Discover Her Art: Women Artists and Their Masterpieces

by Jean Leibowitz, Lisa LaBanca Rogers

Overview

"Discover Her Art is a brilliant guide to understanding how a painting does what it does." —Emily Eveleth, painter

Discover Her Art invites young art lovers and artists to learn about painting through the lives and masterpieces of 24 women from the 16th to the 20th century.

In each chapter, readers arrive at a masterwork, explore it with an artist's eye, and learn about the painter's remarkable life and the inspirations behind her work. Young artists will discover how these 24 amazing women used composition, color, value, shape, and line in paintings that range from highly realistic to fully abstract. Hands-on exercises encourage readers to create their own art!

Whether you love to make art or just look at it, you will enjoy discovering the great work of these women artists.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781641606172
Publisher:	Chicago Review Press, Incorporated
Publication date:	02/22/2022
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	208
Lexile:	1070L (what's this?)
File size:	4 MB
Age Range:	3 Years

About the Author

Jean Leibowitz is a portrait and landscape artist who uses traditional painting and drawing approaches in her art. She lives in Portland, Maine. Lisa LaBanca Rogers is an elementary school librarian and the award-winning author of 16 Words: William Carlos Williams and "The Red Wheelbarrow" and Hound Won't Go. She regularly writes about art and artists for various magazine publications. She lives in Boston.

Table of Contents

Introduction
Getting Started
Part I: Discover Her Art: Classical and Realistic Paintings

1. Lavinia Fontana
2. Artemisia Gentileschi
3. Rachel Ruysch
4. Adélaïde Labille-Guiard
5. Rosa Bonheur
6. Berthe Morisot
7. Mary Cassatt
8. Cecilia Beaux
9. Lluïsa Vidal
10. Angel De Cora
11. Laura Wheeler Waring
12. Pan Yuliang

Part II: Discover Art: Modern Paintings

1. Suzanne Valadon
2. Paula Modersohn-Becker
3. Angelina Beloff
4. Tarsila do Amaral 
5. Amrita Sher-Gil 
6. Loïs Mailou Jones 
7. María Izquierdo 
8. Amelia Peláez 
9. Yuki Ogura
10. Maria Leontina 
11. Alma Thomas
12. Joan Mitchell 

Appendix: Value Scale and Color Wheel
Notes
Index
 

Editorial Reviews

01/10/2022

Focusing on 24 women painters of varying backgrounds who created art between the 16th and 20th centuries (including Lavinia Fontana, Mary Cassatt, Yuki Ogura, and Alma Woodsey Thomas), Leibowitz and LaBanca Rogers divide this meticulous volume into two sections: “Classical Painting and Other Realistic Styles” and “Modern Painting.” Each chapter is preceded by a full-color image of the featured artist’s masterwork, before concise sections offer biography and analysis, including an introduction to the painting, art terms, and comments about technique. Straightforward prose contains myriad questions for readers to consider: “While flowers are a common subject of paintings, Ruysch made them unexpectedly dramatic. Where does most of the drama come from? Is it composition, color, or light?” An inclusive, easy-to-read guidebook to women artists. Front matter features an introduction explaining art vocabulary; back matter includes activities, an appendix with a value scale and color wheel, notes, and an index. Ages 8–12. (Feb.)

Publishers Weekly

“Discover Her Art is a brilliant guide to understanding how a painting does what it does. Formal elements are broken down into understandable language. . . . All the activities achieve that rarity: a fun deep dive into how an image is made and a creative moment of learning by doing. Fabulous for both the experienced professional (like me) and the young artist just starting out.” —Emily Eveleth, painter

"Imagine exploring an exhibit of womens’ paintings with the most captivating guide who brings to life the story of each artist and their artwork. Each chapter will transport you to a different time and place, encourage you to spend time absorbing and understanding the work and woman behind it, and possibly even inspire you to create your own artwork." —Carolyn Mackin Watson, artist
 

"This book triggers the desire to see, the joy of discovery, and the thirst for action! The careful selection of images conveys to the reader the diversity of the great achievements of women artists over the centuries up to the modern age. For a long time, they had to suffer under the domination of men in art. With the wonderful works of art, the valuable hints on perception, and the thoughtful instructions for do-it-yourself, the authors encourage the reader to dive deep into the world of images and image-making." —​Angela Wenzel, author of 13 Art Techniques Children Should Know and other books

"An inclusive, easy-to-read guidebook to women artists." — Publishers Weekly

"Most of the artists will be new to even experienced readers, making this guide a valuable resource." — Booklist

“A must for art history curriculum and to diversify biography shelves.”–School Library Journal 

From the Publisher

02/01/2022

Gr 5–9—An accessible primer on women artists and their best known works. This collective biography sheds a light on 24 female painters who lived from the 16th to the 20th centuries; the text is divided into Classical and Modern sections. The extensive introduction to the text includes definitions of art vocabulary, such as composition, value, and positive and negative shapes. At the start of each chapter, the artists' techniques with color, light, and perspective are explained, using her master work as an example. Students are invited to analyze the reproduction with guided questions on design, the use of color, and more. It's only then that readers are given a short biography of the painter, with some details on her education, personal life, and major accomplishments. The usual suspects are featured, including Artemisia Gentileschi and Mary Cassatt, but others not as widely celebrated, such as Harlem Renaissance painter Laura Waring Wheeler and Native American artist Angel De Cora are also highlighted. Figures from Japan, India, Cuba, and Brazil are represented and several of the women selected were LGBTQIA+. The conversational tone will make readers feel as if they're in a women-only, more diverse "Intro to Art History" class. Some of the paintings included are self-portraits, but otherwise, the artists' own visages are, unfortunately, not featured. These brief insights into these phenomenal groundbreaking women are bound to inspire browsers into researchers. Back matter includes activities for kids who want to hone their own painting techniques. VERDICT A must for art history curriculum and to diversify biography shelves.—Shelley M. Diaz

School Library Journal