Art Up Close: From Ancient to Modern

Gr 2–6—A fresh look at art history with an "I Spy"–like twist. D'Harcourt urges kids to look closely at each picture and to pay special attention to the finer points. ("When you look at great works of art up close, you discover that they're teeming with tiny details.") Twenty-three moments in art history, beginning with Egyptian papyrus circa 1300 BCE and ending with Jackson Pollock in 1952, are represented in this oversize full-color volume. Each featured masterpiece is reproduced over a spread and accompanied by circular sidebars that spotlight a different element, figure, object, or abstraction. The artist, title, and date are included at the bottom of each spread, but picture interpretation is left to readers. The back matter contains further historical context about the art movements represented, followed by lift-the-flap keys of each painting with biographical information on the artists of each work and number clues to the blown-up details. The engagement of multiple senses in the learning process encourages a unique experience with art.