Bound To Stay Bound

School Library Journal - 08/01/2018 Gr 5 Up—Famed artist Hockney and British art critic Gayford team up to have "conversations" about "pictures" created throughout history. The works shown, a number of which are by Hockney, include cave art, paintings, photographs, movies, and computer-generated drawings. Though this art history survey doesn't take a strictly linear, chronological approach, the authors' knowledge and insight, shared in clear, straightforward language, helps readers understand how various artistic techniques and tools have been similar through the ages; are interconnected in some ways; and have served as influences on each other, though separated by geography and eras. Topics include the basics of picture creation: making marks, light and shadows, using space (perspective and telling stories through pictures), mirrors and reflections, painting and photography, and moving pictures. The text has a freewheeling, meandering tone. The majority of the included pieces and artists are Western; few women are represented, even as subjects. The book's design is attractive and colorful. Each speaker is identified by first name and a different typeface, and the pages are enhanced by illustrations that provide witty commentaries throughout. VERDICT Recommended for large public library and school library collections. In art classes, challenge students to make art, inspired by Hockney or other artists herein.—Carol Goldman, formerly at Queens Library, NY - Copyright 2018 Publishers Weekly, Library Journal and/or School Library Journal used with permission.

Booklist - 10/15/2018 Famed contemporary painter Hockney, along with art critic Gayford, offer an inviting, pleasant stroll through art history in this colorful, winsomely illustrated volume. Beginning with the first known artwork—cave paintings—Hockney and Gayford expound on art in alternating, conversational paragraphs, covering techniques, such as printing and calligraphy; movements, including cubism and impressionism; and innovations, from the camera obscura to video game design. Adapting the text from their adult book, A History of Pictures (2016), Hockney and Gayford offer paragraphs that might occasionally be a bit hard to follow for kids unfamiliar with the subject, but their commentaries about the well-reproduced artwork on almost every page offers keen, illuminating insight on how to look at and appreciate art. Blake’s genial, bright, cartoonish art, scattered throughout the pages, adds to the welcoming atmosphere, and while the view of art history presented here is unfortunately pretty conventional (mostly men, mostly European or American), the tools Hockney and Gayford use to talk about everything from prehistoric handprints to iPhone photography will spark kids thinking about what constitutes art. - Copyright 2018 Booklist.