Visual Art for Young People: "ArtVenture"

--by Hanje Richards

While researching artists’ biographies for a blog post, I came across this wonderful series of art books, geared toward 9-12 year olds, called the ArtVenture Series.

Inspired by the method used in galleries and museums in talking about art with children, readers are invited to look at the works and think about what the artists have done and why. Details in the works are pointed out and questions are posed for readers to think about. Outline information about the artists and the works (including a graphic representation of the works' relative sizes) are provided at the back of the book. A glossary and index are included.

Great for teachers, home schoolers, kids who are curious about all sorts of things, including art, and even for adults!

ArtVenture Series (all shelved in Juvenile Non-Fiction)

Action: Movement in Art - Artists use many different tricks and techniques to capture movement in their paintings or sculptures. This wonderfully attractive book explores these by looking at a wide variety of art, including works by Seurat, Delacroix, van Gogh, Monet, Hokusai, Turner, Pollock, Escher, Vasarely, Delauney, and Munch.

Families: Relationships in Art - In making images of families, artists choose to depict them in particular colors, settings, groups, and poses to show something special about their relationships. This title explores these choices by looking at a wide variety of art, including works by Rubens, David Hockney, Henry Moore, Stanley Spencer, Cranach the Elder, Mary Cassatt, Renoir, Peale, Gaugin, Matisse, Munch, Ford Maddox Brown, and Jan Steen.

Look At Me: Self-Portraits - Artists create self-portraits to show themselves as they want to be seen. Self-Portraits explores the various ways they have done this by looking at a wide variety of art, including works by Norman Rockwell, Rembrandt, van Gogh, Hogarth, Stanley Spencer, Rosalba Carriera, Durer, Frida Kahlo, Rousseau, Chagall, Peter Blake, Mignard, Andy Warhol, Wanda Wulz, and Paolozzi.

Sculpture: Three Dimensions in Art - Sculptors use all sorts of materials, such as clay, plaster, wood, metals, and plastics to create three-dimensional art. Author Thompson explores sculpture by looking at works by George Segal, Henry Moore, Bernini, Barbara Hepworth, Niki de Saint Phalle, Claes Oldenburg, Medardo Rosso, Deborah Butterfield, and Andy Goldsworthy.

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Sense of Place: Landscapes - Artists have pictured landscapes all over the world, at various times of day, in all weathers, and in every season. This book explores what they have seen, thought, and felt in landscapes by looking at works by O'Keeffe, Magritte, Rubens, Martin, Hobbema, Altdorfer, Delauney, David Hockney, Hokusai, Turner, Seurat, van Gogh, Homer, Nash, Stella, and Crali.

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Telling Tales: Stories in Art - Artists who want to tell a story in their works have to solve a problem: how to get the storyline across through still images. Thompson illustrates how they have done this by looking at a wide variety of works by Giordano, Gentileschi, Martineau, Wright of Derby, Grant Wood, Dorothea Lange, Ousmane Sow, and Rousseau.

Sound interesting? Check it out!