The conversational narrative and detailed observations that characterize Raczka's earlier books (Here's Looking at Me, Where in the World?) are in this book reduced to a minimum - to the book's detriment. Instead, each style is profiled using a fixed set of questions, with the answers presented as lists, short paragraphs, and bullet points.
The art chosen to illustrate each style is in some cases perfect - van Eyck's "The Arnolfini Portrait" illustrates Naturalism; in others, surprising - Courbet's "The Stone Breakers" is a little-seen painting that is nonetheless a fine choice to illustrate Realism; but sometimes misses the mark - J.M.W. Turner's "Snow Storm" is chosen as an example of a painting in the Romantic style, but unless the viewer is familiar with Turner's other paintings, it will appear more Impressionistic or even abstract.
Fills a gap. However, unless there is a need for a book strictly about artistic styles, libraries would be better served by a more comprehensive art history book for young people, such as Antony Mason's A History of Western Art or The History of Art by Claudio Merlo.
Labels: age: Grade1 and up, art
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