A Child's History of Art

by V.M. Hillyer, E.G. Huey

Delightfully readable, yet quite informative. Hillyer's way of telling the story is so engaging to young readers (and old!)

Genres: Art, History, Nonfiction

First published January 1, 1934

About the author

Virgil Mores Hillyer

Reviews

[Maxime N. Georgel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Une histoire de la peinture écrite pour les enfants.

Il ne s’agit pas du premier livre pour enfants écrit aux XIX-XXe siècle que je peux lire et mon constat est toujours le même : que s’est-il passé pour que les enfants de nos jours soient tellement moins cultivés que ceux du passé à qui l’on pouvait proposer de telles lectures !

J’ai appris moi-même bien des choses par ce livre.

[Linda Hendrex · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautifully written but dated in some ways. On the good side, it is a fascinating read and it a good foundation on art history to grow from, as long as it isn't taken as the final word. The style of writing is timeless and it is hard to put down. It is very mainstream in it's perspective so there is not much creativity in the interpretations.

On the bad side - Because it is so old, the pictures are in black and white and there are not enough of them. A book on the history is not complete without - ART! This is a great book to use as a starting place but if you use this edition, be prepared to supplement with examples that are large and in color. Many trips to a local art museum are in order, and if possible a trip to one of the world's best art museums would be great. There are several editions of this book and some of the newer ones have a lot of lovely color pictures and they would be worthwhile to find. There is one edition that is in the form of a set of about 12 books, each exploring a different section of this single volume.

[Simone · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent. Looking forward to reading the rest of the series. This will be a great addition to our homeschool. Plan on using it with a 9 and 11 yr old, in chronological order through all three books. Ambleside Online has a list of all the chapters in chronological order which we will use. The art projects range from very easy to more difficult. I think we will pick and choose which ones we do, but I'm primarily using it as an addition to our history studies. It's interesting enough that I think this could work well with older children as well, up to late middle school/early high school. I probably wouldn't use it with younger kids than 9 yrs. Montessori "Child Size Masterpieces" program would be good for younger kids.

[Talbot Hook · Rating 4 out of 5]

I remember getting this from a homeschooled family member some years ago, and I finally got around to reading it during summer vacation. It's short, conversational, engaging, gossipy (not in a bad way but in a cute way — "Michelangelo was a curmudgeon," etc.), and a nice introduction to many Western painters, styles, and techniques. It discusses many key aspects of painting, from perspective to color, and many key traditions, from realism to surrealism. All the while it introduces the reader to technical elements of painting (gesso, tempera, fresco, etc.). It's a cute book that largely meets its object. The only fault is that the pictures are not in color, which makes discussions of color in the text rather unreal. Overall, charming and a good starting place in art history for children.

[LuAnn · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you ever thought about a quick personal study of some of the great artists, this book is a good place to start. I took a lot of art classes in high school and still learned a lot from these authors. I do, however, question some of their facts and may have to take some time to verify them, but as Hillyer was one of the greatest art teachers back in the day, most of what he says must be somewhat true. Since it’s written for children, it’s an easy read and the authors give suggestions on how to further the reader’s study.

[Sally · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very cute writing style. Read in Chinese.

[Elisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

V. M. Hillyer wrote this book over seventy years ago and it is still being recommended as excellent school curriculum today. Hillyer does a phenomenal job of making the art world interesting to children as well as to adults. He covers the major painters and art periods and then continues with sculpture and architecture. An adult would receive an excellent overview of the arts by reading this book and it makes an engaging book for children to be introduced to the world of the arts. At over 400 pages, it is a great investment.

[Nicholas & Megan Clinch · Rating 4 out of 5]

P 134 El Greco

[王佳欢 Jiahuan Wang · Rating 3 out of 5]

不是太好看，总体来说，很多地方讲的很抽象，书中所举的例子很多都没有相对应的图片。而且，里边很多翻译的名词人物总有些和现在惯用的不太一样。
不过总体来说，这会是一部非常好的书。让我的艺术细胞提升了一些，至少说这本书我并没有白读。只是没有达到太高的高度罢了。