Mary Cassatt (Great Artists)

Iain Zaczek was born in Dundee, Scotland, and was educated at Wadham College, Oxford, and the Courtauld Institute of Art. He specializes in books about art and design, and his many books include: The Impressionists, Essential Art Deco, Celtic Art and Design, and The Art of Illuminated Manuscripts. He was also a contributing author to Art: The Definitive Visual Guide.

Gr 3-5-These books organize biographical material around the artists' works. They offer practical tips in the "How to Paint Like..." chapters. The writing is clear but will not necessarily grab readers. For example, Zaczek writes that van Gogh "lost interest" in his work for a firm that sold art, a vague and incomplete explanation of his failure in the working world. This book uses cartoons ineffectively, belittling serious statements by putting them in comic book-like speech bubbles. The graphics may confuse readers, and it is difficult to determine the focus of some pages, since there is no hierarchy in the size of the sidebars. The statement that van Gogh's "first sign of mental illness" was during his residence with Gaugin seems inaccurate; diary entries from before this period certainly reveal depression. The craftsmanship of these texts seems rushed. Skip these titles.α(c) Copyright 2014. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.