Another in the excellent ArtVenture series, this colourful book covers traditional (Flemish School) and contemporary art and artists from Rubens and Hobbema, through Martin, Nash, and Hokusai to Hockney and O'Keefe. Chinese, Iranian and American art feature; movements touched on include Cubism, Romanticism, Abstraction, Impressionism and Post-Impressionism.

This is an intense text, and although it could be used to discuss themes such as war and peace and to study Fine Art, of the three books that I have reviewed in this series (see Families and Telling Tales), it is perhaps the hardest to access for pupils. Individual paintings or artists could be studied using this text, but at KS2 it could be slightly unnerving, if pupils read it alone. It makes many useful points for GCSE and beyond, in terms of the History of Art of Art Appreciation.

 Altdorfer's 'Battle of Issues' and J.M.Turner's 'Snowstorm: Steamboat off a Harbour's Mouth (1842) for example, although fascinating visual texts, do not reproduce well here in miniature. However, the colour quality of most of the reproductions is excellent. Key terms are written in bold, and the layout is helpful, with about the right amount of written text on a page for an upper KS2 pupil to absorb, with guidance. In 'Landscapes of the Mind' readers are asked to consider a photograph by Lielsmann - a useful introduction to studying representations in other media, it would link well to Maths (symmetry) and RE - placed as it is opposite 'Landscapes of the Mind' - and a fire mandala but an unknown Tibetan craftsperson. As always in this rewarding series, a section contextualises the artists and gives full details of each painting or photograph (About the Artists) and a Glossary of terms- the latter emphasising the cross-curricular possibilities of this text. The size if just right for young hands. The blank endpapers could be better filled, but overall I would recommend this resource as a way into studying and enjoying great works of art. Enjoy alongside others in this series.

Buy this Book

2008-06-21