Tanglewood Education: Visual Art Selections

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             Tanglewood Suggestions:
Any grade(s):   -Venezia book to correspond w/chosen artist
                              *We usually study (2) a year; and focus on
                                artists whose works are featured at the
                                National Art Gallery... it's exciting to see them
                                "in person" every once in a while.

                             -Use the following link to see actual works
                              of art categorized by artist:
         www.artrenewal.org/asp/database/contents.asp
...................................
*Study one topic for as long/short of a time you want, then move on to another that interests you. Don't worry about matching up the time periods with what you are studying in history. Rather, start off with something you like and you think your children will appreciate..

                                                -Visual Arts
                                                          -Musical Arts
                                                          -Physical Arts

   We think that this series of books written by Mike Venezia are the absolute best art books around!
*Another bonus- they're usually readily available at libraries!
   Each book has beautiful color reproductions of both the featured artist's work
and works by other artists for comparison's sake, the
artist's biographies are fun to read, and art history is "artfully" woven in.
   If there is an orange v by a topic, it means that a corresponding book by Venezia is available.

Arts of the Ancient world
Our spine book covers the following topics:
-Prehistoric Art: cave paintings, carved figurines
-Ancient Egyptian Art: art for afterlife, hieroglyphics
-Greek Art: painting, sculpture, and architecture
-Roman Art: engineering, architecture, painting, mosaics

Arts of the East and Africa
Our spine book covers the following topics:
-Art of China: painting, porcelain
-Art of Africa: masks, sculpture

Art of the Middle Ages
Our spine book covers the following topics:
-Medieval Churches
-Illuminated Manuscripts

Art of the Renaissance

-Giotto v
-Brunelleschi, Donatello
-Botticelli v
-da Vinci v
-Michelangelo v
-Raphaello
Sanzio

Five European masters

-Jan van Eyck
-Rembrandt v
-Vermeer v
-Velazquez
-Goya v

Impressionism and Post-Impressionism
Our spine book covers the following topics:
-Degas v
-Monet v
-Cassatt v
-Cezanne v
-Van Gogh v
-Seurat v
-Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec v

Art of America

-Arts of Native America: woodcarvers of the NW, pottery
                                            makers of the SW
-Colonial Historical Painting: Benjamin West,
                                            Charles Willson Peale
-Anonymous American Primitives v (Grandma Moses)
-Painters of a Changing Nation: George Catlin,
                                            Winslow Homer

(This Venezia book is hardcover. I couldn't find a soft-cover one, but they may be available.)

Art of Mexico

-Ancient Mayans
-Diego Rivera v
-Frida Kahlo v

Art of the 20th century

-Henri Matisse v
-Pablo Picasso v
-Georgia O'Keefe v
-Louise Nevelson
-Jackson Pollock v

Computer Art

-April Greiman

More Useful Art Books

More books by Venezia:
-Whistler (1834-1903, American)
-Raphael (1483-1520, Italian)
-Rousseau (1844-1910, French)
-El Greco (1541-1614, Spanish)
-Renoir

The "Katie" books:
My girls love these books (and now recognize how/why museums group art work)! In each one, while visiting a museum with her grandmother, Katie has an adventure with 5 prominent paintings from a particular era.

-Katie and the Mona Lisa (Mona Lisa- da Vinci, An
              Angel with a Lute, St. George and the Dragon-
             Raphael, Primavera-Botticelli, Lion of St. Mark-
             Carpaccio)

-Katie Meets the Impressionists (The Luncheon, Field of
            Poppies- Monet, Girl with Watering Can, Her First
            Evening Out-Renoir, The Blue Dancers- Degas)

-Katie and the Sunflowers (Sunflowers, Cafe Terrace
          at Night, Van Gogh, Breton Girls Dancing,
          Tahitian Pastorals, Gauguin, Still Life with Apples and
          Oranges, Cezanne)

Degas and the Little Dancer
The "true" story of little Marie, who wanted to be a famous ballerina, and how she ended up being the most famous dancer of all! (My girls were so excited to see a reproduction of The Little Dancer in a local museum after reading this book. They loved seeing how Marie really looked!).