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4.0 out of 5 stars
great intro to the pop art, April 15, 2001
This review is from: Pop Art (Art Revolutions) (Hardcover)
Linda Bolton's book _Pop Art_ is a good introduction to the Pop Art movement, particularly for middle-school and highschool aged children.
This book has a photograph of Claes Oldenburg's "Floor Burger," a hamburger sculpture 6 feet wide! Also, Mel Ramos' "Man of Steel," which shows Superman bursting through a metal wall, and Andy Warhol's "Triple Elvis," which will appeal through a mixture of conveying the campy and the cool-- a triple frontal image of Elvis in full cowboy getup, pointing a six-shooter.
Imagine. If children got to look at this book, they might think that art is FUN!
There is a general introduction over the first few pages, followed by two page spreads on Roy Lichtenstein, Andy Warhol, Claes Oldenburg, Allan D'Arcangelo, Tom Wesselmann, James Rosenquist, Richard Hamilton, Peter Blake, Patrick Caulfield, and David Hockney. There are a few images, with accompanying text, on works by other artists, like Robert Indiana and Ed Ruscha.
I personally would have given Ruscha a 2-page spread like Warhol and those other guys got, but nobody asked me.
The accompanying text is well written and interesting, with insights and explanations that would work well for a 10-year old reader.
I would have loved to see a pull-out of James Rosenquist's F-111 here, but I suppose it really doesn't work with the picture-book 32 page format. It's his most famous painting, or so I thought, but such a long image doesn't work well on this page shape.
This book could serve as a good introduction to the Pop Art artists for an adult as well, but there are many other books that would do the same job better.
The back of the book includes some helpful resources: a glossary, a list of notable galleries and museums, a list of 3 websites (2 of the links even still work!), and a list of three other books to read. (one on Warhol, one on Roy Lichtenstein, and one on modern art in general).
I don't recall ever seeing a children's book just on Pop Art before. This publication fills a great need.
It should be fun for any children who are interested in famous painters and paintings. In my experience, children are DELIGHTED to find out that cartoon and advertisement images and styles can be appropriated into "serious art" or can be taken seriously by people who write about art and decide on what art goes into museums and galleries.
This should make an excellent purchase for home-schooling families studying 20th century art. It also should be a smart purchase for middle school, high school, and public libraries.
Buy it for yourself! It's a neat book.
ken32
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