We’ve been studying Renoir this term. On the left is Renoir’s Portrait of Claude (Coco) Renoir.
(Claude was Renoir’s son.) On the right is Sprite’s version. She is 8.
We use the Charlotte Mason approach — looking at one work each day, all by the same artist. The child orally narrates the painting after studying it for a minute.
The idea is that the child will internalize what a Renoir looks like. And it’s true! We were in a fancy shopping mall in Xian and saw some art hanging on the wall. I quizzed her. Some of the works we had not studied, but she could guess the artist simply by the style! I was impressed! It works!
I’m using this Treasures of Art series from Rainbow Resource. Although Renoir did paint a lot of nudes which are included in the book, we just skipped over those plates. (Yes, that is my review there at Rainbow! Did you know you can win gift certificates for reviewing products at Rainbow Resource?)
I love this! I’m thinking about introducing Artist Studies to my son for the first time… But I can’t decide if I want to start with Monet or Renoir, he’s almost 8. Which would you recommend or which would it be a better introduction to Art?