Art, far from being confined to artists and their works, is a multi-dimen sional concept. These days it often exists as a network of curators, galleries, critics, connoisseurs and art historians—overlapping and enmeshed categories, through which the economic, cultural and political energies of art are exchanged, transformed and propagated. While the idea is a little complicated for children to handle, it makes sense to introduce them to some of the pathways through which the artist and her/his works travel. The four books of the set titled Looking at Art can be expected to do part of this job. Taking four painters of eminence (one in each book) and weaving simple narratives around their works, these books introduce children to vital but often overlooked aspects of art like the restoration of paintings, fakes, archiving and seemingly mundane but actually crucial biographical details. This helps the child to develop the understanding that for art to make sense, merely looking at paintings would not do and that one has to peep behind the curtain that the canvas can sometimes become and discover the world that lies beyond—a journey which can broaden perspectives, shatter myths and make the art-world a more familiar and complex territory. The book on Amrita Sher-Gil relies on archival material to delineate an artist’s evolution through her childhood. As little Amrita’s voice leads us into a very personal world, we realize that it is also the world of art. The diary entries and photographs lend that intimate touch to a narrative where memory and art cohabit and speak to the reader bringing forth the artist within the child and the child discovering the artist within herself. The book on Ravi Varma is about a meeting with a painting which needs restoration. The expertise which goes into retaining the sustained joy that a thing of beauty is comes to the fore while at the same time, the painting instead of being put on a pedestal and looked at with awe, comes across as a friendly object which needs care and attention. M.F. Husain is introduced as a barefoot artist through the day-to-day world of his favourite eating joint, personal friends and anecdotes: a world etched on the landscape of Bombay and a story whose thread runs through film sets, narrow streets, art-studios and cinema hoardings. The city and the artist embrace each other and the ...