Women's Art Work

May 1, 2020

Gr 6 Up-This biographical dictionary highlights 33 historic and modern female artists, along with illustrated descriptions of women artistic pioneers, art schools of influence, distinguished curators and critics, and women featured as subjects of visual art. The life stories and interviews are organized alphabetically with brief entries appearing after each set of three longer profiles. While the historic figures are treated with more traditional biographies, most of the sections for living artists are interviews that discuss influences, choices of medium, and motivations and meanings in the artist's work. A 20-question quiz, a glossary of significant art terms, a time line of women's contributions to art and to society from ancient to modern times, and an index are included. VERDICT This colorful, detailed, and well-organized encyclopedia of significant women artists is recommended for both junior high and high school nonfiction collections.-Kelly Kingrey-Edwards, Blinn Junior College, Brenham, TX

Copyright 2020 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from May 1, 2020
Grades 3-6 *Starred Review* Highlighting women artists from England's Tate collection, this lively work consciously dispels the idea that women's crafts are not art. It stands out for giving attention to living creators as well as those of the past, and for profiling those in art-world roles like art critics, curators, collectors, and gallerists, who are covered in collective biographies sprinkled throughout. The bulk of the work consists of 32 entries profiling creators such as contemporary British artist Sonia Boyce, whose work focuses on Black women; contemporary Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama, who is famous for her polka dots; Russian avant-garde artist Natalia Goncharova (1881-1962); and, of course, Mexico's Frida Kahlo (1907-1954). Attention-grabbing, attractive entries offer brief but pithy descriptions of the women's works, inspirations, and lives. The entries feature clear reproductions of artworks and are accompanied by Thapp's colorful paintings of the artists and whimsical scatterings of relevant images; for example, the entry on Simryn Gill, an artist whose work features fruit, has cartoon fruit around the margins. As Bennett includes many details (and robust back matter) on the women's time as well as their lives, this is a worthwhile purchase to support the study of history as well as biography and art, and an absorbing browse.Women in Focus: The 20th in 2020(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2020, American Library Association.)