Art History & Appreciation

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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85 Items found Print
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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)
Art and Artists of Russia
by Richard Hare
from Methuen
for Adult
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$12.00 (1 in stock)
Art and Civilization: Ancient Rome
Art and Civilization
by Giovanni Di Pasquale & Matilde Bardi
from Peter Bedrick Books
Roman History Reference for 4th-6th grade
in Oversized History Books (Location: HISW-OVER)
$12.00 (2 in stock)
Art for Children: Renaissance
Art for Children
by Lillo Canto
from Chelsea House Publishing
Art Appreciation for 4th-6th grade
in Renaissance & Reformation (Location: HISW-REN)
$20.00 $9.00 (1 in stock)
Art of the Southeastern Indians
by Shirley Glubok
from Macmillan
for 3rd-6th grade
in Native Americans (Location: HISA-19NAT)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Artist Who Painted a Blue Horse
by Eric Carle
from Philomel Books
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Oversized Picture Books (Location: PIC-OVER)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Baby Blessing
by Welleran Poltarnees
from Laughing Elephant
for Kindergarten-Adult
in Art History & Appreciation (Location: ELE-ARTHIS)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Camille and the Sunflowers
by Laurence Anholt
1st edition from Barron's
for Preschool- 3rd Grade
in Art History & Appreciation (Location: ELE-ARTHIS)
$7.50 (1 in stock)
Camille Pissarro
by Alix Wood
from Windmill Books
for Preschool-3rd grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$3.00 (1 in stock)
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)
Charlton Heston Presents: The Bible
by Charlton Heston, Tom Robotham
from GT Publishing
in Art History & Appreciation (Location: ELE-ARTHIS)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Child's Book of Art
by Lucy Micklethwait
from DK Publishing
for Preschool-1st grade
in Art History & Appreciation (Location: ELE-ARTHIS)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Child's Introduction to Art
by Heather Alexander, illustrated by Meredith Hamilton
from Black Dog & Leventhal
for 3rd-6th grade
in Art History & Appreciation (Location: ELE-ARTHIS)
$12.00 (1 in stock)
Cloth Lullaby: The Woven Life of Louise Bourgeois
by Amy Novesky, illustrated by Isabelle Arsenault
from Abrams Books for Young Readers
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$7.00 (1 in stock)
Come Look With Me: Artist at Work
by R. Sarah Richardson
from Charlesbridge
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Art History & Appreciation (Location: ELE-ARTHIS)
$16.95
Come Look with Me: Enjoying Art with Children
by Gladys S. Blizzard
from Charlesbridge
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Art History & Appreciation (Location: ELE-ARTHIS)
$12.00
Come Look With Me: Exploring Landscape Art With Children
by Gladys S. Blizzard
from Charlesbridge
for 1st-3rd grade
in Art History & Appreciation (Location: ELE-ARTHIS)
$16.95
Essential Claude Monet
by Catherine Morris
from Harry N. Abrams, Inc.
for 9th-12th grade
in Artists & Illustrators (Location: ELE-ARTISTS)
$3.00 (1 in stock)
Eye for Color
by Natasha Wing, Art by Julia Breckenreid
from Henry Holt and Company
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
First Starry Night
by Joan Shaddox Isom
from Charlesbridge
for 4th-6th grade
in Art History & Appreciation (Location: ELE-ARTHIS)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Girl Who Drew Butterflies
by Joyce Sidman
from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
for 3rd-8th grade
2019 Robert F. Sibert Medal winner
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$17.99
Girl with a Watering Can
by Ewa Zadrzynska, illustrated by Arnold Skolnick
from Chameleon Books, Inc.
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Art History & Appreciation (Location: ELE-ARTHIS)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Great Artists - Great Composers: Portraits
from Amadeus Press
for 6th-Adult
in Biography Anthologies (Location: BIO-ANTH)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
How Artists See Feelings
by Colleen Carroll
1st Library Ed from Abbeville Press
for 4th-6th grade
in Art History & Appreciation (Location: ELE-ARTHIS)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
How Artists See the Elements
by Colleen Carroll
from Abbeville Press
for 4th-6th grade
in Art History & Appreciation (Location: ELE-ARTHIS)
$5.00 (2 in stock)
I Spy a Freight Train: Transportation in Art
by Lucy Micklethwait
from Greenwillow Books
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Art History & Appreciation (Location: ELE-ARTHIS)
$6.00 (1 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
by Janet Backhouse
from University of Toronto Press
for 7th-Adult
in Art History & Appreciation (Location: ELE-ARTHIS)
$12.00 (1 in stock)
Illustrated Wordsworth's Guide to the Lakes
by William Wordsworth, Edited by Peter Bicknell
from Congdon & Weed Inc.
for 9th-Adult
in Great Britain / England (Location: HISMC-BRIT)
$14.00 (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)
$9.60 (1 in stock)
Joke's on George
by Michael O. Tunnell; illustrated by Kathy Osborn
from Tambourine Books
for Preschool-4th grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$4.00 (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 Norman V. Marshall
from Silver Burdett Press
for 2nd-5th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
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: Beautiful Dreamer
by Robert Byrd
1st edition from Dutton Children's Books
for 3rd-5th grade
2004 NCTE Orbis Pictus Honor Book
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$9.00 (1 in stock)
Life of Picasso Volume II
Book 2 of 4
by John Richardson with Marilyn McCully
First Edition 2nd Printing from Random House
for 10th-Adult
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$10.00 (1 in stock)
Lifetime of Wisdom
by Joni Eareckson Tada
from Zondervan
Autobiographies & Memoirs for Adult
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$6.00 (2 in stock)
Linnea in Monet's Garden
by Christina Bjork & Lena Anderson
from R&S Books
Biography for Preschool- 3rd Grade
in Art History & Appreciation (Location: ELE-ARTHIS)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
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)
Make Way
by Angela Burke Kunkel, illustrated by Claire Keane
from Random House
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$19.99
Mathew Brady
by James D. Horan
from Bonanza Books
for 8th-Adult
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$3.20 (1 in stock)
Matisse: Painter of the Essential
Art for Children
by Yolande Baillet
from Chelsea House Publishing
for 3rd-6th grade
in Artists & Illustrators (Location: ELE-ARTISTS)
$7.00 (1 in stock)
Moon and Sixpence
Modern Library
by W. Somerset Maugham
from Heritage Press
for 10th-Adult
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$25.00 (1 in stock)
My Name is Georgia
from Harcourt, Brace & Company
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Natural Way to Draw
by Kimon Nicolaides
from Houghton Mifflin
for 9th-Adult
in Vintage Nonfiction (Location: VIN-NFIC)
$11.20 (1 in stock)
Norman Rockwell Illustrator
by Arthur L. Guptill
from Watson-Guptill Publications
for Adult
in Art History & Appreciation (Location: ELE-ARTHIS)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
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)
Norman Rockwell's Boys and Girls at Play
from Harry N. Abrams, Inc.
in Artists & Illustrators (Location: ELE-ARTISTS)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Norman Rockwell: Storyteller with a Brush
by Beverly Gherman
from Atheneum
for 3rd-7th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$10.00 (1 in stock)
Picasso
Artists by Themselves
by Rachel Barnes, editor
from Bracken Books
in Artists & Illustrators (Location: ELE-ARTISTS)
$0.00 (1 in stock)
Pictures by J.R.R. Tolkien
by Christopher Tolkien (editor and text), illustrations by J.R.R. Tolkien
2021 Reissue from William Morrow & Company
for 9th-Adult
in Lord of the Rings (Location: LIR-LOTR)
$35.00
R. v. R.: The Life of Rembrandt Van Rijn
by Hendrik Van Loon
from Heritage Press
for 10th-Adult
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$15.00 (1 in stock)
Robert Bateman: An Artist in Nature
by Robert Bateman, text by Rick Archbold
from Random House
for 9th-Adult
in Artists & Illustrators (Location: ELE-ARTISTS)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Rousseu: Still Voyages
Art For Children
by Didier Grosjean and Claudine Roland, illustrated by Francine De Boeck, translated by John Goodman
from Chelsea House Publishing
for 3rd-6th grade
in Art History & Appreciation (Location: ELE-ARTHIS)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Secret World of Walter Anderson
by Hester Bass, illustrated by E. B. Lewis
from Candlewick Press
for Kindergarten-2nd grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Sister Wendy's 1000 Masterpieces
by Wendy Beckett
from DK Publishing
for 10th-Adult
in Art History & Appreciation (Location: ELE-ARTHIS)
$25.00 (1 in stock)
Sparky & Spike
by Barbara Lowell, illustrated by Dan Andreasen
from Harry N. Abrams, Inc.
Picture Biography for Preschool-3rd grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$16.95
Story of Art
by E. H. Gombrich
from Phaidon Press
for 10th-Adult
in Art History & Appreciation (Location: ELE-ARTHIS)
$19.00 (1 in stock)
Story of Painting
by Sister Wendy Beckett
from DK Publishing
for 10th-Adult
in Art History & Appreciation (Location: ELE-ARTHIS)
$48.00
Sun the Moon and the Stars
by Richard Whelan, designed by Arnold Skolnik
from First Glance Books
for 10th-Adult
in Art History & Appreciation (Location: ELE-ARTHIS)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Talking to the Sun
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)
$9.60 (2 in stock)
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
by Charles M. Russell
from Doubleday & Company
for 7th-12th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$5.20 (1 in stock)
Usborne Children's Book of Art
by Rosie Dickins
from Scholastic Press
for 4th-6th grade
in Art History & Appreciation (Location: ELE-ARTHIS)
$7.50 (2 in stock)
Usborne Introduction to Modern Art
by Rosie Dickins
from Scholastic Press
for 3rd-6th grade
in Art History & Appreciation (Location: ELE-ARTHIS)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Van Gogh: Great Art of the Ages
by Meyer Schapiro
from Harry N. Abrams, Inc.
for Adult
in Vintage Nonfiction (Location: VIN-NFIC)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Vincent Van Gogh
by Jan Greenberg, Sandra Jordan
from Delacorte Press
for 3rd-6th grade
2002 Robert F. Sibert Honor Book
in Artists & Illustrators (Location: ELE-ARTISTS)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Vincent Van Gogh
Art for Young People
by Peter Harrison
from Sterling Publishing Co.
for 4th-7th grade
in Art History & Appreciation (Location: ELE-ARTHIS)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Visiting the Art Museum
by Laurine Krasny Brown & Marc Brown
from Child's Play Ltd.
for Kindergarten-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$7.50 (1 in stock)
What Makes a Rembrandt a Rembrandt?
from Metropolitan Museum of Art
in Art History & Appreciation (Location: ELE-ARTHIS)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
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)
World of Bernini
1973 printing from Time-Life Books
for 9th-Adult
in Time-Life Library of Art (Location: VIN-ARTBIO)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
World of Bruegel
Revised, 1975 printing from Time-Life Books
for 9th-Adult
in Time-Life Library of Art (Location: VIN-ARTBIO)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
World of Cezanne
Revised, 1974 printing from Time-Life Books
for 9th-Adult
in Time-Life Library of Art (Location: VIN-ARTBIO)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
World of Delacroix
by Tom Prideaux
Revised, 1975 printing from Time-Life Books
for 9th-Adult
in Time-Life Library of Art (Location: VIN-ARTBIO)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
World of Gainsborough
from Time-Life Books
for 9th-Adult
in Time-Life Library of Art (Location: VIN-ARTBIO)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
World of Manet
from Time-Life Books
for 9th-Adult
in Time-Life Library of Art (Location: VIN-ARTBIO)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
World of Rembrandt
from Time-Life Books
for 9th-Adult
in Time-Life Library of Art (Location: VIN-ARTBIO)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
World of Titian
from Time-Life Books
for 9th-Adult
in Time-Life Library of Art (Location: VIN-ARTBIO)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
World of Turner
Time-Life Library of Art
from Time-Life Books
for 9th-Adult
in Time-Life Library of Art (Location: VIN-ARTBIO)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
World of Van Gogh
from Time-Life Books
for 9th-Adult
in Time-Life Library of Art (Location: VIN-ARTBIO)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
World of Vermeer
from Time-Life Books
for 9th-Adult
in Time-Life Library of Art (Location: VIN-ARTBIO)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
World of Whistler
from Time-Life Books
for 9th-Adult
in Time-Life Library of Art (Location: VIN-ARTBIO)
$4.00 (1 in stock)