Looking at Pictures Revised Edition: An Introduction to Art for Young People [Hardcover]

Joy Richardson (Author)

Book Description

Age Level: 10 and up | Grade Level: 5 and up

Featuring more than 150 stunning illustrations in full color, combined with clear, entertaining prose, Looking at Pictures introduces readers to the basic concepts and vocabulary of painting. This revised edition has a fresh, contemporary design; all art has been re-scanned and separated; the specs and captions have been updated based on new information; and five new images resulting from technical and curatorial advances are included. Drawing on the incomparable collection of The National Gallery, London, the book features Leonardo, Rembrandt, Matisse, Seurat, Picasso, and many more. Watercolors by Charlotte Voake add humor and charm. The book includes an index of artists and subjects.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 6 Up—Using the works in the National Gallery, London, Richardson examines various ways of looking at works of art. Chapters include types of paintings (landscape, portrait, still life, etc.) and techniques. The author walks readers through the process of looking at composition, light, color, and symbols, and draws interesting comparisons between different paintings with similar subject matter. However, the design of this book, with its small typefaces and lack of pull-quotes, gives it a dense quality that the interesting text does not deserve. The author makes many excellent points, but the layout does nothing to draw attention to them. Sketchy, cartoony illustrations seem a little young for the intended audience, take up valuable page space, and look anemic next to the richly colored, fine-quality art reproductions. In addition, the title and subtitle imply a comprehensiveness that is not represented within: all of the art is from western Europe, almost all of it is by men, and all of the works are paintings. Antony Mason's A History of Western Art (Abrams) is more comprehensive; The Art Book for Children (Phaidon, both 2007) is more lively. This revision does not represent a significant update of the 1997 edition, although the color is better.—Paula Willey, Baltimore County Public Library, Towson, MD END

About the Author

Joy Richardson is the author of several art-appreciation books for children and guides to the British Museum and the Museum of Mankind, both in London. The National Gallery, London, houses one of the greatest collections of Western European paintings in the world.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 10 and up
  
• Hardcover: 80 pages
• Publisher: Abrams Books for Young Readers; Revised edition (October 1, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0810982889
• ISBN-13: 978-0810982888
• Product Dimensions: 10 x 10 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #973,310 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Disappointed in the photo quality, February 16, 2011

By 

Momof3dd (Lexington, KY United States) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Looking at Pictures Revised Edition: An Introduction to Art for Young People (Hardcover)

The only reason I'm giving this book a 3 star is because it is a good introduction to art. However, I compared this book to the earlier edition of the same book and the photos in the revised edition are not as good as in the earlier edition. It's disappointing that one of the editorial reviews on Amazon stated the photos are better in the revised edition which is the main reason I chose to purchase this edition of the book. The photos are darker overall and less detail is able to be seen. Overall, I think it's a great book to use when introducing art to children but I would purchase the earlier edition instead of this one.