Picture Study: Children’s book suggestions for art and artists

Paul Cezanne

Mike Venezia

From Venezia’s Getting to Know the World’s Greatest Artists series. I really appreciated this book, I thought it struck a good balance of being accessible to children, whilst also helping them to appreciate the key points of Paul Cezanne’s work, and also his struggles. There are lots of large illustrations of Cezanne’s artwork.

Great Artists Book 3 (Ladybird)

Dorothy Aitchison

A wonderful series of short artist biographies from Ladybird, this volume covers Van Gogh, Gauguin and Cezanne. Each page is illustrated with a watercolour, and several of the pictures incorporate Cezanne’s works. I do really like these Ladybird biographies, but I think for Cezanne, the Mike Venezia book (coupled with picture study!) is better for deeply understanding what was new and interesting in Cezanne’s work.

John Constable

Edward Allhusen

This series of short (24 pages) biographies from the Medici Society are fairly accessible to children. This one on Constable in particular is quite easy to follow, and children can see how the circumstances of Constable’s life influenced his painting. You may wish to pre-read and be selective about which passages are more accessible to a young audience. We read through the whole book, but generally a couple of pages each week, incorporating a picture study on one of the works discussed on those pages.

The book has many many illustrations. Here are some of the more famous of Constable’s works that are discussed: Maria Bicknell, The Mill Stream, Boat-building near Flatford Mill, The Haywain, Salisbury Cathedral from the Bishop’s Grounds, The Leaping Horse, The Cornfield, Fording the River, Stonehenge.

Katie and the Waterlily Pond

James Mayhew

One of James Mayhew’s wonderful ‘Katie’ series of picture books about the works of different artists. This is a good introduction for younger children. Katie journeys through several of Monet’s paintings, meeting different characters. Not a biography, more of an introduction to the artist’s works. The paintings are: In the Woods at Giverny, Bathers at La Grenouillere, The Rue Montorgueil, Path Through the Poppies, The Waterlily Pond.

Claude Monet: The Painter who Stopped the Trains

P.I. Maltbie

This one is more of a story book than the previous Monet suggestions, and does not really have any illustrations of his art except in the Appendix. It is a nice counterpoint, in that it focusses on Monet’s paintings of the trains at Gare Saint-Lazare, whereas the other books are much more focussed on Monet’s flower and river scenes.

I would have preferred more inclusion of Monet’s actual artwork, to help children to build familiarity with his works.

Beautiful Useful Things: What William Morris Made

Beth Kephart and Melodie Stacey

This is a beautiful book, about beautiful things. There isn’t a huge amount of text content here, but the pictures are gorgeous, and very much in William Morris style. Was it worth the price tag? I am not sure. My children loved it and found it inspirational, which is surely one of the main points of studying art.

William Morris (V&A Introduces)

Anna Mason

This little book is certainly the more practical of the two William Morris book suggestions. It provides little snapshots of various aspects of Morris’s life and works, such as ‘Morris the designer’ and ‘The Arts and Crafts movement’. I particularly appreciated the pages exploring how his pattern designs were created. We really enjoyed reading a couple of pages each week as part of our picture study.

Katie and the Bathers

James Mayhew

Another book from James Mayhew’s Katie series, this time focussing on Pointillist artists. Katie jumps into different famous paintings and meets some of the characters. There are five paintings in this book, three of which are Seurat’s: Bathers at Asnieres, Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande, Port of Honfleur. This is only a brief introduction, the book does not have a biographical element, and it only discusses Pointillism briefly on the final page.

(The book also covers Woman Hanging up the Washing by Pisarro and Portrait of Felix Feneon by Signac).

J. M. W. Turner

David Thomas

This is not a children’s book, but it is fairly accessible for children, at 24 pages long with lots of pictures and short passages of text. I would say that my children found this one harder to follow than the Constable book in the same series by the Medici Society. There are some excellent paragraphs, and it may be better to preread and be slightly selective about what you use. We tend to read a couple of pages each week alongside our picture study.

‘It is interesting to notice that John Constable, only a year younger than Turner, had by 1802 only just begun to exhibit his pictures at the Royal Academy. Turner, by his landscapes, sea-pieces and topographical works in oil and watercolour, had become wealthy and successful; the originality of his works was not, as with Constable, a bar to success’.

The book has many many illustrations. Here are some of the more famous of Turner’s works that are discussed: Fishermen at Sea, Frosty Morning, The Bay of Baiae with Apollo and the Sibyl, Messieurs les Voyageurs on their return from Italy, The Burning of the Houses of Lords and Commons, The Fighting Temeraire, Rain Steam and Speed.

Katie and the British Artists

James Mayhew

Two of the paintings in this picture book are by Turner: Rain, Steam and Speed and The Fighting Temeraire. This is not a biography, but it is a nice introduction to some famous British artists for younger children. Katie jumps into various paintings, and meets different characters in them. There are a couple of paragraphs only of biography and description of Turner’s paintings at the end of the book.

Other artists and works mentioned: The Cornfield (Constable), Whistlejacket (Stubbs), The Painter’s Daughters Chasing a Butterfly (Gainsborough).

Great Artists Book 3 (Ladybird)

Dorothy Aitchison

A wonderful series of short artist biographies from Ladybird, this volume covers Van Gogh, Gauguin and Cezanne. Each page is illustrated with a watercolour, and several of the pictures incorporate Van Gogh’s works. The biography is sensitively done, but it does accurately reflect some of the sadder aspects of Van Gogh’s life. ‘They soon began to quarrel and Van Gogh threw a glass at Gauguin. He then followed Gauguin through the streets with an open razor. When Gauguin took refuge in a hotel, Van Gogh, in a frenzy, cut off part of his own ear and was taken to hospital.’

There is also a short explanation of his death by suicide.

Paintings referenced or illustrated: The Potato Eaters, Sunflowers, Yellow Chair, Fishing Boats on the Beach, Self-Portrait with Bandaged Ear, Portrait of Dr Gachet.

Katie and the Starry Night

James Mayhew

A good introduction to Van Gogh for younger children. In this picture book, Katie climbs into five of Van Gogh’s paintings and interacts with characters she meets there. There is one information page at the end of the book with a short biography of Van Gogh and a description of the subjects and artistic techniques used in the various paintings.

Paintings referenced: The Starry Night, Vincent’s Chair, Noon, The Olive Grove, Fishing Boats on the Beach.

Camille and the Sunflowers

Laurence Anholt

A lovely picture book story about Camille Roulin, the son of one of Van Gogh’s friends in Arles. The book is fictional, but somewhat based on real events whilst Van Gogh was staying in Arles. It includes illustrations of several of Van Gogh’s paintings.

Paintings referenced: Portrait of the Postman Joseph Roulin, La Berceuse, Portrait of Armand Roulin, The Schoolboy with Uniform Cap, Roulin’s Baby, The Starry Night, Sunflowers.

Great Artists Book 1 (Ladybird)

Dorothy Aitchison

I really like this series of short biographies by Ladybird, and wish there were more of them! This volume covers Rubens, Rembrandt, and Vermeer. Every page is illustrated, and a good number of the watercolour sketches include Vermeer’s paintings, often a sketch of the artist in the process of painting, or of selling one of his works. Vermeer’s techniques such as the use of a camera obscura are discussed, and the book draws the reader’s attention to the typical pattern of light streaming from a high window to the left. There is also a page devoted to Van Meegeren’s forgeries.

Paintings shown or discussed: A Painter in his Studio, View of Delft, A Street in Delft, A Young Woman Standing at a Virginal, The Music Lesson, The Milkmaid.

Anna and Johanna

Geraldine Elschner and Florence Koenig

I’m not quite sure what I think of this one! The cover says that the book was inspired by Vermeer, and that is fair. It is neither a biography nor an overview of his paintings, but a picture story about two girls in Delft. The catalyst for events in the story was the explosion of a powder magazine in Delft in 1654.

The plotline is that twin baby girls were rescued from the ruins of a painter’s house, and adopted, one by a rich family, and the other by their servant. The children were not told that they were twins until adolescence, by which point their lives were very different, although they remained friends. The inspiration for the story was Vermeer’s paintings The Milkmaid and The Lacemaker.

This is probably a personal thing, but I found the plotline rather problematic. There is no clarification that the girls have been orphaned, and the separation of the twins whilst adults around them know the truth (admittedly not all adults at all points) seems to me very morally complicated, when I was looking for a book about Vermeer.