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Can anyone recommend some good art related reading, fiction or non-fiction for teenagers? I have a friend who teaches High School Art History and he says the kids like the art but they don't like the reading. Can you blame them? A lot of that stuff is just plain old boring.

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CliffHanger--

Part of the problem might be that visually oriented kids are not necessarily verbally oriented kids.

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Many many many mysteries/police procedurals have art theft and sometimes murder as the hook for the book. Crime procedural nut that I am, I've read at least two or three hundred of these. You might google books at amazon (or check a2k's homepage for the a2k amazon link) and list crime or mystery and art and see what comes up.

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Thanks Noddy and Osso. Will do. I found an interesting site for the Getty Museum as well.

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Hmmm, speaking of questionable art ownership...

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Every museum has a website. As far as modern art, I'd recommend "The Shock of the New," available both in book form and DVD. Robert Hughes is an entertaining commentator. However, high school level teens will either have a thirst for knowledge about art or they are ambivalent. Truth is, if they are ambivalent about art knowledge, they are likely ambivalent about knowledge and don't view something which is intellectually stimulating as being entertainment. Sad.

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this is by an opthalmologist who explains various eye conditions that could possibly be why some artists painted the way they do, He isn't domatic about it and it's an interesting read.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0140124810/102-6852004-1756157?v=glance&n=283155

they/you might find it interesting?

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Better link:

http://www.stopyourekillingme.com/CC/cj-museums.html

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ossobuco wrote:

Hmmm, speaking of questionable art ownership...

I thought of that, but they actually have it laid out in a way that makes it interesting for that age group. Not too high brow, but just enought to engage them-- they are all into art, it's just the reading they don't like to do. I agree with the kids-- traditional ways of teaching art are so F#@$% dull.

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Lightwizard wrote:

Every museum has a website. As far as modern art, I'd recommend "The Shock of the New," available both in book form and DVD. Robert Hughes is an entertaining commentator. However, high school level teens will either have a thirst for knowledge about art or they are ambivalent. Truth is, if they are ambivalent about art knowledge, they are likely ambivalent about knowledge and don't view something which is intellectually stimulating as being entertainment. Sad.

In this case all the students are aspiring artists, in an advanced course, and they take art history as well. It's really the teacher's responsibility to remove the heavy-handedness of Art History.

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Thanks Vivien, that looks really interesting. I'm going to include that in the list I send to him and I'll let you know what he says.

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Noddy, thanks, I'll send that along as well. Most helpful.

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It is great when teachers have the opportunity to expose the students to all of the arts and inspire interest. Unfortunately for backwards California, most of the opportunity has been removed from the schools.

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"The DiVinci Code"!

Duh.

My favorite art/fiction is "What's Bred in the Bone" by Robertson Davies.

"Edie" the biography of Edie Sedgewick is very interesting -- she was a muse of Andy Warhol's during the Factory days.

I'll probably think of more......

I must have lucked out with great art history teachers because I can't imagine calling it "heavy handed".

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boomerang wrote:

"The DiVinci Code"!

Duh.

My favorite art/fiction is "What's Bred in the Bone" by Robertson Davies.

"Edie" the biography of Edie Sedgewick is very interesting -- she was a muse of Andy Warhol's during the Factory days.

I'll probably think of more......

I must have lucked out with great art history teachers because I can't imagine calling it "heavy handed".

The Da Vinci code--all the kids have read it.

"Edie" I don't think will be well received by the parents.

"What's Bred in the Bone" wonderful book, Roberstson Davies top notch writer--but not for high school.

Thanks though, for those suggestions.

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boomerang, were your Art History teachers in HS or college?

In college I had some great Art History/Liberal Art teachers-- In HS I had lousy art teachers and not one art history class, thankfully, they would have turned it into living hell.

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The Shock of the New is certainly a good book

also John Berger - Ways of Seeing

Dick Francis writes novels with a horse racing background - he's an ex jockey and takes a different aspect of the racing world in each novel - whodunnit/detective sort of story, In one the 'hero' paints racehorses and in another sculpts with glass. His research into the specialities is very good and I think the glass would find it interesting and fun. Sorry but I can't remember the appropriate titles.

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Most of the classes were in college. One, an art appreciation course, was in high school and I thought it was very interesting. To me, art history was a great way to understand world history.

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