LOOK!

A well-chosen selection of paintings spanning the centuries serves as examples of how artists convey meaning. Focusing on the human form, Wolfe explains how a facial expression, a hand gesture or the positioning of a body on the page can combine to express the artist’s intentions. In paintings as diverse as a 17th-century work by La Tour to Grant Wood’s American Gothic and Picasso’s Weeping Woman, the reader is urged to notice anger, sorrow, wistfulness, excitement, despair. The text, while not overly dense, doesn’t condescend. Referring to American Gothic, the author notes that strong vertical lines in the picture reinforce the stiffness of the subjects and asks, “How many vertical lines can you count in this calm yet powerful picture?” A lively and sophisticated introduction to the art of close reading a painting. (Picture book/nonfiction. 7-12)