January 10, 2022
Focusing on 24 women painters of varying backgrounds who created art between the 16th and 20th centuries (including Lavinia Fontana, Mary Cassatt, Yuki Ogura, and Alma Woodsey Thomas), Leibowitz and LaBanca Rogers divide this meticulous volume into two sections: “Classical Painting and Other Realistic Styles” and “Modern Painting.” Each chapter is preceded by a full-color image of the featured artist’s masterwork, before concise sections offer biography and analysis, including an introduction to the painting, art terms, and comments about technique. Straightforward prose contains myriad questions for readers to consider: “While flowers are a common subject of paintings, Ruysch made them unexpectedly dramatic. Where does most of the drama come from? Is it composition, color, or light?” An inclusive, easy-to-read guidebook to women artists. Front matter features an introduction explaining art vocabulary; back matter includes activities, an appendix with a value scale and color wheel, notes, and an index. Ages 8–12.
February 1, 2022
Gr 5-9-An accessible primer on women artists and their best known works. This collective biography sheds a light on 24 female painters who lived from the 16th to the 20th centuries; the text is divided into Classical and Modern sections. The extensive introduction to the text includes definitions of art vocabulary, such as composition, value, and positive and negative shapes. At the start of each chapter, the artists' techniques with color, light, and perspective are explained, using her master work as an example. Students are invited to analyze the reproduction with guided questions on design, the use of color, and more. It's only then that readers are given a short biography of the painter, with some details on her education, personal life, and major accomplishments. The usual suspects are featured, including Artemisia Gentileschi and Mary Cassatt, but others not as widely celebrated, such as Harlem Renaissance painter Laura Waring Wheeler and Native American artist Angel De Cora are also highlighted. Figures from Japan, India, Cuba, and Brazil are represented and several of the women selected were LGBTQIA+. The conversational tone will make readers feel as if they're in a women-only, more diverse "Intro to Art History" class. Some of the paintings included are self-portraits, but otherwise, the artists' own visages are, unfortunately, not featured. These brief insights into these phenomenal groundbreaking women are bound to inspire browsers into researchers. Back matter includes activities for kids who want to hone their own painting techniques. VERDICT A must for art history curriculum and to diversify biography shelves.-Shelley M. Diaz
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February 15, 2022
Grades 5-8 Shifting from more common male-dominated histories, this guide presents art, specifically painting, through profiles of 24 women artists. Beginning with Lavinia Fontana, an Italian portrait painter born in 1552, and ending with Native American Angel De Cora, who exhibited at the 1904 World's Fair, the first half of the book focuses on classical and realistic painting styles in the European tradition. Each profile starts with a representative painting, which the authors critique in an approachable, conversational tone. Guided questions help focus readers' attention as the authors address the painting's color, composition, perspective, and other concepts. Finally, a short biography wraps up each profile. The book's second half transitions to modern painting and women working in the early part of the twentieth century. Offering great racial diversity, this section showcases Cuban Amelia Pel�ez, Indian Amrita Sher-Gil, African American Laura Wheeling Waring, and other painters from Japan, Mexico, Brazil, and China. Students can study the artists' techniques further through concluding activities. Most of the artists will be new to even experienced readers, making this guide a valuable resource.
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