INTRODUCTION Discovering Great Artists offers children hands-on activities to explore the styles and techniques of the world's greatest artists. Each art process focuses on one style and one artist. A brief biography and portrait of each artist adds depth and interest to the art project. The most important aspects of the art projects are discovery, exploration, and individual creativity. The finished product will be an indirect benefit. Discovering Great Artists introduces children to the great masters. Many great artists will be familiar names, like Michelangelo, da Vinci, Picasso, Rembrandt and van Gogh. Other names will perhaps be new, such as Arp, Nevelson, Hokusai, or Paik. Each featured artist has a style that is readily imitated and explored by children, with a life history that will inspire or add depth to the experience. Try one or try them all! Discovering Great Artists is a book of exploring. Young children are usually most interested in the process of art, not the finished product, and may or may not show interest in the associated art history or art appreciation. Many will be curious and can absorb as much as their interests allow. Most older children will want to know more about the artist's life and how it affected the artist's style. No one is required to learn the history of each artist or the eras or movements they represent. The information on each page is offered as a source of reference and inspiration for interested learners. Don't be surprised if children want to collect information about different artists much the way they collect baseball cards and statistics. Discovering Great Artists encourages children to learn by doing, to become familiar with new ideas. If a child experiences painting with the impasto paint van Gogh used in his swirling, expressive brushstrokes, then that child will feel more comfortable and familiar as an older student or adult studying van Gogh. Imagine visiting a gallery in Paris and seeing that same impasto style by van Gogh in person! Many children have expressed that it is like meeting an old friend. The most important thing for the child is to explore new art ideas and techniques. Above all, the activities are "open-ended". It is up to the child to decide exactly how his or her work of art will turn out. Independent thinking is encouraged, while skills and responsibility are enhanced through individual decisions. Discovering Great Artists offers art activities to expand the creative experience and awareness of children in all aspects of the visual arts through: painting, drawing, printing, sculpture, architecture, and other manipulations of art materials. The activities in this book work well for all ages and abilities, from the most basic skill level to the most challenging. Repeat projects often and see new outcomes and learnings each time. Discovering Great Artists encourages children to expand their knowledge. Getting to know great artists will inspire children to read books, visit museums, go to the library, collect information, and look at the world in a new way. They will begin to encompass a greater sense of history and art appreciation and see themselves in the scope of time. Perhaps they will be inspired to carry art in their hearts as they grow and develop. They are already great artists in every sense of the word. ART RESOURCES: Resources for wonderful art materials are everywhere you look -- in libraries, in stores, in museum shops, in catalogs, in the trash! Once you start looking, they will seem to appear out of nowhere! Some are free while others range from inexpensive to costly. Books with colorful reproductions of artwork are readily available at libraries and bookstores. Posters and prints of famous artwork can be purchased from catalogs, bookstores, museum shops, or checked out from most libraries. Illustrations can be cut out of magazines and used books, then mounted on cardboard to create small posters and cards. Many videos and slide sets are available for school and home use. The internet offers connections with museums around the world, with thousands of great paintings to view. Visits to museums, art galleries and the studios of local artists, give children eyewitness, hands-on experiences with works of art. Free brochures and catalogs of expensive art prints can be cut apart and used in many ways. The following resources for books, prints and other art history materials are suggested. Contact all of them for their free brochures and catalogs. BOOKS ABOUT ARTISTS FOR CHILDREN • Eyewritness Art, series by Colin Wiggins Over 10 books. Like having a private art gallery or museum. Available on Perspective, Watercolor, Monet, Manet, Goya, Renaissance, and more. Post Impressionism is excellent. Published by Dorling Kindersley, Inc., New York, NY Look at other publications by Dorling Kindersley. • The Famous Artists, series Offers 8 excellent paperback books on famous artists, including Miro, Da Vinci, Michelangelo. Many others. Published by Barrons Education Series, Inc., Hauppauge, NY • The First Impressions, series Offers at least 17 titles developed especially for young people (and old people who like things simple and sweet!), with each artist's own works and life story. Titles include: Chagall, Cassatt, Frank Lloyd Wright, Rembrandt, Wyeth. Many more. Published by Harry N. Abrams, Inc., New York, NY • Getting to Know the World's Greatest Artists, series by Mike Venezia Gives children a delightful glimpse into the lives of 13 different artists and their works. Published by Children's Press, Chicago, IL POSTERS AND ART PRINTS Write to each supplier for a catalog, price, and availability. Many of the catalogs will be sources for cut-and-paste activities using prints of great art. Prints, Posters, and Laminated Reproductions • Art Extension Press, Box 389, Westport, CT 06881 Dover Publications (Print Portfolios), 31 East 2nd St., Mineola, NY 11501 • Parent Child Press (Art Prints for Children), PO Box 675, Hollidaysburg, PA 16648 • Shorewood Reproductions, 27 Glen Rd., Sandy Hook, CT 06482 • University Prints, 21 East St., Winchester, MA 02890 Postcard Art Reproductions • Abbeybille Press, Inc., 488 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10022 • Dover Publications - see above • Parent Child Press (Mommy, It's A Renoir materials) see books above • Pavilion Books Limited, 196 Shaftesbury Avenue, London WC2H 8JL, England • Running Press, 125 S. 2nd St., Philadelphia, PA 19103 Programs, Textbooks, Newsletters, and Other Books • Art Image Publications, PO Box 568, Champlain, NY 12919 • Art Media, Etc., 1905 Studebaker Pl., Gold River, CA 95670 • Bright Ideas for Learning, series, art activity books by MaryAnn F. Kohl, Bright Ring Publishing, Inc., PO Box 31338, Bellingham, WA 98228-3338 • Crizmac, PO Box 65928, Tucson, AZ 85728 • KidsArt, art education booklets, PO Box 274, Mt. Shasta, CA 96067 • Dale Seymour, PO Box 10888, Palo Alto, CA 94303 • Davis Publications, 50 Portland St., Worcester, MA 01608 • Wilton Programs, PO Box 541, Wilton, CT 06897 Museum Reproductions • Metropolitan Museum of Art, Special Services Office, Middle Village, NY 11381 • Museum of Fine Arts, PO Box 1044, Boston, MA 02120 • Museum of Modern Art, 11 West 53rd St., New York, NY 10019 • National Gallery of Art, Publications Services, 2000 B. South Club Dr., Landover, MD 20785 • St. Louis Art Museum, Resource Center, Forest Park, St. Louis, MO 63110-1380 • Whitney Museum of Art, 945 Madison Ave., New York, NY 10021 • museum gift stores • all local art galleries and museums with art THE INTERNET • Museums and galleries around the world have sites on the internet, with more added each month. This is a new and changing medium. Our best recommendation is to use a search option to find names of individual artists or museums. These searches will yield the most current information, and by following the links suggested, a world of information and images will be discovered. DON'T FORGET • The public library has the most to offer for children's curiosity, found both in the children's and the adult departments. Enjoy the discovery of searching for materials to supplement Discovering Great Artists based on the curiosity of each individual child. • Free catalogs are available from museums and museum shops, filled with reproductions of great art that can be cut apart to your heart's content! Excerpted from Discovering Great Artists: Hands-On Art for Children in the Styles of the Great Masters by MaryAnn F. Kohl, Kim Solga All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.
