Skip to main content

Cave Paintings to Picasso: The Inside Scoop on 50 Art Masterpieces.


Bibliography:
Sayre, H.(2004).Cave Paintings to Picasso: The Inside Scoop on 50 Art Masterpieces. San Francisco: Chronicle Books.

Book Summary:
In this book, Sayre gives readers a list of 50 art masterpieces ranging from 22,000 B.C. to A.D. 1964. The art pieces cover a wide variety of styles. Sayre takes the readers on a world tour as they explore the art from the prehistoric age to the modern 21st century art of Rene Magritte in the “Son of man” and the Andy Warhol Campbell tomato soup can painting. The selection includes paintings that are not only famous but beautiful to look at.

My Impression
The paintings are chronologically organized according to time period. The author provides facts and analysis of each art piece. The size of each art piece is provided and a sidebar provides the artists timeline. The author gives background information, time period, some information about what was going on during the time period, and some facts about the artists who created these masterpieces. He also mentions the significance of the art piece to the time period where applicable. The author gives tidbits of information for most of the art pieces and focuses on the stories behind the art pieces such as how they were created, what inspired the artist, and their artistic backgrounds. The language is suitable for middle school children. However readers of all ages will enjoy looking at the colorful photos of the famous art pieces in this book. Parents and teachers can read this book to kids in upper elementary (grades 3-5) and high school kids can use this book to start research on art.
The author does not provide any reference aids or bibliography for this book which is drawback since this is an informational book. An index and a glossary of terms at the end of the book, though helpful, are not sufficient.

Reviews
From School Library Journal
Starred Review. Grade 5-10–The history of art is long and complex, yet Sayre has managed to show 50 major works of art from 22,000 B.C. to A.D. 1964 and successfully summarize the background of each one, the artist, and its social and historical context as well as the reason(s) it is important. The masterpieces discussed begin with Woman from Brassempouy and conclude with René Magritte's The Son of Man. The author's breezy style captures interest early on and is easy enough for beginning art students while remaining informative for teens. Many of the world's cultures are represented and a variety of techniques are explained: woodblock printing, painting, tapestries, primitive carving, sculpture, and more. The full-color reproductions are at least a quarter-page in size, though most are larger. A funky, framed inset box gives the title, medium, size, artist, and year the work was created. Though some pages seem a little crowded, the layout is energetic enough to forgive the loss of white space. A time line runs along the outside edge of the pages, with an asterisk marking the date of the depicted pieces. A dazzling and accessible introduction to art history.–Heather E. Miller, Homewood Public Library, AL
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Use in a Library Setting
This book can be used in a middle school art classroom to study different types of art styles, conduct research on a time period, art piece, or particular artist. It can also be used in elementary school classroom to introduce kids to art.

References
Book image from Barnes & Noble at: http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Cave-Paintings-to-Picasso/HenrySayre/e/9780811837675/?itm=1&USRI=cave+paintings+to+picasso%3a+the+inside+scoop+on+50+art+masterpieces

Popular posts from this blog

Redeeming Love: A Novel by Francine Rivers

Summary: Angel is the illegitimate child of a single mother. Her father is married and wants nothing to do with her. Angel’s mother has been rejected by her own parents for bearing a child out of wedlock. The society they live in ignores them. Angel is sold into prostitution as a young girl. She has known nothing but rejection throughout her life. Michael Hosea is a godly man sent into her life to rescue her and show her the redeeming and transforming power of God’s unconditional love. Francine takes us on an emotional journey of Angel’s rebirth. We witness Angel’s stubborn acceptance of present circumstances, Hosea’s persistent pursuit in the face of her rejection, Angel’s brokenness and healing as she finally accepts Hosea’s love. This is an inspirational story about God’s unconditional love and forgiveness.
Read more

Miss Smith and The Haunted Library

Bibliography Garland, M. (2009). Miss Smith and The Haunted Library . New York: Penguin Group. ISBN: 978-0-525-42139-9 Story Summary: Zack’s teacher, Miss Smith, takes the class on visit to the library. The fall morning which had seemed “dreary” takes an exciting turn when the students meet the spooky librarian, Virginia Creeper. The librarian reads from Miss Smith’s “ Incredible Story Book ”. The characters from the story literally leap out of the book as she reads and soon the library is filled with scary creatures and all the children cringe in fear, yet Virginia Creeper relentlessly reads on  unperturbed. The librarian then stops reading. She sets out apple cider and cookies and everyone, the children and the story book characters, all have a cookie and cider party together. Then suddenly Virginia Creeper remembers it is time for the senior citizens book club. She must clean up quickly.The senior cit...
Read more

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian

Bibliography: Alexie, S.(2007).The absolutely true diary of a part-time Indian. New York: Little, Brown. Book Summary Arnold Spirit, otherwise known as Junior, doesn’t get the best start in life; he was born with “water in his brain”. Even though he survived the surgery that drained this water, he was not left entirely unscathed. He developed too many teeth, he had poor eye sight, he had seizures, his body parts were un-proportional and he had a “stutter and a lisp”. For someone who has such a bad start in life, one would expect him to cave under all the pressure. But Junior draws cartoons to all the time. He draws “because words are too unpredictable”. The cartoons are his way of expressing himself in an otherwise mangled world. Junior knows that life at the rez will not amount to much; the school is still using text books that are at least thirty year old. He decides to transfer to a neighboring schoo...
Read more