Learning about art....

[campbellsoup]

We "do" art. But I would like the children to become familiar with famous artists and their works. (We do something similar with composers and their works.) I would like to choose an artist and then display a handful of their works around the house - post card sizeish. Try to rotate at least once a month.

The problem I am running into is finding prints. I think the cheapest way would be printing on my computer but I am having problems. So I have been searching online. I am finding everything but what I am looking for. I am thinking there should be some online source similar to a museum gift shop where they sell postcards for a dollar. That would be awesome.

I know there are some great art books. We could do that.... but I was wanting the paintings to be around so the children would gain a familiarity.

What have other families done?

[Lillian J]

My page of art links might have a site listed with something like what you're looking for - maybe even to some art museum gift stores that will sell things online... It's probably going to be hard, though, to find individual postcards vs. books or just downloadable printables - what about collecting things to put on a CD and then taking them down to a print shop for paper copies? Lillian

[SundayCrepes]

How old are your kids? These are great board books for little ones. They're each a series:

http://www.amazon.com/Touch-Art-Brus...5763406&sr=8-1

The poetry in these was written to go with the pictures. I think they're fun.

http://www.amazon.com/Quiet-Time-Cas...ref=pd_sim_b_9

the boxed set only has 4 out of the series

http://www.amazon.com/Mini-Masters-B...d_bxgy_b_img_c

If you look at the suggested books below these, you'll find other great books to choose from. Maybe more age appropriate for your kids?

[campbellsoup]

My kids are 8, 5 1/2, 3 and 10 mos. I need to redo my signature! Board books are a neat idea because my 10 month old is getting into everything now!

[SundayCrepes]

Your kids are good ages for the books I recommended. My son has seen many of the works in the books here and there. He always points them out when he sees them.

[chelsmm]

Montessori schools use cards like that...I think if you went on a site that sold Montessori supplies you would find this type of card.


http://www.montessoriservices.com/st...64b9f1851#more

[SundayCrepes]

I just looked these up. You can get them on ebay or at amazon.

[Reebekah]

check out the Come Look With Me books on Amazon

[MissRubyandKen]

rainbowresource.com sells art postcards

[tankgirl73]

If you just want to print images off your computer at home, I'm not sure why you're having trouble finding them. I have just done image searches through google with great success, and there's lots at wikipedia as well. So far I've always found every art piece I've looked for.

I know you weren't asking for curriculum, but can I throw a suggestion your way anyway? Meet the Masters has been amazing for us. I love the way it's organized, the lessons (computer based media presentation while the parent reads the 'script' out loud) are really interesting and absorbing, they get to see so much great art, recreate some themselves, learn about major artists... We've loved it.

[dotnetdiva]

We're going to start Meet the Masters this week! I think I got the first module from Homeschool Buyers Co-op last year and only yesterday reviewed it. It looks perfect! So we'll be doing that once a week along with Artistic Pursuits which I've been neglecting this spring.

For art prints, I am printing my own off using Artchive.com. Here's Starry Night:
http://www.artchive.com/artchive/V/v...night.jpg.html

I plan to print off one big sheet and then post-card sized prints of what we're studying.

[maybemom05]

This link from the National Gallery of Art might be useful to you:

http://www.nga.gov/education/classro...der/index.mhtm

This could be nicely tailored to a homeschooling family, or a co-op.