Virtual CPP Day for Millet and Modern Art: From Van Gogh to Dalí

Craft a French Beverage

Use the recipe below to craft a Green Beast cocktail or mocktail. Imagine you’re sitting outside at a café on a beautiful summer day in Paris. You can see the Eiffel Tower in the distance, cars and tourists are whizzing by, and your server has placed a cocktail in front of you. Curious about the name and the color, you take a sip and are pleasantly surprised by its refreshing sweetness.

The name Green Beast refers to the drink’s green ingredients, which include cucumbers, limes, and absinthe. Derived from botanicals and tasting of anise, absinthe was popular in Paris during the 19th and 20th centuries, particularly with artists such as Vincent Van Gogh.

Cocktail
Ingredients
1 oz. Pernod absinthe (sold at most grocery stores!)
1 oz. Fresh lime juice
1 oz. Simple syrup*
4 oz. Water
Cucumber slices for garnish

Instructions
Add all ingredients to a highball glass with ice, and stir. Garnish with cucumber slices.

*For simple syrup, combine equal parts sugar and water in a saucepan, heat gently, and stir until the sugar is dissolved. Let cool before using. You can also find bottled simple syrup at the grocery store.

Mocktail
Ingredients
1 cup fresh squeezed lime juice
1 cup granulated white sugar
2 quarts water
Cucumber and lime slices for garnish

Instructions
Stir together lime juice and sugar in a 2 quart pitcher. Add enough water to fill the pitcher and stir until well combined. Garnish with cucumber and lime slices.

Listen to French Pop Music

Do you ever listen to music while creating art? Try listening to this French playlist and see if it gets your creative juices flowing while you create your Surrealist collage. How does this French pop music differ from American pop music?

Create a Surrealist Collage

The exhibition includes work by a wide range of artists influenced by Millet, including Salvador Dalí. Known for his unusual paintings and sculptures, Dalí was a key figure in the Surrealist movement. Collage techniques were used by Surrealist artists as a way to portray the inner-workings of their minds.

Materials

• Magazines and newspapers
• Scissors
• Glue or tape
• Crayons, colored pencils, markers, or paint
• Paper

Instructions
1. Use your imagination and think of a theme for your collage such as a dream you once had, a landscape (Paris, the beach, the forest), or a person.
2. Cut out images in your magazines and newspapers that fit with your theme – the more bizarre, the better!
3. Arrange your images on a piece of paper. Remember, the Surrealist artists were known for their unusual artwork.
4. Once you are happy with the placement, glue or tape the images to the paper.
5. Take a look at your collage and see if using paint, crayons, colored pencils, or markers would make your collage even more wacky. Maybe your tree needs ice cream cones for leaves!
6. Share your collage on social media using #STLArtMuseum

Sleuth the Museum’s French Art Collection

The Saint Louis Art Museum is home to numerous works of art with a connection to France. Can you help us find some of these masterpieces on the Museum’s website? Use the clues in the attached document to search the Museum’s collection. (Answers are included on the last page!)