Surrealism

by Anna Claybourne

Why did artists in the 1920s begin to create surreal pictures and sculptures? Who were the main Surrealist artists? Where can you see the influence of Surrealism today? 'Surrealism' answers all these questions.

This series introduces particular styles of painting with a focus on how to recreate the style and the techniques used, to help aspiring artists discover their style. 'Try it yourself' activities help students to develop their own skills, 'Tricks of the trade' sections explain techniques used in the different styles and 'Artist focus' sections look at the central protagonists of each movement.

48 pages, Library Binding

First published September 1, 2008

About the author

Freelance children’s writer and editor, based in Edinburgh, Scotland.

Anna Claybourne writes children's information books on all kinds of topics: science experiments, ancient history, the human body, things to make, the environment, robots, evolution, art, fashion, Shakespeare and many more - as well as retellings of myths, legends and Shakespeare plays, and rhyming stories.

She studied English literature at university, but has always been interested in science, technology and art and design as well. She loves making and crafting, especially sewing, and her house is full of fabrics, craft materials, tools and books. Other interests and passions include camping, cats, outdoor swimming, news and politics, and music - she plays the trombone and has played in many different bands and orchestras, including performing live on a John Peel session in 2002 with Scottish band Ballboy.

Anna was born and grew up in Yorkshire, but has also lived in Canada as a student, Iceland as an au pair, and Costa Rica as a conservation volunteer, where she saw tarantulas, tapirs, monkeys, sloths, crocodiles and giant katydids. She now lives in Edinburgh with her two children and two cats, Skye and Socks.

Reviews

[Dolly · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an interesting book about the Surrealists and the art forms they created and inspired. Although I picked this book out to read with our girls, I recognized right away that they wouldn't be too interested in me reading the whole thing, so we looked at the pictures and I read them the captions and a few interesting bits. I was surprised at how much they retained when our oldest woke up this morning, described her dream and decided to draw a picture about it. I think that's wonderful that she was inspired by this book to do that. I read the rest of the book myself and I thought it was a great, condensed history of this form of art.