Claude Monet: Discover the Artist Behind the Masterpieces (Portrait of an Artist)

by Lucy Brownridge (Author) Caroline Bonne-Müller (Illustrator)

Reading Level: 2nd − 3rd Grade
A beautifully told art story for children, looking at Claude Monet's life through his masterpieces. Accompanied by stunning original illustrations from Caroline Bonne-Muller. - The Portrait of an Artist series is an excellent introduction to art and its importance to our world. Claude Monet is one of the best loved artists of all time. Find out how this special young painter strove to capture light and feeling in his paintings and how together with a group of talented friends, he came to start the most famous art movement of all time, Impressionism. In his long life he experienced war and heartbreak, love and the joy of family. See how his life shaped each piece of art he made and that throughout it all he never stopped trying to paint the ever changing light and glimmering water. In the end he built himself a garden filled with both, with waterlilies floating on dappled ponds setting the scene for his last, infamous masterpieces. A Monet masterpiece is featured on every spread. This art story also includes a closer look at 10 of Monet's masterpieces at the back.
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ALA/Booklist

Clearly written, informative, and at times inspirational, this is another strong option in an outstanding series.

School Library Journal

Gr 2-4--The French painter Claude Monet, one of the founders of French Impressionism, is the subject of this latest entry in the "Portrait of an Artist" series. This illustrated biography concentrates on his early years; his light-filled painting style; his courtship of his first wife, Camille; and his family. Brownridge's choice of details and the simplicity of her text make the book most appropriate for younger readers. ("Claude had lots of friends." "Eugène [Boudin] thought that a real artist needed to learn how to use serious tricky materials like oil paint, and paint landscapes instead of people.") The text appears directly on Bonne-Müller's illustrations (likely painted with acrylics and digitally manipulated). Although she makes an effort to reflect Monet's interest in the landscape and natural world, Bonne-Müller's depictions are rendered in her own distinctive style. In the context of the narrative, 14 of the artist's paintings are faithfully reproduced but, perhaps because of the size or the printing process, seldom convey Monet's mastery of light. As in previous titles in the series, the works don't necessarily appear in the story in the order in which they were painted, but the 10 described more fully in the back matter are arranged chronologically. VERDICT Useful where artist biographies are of interest. Monet's garden, the focus of Pia Valentinis and Giancarlo Ascari's graphic biography, The Garden of Monsieur Monet, is, here, simply the finale, but the two books would make an interesting pairing.--Kathleen Isaacs, Children's Literature Specialist, Pasadena, MD

Copyright 2020 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Review quotes




Lucy Brownridge

Lucy Brownridge is an author and editor of children's books based in London. She writes books for children about history of art, history, animals, and science. She has an MA in history of art from the Courtauld Institute of Art and a BA in history of art from the University of Bristol.

Sandra Dieckmann is an artist, illustrator and potter from the UK. She is best known for her colorful, patterned and intricate drawings of nature and wildlife. In 2011 Sandra was chosen by Oscar-winning animator & illustrator Shaun Tan as the Emerging Talent in Illustration for her image 'Fox Tree'.

Classification
Fiction
ISBN-13
9780711248779
Lexile Measure
-
Guided Reading Level
-
Publisher
Wide Eyed Editions
Publication date
January 20, 2020
Series
Portrait of an Artist
BISAC categories
BIO000000 - Biography & Autobiography | General
ART016030 - Art | Individual Artists | Monographs
Library of Congress categories
France
Artists
Painters
Monet, Claude
Painting, French

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