LOOK! Zoom in on Art - Hardcover

Wolfe, Gillian

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0195219120 ISBN 13: 9780195219128

Publisher: Oxford University Press, 2002

Synopsis

Look! is a dynamic, beautifully illustrated guide to teaching young people how to look at art. Acclaimed art educator Gillian Wolfe selected 18 paintings from around the world and across art history to help develop the art of "seeing" a painting from all perspectives--the most important skill in learning about art. Brilliant color reproductions and engaging instructions guide us to actively think about what we see when we look at art:
· Are we looking UP at flying trapeze artists or DOWN at clowns in the circus ring?
· What's happening THROUGH the archway in the background or BEHIND a posed group of children where a cat is staring at a pet bird?
· What happens when you turn a picture upside down?
· How does the artist make a picture look like the characters in it are moving quickly?
· How can you tell if a train interior is old-fashioned?
· What are the clues that a family at the dinner table is in the country?
Written especially for children but with a light-hearted approach that will delight adults as well, Look! is an ingenious approach to teaching children to enjoy art.

About this title

About the Author

Gillian Wolfe is Head of Education at the Dulwich Picture Gallery in London. She is the author of the Oxford First Book of Art, which was awarded the Parents' Choice Silver Honor Award.

From School Library Journal

Grade 2-5-Eighteen paintings have been carefully chosen to invite children to look up, down, outside, inside, close up, all around, etc. Questions and activities on each spread encourage intense viewing. For example, "Look Behind" features two paintings, The Scullery Maid and William Hogarth's The Graham Children. For the former, the author asks, "What do you think will happen next?" and for the latter, "How would their lives have been different?" Work from the Renaissance to the present day is represented, and subjects include trapeze artists, clowns, trains, animals, and children. The last section, "Look It Up," functions as an index, giving biographical information about the artists and where to view the paintings. Unfortunately, it does not include answers to the questions asked throughout the text, and some of them will not be entirely clear, even upon careful viewing. For example, for Eric Ravilious's Train Landscape, the author asks, "How can you tell that this is an old-fashioned train?" Many children won't be able to answer this without help. Overall, though, this book is a good introduction to different ways of looking at art.
Robin L. Gibson, Perry County District Library, New Lexington, OH
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Publication date: 2002
• ISBN 10: 0195219120
• ISBN 13: 9780195219128
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 40