Name That Style: All About Isms in Art

by Bob Raczka

How many art styles can you name? Can you tell the difference between Naturalism and Realism? How about Cubism and Impressionism? In this book, art lover Bob Raczka clearly explains the basics of fourteen different art styles, spanning the 1430s to the 1970s. He also introduces such stylish artists as Jan van Eyck, Joseph Turner and Juan Gris. So get ready to brush up on your sense of style!

Genres: Art, Nonfiction, Childrens, Art History, History

32 pages, Library Binding

First published September 1, 2008

Reviews

[Angela · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book for a quick overview of different art movements.

[K. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bob Raczka, delivers on his promise of covering 14 styles (13 isms & one not) of art. The things that I liked in this book were

1. Clearly delineated what the style meant, its origins, famous painters who painted in that style, it's key characteristics and one striking full (facing) page illustration and why it belongs to said style - all in a single page
2. Introduced art & other terms in the body, highlighted them and briefly defined them at the bottom of the page in which they appeared
3. Brought up some isms that I'd plain not known or remembered thus differentiating Naturalism and Realism - Fauvism, Futurism and Op Art (none of which I'd ever heard of)

The things that I found somewhat lacking (these are quibbles)

1. Found no coherent flow - as in isms were neither arranged in alphabetical nor chronological order. Some isms which were a response to an earlier ism where arranged appropriately, but for a reader going back it was a little disconcerting - a short table of contents or index would have helped

2. Upon a second and third view, it appeared 80% of these isms had their origins in France (or Italy) - several (more modern) had their appearance in the United States. Maybe the book was better titled then All about Isms in Western Art - but this is personal quibble

3. The use of "cute" fonts for each ism on the top of each page, in my view detracted needlessly from what was otherwise excellent content.

Would recommend the book whole-heartedly for both adults and kids.

[Leiki Fae · Rating 2 out of 5]

A little primer for kids. I guess the test is whether I would buy it for my nieces and nephew, and the answer is, nah. Not enough women artists included, and the paintings featured weren't in my opinion the kinds of paintings that would pique a kid's interest in art/history. As an outline with some facts and dates to get your oriented, I would call this useful.

[Jayne · Rating 3 out of 5]

Educational, but too many words

[Becky B · Rating 5 out of 5]

A quick survey of 14 of the major art styles from the Renaissance to modern times. Each style is covered in a two page spread that provides one full page example of a piece of art of that style, a quick description of what makes the style distinct, when and where the style was popular, 5 of the most recognized artists who used the style, bullet points of the major characteristics of the style, and a paragraph explaining why the piece of art displayed is a good example of that style.

This is a fantastic quick survey of all of these styles. It is short, concise, to the point, but conveys all the necessary information. I also liked that half of the pieces of art aren't the typical ones used when talking about that style. A few of them I had never even seen before. Because of it's nice concise nature, this book has a broad variety of applications. It could be used in elementary through high school art classes when introducing a new art style. It could be used in history classes to tie in art with the time period being studied. And I know those studying for the Humanities CLEP test could use this to do a quick review of art styles. From Kindergarten through college, a useful resource.

Notes on content: No content issues. None of the art chosen has any naked people in it or gore, another bonus.

[Suzanne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Art is central to who I am and has been since I was a child, but I still get mixed up about style names in art, what Raczka calls -isms. This book uses clear, concise text and text features to make understanding fourteen different art styles painless.

Each of the fourteen different terms is explained in a double-page format: one side is a full-page example of the style and the facing page defines the term, gives examples of artists who created using this style, gives characteristics of the style [in bulleted format, and explains why the featured painting fits this style. Finally, each page ends in a colored definition box for terms that were highlighted within the text [highlighted in the same color as the definition box]. The page has plenty of "space" so the information is not overwhelming.

This informational book is genius. Why can't all writers use such straight-forward style in informational books-- not just about art?!

[Mia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Name That Style All About Isms In Art is a very informative book about different styles in art. I learned about how a piece of art in the style of realism and a piece of art in the style of surrealism are very different because surrealism is a dreamlike subject matter. And realism is usually ordinary people and everyday activities. These are two examples of the many more types of styles this book taught me about. In the book there were pictures for every style. One example is when explaining impressionism they used Woman with a Parasol by Claude Monet.

I really enjoyed reading this book on the different styles in art. I love art so I loved learning about art and different types of art. I also really liked the pictures it helped me understand the styles more. I suggest this book to anyone who likes art. I give this book a 4 out of 5

[Shelli · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fantastic book to share with children! Bob Raczka does a perfect job introducing fourteen different styles of art from Naturalism to Photorealism. Each style has a full color page that is a good example of that type of art and adjacent page describes: when and where that kind of art was popular, famous artists of the style and important characteristics to that art.
My daughter and I read a page each day and enjoyed going back and comparing the various styles. This would be a perfect book to take with you on a trip to a museum to discuss what grouping the works being viewed may fit into and why.

[Shannon · Rating 4 out of 5]

05/11: This book highlights Naturalism, Mannerism, Neoclassicism, Romanticism, Realism, Impressionism, Pointillism, Fauvism, Cubism, Futurism, Surrealism, Abstract Expressionism, and Photorealism.

For each "ism," Raczka highlights one particular work of art and "unpacks" it. He also answers the questions, "When and where was ____ism popular?," "Who are some of the most famous _______ painters?," What are some of _______ism's most important characteristics?" and "Why is this painting a good example of _______ism?"

It is an excellent little book that we will probably add to our collection. It is just too much for D. right now.

[Miranda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Raczka does a wonderful job of making art interesting for a younger audience. The layout of the book is beautifully composed, featuring a classic work of art on one side of the spread and information about the style of the work on the other. Each page contains descriptions of the style, a list of artists who implemented that style, and definitions of potentially unfamiliar "art" words. (I personally really enjoyed this book because I took Intro to Art this summer, and I was surprised by how much I remembered from the course that I could relate to this book!)

[Molly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Presents various art styles in a clear, concise manner. Each style (14 in all) is given two pages, one featuring a famous painting in that style, the facing page contains a brief summary, time line, list of famous artists, description of the featured work and vocabulary words. All in all, not terribly exciting, but very well done.

[Gwen the Librarian · Rating 4 out of 5]

Here is an excellent introduction to the various styles of in art, mostly in painting. It's perfect for children who often visit the museum, or those interested in art. Honestly, this is a perfect refresher for adults as well. Each style is highlighted with a characteristic painting and then definitions, terms, and artists are defined.

[Janet · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fourteen different art styles--isms--are explained in this book. Each ism has a pic of a representative painting and a concise page of info which includes time period and location; famous artists of the ism; and most important to me a very but inclusive list of the major characterics of the ism. It is a great intro to the isms and art appreciation. Good for children as well as adults.

[Benjamin N. · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought that Name That Style:All about Isms by Bob Raczka was great book if you are into art. The author went into great detail about each of the different styles of art from realism to surrealism.This is a very good, very informative book that is great if you want to learn about art or get ideas about what to draw or pain yourself. This is truly a very artistic book.

[Tricia · Rating 3 out of 5]

We skimmed this from a younger elementary perspective but the ideal audience is older elementary...the title would be helpful for reports. Only criticism is that just one visual example of a work of art is provided for each "ism".

[Julie · Rating 3 out of 5]

A really good resource!

[Sq.Hill Library · Rating 5 out of 5]

This has a really nice format. Each 2 page spread is dedicated to
one style of art, showing an example, famous artists, characteristics of the style.

[Benjabean · Rating 4 out of 5]

Neat to learn about art

[J · Rating 5 out of 5]

Quite interesting, if brief, overview of 14 artistic styles of painting .

[Reba · Rating 2 out of 5]

Needs more pictures!!

[Melanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very informative, at-a-glance look at different art forms. This book is a children's book, but I thoroughly enjoyed it.

[Kristine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Now I know! About all the art 'isms.

[Luc · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great at defining the different isms. Could be vastly improved by including many more pictures of art of each ism to better illustrate each one.

[Stephanie Molnar]

I wish it jsdpre styles, but I enjoyed it and it would definitely be easy for kids to understand.