Splat! is the history of art at its most exciting and outrageous. Organized by artist and covering key events and major movements such as the Renaissance and impressionism to surrealism and contemporary art, it is a valuable resource for young art lovers.
Each artist is introduced with bulleted facts including their country of origin, most famous works, the movement they belonged to, techniques they employed, and the greatest challenges they faced in creating their art. This overview offers further insight into who these artists were and how they changed the course of art history. Here are Michelangelo and the High Renaissance; Pieter Bruegel and his paintings of everyday peasant life; Édouard Manet and the shock of impressionism; and Marcel Duchamp and the Dada revolution. Children can also learn the life stories of artists, such as Caravaggio, Johannes Vermeer, Henri Rousseau, Vincent van Gogh, Wassily Kandinsky, and Frida Kahlo, who dared to imagine new ways of depicting the world.
Reviews
Richards profiles 20 well-known visual artists, moving chronologically from Michelangelo to Warhol. After a brief overview of ancient art, Richards devotes four pages to each artist, providing sketches of their backgrounds and artistic goals, full-page reproductions of some of their best-known works, a few paragraphs on their upbringings and careers, and supplemental images, timelines, sidebars, and tidbits. Succinct writing provides clear snapshots of the artists' struggles, beliefs, and influence.
— Publishers Weekly
An exceptionally informative art book.
— San Francisco Book Review
Wonderful for budding artists of any age.
— Picture Book Depot
Contributors
Mary Richards
Author
Mary Richards is an award-winning art publisher, writer, and illustrator. She adapted and edited David Hockney's best-selling A History of Pictures for Children and is the author of A History of Music for Children and A History of Words for Children.
