Ten Great Art Books for Children

As a parent and writer of a blog about art, I am frequently asked about how to expose children to art. Through the years three approaches have brought some success: books, museum visits, and art classes.

This post will focus on the books and those for younger children in particular. We have compiled this list of ten great art books for kids. All of them are filled with bright colors and almost all containing a narrative. Our eyes have evolved to track to bright colors. (This is part of the reason why cartoons and Sesame Street hold the viewer’s attention.) The storyline helps with the engagement.

Many of these books are available at your library or local bookstore. They make great gift ideas for relatives and grandparents who want to bring something that will catch the eye, but not be a toy or socks.  They are wonderful options for reading with a child or grandchild as the adult can learn a little bit as well. To make it easier we have included links to the books on Amazon to make it easier to find what you need.

1. Babar’s Museum of Art-   Everybody loves Babar! And when he goes to the Museum, you both get the opportunity to learn about various painting styles. The paintings do have elephants subbing in for the original subjects, but it still works swimmingly.  This is a great foundation book.

2. Frida- A colorful story book about this intriguing Mexican painter.

3. Chuck Close Up Close- His unusual painting style captures a child’s attention well while also conveying subtle lessons about different techniques and perspectives. This one is a bit pricey, but Close makes it into the curriculum's of many a school. 

4. Picasso and the Girl with a Ponytail (Anholt's Artists Books For Children)- Picasso is a seminal figure in modern art and this book tells his story.

 5. Neo Leo: The Ageless Ideas of Leonardo da Vinci- Leonardo's ingenuity and engaging ideas tend to pull boys in.

6. Fallingwater: The Building of Frank Lloyd Wright's Masterpiece- The story of one of the country’s finest buildings by its most iconic architect. If you have a trip to Fallingwater, this book can lay the foundation for a more productive visit.

 7. Through Georgia's Eyes- Georgia O’Keeffe’s beautiful paintings are timeless.

8. Roy's House- Roy Lichtenstein’s iconic comic book style lends itself to exciting graphics. 

 9. Diego- A colorful story book about this intriguing Mexican painter and muralist.

10. A Child's Introduction to Art: The World's Greatest Paintings and Sculptures-This is our one non-story book. It provides a follow-up after the others have piqued the child’s interest.

Did we leave anything out?  What should we add?

Note that these are paid links. 

Francis Quirk's Solo Exhibition at Lehigh University

Through a generous and thoughtful collector of Francis Quirk's art we have obtained a program from a Lehigh University exhibition of his paintings. The year is not provided, however we now know that the year was 1969 as an attendee at the event who purchased a painting was able to confirm it by matching the weekday with the calendar. One data point is that the painting on the cover of the exhibition catalog entered the collection in Georgia in 1971. 

Cover of Francis J. Quirk Exhibition Flyer

In this post, we are attempting to try to virtually recreate the exhibition, by providing as many paintings as we can. It is a work in progress that we will add to as we gain images. But before we continue, let us first comment on the exhibition and the paintings highlighted in the pamphlet.

Quirk had been the main pillar of arts at Lehigh University before his retirement and conversion to Professor Emeritus in 1969. In his 19 years at the school he scheduled numerous cutting edge exhibitions, fostered the careers of many artists and championed the arts in the region. This exhibition continues that tradition of pushing the envelope and including works from his classic interests: portraiture, maritime and nature.

Placing the portrait of Queenie Williams on the cover was a daring move and illustrates Quirk's ability to push the boundaries of his times. At the time of this writing, almost 50 years later, many US art museums have realized their woeful lack of women of color in their collections. In 1970, putting this painting up front at an exhibition at Lehigh University in a predominantly Caucasian community clearly made a statement.  While it seems hard to believe, at this time, Bruce Springsteen was not welcome to perform at certain U.S. colleges because his iconic saxophone player Clarence Clemons was an African American. This fine work now resides in the collection of the Georgia Museum of Art.

Inside Cover of Francis J. Quirk Exhibition Flyer

It also contains maritime works with several painting of sailboats. Quirk thoroughly enjoyed painting boats and on his retirement looked forward to painting many of them at his summer home in Kinney Shores, Maine.

Painting Listing of Francis J. Quirk Exhibition Flyer

One of the hostesses for the evening was his wife, Anna.  We believe she is in the photo below, but do not think this is from this particular exhibition. 

Francis Quirk discusses a painting with Anna J. Quirk and another gentlemen. 

Francis J. Quirk Exhibition Flyer back cover

Below are the images that we have assembled as of this date and a few comments about them.

#2 Shrimper Early Morning   Canton Museum of Art

Shrimper Early Morning  Image courtesy of Canton Museum of Art

#4 The Soloist  Queenie Williams

The Soloist  (Queenie Williams) by Francis J. Quirk  Image courtesy of the Georgia Museum of Art

#11 Man's Island

Man's Island by Francis J. Quirk  photo reproduced from exhibition pamphlet

#14 Marconis and Gaff

Marconis and Gaff  photo reproduced from exhibition pamphlet

#16 Patterns --- Sloops   This delightful work was highlighted earlier in a brief post as the collector/owner shared the image with us. After seeing this post, she graciously informed us that she had purchased it at the event, which was held in 1969. An earlier iteration of this post had the year as 1970. 

Patterns --- Slooops by Francis J. Quirk

#37 The Artist     Note that there is another self-portrait in the collection at the University of Notre Dame's Snite Gallery from approximately the same period. They will not authorize reproductions, so it can not be included. However, if you are in South Bend, you can stop by the Snite and ask to see it. We are not fully certain whether this image or the Notre Dame image belongs here. 

The Artist self portrait by Francis J. Quirk.  

#38 Island Trees #1

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#38 Island Trees #3

#42 Dr. J. Rutzky   We do not have an image of this painting at the moment. However, we have reached out to Dr. Rutzky's family to see if they still have the work. If so, we will update this post.