Customer Reviews

Frederic Remington (Getting to Know the World's Greatest Artists)

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I have read a couple dozen of Mike Venezia's books in his Getting to Know the World's Greatest Artist series, and although I have not kept a careful count this volume on "Frederic Remington" might have more illustrations than any of the others. There are thirteen paintings by Remington, to go along with three magazine covers, three etchings, three cartoons, and one bronze sculpture. There are also three photographs of Remington, a painting by another artist, and nine of Venezia's cartoons. So that is three dozen illustrations (and I would say that Venezia does not even use some of Remington's most famous paintings, such as "The Scout: Friends or Foes?" and "The Fight for the Waterhole"). As you would expect, most of the paintings represent the Old West, but there is also one from his coverage of the Spanish-American War ("Charge of the Rough Riders").

The point of these books is to introduce children to art and artists, and Venezia will not only provided biographical details on Remington's life, but insights into his art work. So Venezia talks about how Remington liked to paint running horses, and to make viewers wonder what was going to happen next and use their imagination to figure things out. The biographical part pretty much comes in the middle of the book, and then Venezia returns to examining Remington's work, including the way how he painted American Indians in his films changed over time. Consequently, whether you are a younger reader or one of the older variety, you will understand the basic details of Remington's life and the key themes of his artwork.

I always like the way Venezia uses humor to help his young readers learn key things about these artists. For example, when Remington became more successful he put on a great deal of weight and began working from a rocking chair (so he could easily lean back to view his work and quickly move forward to start painting again). So Venezia draws himself trying out both of Remington's technique and I would like to see young readers forget that image once they have seen it. There are more volumes in the Getting to Know the World's Greatest Artists series than there are illustrations in this particular volume, so you can keep checking out more of Venezia's books to learn about artists from Botticelli and El Greco to Picasso and Van Gogh, all done in the same spirit of fun. Bet you cannot read just one.

Fantastic Book for Young Artists

Absolutely wonderful child friendly books about artists.