Product Description

In this entertaining, informative collection, readers discover the idiosyncrasies-sometimes humorous, sometimes tragic-of twenty famous artists, including Michelangelo, Cassatt, van Gogh, Kahlo, and Warhol. Fresh, spirited, and unconventional.--Kirkus Reviews

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #332608 in Books
• Published on: 2001-02-01
• Released on: 2001-01-11
• Original language: English
• Dimensions: .55" h x 8.80" w x 10.53" l, 1.35 pounds
• Binding: Hardcover
• 96 pages

From School Library Journal
Grade 6 Up-Judging from the popularity of television talk shows and supermarket tabloids, Americans love gossip. As the title suggests, this collection of anecdotes about 15 famous artists of European heritage (and Hokusai) is gossipy. Tidbits flood the brief biographies: Leonardo's and Michelangelo's homosexuality, Van Gogh's "ear episode," Bruegel's fondness for practical jokes, Cassatt's support of women's suffrage, etc. These morsels are integrated into chapters with an easy-flowing sequence of short paragraphs, and supplemented with an "Artworks" section that adds a few pithy comments about several specific pieces, such as O'Keeffe's bone paintings or Kollowitz's large granite memorial for her son Peter. Hewitt supplies a full-page watercolor and colored-pencil portrait and vignette for each artist. These are friendly representations that also include personal objects like Matisse's fiddle, Chagall's village, Duchamp's snow shovel, etc. They add pleasant visual attractions to the lighthearted approach in this inviting introduction to a few of the Big Names in our artworld. A page of artistic terms is also included.
Kenneth Marantz, Art Education Department, Ohio State University, Columbus
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist
Gr. 4^-6. From the eclectic series that began with Lives of the Musicians: Good Times, Bad Times (and What the Neighbors Thought) (1993) comes a volume devoted to visual artists. The subject seems well suited to Krull's format: informative short biographies that focus on the subjects' personal lives and eccentricities rather than chronologies of their masterpieces. A few notes on major artworks follow each biography. Among the 19 artists discussed are Leonardo, Bruegel, Cassatt, Van Gogh, Picasso, O'Keefe, Dali, Noguchi, Rivera, Kahlo, and Warhol. Each chapter begins with one of Hewitt's distinctive portrait paintings, handsome caricatures of the artists and a few significant or distinctive objects indicating their interests and individual traits. A lively, entertaining presentation. Carolyn Phelan

Review
Although billed by its publishers for ages 8 to 12, this compendium of background and gossip (that Vasari never would have dared to write) is vastly entertaining for adults, too. Not only do we get the sexual preferences of such greats as da Vinci, Michelangelo, and Mary Cassatt, we even learn what they ate and the pets they loved or despised. We also learn that Hokusai changed his residence no less than 93 times (so he wouldn't have to clean his messy studios), and that Van Gogh's paintings were used to patch up outhouses and chicken coops. Who wouldn't love browsing through such fascinating stuff? Along the way, a lot of standard information is also exchanged. Hewitt's individual portraits are humorous and evocative of each artist's style. Great fun. (Children's Literature )