Look! Seeing the Light in Art by Gillian Wolfe
Mellow, gleaming, cloudy, flashing, electric…all words associated with the use of light in art. These words and many others describing forms of light can be found on the endpapers of this fabulous book, which showcases paintings from artists famous and not-so-famous. Simple descriptions accompany each painting , along with an exploration of how each artist used light to create another dimension in their work. The author also makes looking at the art in the book a participatory experience, asking questions of the reader about the paintings and giving suggestions for further explorations of both the artwork and the concepts. For example, readers will surely find the painting Three Worlds by M.C. Escher, used to introduce the concept of light reflection, fascinating. The author gives a simple description of the painting, and asks the reader to guess why it’s entitled “Three Worlds”. The reader is then directed to find other examples of reflected light in the book and to name some surfaces which are good for reflecting light. It isn’t often that such a great book about art that is also appropriate for the younger reader comes along, so be sure to check this one out!
(Lane library info here)
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