History Corner: Make Fine Art Come Alive With These COLORING Books!

Disclosure / Disclaimer: I received these books free of charge, froSchiffer Publishing, Ltd, for blog review purposes on this blog. No compensation, monetary or in kind, has been received or implied for this post. Nor was I told how to post about them.


Fine Art study can be boring.
Let's just admit it.

There.
Looking at pictures in books and online can online create so much interest.
Seeing pictures in person, yes THAT has the power to move our children to see what the artist wanted them to FEEL. But not many of us live close to museums where we can see these works of art on a routine basis.

So when a set of books comes along that can help bring fine art to life for kids, and adults, they need some closer review!

Each of these 2 coloring books combines the artistic skills of acclaimed artist and graphic novelist Karl Stevens, with the art crime expertise of bestselling author and renowned art theft investigator Anthony M. Amore. 

Yup, these isn't just any fine art- it's STOLEN art!

AHA- now you have kid's attention! 

stolen beauty cover


stolen beauty sample
Stolen Beauty is the first adult coloring book with a mission: to inform the public about the problem of art theft while raising awareness of what the world’s great stolen art looks like. This awareness is key to combating a multi-billion-dollar illicit industry. 

Stolen Beauty features some of the world’s most important missing paintings. From Raphael to Van Gogh to Vermeer, paintings valued in the hundreds of millions of dollars remain missing throughout the world, and few people are aware of the scope of the problem.

As you can see, each painting has an informational paragraph about the artist who rendered the original, and/or it's theft. Stevens does a great job in giving you a black and white drawing that is easy to color with your medium- be it colored pencils, pens or watercolor. the only drawback is that the prints are on thin paper, and are back to back, so if you do choose water color or pen, there is worry about bleed through, I had forgotten about some of these thefts, so it was an interesting look at paintings that are no longer with us, for public view.


looted beauty cover



looted beauty sample
In Looted Beauty, artists are invited to color line-drawn interpretations of 30 master-pieces seized or destroyed by the Nazis during WWII. The collection includes short stories about the lives of the artists, the people who owned the paintings, and how and where each piece disappeared.

Read about and interact with unforgettable works of art by luminaries such as Paul KleeClaude Monet, and Franz Marc, considered the father of German Impressionism. In the years since the war ended, dedicated professionals have spent innumerable hours trying to locate and return the art to its rightful owners. The authors believe that by bringing the paintings' stories to light, they can make a small contribution toward reminding the world of the problem of looting and the spoils of war. 

It is hard not to discuss WWII and the amount of LOSS of fine art and other treasures, wither from theft, or from the amount of bombings that occurred. This book allows kids to really understand about the fine art that was taken and how the ravages of war affect even future generations. Many of my favorite pieces are in this collection, including the Mattisse print above. Like the previous book, you can choose your medium, but the paper is thin. That is my only regret about these books, that they weren't set on easily pull out pages on thicker paper, so you could frame your version of the masterpieces.

I plan on using both books as part of a unit study for Miss Grace for next year (6th grade), as we will be tackling Art Appreciation and modern US history, so they will both be better suited for her then. plus being a bit older I think will help her appreciate the art more. Due to the mystery/thefts I know she will be intrigued and looking more into the thefts will allow for some practice on research skills as well! I would definitely suggest that these books are best for middle- high school students, if using them to tie in with curriuculum, or for adults to learn more about art. Both are equally recommended!


About the Author/ Illustrator:

Anthony Amore is an internationally recognized expert in art theft and security. He is director of security at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, where he is charged with ongoing efforts to recover thirteen works of art stolen from the museum on March 18, 1990. He is the author of two bestsellers, Stealing Rembrandts: The Untold Stories of Notorious Art Heists, and The Art of the Con: The Most Notorious Fake, Frauds and Forgeries in the Art World. Illustrator Karl Stevens is a graphic novelist and painter. He has authored four books: Guilty, Whatever, The Lodger, and Failure. His comic strips appeared in The Boston Phoenix between 2005 and 2012. Stevens’s work appears in select art galleries. Awards include Xeric Award Winner, 2004, and AAN Best Cartoon Award, 2010.

Karl Stevens is a graphic novelist and painter. His first book, Guilty, was published in 2004 with a grant from the Xeric Foundation. He is also the author of Whatever (2008), The Lodger (A Los Angeles Times Book Prize Finalist, 2010), and Failure (2013). His comic strip, “Whatever,” ran from 2005-2008 in the alternative weekly the Boston Phoenix. A collection of the strips was published in April 2008 by Alternative Comics. In May 2008 “Whatever” was replaced by a new comic, “Succe$$,” illustrated by Stevens and written by Gustavo Turner. “Failure” was his final series for the Phoenix.

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