Artist Biographies to Study (List)

Artist Biographies to Study | List

When teaching art, you can bring this subject to life by reading living books on the lives of the great artists such as Leonardo da Vinci as pictured. Here is a list of Artist Biographies to Study. Simply choose an artist to read:

• 1 per month (9 yearly) or
• 1 per term (3-4 yearly)

and look at one Picture Study each week of that artist's works. This way you can get to know the artist and the art. Also, see how to easily fit art into a complete Enrichment Program here.

Before reading the list, I want to gently remind you of a few things:

• Do enjoy reading together with your children about the lives of the artists!
• Do look at a Picture Study, hang it up, and enjoy the art for beauty's sake!
• Don't feel overwhelmed with the list or feel you have to do them all. (Why not start with just 1 per term?)

Note: The CAPITALIZED ARTISTS are included in a living book that is available free online: Knights of Art: Stories of the Italian Painters by Amy Steedman.

Year 1 - We pair this with Ancient Art History

1. GIOTTO (1276-1337)
2. FRA ANGELICO  (1387-1466)
3. MASACCIO  (1401-1428)
4. FRA FILIPPO LIPPI  (1412-1469)
5. SANDRO BOTTICELLI (1446-1610)
6. DOMENICO GHIRLANDAIO  (1449-1494)
7. FILIPPINO LIPPI  (1467-1604)
8. PIETRO PERUGINO  (1446-1624)
9. LEONARDO DA VINCI  (1462-1619)

Year 2 - We pair this with Middle Ages Art History.

1. RAPHAEL  (1483-1620)
2. MICHELANGELO  (1476-1664)
3. ANDREA DEL SARTO  (1487-1631)
4. GIOVANNI BELLINI  (1426-1616)
5. VITTORE CARPACCIO  (1470-1619)
6. GIORGIONE  (1477-1610)
7. TITIAN  (1477-1676)
8. Caravaggio (1571–1610)
9. Bernini (1598–1680)

Year 3 - We pair this with Colonial Art History.

1. Rembrant van Rijn (1606-1669)
2. PAUL VERONESE  (1628-1688)
3. Jan Vermeer (1632–1675)
4. TINTORETTO  (1662-1637)
5. Benjamin West (1732-1820)
6. Francisco José de Goya (1746–1828)
7. William Blake (1757–1827)
8. John M.W. Turner (1775–1851)
9. John Constable (1776–1837)

Year 4 - We pair this with Industrial Art History.

1. John James Audobon (1785-1851)
2. Eugène Delacroix (1798–1863)
3. Camille Pissarro (1830–1903)
4. Édouard Manet (1832–1883)
5. Gustave Doré (1832-1883)
6. James Abbott McNeill Whistler (1834-1903)
7. Edgar Degas (1834-1917)
8. Winslow Homer (1836-1910)
9. Paul Cezanne (1839–1906)

Year 5 - We pair this with Modern Art History.

1.  Claude Monet (1840–1926)
2. Pierre August Renoir (1841–1919)
3. Paul Gauguin (1848–1903)
4. Vincent Van Gogh (1853–1890)
5. John Singer Sargent (1856-1925)*
6. Frederic Remington (1861-1909)
7. Edvard Munch (1863–1944)
8. Charles Marion Russell (1864-1926)
9. Henri Matisse (1869-1954)

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Year 6 - We pair this with American Art History.

1. Mary Cassatt (1844–1926)*
2. Pablo Picasso (1881–1973)
3. Edward Hopper (1882-1967)*
4. Georgia O'Keeffe (1887–1986)*
5. Grant Wood (1892-1942)*
6. Norman Rockwell (1894-1978)*
7. Henry Moore (1898–1986)
8. Jackson Pollock (1912–1956)*
9. Andy Warhol (1928–1987)*

*American Artists

Helpful Resources

• Enrichment Study 1: Ancient Times - Booklist
• Teaching Art: Homeschool 101 {Part IV}