If you are a parent, or a grandparent, or aunt, uncle, or are even friends with a child, you probably have one of their masterpieces hanging on the refrigerator. What is that piece of artwork saying? you probably wonder. Parent and sort-of-art critic Dan Consiglio reviewed a collection of children's art and put his comments into the new book, Is That a Picasso on Your Fridge?"
We have a few of the artworks and his remarks. It may help you look at the child's artwork in a new light, or even with a new pair of glasses, or for it's worth on eBay. But, if anything, it will surely make you laugh.
Enjoy these samples:
Title: Old Aspirin Teeth
artist: Annabelle, age 6, Winston-Salem, North Carolina
Washable paint on colored paper
North Carolina will never be mistaken for the country’s most forward looking state. So it’s not surprising that Annabelle, the region’s most sought-after export since tobacco, crafts her work with an eye toward the past—in this case (and somewhat ironically), early U.S. modernism. Feeling very Picasso 1907-ish, Annabelle’s primitive, androgynous figure strikes a delicate balance between fear and anger, with shocking blue eyes agape and white teeth exposed. One can assume this was the look du jour as massive, smoke-belching machines replaced anxious and amazed blue-collar workers at the turn of the century. The green hair, however, seems wildly out of place and smacks of forced incongruity. You had us at Aspirin Teeth, Annabelle; know when to cap the paint. (page 12)
Title: I Know a Lot!
artist: Sammy, age 7, Fargo, North Dakota
Fine-tip marker on paper
Do you, Snowman? Tell us, do you know how a warm spring day feels after an endless dark winter? Do you know the simple joy of a brisk morning walk? Do you know what it’s like to hold a loved one who’s battling a nameless disease, day in and day out? No, Snowman, you know how it feels to judge: to sit and stare through cold, lifeless black eyes beneath a preposterous top hat, scarf guarding no neck, and cast off anything and everything that falls outside your comfort zone. Thankfully, the artist has placed you in your snow globe where it’s always 28 degrees with flurries. A sniff of the real world and you’d wet yourself quicker than a frightened toddler. (page 32