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Artists & Illustrators

Without getting into any esoteric exploration of the nature or meaning of art, it's safe to say that artists have always played a crucial role in human society and civilization. We aren't even talking about the broad spectrum of artists here: surely this would be true if we included poets, composers, actors, and concert pianists, but it's equally true when "artist" is limited to painters and sculptors.

The men responsible for overseeing the construction of the Tabernacle of the Jews, Bezalel and Oholiab, can rightly be described as visual artists. It's interesting that in the ancient world artists were considered manual laborers, that they had none of the glory attributed them by modern cultures, that instead of idle bohemians they were hard workers who put in long hours and earned their bread by the sweat of their brow.

If you told a Hebrew or Greek that painters were somehow spiritually or intellectually enlightened oracles, they wouldn't understand. Even during the Renaissance, when the bourgeois reverence of "Art" was born, painters and sculptors were simply advanced craftsmen—gifted in their fields, but not the set-apart breed later generations would consider them to be.

Modern critics like to talk about the "surprisingly advanced understanding of human nature" evidenced by ancient paintings and statuary. Those artists were simply representing what they saw: much of what interpreters think they see now in those reflections is simply the result of their own over-intellectualized approach rooted in Enlightenment ideas of evolution and human progress. The ancient artists undertook to present and interpret life as they knew it, not to represent some philosophically-based school of thought or technique.

To suppose that an artist's life is of no consequence or likely uninteresting, however, is not a defensible assumption. Rembrandt's biography may not be any more interesting or compelling than yours or mine, but given the mark he made on Western civilization through his paintings, it might be more valuable reading, at least from an educational perspective.

Also, artists since the Renaissance have been in the business of making statements through their art, and understanding what their lives were like can be helpful on two levels—it lets us see if their lives were consistent with the ideals they championed, and it demonstrates that, as people, they were just as much products of their environment as those of us who've never picked up a paint brush or chisel. The following biographies show both sides, as well as helping us toward a greater appreciation of the paintings, sketches, drawings and sculpture they left behind.

Review by C. Hollis Crossman
C. Hollis Crossman used to be a child. Now he is a husband and father, teaches adult Sunday school in his Presbyterian congregation, and likes 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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Agony and the Ecstasy
Signet Classics
by Irving Stone
from Doubleday & Company
Biography for 10th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$6.40 (1 in stock)
Artist of the Reformation
by Joyce McPherson
from Greenleaf Press
Biography for 5th-9th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$11.01
At Home with Beatrix Potter
by Susan Denyer
from Harry N. Abrams, Inc.
for 6th-9th grade
in Peter Rabbit & Friends (Location: FIC-PETER)
Benjamin West and His Cat Grimalkin
by Marguerite Henry & Wesley Dennis
Reprint from Aladdin Paperbacks
for 3rd-6th grade
in Animal Stories (Location: FIC-ANI)
$6.79
Bill Peet
by Bill Peet
from Houghton Mifflin
Biography for 4th-8th grade
1990 Caldecott Honor Book
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$16.14
Camille Pissarro
by Alix Wood
from Windmill Books
for Preschool-3rd grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$2.40 (1 in stock)
Charlotte in Giverny
by Joan MacPhail Knight
Reprint from Chronicle Books
for 3rd-8th grade
in Artists & Illustrators (Location: ELE-ARTISTS)
Chasing Vermeer
Balliet Art Mystery Series
by Blue Balliett, Brett Helquist (Illustrator)
from Scholastic Inc.
Mystery & Suspense for 4th-6th grade
in Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
$6.79 $3.20 (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)
$5.60 (1 in stock)
Country Artist
by David R. Collins
from First Avenue Editions
Biography for Preschool-3rd Grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
Degas and the Little Dancer
by Laurence Anholt
from Barron's
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Art History & Appreciation (Location: ELE-ARTHIS)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Diego Rivera
by Duncan Tonatiuh
First Edition from Harry N. Abrams, Inc.
for 1st-3rd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
Diego Rodriguez de Silva y Velasquez
Art For Children
by Ernest Raboff
from HarperCollins
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Art History & Appreciation (Location: ELE-ARTHIS)
$2.40 (1 in stock)
Discovering Great Artists
by MaryAnn F. Kohl & Kim Solga
2nd edition from Chicago Review Press
for Preschool-6th grade
in Artists & Illustrators (Location: ELE-ARTISTS)
$16.99
Discovering Great Artists (old)
by MaryAnn F. Kohl & Kim Solga
from Bright Ring Publishing
for Preschool-6th grade
in Artists & Illustrators (Location: ELE-ARTISTS)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
DK Annotated Guides: Art
by Robert Cumming
from DK Publishing
for 9th-Adult
in Art History & Appreciation (Location: ELE-ARTHIS)
$10.00 (1 in stock)
Edgar Degas
Artists Through the Ages
by Alix Wood
from Windmill Books
for 2nd-5th grade
in Art History & Appreciation (Location: ELE-ARTHIS)
$4.80 (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)
$4.80 (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)
Frederic Remington
Art for Children
by Ernest Raboff
from J.B. Lippincott Co.
for 3rd-6th grade
in Art History & Appreciation (Location: ELE-ARTHIS)
$3.20 (1 in stock)
Giotto
Getting to Know the World's Greatest Artists
by Mike Venezia
from Children's Press
for 4th-6th grade
in Art History & Appreciation (Location: ELE-ARTHIS)
$6.40 (1 in stock)
Girl Who Drew Butterflies
by Joyce Sidman
from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
for 3rd-8th grade
Robert F. Sibert Medal winner
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$15.29
Henri Matisse
by Mike Venezia
from Children's Press
for 4th-6th grade
in Artists & Illustrators (Location: ELE-ARTISTS)
$3.20 (2 in stock)
In August Company
from Morgan Library
for 9th-Adult
in Art History & Appreciation (Location: ELE-ARTHIS)
$6.40 (1 in stock)
Jackson Pollock
by Mike Venezia
from Children's Press
for 4th-6th grade
in Artists & Illustrators (Location: ELE-ARTISTS)
$3.20 (1 in stock)
Jackson Pollock
by Mike Venezia
from Children's Press
for 4th-6th grade
in Artists & Illustrators (Location: ELE-ARTISTS)
$3.20 (1 in stock)
John Audubon
Young Patriots series
by Miriam E. Mason
from Patria Press, Inc.
for 4th-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
Joni's Story
Today's Heroes
by Joni Eareckson Tada
from Zondervan
Biography for 4th-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
Leonardo da Vinci
by Diane Stanley
from HarperCollins
Biography for 3rd-6th grade
1997 NCTE Orbis Pictus Award
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$6.79
Leonardo da Vinci
by Emily Hahn
from Sonlight Curriculum, Ltd.
for 5th-8th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
Leonardo da Vinci
by Emily Hahn
from Random House
for 5th-8th grade
in World Landmark Books (Location: VIN-LAN)
Leonardo Da Vinci
by Alice Provensen, Martin Provensen
1st edition from Viking Press
for 4th-6th grade
in Renaissance & Reformation (Location: HISW-REN)
$4.80 (1 in stock)
Leonardo da Vinci
by Jay Williams
from Horizon Books
for 5th-8th grade
in Horizon Caravel Books (Location: VIN-HOR)
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: 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)
$7.20 (1 in stock)
Life & Times of Goya
by Mario Lepore
from Curtis Publishing Co.
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$3.20 (1 in stock)
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)
Life and Work of Auguste Rodin
by Richard Tames
from Heinemann Library
for Kindergarten-2nd grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$4.80 (1 in stock)
Life and Work of Frederic Remington
by Ernestine Giesecke
from Heinemann Library
for Kindergarten-2nd grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$4.80 (1 in stock)
Life and Work of Henry Moore
by Sean Connolly
from Heinemann Library
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$4.80 (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 Artists & Illustrators (Location: ELE-ARTISTS)
$4.80 (2 in stock)
Lives of the Artists
by Kathleen Krull
Reprint from HMH Books for Young Readers
for 3rd-6th grade
in Artists & Illustrators (Location: ELE-ARTISTS)
$7.64
Lust for Life: A Novel of Vincent Van Gogh
by Irving Stone
from Heritage Press
for 10th-Adult
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
M.C. Escher Kaleidocycles
Box from Purple Pomegranate Productions
for 6th-Adult
in Artists & Illustrators (Location: ELE-ARTISTS)
$16.00 (1 in stock)
Mary Cassatt
Getting to Know the World's Greatest Artists
by Mike Venezia
from Children's Press
Picture Book Biography for 4th-6th grade
in Artists & Illustrators (Location: ELE-ARTISTS)
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)
$5.60 (1 in stock)
Michaelangelo
Masters of Art
by Gabriella di Cagno
from Peter Bedrick Books
for 5th-Adult
in Artists & Illustrators (Location: ELE-ARTISTS)
$4.80 (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)
$3.20 (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's America
by Christopher Finch, Illustrated by Norman Rockwell
from Harry N. Abrams, Inc.
for 3rd-Adult
in Artists & Illustrators (Location: ELE-ARTISTS)
$6.40 (1 in stock)
Norman Rockwell's Boys and Girls at Play
from Harry N. Abrams, Inc.
in Artists & Illustrators (Location: ELE-ARTISTS)
$3.20 (1 in stock)
Norman Rockwell: Storyteller with a Brush
by Beverly Gherman
from Atheneum
for 3rd-7th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Pablo Picasso
Getting to Know the World's Greatest Artists
by Mike Venezia
from Children's Press
for 4th-6th grade
in Artists & Illustrators (Location: ELE-ARTISTS)
Passion for the Impossible
by Miriam Huffman Rockness
from Discovery House Publishers
for 8th-Adult
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
Pierre-Auguste Renoir: Paintings That Smile
by True Kelley
from Grosset & Dunlap
for 3rd-6th grade
in Artists & Illustrators (Location: ELE-ARTISTS)
$2.80 (2 in stock)
Pieter Brugel
by Mike Venezia
from Children's Press
for Preschool-3rd grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
R. v. R.: The Life of Rembrandt Van Rijn
by Hendrik Van Loon
from Heritage Press
for 10th-Adult
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$12.00 (1 in stock)
Randolph Caldecott
by Leonard S. Marcus
from Frances Foster Books
for 7th-Adult
$4.80 (1 in stock)
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 and Seventeenth-Century Holland
Masters of Art
by Claudio Pescio
1st edition from Peter Bedrick Books
for 5th-Adult
in Artists & Illustrators (Location: ELE-ARTISTS)
$4.80 (1 in stock)
Rembrandt in Amsterdam
by R. H. Fuchs
1st English language ed.] from New York Graphic Society
for 8th-12th grade
in Clearance: Art & Music (Location: ZCLE-ART)
$3.00 (1 in stock)
Rembrandt: The Old Testament
from Thomas Nelson Publishers
for 6th-Adult
in Artists & Illustrators (Location: ELE-ARTISTS)
$12.00 (1 in stock)
Romance of Leonardo da Vinci
by Dmitri Merejcovski
from Heritage Press
for 10th-Adult
in Clearance: History & Geography (Location: ZCLE-HIS)
Roy Lichtenstein
Getting to Know the World's Greatest Artists
by Mike Venezia
from Children's Press
Picture Book Biography for 3rd-5th grade
in Art History & Appreciation (Location: ELE-ARTHIS)
$2.80 (1 in stock)
Salvador Dali
by Mike Venezia
Revised from Children's Press
for Preschool- 3rd Grade
in Artists & Illustrators (Location: ELE-ARTISTS)
Secret World of Walter Anderson
by Hester Bass, illustrated by E. B. Lewis
from Candlewick Press
for Kindergarten-2nd grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$6.40 (1 in stock)
Sparky & Spike
by Barbara Lowell, illustrated by Dan Andreasen
from Harry N. Abrams, Inc.
Picture Biography for
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$14.41
Story of Dan Beard
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)
$9.60 (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)
$9.60 (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 Book of Famous Artists
from Usborne
for 2nd-7th grade
in Artists & Illustrators (Location: ELE-ARTISTS)
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)
Who Was Leonardo da Vinci?
Who Was?...Series
by Roberta Edwards
from Grosset & Dunlap
for 2nd-5th grade
in Who Was? biographies (Location: BIO-WHO)
You're a Grand Old Flag
by Norman Rockwell
from Atheneum
for 1st-4th grade
in Landmarks & Symbols of the United States (Location: HISA-LAND)
$5.60 (1 in stock)
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