Like the great artists he writes about, Mike Venezia loved art at a young age. As far back as he can remember, the Villa Park author and illustrator loved to draw.
At age 10, he got a set of oil paints as a present and tried to copy a Rembrandt. “It was a disaster,” he said with a lighthearted wince.
But persistence met with success, and 39 years later Venezia’s art talent combined with his passion, his humor and his skills at writing and research have produced his successful series of reference books for children: “Getting to Know the World’s Greatest Artists.”
Each one in the series of 20 books (so far) tells the story of a famous artist, varying from masters well-known among children, such as Pablo Picasso and Vincent Van Gogh, to less familiar names such as Pieter Bruegel and Jackson Pollock.
“My goal is to make art more available to kids, to make them feel more comfortable with art and to let them see that the artists are real people with real lives who had a special gift they could give to people. I hope my drawings bring these artists off the pedestal and down to earth where the kids can enjoy them,” Venezia said from his home studio.
Written for an audience of 1st through 5th or 6th graders, the books are simple, factual stories, full of famous artwork, and lightened by Venezia’s humorous cartoon-like drawings that illustrate the text, as well as lighten the cover.
Those comical drawings–such as Monet as a schoolboy in trouble for drawing pictures of his teacher–are what make the books fun to read, said Robert Rico, a 10-year-old 5th grader at Scott School in Melrose Park, where Venezia recently spoke at a school assembly.
“I knew about Monet before, but I learned a lot more by reading his book. It’s easier to understand and remember because he draws those funny pictures that go with the words,” said Robert of Franklin Park, who sat silent and intent during Venezia’s visit but later wished he’d asked the author how he draws so fast.
“It takes me a long time to draw,” Robert said. “I wish I could draw like him.”
Venezia’s book about Edward Hopper includes the story of how Hopper grew to be 6 feet tall at the age of 12. Possibly feeling awkward with the other kids his age, he often stayed home alone to draw. Alongside the text is one of Venezia’s illustrations of a crabby teacher telling a young Hopper to sit down in class.
“I am sitting,” Hopper responds, head and shoulders above the rest.
Pictures like that stick in the minds of 2nd and 3rd graders, said art teacher Sally Dillon of Briar Glen School in Glen Ellyn Elementary School District 89. Dillon uses the books regularly as a springboard to launch the study of a particular artist or type of art in her classes, which include 1st through 5th graders.
“My kids love that drawing. That alone helped them see Hopper as a person. Through that, they could relate to him. It’s important for them to make that connection,” she said. “Mike Venezia makes the artist human to the kids.”
Venezia is a graduate of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and now vice president and art director for the Leo Burnett Co. advertising agency in Chicago, working primarily on McDonald’s commercials. It was his own search for books about artists for his children that led him to write these books.
Venezia had co-written three books on children’s fears and singly wrote another, “How to Be an Older Brother or Sister,” for Childrens Press in Chicago. When his own children, now teenagers, were of reading age, he called his publisher asking for help to find reference books about artists that were geared to youngsters.
His publisher came back with a shrug of the shoulders and a request that he fill the void. He did.
Venezia’s first in the series–about Rembrandt and Picasso–came out in 1988 and ’89 and were immediately successful. Since then, he has told children the story behind Georgia O’Keeffe’s love of nature, as well as details of the lives of Michelangelo, Salvador Dali, Paul Klee, Mary Cassatt and others.
“One of the nicest things he has done is balance his choice of artists,” said Patricia Wroclawski, manager of the children’s department at Kroch’s & Brentano’s Wabash Avenue bookstore in Chicago. “He’s done modern and classical. I’ve been asking him to do Renoir because children love Renoir–he’s so colorful–and now he’s finally doing him.”
The response has been overwhelming, with the books selling well throughout the U.S., in Britain and in Canada, and letters of praise as well as requests for more books pour in from children, parents, grandparents and teachers nationwide. One New York grandmother wrote just to tell Venezia how smitten her grandson was after reading his book on Goya, and how much she learned from the book as well.
A 1st-grade girl from Peoria wrote to say she has all of his books. “Did you get an F in spelling and an A in art when you were in grade school?” she asked.
“Art can be very stand-offish, very snobbish. People can take advantage of knowing things others don’t know,” said Venezia, whose children, Michael Anthony and Elizabeth Ann, also like to draw. Even his wife, Jeannine, has caught the bug, trying her hand at a painting class.
“It makes me feel good to hear from kids who like art at a young age. I hope kids would look at this book about Pollock and understand why people like Jackson Pollock are so neat. I would hope they can look at things with their heart, like Renoir painted from his heart,” Venezia said.
Bill Hanlon, book buyer for the Art Institute’s museum shop, said it doesn’t matter if Venezia’s book is about Pollock, Van Gogh, Bruegel or Goya. “The series has always sold well for us.
“There are other books of this type, but I believe they are not as well written,” Hanlon said. “Venezia is great with kids. He gives factual info to the children in a fun way. I think it’s because he likes kids. He challenges them.”
Venezia said the series has been fun for him as well–so fun, in fact, that he plans to continue his books about artists but has also branched out into a series on famous composers.
But there is a new twist to writing these. Where copies of famous artwork fill the books about artists, he can hardly include musical scores in his books about composers. Instead, he has tried to find great artwork to complement the stories, thus stressing the enjoyment and feelings that come from music.
“I want the children to want to listen to that music,” said Venezia, who toyed with the idea of including CDs in the music book jackets but found the cost prohibitive.
Now he figures he will work on two artists and one composer at a time, but finding time is his biggest problem.
“I grab time when I can,” said Venezia, who hides away in his home studio at night, a modern room with a CD player and a refrigerator, decorated with posters of famous artwork but also stacks of reference books and Far Side cartoons. He also writes on the train, on airplanes and in hotel rooms and has been known to ship stacks of info about artists to hotels in California when he’s traveling for business.
“It takes me about two months to do a book,” he said. “First I read everything I can for six weeks, making notes and notes and notes, and jotting down little illustrations when they come to mind. Then I keep cutting it down, and finally I write the book. It was kind of a fun hobby when it started. Then it became a series hobby. Now it’s a very serious hobby.”
He has dismissed his earlier worries that he would burn out on artists, only worrying now about running out of people to dedicate the books to.
Once a month, he carries this yet another step, speaking at schools that request him. Venezia has flown to New York City and to New Jersey to speak to school groups and has gone to schools in DuPage and Cook Counties. He met students from Walnut Community Consolidated School District at the Art Institute and last fall spoke at the University of Iowa–where he was thrilled to find a Jackson Pollock painting.
“It is totally fair to say that his books when they first came out were unlike any art history for children that had ever been seen,” said Wroclawski of Kroch’s. “They were instantly successful, and I have loved selling them. All teachers wouldn’t love them, but many have loved them, and many art teachers have used them and do love them. There is a lot more art history for children than there used to be, thank goodness, but there is nothing with the flair of his books.”
