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There are works of art so inherently beautiful or stunning that anyone looking at them ends up choking back tears, or standing transfixed, or simply unable to breathe for several seconds. What you won't often hear is that those are the exceptions, that most paintings, buildings and sculptures require anterior knowledge to be fully appreciated.

Once you know what to look for, the once-abstruse and confusing world of chiaroscuro, Pre-Raphaelite, and oxidation fire becomes navigable and even a welcome place from the ho-hum mundanities of the everyday world. Though, of course, we'd be the last to encourage art appreciation for mere escapism—if a work can't reveal some element of human nature or help us understand things a little better, it isn't worth much.

This is one reason a lot of modern art can't really be considered art at all. It isn't intended to reveal anything, but simply to be "living commentary," a mere reflection, not of reality, but of the artist's inner conflict or angst. Sometimes it's not even that deep, and simply reflects the belief that there is no meaning in the world, that everything is empty, that nihilism is the only truth.

We reject those claims entirely. Everything is meaningful because Christ has made it so. Taken too far that idea is sometimes used to defend all kinds of non-art and just plain bad art, but all it really means is that everything is either consistent with or in rebellion against God's truth, and that artistic endeavours reveal which side the artist is on.

For Christians, understanding art from this perspective should be the primary motive in studying anything from the Sistine Chapel to Rembrandt's portraits to the illustrations of N.C. Wyeth. Art has the potential to entertain and delight, but it also affects the attitudes and thoughts of those who come in contact with it. Understanding a work's context and significance will immensely help us determine whether it's beneficial or pernicious.

Review by C. Hollis Crossman
C. Hollis Crossman used to be a child. Now he's a husband and father who loves church, good food, and weird stuff. He might be a mythical creature, but he's definitely not a centaur. Read more of his reviews here.

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8th grade (Ages 13-14)

	102 Favorite Paintings By Norman Rockwell by Norman Rockwell from Crown Publishers for 7th-Adult in Art History & Appreciation (Location: ELE-ARTHIS) $7.50 (1 in stock)
	American Art Bingo Volume I by Kristin Draeger from ArtK12 for 3rd-10th grade in Art History & Appreciation (Location: ELE-ARTHIS) $16.96
	American Art History I - Bundle by Kristin Draeger from ArtK12 for 3rd-10th grade in Art History & Appreciation (Location: ELE-ARTHIS)
	American Art History II - Bundle by Kristin Draeger from ArtK12 for 3rd-10th grade in Art History & Appreciation (Location: ELE-ARTHIS)
	American Art History Volume I by Kristin Draeger from ArtK12 for 3rd-10th grade in Art History & Appreciation (Location: ELE-ARTHIS) $33.96
	American Art History Volume II by Kristin Draeger from ArtK12 for 3rd-10th grade in Art History & Appreciation (Location: ELE-ARTHIS) $33.96 $27.00 (1 in stock)
	Annotated Mona Lisa A Crash Course in Art History From Prehistoric to Post-Modern by Carol Strickland 2^nd edition from Andrews McMeel for 5th-12th grade in Art History & Appreciation (Location: ELE-ARTHIS) $16.00
	Annotated Mona Lisa A Crash Course in Art History From Prehistoric to Post-Modern by Carol Strickland 3^rd edition from Andrews McMeel for 5th-12th grade in Art History & Appreciation (Location: ELE-ARTHIS) $29.99
	Art Masterpieces to Color 60 Great Paintings From Botticelli to Picasso by Marty Noble from Dover Publications for 5th-9th grade in Fine Art Coloring Books (Location: COL-ART) $10.95
	Artist of the Reformation The Story of Albrecht Durer by Joyce McPherson from Greenleaf Press Biography for 5th-9th grade in Biographies (Location: BIO) $12.95
	At Home with Beatrix Potter by Susan Denyer from Harry N. Abrams, Inc. for 6th-9th grade in Peter Rabbit & Friends (Location: FIC-PETER)
	Baby Blessing by Welleran Poltarnees from Laughing Elephant for Kindergarten-Adult in Art History & Appreciation (Location: ELE-ARTHIS) $4.00 (1 in stock)
	Bible Picture Portfolios - Genesis Bible Picture Portfolios by Emily Kiser from Simply Charlotte Mason for 1st-12th grade in Simply Charlotte Mason (Location: CUR-SCM)
	Bill Peet An Autobiography by Bill Peet from Houghton Mifflin Biography for 4th-8th grade 1990 Caldecott Honor Book in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE) $18.99
	Carl Larsson's A Family by Carl Larsson and Lennart Rudstrom from G.P. Putnam's Sons for 3rd-Adult in Art History & Appreciation (Location: ELE-ARTHIS)
	Carl Larsson's A Farm by Carl Larsson and Lennart Rudstrom from G.P. Putnam's Sons for 3rd-Adult in Art History & Appreciation (Location: ELE-ARTHIS)
	Carl Larsson's A Home by Carl Larsson and Lennart Rudstrom from G.P. Putnam's Sons for 3rd-Adult in Art History & Appreciation (Location: ELE-ARTHIS) $10.00 (1 in stock)
	Charlotte in Giverny by Joan MacPhail Knight Reprint from Chronicle Books for 3rd-8th grade in Artists & Illustrators (Location: ELE-ARTISTS)
	Coloring Paris Panoramic Fold-Out to Color by Tomislav Tomic, illustrator from Walter Foster for 6th-Adult in Adult Coloring Books (Location: COL-ADULT)
	Drawing American Art Volume II by Kristin Draeger from ArtK12 for 3rd-10th grade in Art History & Appreciation (Location: ELE-ARTHIS) $25.46 $20.00 (1 in stock)
	Francis W. Edmonds by H. Nichols B. Clark from Smithsonian Books for 7th-12th grade in Clearance: Art & Music (Location: ZCLE-ART) $3.00 (1 in stock)
	Girl Who Drew Butterflies How Maria Merian's Art Changed Science by Joyce Sidman from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt for 3rd-8th grade 2019 Robert F. Sibert Medal winner in Biographies (Location: BIO) $17.99
	God & the History of Art - DVD by Barry Stebbing from How Great Thou Art for 4th-12th grade in How Great Thou Art (Location: ELE-ARTHGTA) $29.95
	God & the History of Art - Package by Barry Stebbing from How Great Thou Art for 4th-12th grade in How Great Thou Art (Location: ELE-ARTHGTA) $40.00 (1 in stock)
	God & the History of Art - Paint & Marker Cards by Barry Stebbing from How Great Thou Art for 4th-12th grade in How Great Thou Art (Location: ELE-ARTHGTA)
	God & the History of Art - Postcards by Barry Stebbing from How Great Thou Art for 4th-12th grade in How Great Thou Art (Location: ELE-ARTHGTA)
	Great Artists - Great Composers: Portraits from Amadeus Press for 6th-Adult in Biography Anthologies (Location: BIO-ANTH) $6.00 (1 in stock)
	Howard Pyle Writer, Illustrator, Founder of the Brandywine School by Henry C. Pitz, with illustrations by Howard Pyle from Bramhall House for 7th-Adult in Art History & Appreciation (Location: ELE-ARTHIS)
	I, Juan de Pareja by Elizabeth Borton de Treviño from Square Fish Publishing Realistic Fiction/Slavery for 5th-8th grade 1966 Newbery Medal winner in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF) $8.99 $4.50 (3 in stock)
	I, Juan de Pareja by Elizabeth Borton de Treviño from Farrar, Straus and Giroux Realistic Fiction/Slavery for 5th-8th grade 1966 Newbery Medal winner in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF) $4.00 (2 in stock)
	I, Juan de Pareja by Elizabeth Borton de Treviño 1994 Printing from Farrar, Straus and Giroux Realistic Fiction/Slavery for 5th-8th grade 1966 Newbery Medal winner in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF) $10.00 (1 in stock)
	Illuminated Page Ten Centuries of Manuscript Painting by Janet Backhouse from University of Toronto Press for 7th-Adult in Art History & Appreciation (Location: ELE-ARTHIS) $12.00 (1 in stock)
	In Search of Norman Rockwell's America by Photography by Kevin Rivoli, Artwork by Norman Rockwell from Howard Books for 3rd-Adult in Art History & Appreciation (Location: ELE-ARTHIS) $8.00 (1 in stock)
	John James Audubon: Painting America's Wildlife by Janet Stevenson, illustrated by Robert Boehmer from Encyclopedia Britannica for 7th-10th grade in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS) $12.00 (1 in stock)
	Kate Greenaway by Rodney K. Engen from Harmony for 6th-Adult in Art History & Appreciation (Location: ELE-ARTHIS) $6.00 (1 in stock)
	Leonardo da Vinci by Emily Hahn from Sonlight Curriculum, Ltd. for 5th-8th grade in Biographies (Location: BIO)
	Leonardo da Vinci World Landmark #27 by Emily Hahn from Random House for 5th-8th grade in World Landmark Books (Location: VIN-LAN)
	Leonardo da Vinci by Jay Williams from Horizon Books for 5th-8th grade in Horizon Caravel Books (Location: VIN-HOR)
	Leonardo da Vinci by Richard McLanathan from Harry N. Abrams, Inc. for 8th-Adult in Artists & Illustrators (Location: ELE-ARTISTS) $6.00 (1 in stock)
	Leonardo da Vinci for Kids His Life and Ideas by Janis Herbert from Chicago Review Press Biography/Activity Book for 3rd-8th grade in Renaissance & Reformation (Location: HISW-REN) $17.95
	Life & Times of Leonardo by Liana Bortolon from Curtis Publishing Co. for 8th-12th grade in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
	Life & Times of Michelangelo by Maria Luisa Rizzatti from Curtis Publishing Co. for 8th-12th grade in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
	Lives of the Artists by M. B. Goffstein from Farrar, Straus and Giroux for 3rd-8th grade in Art History & Appreciation (Location: ELE-ARTHIS) $6.00 (1 in stock)
	M.C. Escher Kaleidocycles Box from Purple Pomegranate Productions for 6th-Adult in Artists & Illustrators (Location: ELE-ARTISTS) $20.00 (1 in stock)
	Marvelous to Behold by Jennifer Courtney from Classical Conversations for 7th-12th grade in Art History & Appreciation (Location: ELE-ARTHIS) $31.99
	Mathew Brady Historian with a Camera by James D. Horan from Bonanza Books for 8th-Adult in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS) $4.00 (1 in stock)
	Michaelangelo Master of the Italian Renaissance Masters of Art by Gabriella di Cagno from Peter Bedrick Books for 5th-Adult in Artists & Illustrators (Location: ELE-ARTISTS) $6.00 (1 in stock)
	N.C. Wyeth by N. C. Wyeth, introduction by Kate F. Jennings from Crescent Books for 4th-Adult in Art History & Appreciation (Location: ELE-ARTHIS)
	N.C. Wyeth's Wild West by N. C. Wyeth from Brandywine River Museum for 7th-12th grade in Clearance: History & Geography (Location: ZCLE-HIS)
	Norman Rockwell's America by Christopher Finch, Illustrated by Norman Rockwell from Reader's Digest for 3rd-Adult in Artists & Illustrators (Location: ELE-ARTISTS) $8.00 (1 in stock)
	Passion for the Impossible The Life of Lillias Trotter by Miriam Huffman Rockness from Discovery House Publishers for 8th-Adult in Biographies (Location: BIO)
	Picture Study Portfolio Extra Print Pack: Millet (1814-1875) by Emily Kiser from Simply Charlotte Mason for 1st-12th grade in Simply Charlotte Mason (Location: CUR-SCM)
	Picture Study Portfolio Extra Print Pack: Rafael (1483-1520) by Emily Kiser from Simply Charlotte Mason for 1st-12th grade in Simply Charlotte Mason (Location: CUR-SCM)
	Picture Study Portfolios: Constable (1776-1837) by Emily Kiser from Simply Charlotte Mason for 1st-12th grade in Simply Charlotte Mason (Location: CUR-SCM)
	Picture Study Portfolios: da Vinci (1452-1519) by Emily Kiser from Simply Charlotte Mason for 1st-12th grade in Simply Charlotte Mason (Location: CUR-SCM)
	Picture Study Portfolios: Dürer (1471-1528) by Emily Cottrill from Simply Charlotte Mason for 1st-12th grade in Simply Charlotte Mason (Location: CUR-SCM)
	Picture Study Portfolios: Fra Angelico (1395-1455) by Emily Kiser from Simply Charlotte Mason for 1st-12th grade in Simply Charlotte Mason (Location: CUR-SCM)
	Picture Study Portfolios: Gainsborough 1727-1788 by Emily Cottrill from Simply Charlotte Mason for 1st-12th grade in Simply Charlotte Mason (Location: CUR-SCM)
	Picture Study Portfolios: Giotto 1266-1337 by Emily Kiser from Simply Charlotte Mason for 1st-12th grade in Simply Charlotte Mason (Location: CUR-SCM)
	Picture Study Portfolios: Michelangelo 1475-1564 by Emily Cottrill from Simply Charlotte Mason for 1st-12th grade in Simply Charlotte Mason (Location: CUR-SCM)
	Picture Study Portfolios: Millet (1814-1875) by Emily Kiser from Simply Charlotte Mason for 1st-12th grade in Simply Charlotte Mason (Location: CUR-SCM)
	Picture Study Portfolios: Monet 1840-1926 by Emily Kiser from Simply Charlotte Mason for 1st-12th grade in Simply Charlotte Mason (Location: CUR-SCM)
	Picture Study Portfolios: Rafael (1483-1520) by Emily Kiser from Simply Charlotte Mason for 1st-12th grade in Simply Charlotte Mason (Location: CUR-SCM)
	Picture Study Portfolios: Rembrandt by Emily Cottrill from Simply Charlotte Mason for 1st-12th grade in Simply Charlotte Mason (Location: CUR-SCM)
	Picture Study Portfolios: Titian (1488-1576) by Emily Kiser from Simply Charlotte Mason for 1st-12th grade in Simply Charlotte Mason (Location: CUR-SCM)
	Picture Study Portfolios: Van Gogh (1853-1890) by Emily Kiser from Simply Charlotte Mason for 1st-12th grade in Simply Charlotte Mason (Location: CUR-SCM)
	Randolph Caldecott The Man Who Could Not Stop Drawing by Leonard S. Marcus from Frances Foster Books for 7th-Adult in Oversized Biographies
	Raphael: Painter of the Renaissance Immortals of Art by Henry S. Gillette from Franklin Watts for 7th-Adult in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
	Rembrandt: Master of the Portrait by Pascal Bonafoux, translated by Alexandra Campbell from Harry N. Abrams, Inc. for 6th-Adult in Art History & Appreciation (Location: ELE-ARTHIS) $3.00 (1 in stock)
	Renaissance Art by Stuart A. Kallen from Lucent Press for 4th-8th grade in Art History & Appreciation (Location: ELE-ARTHIS) $6.00 (1 in stock)
	Self-Portrait: Trina Schart Hyman from Harper & Row for 4th-Adult in Biographies (Location: BIO)
	Son of Heaven: Imperial Arts of China by Robert L. Thorpe First Edition from Son of Heaven Press for 6th-12th grade in Clearance: History & Geography (Location: ZCLE-HIS) $4.00 (1 in stock)
	Story of Dan Beard Founder of America's Boy Scouts Grosset & Dunlap Signature #43 by Robert N. Webb, illustrated by Everett Raymond Kinstler from Grosset & Dunlap Biography for 5th-9th grade in Grosset & Dunlap Signature Books (Location: VIN-SIG)
	Story of John J. Audubon Grosset & Dunlap Signature #27 by Joan Howard, illustrated by Federico (Fred) Castellon from Grosset & Dunlap Biography for 5th-9th grade in Grosset & Dunlap Signature Books (Location: VIN-SIG)
	Talking to the Sun An Illustrated Anthology of Poems for Young People by Selected by Kenneth Koch and Kate Farrell from Henry Holt and Company in Poetry for Children (Location: POET-CHIL) $12.00 (1 in stock)
	The Arts by Hendrik Willem Van Loon from Simon and Schuster for 6th-10th grade in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS) $12.00 (2 in stock)
	The Story of Painting: From Cave Painting to Modern Times by Dora Janson from Random House for 7th-12th grade in Art History & Appreciation (Location: ELE-ARTHIS)
	The Story of Painting: From Cave Painting to Modern Times by H.W. Janson and Dora Jane Janson from Harry N. Abrams, Inc. for 7th-12th grade in Art History & Appreciation (Location: ELE-ARTHIS)
	The Story of Painting: From Cave Painting to Modern Times by H.W. Janson and Dora Jane Janson from Harry N. Abrams, Inc. for 7th-12th grade in Art History & Appreciation (Location: ELE-ARTHIS) $12.00 (1 in stock)
	Trails Plowed Under Stories of the Old West by Charles M. Russell from Doubleday & Company for 7th-12th grade in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS) $6.50 (1 in stock)
	Understanding Modern Art by Monica Bohm-Duchen and Janet Cook, illustrated by David Gillingwater from Usborne for 4th-8th grade in Art History & Appreciation (Location: ELE-ARTHIS) $3.60 (1 in stock)
	Usborne Introduction to Art Usborne Internet-Linked from Usborne for 4th-8th grade in Art History & Appreciation (Location: ELE-ARTHIS)
	Wit and Whimsy of Mary Engelbreit by Mary Engelbreit from Andrews McMeel for 3rd-Adult in Art History & Appreciation (Location: ELE-ARTHIS) $6.00 (1 in stock)
	Young People's Story of Fine Art (No. 1) 15,000 B.C.-1,800 A.D. by Virgil M. Hillyer for 4th-10th grade in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
	Young People's Story of Fine Art (No. 2) The Last Two Hundred Years by Virgil M. Hillyer & E. G. Huey from Meredith Press for 4th-10th grade in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)

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