Looking at Pictures: An Introduction to Art for Young People (Hardback) - Common

by Joy Richardson

Featuring more than 150 stunning illustrations in full color, combined with clear, entertaining prose, "Looking at Pictures "introduces readers to the basic concepts and vocabulary of painting. This revised edition has a fresh, contemporary design; all art has been re-scanned and separated; the specs and captions have been updated based on new information; and five new images resulting from technical and curatorial advances are included. Drawing on the incomparable collection of The National Gallery, London, the book features Leonardo, Rembrandt, Matisse, Seurat, Picasso, and many more. Watercolors by Charlotte Voake add humor and charm. The book includes an index of artists and subjects.

Genres: Art, Childrens

80 pages, Hardcover

First published January 31, 1997

Reviews

[Leah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read this aloud with the kids for school. It's very informative and interesting. I highly recommend it as an easy to grasp and entertaining peek into the world of art.

[Hattie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic book from my childhood collection

Some interesting things I learnt:
- The national gallery was opened in 1824 with only 38 paintings
- Paintings taken to Wales in a truck during WW2, but one at a time was brought back as painting of the month
- Microscope shows grains of sand stuck on Monet’s beach picture
- Apparently weird enormous horses with tiny heads do exist (no reference provided, and a cursory google search says van dyck just wanted the horse’s neck to look particularly muscular)
- Canaletto used Prussian blue for his venetian sky, which I will try to remember next time I use a Perls stain

Favourites paintings from this book:
Boulevard Monmatre (Pissarro)
Lady Jane Grey (Delaroche)
Tobias and the Angel (Verrocchio)
Winter landscape (Friedrich)
St Jerome in his study (Messina) - the quail, the Derpy lion, the enticing windows
The Annunciation (Crivelli)
- Mary being shot from heaven with a laser pointer
- The giant gherkin precariously balancing on the edge of the painting
- St Emidus barging in and accosting the Angel Gabriel on his way to Mary in order to show him a model of his town (Do you have a moment to hear about our lord and saviour the town of Ascoli)
Winter Scene with skaters near a castle (Avercamo)
House in Delft (de Hooch)
Self portrait in a straw hat (Elizabeth Vigée le Brun)

Great lines:
- Why does Tobias have a dog that is transparent, and why is Saint George killing a dragon that is perfectly under control on a lead?
- This painting is like sweet music for the eyes.
- Pink sunlight struggles through the smoggy atmosphere which fades Big Ben to a ghostly finger.
- Paintings live longer than people

[Natasa · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is so cool! I love it! There are so many details in some of the paintings. You really need time to look at them and appreciate all the little things. Amazing! I’ve visited the National Gallery many times, and I am familiar with many of the paintings, but I am still in awe at some of the things that I haven’t spotted before. Did you know that the mirror in van Eyck’s “The Arnolfini portrait” has scenes from the life of Christ painted on the frame? Wow! What a skill and so much attention to detail.

[Jane Scholey · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have used this book with a number of classes in school as a starting point for interrogating a picture/portrait/work of art in art lessons. it looks at particular pictures and discusses aspects such as story telling in paintings, symbolism and the use of light etc. it is a great non-fiction book for chn to read themselves but also a very useful book for teachers to have when considering art and artists.

[Cindi · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was an excellent children's book that introduces many of the famous artists from the last several hundred years. It discusses in some detail different techniques that artists used including information about paint used, perspective, light, shadows, still life, portraits etc. I plan to read this one to my kids and then visit the art museum and see what we have learned!

[Gary · Rating 3 out of 5]

Useful for a complete beginner like me.