Fausto Gilberti has a (currently) four book series of modern artists. These contemporary people are profiled in a simple, hit the highlights manner. The cover of each one tells you all
you need to know about the artwork that is inside. Gilberti has their own style they use to help give you a look into people like Banksy, Jackson Pollock, Yves Klein, and Yayoi Kusama. I recently read the Pollock, Klein, and Banksy books. I think I have seen Yayoi Kusama Covered Everything in Dots and Wasn’t Sorry but as I don’t remember, I will focus on the others.
I was never a fan of Jackson Pollock’s work. Though I always appreciate the time it takes to create anything artistic. Therefore, reading Jackson Pollock Splashed Paint and Wasn’t Sorry did give me an appreciation of where he was coming from. This picture book, in a poetic manner, tells you how Pollock thought, his influences and the process he took to get to the final product. To understand the artwork, you might need to see the process and hear the thoughts of the artist, and that is done here. I still think that my dad’s paint splattered drop cloths look exactly like a Jackson Pollack painting, but I understand the person a bit more.
I am not a fan of graffiti. However, I feel if you are going to do it, go out there and create an image that shows talent. Do not just scribble something on walls or items that look like something the “four/four-and-half month old I’ve never met complete strangers’ baby I adopted as my niece” could do. Banksy is a graffiti artist, and Banksy Graffitied Walls and Wasn’t Sorry for the statements they make. I still do not like graffiti on someone else’s property, but I enjoyed learning about the life (what is known) and art of Banksy as told on these pages. You get a look at who this person (or people) is.
Yves Klein painted Everything Blue and Wasn’t Sorry continues learning about artists in a simplified, approach, but it is not simplistic by any stretch of the imagination. I had heard of Pollack and as an adult more aware of Banksy, but not Klein. Therefore, I was more interested with this book than the others. With that said, I still question the logic of calling eleven identically painted all blue canvases Art. If nothing else, looking at what the artists does also gives you an insight into the historical settings around them. While not covered directly, the reader might be interested enough to go out and learn the artist and influences of the time, too.
These books work great in a younger child’s art classroom. They are also a neat tie-in for the adult who is a fan of the artist. However, as of this writing, there is only low stock at the vendor we use and Yayoi Kusama’s book is out of stock indefinitely. Therefore, grab quick, or find a pre-loved shop that might have them!