A handful of books: art, art, art

Dear children, dear parents,

Many who come to the mumok studio are familiar with our book table, which has a selection of children’s books on a wide variety of art topics. Often we also read these together with you and let them inspire us.

Here we present you our most popular books on the subject of art, which are at home in collections around the world:

Subject: art, art, art

1 Susie Hodge, Why is Art full of Naked People?,Thames & Hudson Ltd., London 2016, from 8 years
In this book, exciting questions take us across the history of art: What's happening? And how does a work of art tell me a story? Artists have always had very different ideas about what a painting or sculpture could look like, and that's why there are so many different kinds of art. You may have asked yourself some of the questions discussed in this book on your last visit to a museum. Anyway, there are a lot of surprising answers and a small explanatory glossary of words that are used quite often in museums.

2 Alice Harman, Serge Bloch, Modern Art Explorer, Thames & Hudson Ltd., London 2020, from 7 years
This discovery-book introduces you to 30 works of art from the Centre Pompidou in Paris. It tells you how artists got the ideas for them, what is so special about the works and which often hidden surprises you can find in them. From creepy scribbles and wooden heads, pig swirls and colorful grids - all this and much more can be read and seen here. A book for children who like to know more and get to the bottom of things. But not a bit boring.

3 David Hockney, Martin Gayford, A History of Pictures for Children, Thames & Hudson, London 2018, from 8 years
David Hockney is an artist and Martin Gayford is an art critic, and the two friends like to talk about what? About art, of course! The book takes us through the centuries in their conversations and they tell us their story of images. Because the questions artists ask themselves and why we find art so exciting have been the same for ages. How do you paint water? What's going on with perspective? Where do the brushstrokes disappear to?  And how do you tell a whole story with a single painting? There's also a timeline of inventions and a glossary.

4 Sebastian Cichocki, Aleksandra Mizielinska, Daniel Mizielinska: Sommerschnee und Wurstmaschine. Sehr moderne Kunst aus aller Welt, Moritz Verlag, Frankfurt am Main, 2013. (only in german and polish), from 7 years
The subtitle says it all: it's about very modern art from all over the world. And that's exactly what's great about it. Art is always changing, and the book takes us on an exciting journey. Artists are building strange machines, digging spirals, sawing up houses, or putting on a lightning show in the desert. This can be quite confusing for people looking at the works of art. But sometimes that's a good thing! Because when everything gets a little bit mixed up, something new can emerge: in your thoughts or your feelings. An exciting book that presents 51 works and opens your eyes! Oho!

5  Fausto Gilberti, Giséle Comte, Sandrine Moeschler, Laurence Schmidlin, Regarde. Elles parlent!, MCBA (Museé cantonal des Beaux-Arts de Lausanne), Lausanne 2019 (only in french), from 8 years
This is where it gets interesting! Because the works of art come to life and tell their own story. You'll be amazed what there is to hear here. In addition, you will find a very funny drawing by the illustrator Fausto Gilberti for each photo of the painting or sculpture. And sometimes they are even grooving: Choubidoubidouwa! However, you or your parents would have to speak a little French, because the little book about 15 works of art has not yet been translated into other languages.