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The Art Book for Children

spread of a book featuring the art work of Hilma af Klint

spread of a book featuring the art work of Frida Kahlo

spread of a book featuring the art work of Andy Warhol

spread of a book featuring the art work of Sandro Botticelli

Phaidon has released a new version of their classic The Art Book for Children. Aimed at kids aged 7-12, the new version includes a selection of contemporary artists alongside familiar favorites.

This single volume features 60 artists through a wide range of large-scale, full-page reproductions of their artworks, including paintings, photographs, sculptures, video, prints, and installations from across time and space. Each page showcases defining artworks by the artists, combined with an interactive and informative conversation, giving relatable and memorable contexts for children, and inspiring a curiosity and appreciation for the Visual Arts that will continue into adulthood.

I’ve grown to love art as an adult but I don’t remember ever noticing or caring about any art when I was a kid. If this book had dropped into the lap of a young Jason, I wonder if it would have sparked anything?

Discussion  1 comment

Monica Edited

Hilma af Klint! She's my favorite. Glad to see her in the mix. She was an artist at the end of the 19th century, painting gorgeous abstract works well before Kandinsky or Mondrian, who are largely credited with creating the first abstract works of art. Her work didn't surface until the mid-eighties. It's incredible, especially keeping in mind there was nothing like it at the time. The colors, shapes, etc. These days, we're inundated with bold and colorful images on TV, the internet, ads, photography, signage, and book covers, but I can't fathom the imagination it took to dream up her paintings in the late 1800s/early 1900s.

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