Books in Masters of Art series

•This book traces the brief and troubled life of van Gogh, one of the greatest artists of all time: his birth in a Dutch village, his travels in Belgium and England, his arrival in Impressionist Paris and his discovery of the delights of the south of France, where he died aged only thirty-seven.•It shows how, in spite of suffering mental crises and inner turmoil, van Gogh always continued to search for ways of painting that expressed the true essence of his subjects.•It looks at his unique use of color, which puts his work among the most innovative and original of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.•It contrasts the way in which van Gogh’s work was disregarded in his time with the exceptional value of his paintings today.

Marc Chagall remains one of the most popular and influential artists of the 20th century. His work is part of permanent collections of major museums all over the world. Chagall’s journey as an artist led him from a small village in pre-revolutionary Russia to Paris, Israel, and New York. Influenced by Russian folklore and the Jewish tradition, Chagall introduced a new set of symbols and images in the world of painting. Fantastic images met religious symbolism in a whole new way. This book chronicles Chagall’s life story and art with high quality reproductions of his paintings, analysis of the work, and illustrations and photographs of the era.

The Masters of Art series explores the contributions of recognized masters through magnificent, full-color spreads and informative text. Designed and written to engage young readers, each title contains a history of the artist's life, his or her studio techniques, quality reproductions of the artist's masterworks, and social and historical contexts for the work. Lively illustrations and small blocks of text provide the perfect package for introducing children and other novices to fine art.

Born in Spain in 1746, Francisco Goya lived during the turbulent times. He was censored by the Inquisition. He was inspired by the ideas of the French Revolution, and shocked and saddened when France invaded Spain. Devoting his whole life to painting, Goya never stopped experimenting in his art, and changed style several times, always with extraordinary results. His works include great court portraits, brilliant religious frescoes, horrifying satirical etchings, lithographs of bullfighting, dramatic representations of historical events, and the nightmare visions of the “black paintings”. This book chronicles the life and art of Goya, showing how, in his mature works, this unique artist was strikingly ahead of his time.

In the late fifteenth century, the palace of Lorenzo the Magnificent, ruler of Florence, was a meeting place of intellectuals, writers, philosophers, and artists. Among them was the talented young Michelangelo, soon to rank with Leonardo da Vinci and Raphael as one of the giants of the Renaissance. This book tells of Michelangelo's training in the workshop of Ghirlandaio, his fascination with the frescoes of Giotto and Masaccio, and the development of his lifelong passion for sculpture.

The Impressionists explores the contributions of recognized masters through magnificent, full-color spreads and informative text. Designed and written to engage young readers, this title contains a history of the artist's life, his or her studio techniques, quality reproductions of the artist's masterworks, and social and historical contexts for the work. Lively illustrations and small blocks of text provide the perfect package for introducing children and other novices to fine art.