Modern Art II Reading LIst

Hegel's Holiday by Rene Magritte

Tomorrow is open house at homeschool coop and I'll be previewing one of the classes I'm teaching, Lets do Modern Art II.  The class is designed to showcase 1 artist each week with a few slides of that artists work and then the kids do their own art in the same style.  I try to represent a diverse group of artists covering the movements after impressionism, women artists as well as men, artists from many countries as well as give the kids a good mix of art media to build their skills.

I try to keep showcase day to crayons.  Teachers share rooms for coop day so I get families who aren't expecting messy art supplies, lots of little ones and lots of in and out so no one can really finish a project.  A sample of the above, Hegel's Holiday by Rene Magritte, will be out and I'll give them the suggestion to draw objects that sort of go together but are put together in weird ways.  A glass holds water and an umbrella keeps it off you - they're both associated with water but here juxtaposed very oddly. 

Below is the reading list I'll be handing out.  This is not required reading I just like to give the kids ideas in case a particular artist really interests them.  The books are ones that are available through our public library system rather than a complete list.  The kids in the class are 5-8 years old.  Sometimes there's no kids resources available for a particular artist so I suggest an adult art book or don't provide a suggestion.  For the better known artist there are several choices.  I try to provide a balance of biographies, art books, storytelling and inspiration.

The artists we're covering in this class:
Piet Mondrian, Wassily Kandinsky, Robert and Sonia Delaunay, M.C. Escher, Henri Matisse, Henri Rousseau, Alexander Calder, Andrew Goldsworthy, Louise Nevelson, Frida Kahlo, Margaret Preston, and Diego Rivera