary, Lusitania, Britannic, Normandie, Andrea Doria) this will take you numerous web sites to explore on luxury liners of the twentieth century.