A Is for Artist: A Getty Museum Alphabet - Hardcover

Getty

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0892363770 ISBN 13: 9780892363773

Publisher: J. Paul Getty Museum, 1997

Synopsis

In this delightful alphabet book, cleverly illustrated with paintings from the collection of the Getty Museum, A is for an artist by Jan Steen, B is for a bumblebee by Ambrosius Bosschaert, and C is for a candle by Jean-Francois de Troy. Details from twenty-six different paintings by artists including Vincent van Gogh, Paul Cezanne, and Edgar Degas provide the objects corresponding with each letter of the alphabet. The book also contains reproductions of all the paintings from which the details were selected.
This charming book provides a unique opportunity to help children learn the ABC's while teaching them to look closely at great works of art.
The other artists are:
Pompeo Batoni (Italian, 1708-1787) Jan van Huysum (Dutch, 1682-1749) Luca Carlevarijs (Italian, 1663-1730) Hendrick ter Brugghen (Dutch, 1588-1629) Francesco Salviati (Francesco de'Rossi) (Italian, 1510-1563) Bartolommeo Vivarini (Italian, about 1432-1499) Dosso Dossi (Giovanni de'Luteri) (Italian, active 1512--died 1542) Pierre-Auguste Renoir (French, 1841-1919) Jean-Simeon Chardin (French, 1699-1779) Jan Brueghel the Elder (Flemish, 1568-1625) Sebastiano Ricci (Italian, 1659-1734) Carlo Dolci (Italian, 1616-1686) Jean-Etienne Liotard (Swiss, 1702-1789) James Ensor (Belgian, 1860-1949) Lawrence Alma Tadema (Dutch/English, 1836-1912) Georges de La Tour (French, 1593-1652) Pieter de Hooch (Dutch, 1629-1684) Pier Francesco Mola (Italian, 1612-1666) Joseph Ducreux (French, 1735-1802) Joachim Wtewael (Dutch, 1566-1638)

About this title

Review:

This is a lovely, highbrow alphabet book, ideal for babies and toddlers who can still be carried or cajoled into museums to gaze at paintings. For each letter, there is an image taken from a work in the collection of the Getty Museum. The pictures are fascinating and complex: A is for a 17th-century artist with a dapper mustache who is giving a drawing lesson to two rapt onlookers. B is for bumblebee, a fat little fellow riffling the petals of a luscious-looking camellia. C is for a candle that softly lights the delicate features of a young French maidservant. D is for an aristocratic, black-and-white dog gazing attentively at his overbred master. A wild-looking monkey grasps a bunch of green grapes on the G pages, and St. Peter's huge key (K) to the kingdom of heaven looms heavily.

The back of the book contains thumbnails of the paintings from which the details have been culled, and in most cases they are much larger, more complex compositions. This may have the subtle effect of teaching both babies and parents to scrutinize paintings even the most devoted art lovers sometimes pass by--yet another 18th-century family portrait, a big Renaissance cityscape, a Dutch still life of flowers. For it turns out, of course, that these fancy old warhorses are filled with exciting little passages of drama, charm, and great beauty. --Peggy Moorman

About this edition

• Publisher: J. Paul Getty Museum
• Publication date: 1997
• ISBN 10: 0892363770
• ISBN 13: 9780892363773
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 64