What do you think?
Rate this book
Cave Paintings to Picasso: The Inside Scoop on 50 Art Masterpieces
From prehistoric cave paintings to the Mona Lisa , from Nefertiti to Andy Warhol's Big Campbell's Soup Can 19 , this book pairs full-color reproductions of 50 of the world's most celebrated masterpieces with brief, kid-accessible stories about how they were made, who made them and where they fit in the fascinating history of art. Featuring art from Europe, Africa, Asia, and America, organized chronologically, and including timelines and a glossary of art terms, this book is a wonderful overview of art and culture through the ages.
96 pages, Hardcover
First published August 26, 2004
4 people are currently reading
32 people want to read
About the author
Henry M. Sayre
175 books9 followersHenry M. Sayre is a Distinguished Professor of Art History. He has written several books on his subject.
Sayre was born in Boulder, Colorado in 1948.
Sayre was born in Boulder, Colorado in 1948.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
April 25, 2009
The reason I picked this book is because it offers a wide range of art, i.e. not just Western art. There are classic pieces of Western art in here, like the Hall of the Bulls at Lascaux Caves in France, the She-Wolf Bronze from Rome, the Mona Lisa, Lorenzetti's Effects of Good Gov't and Michelangelo's David. But there's also other cool things like a Colossal Olmec head, Chinese silk scroll paintings, Head of an Oba brass head, and Mughal art. So kids get a really wide view of art history.
September 8, 2018
A great book for easy-to-read art history. A great resource for some well known pieces. The art is ordered chronologically with a timeline on each page. Each chosen piece of art has a page description which includes information about the civilization, art form, artist, and/or location of the artwork. The artwork is varied in style and formation from paintings to sculptures to tapestries and more. My one hesitancy to mention is that this book contains pieces with nudity. My suggestion would be to thumb through and choose what is comfortable to sit with and discuss with your child. My youngest, this summer, is 9 and we chose this book for summer art appreciation. He has enjoyed it.
April 9, 2021
I love art and learning of the artists and history of art 🤩
April 16, 2015
Henry Sayre takes his readers on an artistic journey spanning over 20,000 years in his book Cave Paintings to Picasso. Readers are treated to 50 classic works of art from across all time periods. The journey begins with the ancient Woman From Brassempouy (France - 22,000 B.C.) and concludes with Rene Magritte’s Son of Man (Belgium – 1964). Throughout the journey readers have the opportunity to view and learn about 48 other classic sculptures, paintings, tapestries, and even books. This book is a quick and informative read which I thoroughly enjoyed.
The format of the book will attract readers of all ages. Each work of art is given a prominent location in its section, most often taking up a full page. Some works of art are given one total page in the book, but most get two. Sayre gives a brief history of each piece of art, focusing on different aspects of its creation and meaning for different pieces. At times the artist is featured. Other times, the message and meaning of the piece is explained. Sayre masterfully mixes the focus of each essay. The reader never feels as though they have to slog through the same boring write-up 50 different times.
I loved the large, full-color illustrations of each piece. I myself am not a serious art buff, but I did recognize and appreciate a good number of the works included. Sayre mixes many different modes of art in his work. The bulk of the fifty pieces are paintings, but he also devotes time to several sculptures, tapestries, and even the medieval Books of Kells. I appreciated the variety of art and artists surveyed throughout the book.
Sayre included artists from all over the globe in this book. There are obviously a large number of European artists featured, but Sayre was sure to include art from Africa, South America, Asia, and Polynesia as well. Along with geographical variety, Sayre used art from different time periods ranging from very ancient to modern. Over 20% of the works in the book were crafted in B.C. times. Sayre has an obvious appreciation for and knowledge of art from many different times and places. My personal favorites in this 50-piece collection were Hopper’s Nighthawks and Guo Xi’s Early Spring.
Parents would want to note that there is a little nudity in two of the works before perhaps letting their younger kids read the book. Michelangelo’s David shows full-frontal make nudity, while Gauguin’s Mahana no atua depicts a topless female figure. Aside from that, there is nothing in either the works of art or the descriptions that parents would find objectionable.
One of the aspects I most appreciated about this book was Sayre’s ability to interpret the modern pieces for his readers. As I stated above, I have an appreciation for art, but often I cannot understand its symbolism. Sayre deftly explains how color, inclusion of certain features, light, and positioning can all be used to tell a deeper story than what a viewer initially sees.
For the older works of art, in which symbolism was often not a feature, I appreciated Sayre’s knowledge of the people and places the art came from. Readers learn about ancient France, China, Europe, and the Middle East as they view the art that came out of each of them. I was particularly struck by the story of The Horses of San Marco. These massive sculptures were collected as war trophies by victorious armies no less than four times since their casting!
With all of this in mind, I highly recommend this book to all readers. Serious students of art will likely not learn much new information, but seeing the classics once again may bring some joy to their day. The novice art aficionado, like me, will more likely learn and appreciate both the works and their stories much more.
The format of the book will attract readers of all ages. Each work of art is given a prominent location in its section, most often taking up a full page. Some works of art are given one total page in the book, but most get two. Sayre gives a brief history of each piece of art, focusing on different aspects of its creation and meaning for different pieces. At times the artist is featured. Other times, the message and meaning of the piece is explained. Sayre masterfully mixes the focus of each essay. The reader never feels as though they have to slog through the same boring write-up 50 different times.
I loved the large, full-color illustrations of each piece. I myself am not a serious art buff, but I did recognize and appreciate a good number of the works included. Sayre mixes many different modes of art in his work. The bulk of the fifty pieces are paintings, but he also devotes time to several sculptures, tapestries, and even the medieval Books of Kells. I appreciated the variety of art and artists surveyed throughout the book.
Sayre included artists from all over the globe in this book. There are obviously a large number of European artists featured, but Sayre was sure to include art from Africa, South America, Asia, and Polynesia as well. Along with geographical variety, Sayre used art from different time periods ranging from very ancient to modern. Over 20% of the works in the book were crafted in B.C. times. Sayre has an obvious appreciation for and knowledge of art from many different times and places. My personal favorites in this 50-piece collection were Hopper’s Nighthawks and Guo Xi’s Early Spring.
Parents would want to note that there is a little nudity in two of the works before perhaps letting their younger kids read the book. Michelangelo’s David shows full-frontal make nudity, while Gauguin’s Mahana no atua depicts a topless female figure. Aside from that, there is nothing in either the works of art or the descriptions that parents would find objectionable.
One of the aspects I most appreciated about this book was Sayre’s ability to interpret the modern pieces for his readers. As I stated above, I have an appreciation for art, but often I cannot understand its symbolism. Sayre deftly explains how color, inclusion of certain features, light, and positioning can all be used to tell a deeper story than what a viewer initially sees.
For the older works of art, in which symbolism was often not a feature, I appreciated Sayre’s knowledge of the people and places the art came from. Readers learn about ancient France, China, Europe, and the Middle East as they view the art that came out of each of them. I was particularly struck by the story of The Horses of San Marco. These massive sculptures were collected as war trophies by victorious armies no less than four times since their casting!
With all of this in mind, I highly recommend this book to all readers. Serious students of art will likely not learn much new information, but seeing the classics once again may bring some joy to their day. The novice art aficionado, like me, will more likely learn and appreciate both the works and their stories much more.
Read
December 16, 2010Have you ever wondered if art was the same way back when? Well in Cave Paintings to Picasso you find out. This book includes information on 50 of the worlds most famous art pieces, even dating back to the 1400's! Each piece in this book has it's own two pages. One with a picture of the piece and the other with information on the piece. On the top of each page in a "picture frame" there is the name of the piece, who made it, what kind it is, (i.e. oil on canvas, illustration on parchment, etc.) the width and length in inches and centimeters, and the year(s) it was made. In this book their is a table of contents, an index, and a glossary on a words that the author thought no one would have heard before. I think this book is laid out in a very organized way. There is a picture and information on every page, and on the side of the page there is a timeline with a star around what date is was made and if was A.D, or B.C.E. You never go looking for a piece of information in this book, because of one: it's table of contents with the name of the painting, who it is by, and what page it is on. And two: since each piece of art has it's own page, it is easy to find and very hard to miss. I think the author did a very good job writing this book. You can tell that well he got the picture of the pieces he tried to make sure you could see every minor but important detail. And you can tell that he thought all of his information through. He explained everything. And even on some pages he included a hint on what technique the artist used to make it and how. He even gives some pointers on how to make something like that famous art piece! This book is very intriguing and every page has something new and interesting. But of course reading about 50 painting can get a little boring, which is why this book is great. It is easy to pick a few pieces that look most fascinating you and read about them, and then just come back to some more another time! The author, (Henry Sayre) is obviously and expert on art. By reading this book it seems like he really took his time explaining everything to the reader to make it understandable. And you have to give him credit because you can never trust ALL the information in a book. But Henry made it very convincing. I also think he seems very open to any king of art. Although I did notice that he mostly focused on 2-D art pieces. He included a few sculptures and pottery, but not much. In this book the author did well at choosing pieces that he thought, (and I agree) would be most interesting to people. Although, I wish he included more 3-D pieces, because I would have liked to learn about those to. I would recommend this book to people who have been interested in art their whole life. Because others may find it a little bit boring after a while. In this book you learn about some of the most famous art pieces and artists in the world. Not only do you learn information, but also how it was made, and maybe how you can do something like that one day! Also, in this book you understand why the piece was made, not just because the artist was in the mood to make something, but because he/she wanted to show or express something going on in their lives or someone else's lives. I think this book was also edited very well, it is not just your typical non-fiction book. The author add emphasis to what he is saying. In this book, you learn everything their is to know about these art pieces. Maybe one day, you can do something like those pieces to.
March 18, 2016
Amazon: Starred Review. Grade 5-10
The history of art is long and complex, yet Sayre has managed to show 50 major works of art from 22,000 B.C. to A.D. 1964 and successfully summarize the background of each one, the artist, and its social and historical context as well as the reason(s) it is important.
The masterpieces discussed begin with Woman from Brassempouy and conclude with René Magritte's The Son of Man. The author's breezy style captures interest early on and is easy enough for beginning art students while remaining informative for teens. Many of the world's cultures are represented and a variety of techniques are explained: woodblock printing, painting, tapestries, primitive carving, sculpture, and more.
The full-color reproductions are at least a quarter-page in size, though most are larger. A funky, framed inset box gives the title, medium, size, artist, and year the work was created. Though some pages seem a little crowded, the layout is energetic enough to forgive the loss of white space. A time line runs along the outside edge of the pages, with an asterisk marking the date of the depicted pieces. A dazzling and accessible introduction to art history.
Heather E. Miller, Homewood Public Library, AL
The history of art is long and complex, yet Sayre has managed to show 50 major works of art from 22,000 B.C. to A.D. 1964 and successfully summarize the background of each one, the artist, and its social and historical context as well as the reason(s) it is important.
The masterpieces discussed begin with Woman from Brassempouy and conclude with René Magritte's The Son of Man. The author's breezy style captures interest early on and is easy enough for beginning art students while remaining informative for teens. Many of the world's cultures are represented and a variety of techniques are explained: woodblock printing, painting, tapestries, primitive carving, sculpture, and more.
The full-color reproductions are at least a quarter-page in size, though most are larger. A funky, framed inset box gives the title, medium, size, artist, and year the work was created. Though some pages seem a little crowded, the layout is energetic enough to forgive the loss of white space. A time line runs along the outside edge of the pages, with an asterisk marking the date of the depicted pieces. A dazzling and accessible introduction to art history.
Heather E. Miller, Homewood Public Library, AL
April 20, 2012
I am very excited to use this book for the art part of our curriculum. One page shows the work of art, the opposite page discusses the work of art on a child's level (I'd say 3rd-4th?), talks about the art piece's background, the artist, technique, etc. It also shows a timeline of when in history the art piece was created. I also love that the book doesn't encompass just European art, but features art work from all around the world through a wide range of time.
My only concern is that it does have a few nude works of art. There are all kinds of opinions on introducing nude works of art to children, the value of nude art work. But my son is 5 and we will be discussing the art, what a nude is, but I have covered them up. I don't need my kid looking at naked people, no matter how fabulous the work of art is. But that's my opinion. I did feel it was important to mention the nude art pieces in this review. Take it however you'd like.
Overall, though, it looks like a great introduction to global pieces of art!
My only concern is that it does have a few nude works of art. There are all kinds of opinions on introducing nude works of art to children, the value of nude art work. But my son is 5 and we will be discussing the art, what a nude is, but I have covered them up. I don't need my kid looking at naked people, no matter how fabulous the work of art is. But that's my opinion. I did feel it was important to mention the nude art pieces in this review. Take it however you'd like.
Overall, though, it looks like a great introduction to global pieces of art!
December 30, 2009
Cave Paintings to Picasso is the perfect book to give any art lover. The book covers 50 pieces of art and provides a picture of each as well as a brief summary on the artworks history.
I could see this book being used in many subjects-Art, History, Music, English. This book could serve as a good introduction to art, but also delves into some of the cultural background of what was happening during the time the artist produced the piece.
The Booklist review mentioned may typos, but I didn't notice them when I read the book. The review also mentioned a factual error, "a reference to carbon monoxide in human breath, rather than carbon dioxide" but I think that can easily be corrected in discussion.
The layout of this book makes it a good browsing book, but could also be read cover to cover very easily. The author doesn't talk down to his audience and the language used is easy to read and conversational, which makes this one appropriate for older elementary and up.
I could see this book being used in many subjects-Art, History, Music, English. This book could serve as a good introduction to art, but also delves into some of the cultural background of what was happening during the time the artist produced the piece.
The Booklist review mentioned may typos, but I didn't notice them when I read the book. The review also mentioned a factual error, "a reference to carbon monoxide in human breath, rather than carbon dioxide" but I think that can easily be corrected in discussion.
The layout of this book makes it a good browsing book, but could also be read cover to cover very easily. The author doesn't talk down to his audience and the language used is easy to read and conversational, which makes this one appropriate for older elementary and up.
June 30, 2011
i love art (thus the reason i have an art history minor that i'm not at all putting to use!), and it was fun to look at which works were in this collection and overview for children. my son and i had fun talking about a few different pieces in the book, and why we liked them (of course his favorite was "The Great Wave" by Hokasai, which is also one of my favorites).
August 15, 2012
The visual imagery in this book is impressive; however, it contains a number of errors. While "to err is human," a good editor should pick up on misspellings and incorrect statements (people exhaling carbon monoxide in Lascaux, for example, instead of carbon dioxide), and particularly in nonfiction texts, faithful rendering of information is essential.
January 21, 2010
Great. I was able to review some favorites and find some new ones. Would definitely use to get my younger cousins interested in the arts.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews