Manifesto: The Art Movements Game is, as its title suggests, a fun way for children or adults to become acquainted with many of the modern art movements and famous artists. The game covers only the modern art movements, from impressionism in the 1800’s to Feminist and Young British Artists of the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries. Game play is simple as it is just a variation of Go Fish. Players try to collect the most sets of the four artists from an art movement. An informational booklet is included with the game that includes short biographies of each of the featured artists. Cards are heavy-weight, and each features the portrait of an artist in a style that represents the style of his or her art movement.

While playing this game, I became acquainted with many art movements that I had never heard of.  While my children and I have studied a bit of art history, we have primarily focused on artists prior to the mid-twentieth century, so this game does fill a new niche. I was a bit disappointed, however, not to find any art reproductions in the game. The game was useful for matching artists to their movements, but we had to do further research to see the works these artists had actually produced. I would have preferred that each artist card had pictured a work of art instead of the artist portrait. I suspect that some of these artists’ works may not be appropriate for younger children, but since no art is actually included in the game, families need not be concerned about any nudity or inappropriate content.  We did enjoy the game, enjoyed learning about some unfamiliar artists, and appreciated that there weren’t complicated rules to learn. The game is appropriate for any children who can read through adults.

My verdict on this product: If you are only purchasing one product or game to learn about art history, this is not comprehensive enough. However, it is still an enjoyable game and is one of the few art history resources I’ve found that focuses almost exclusively on twentieth century artists.

-Product review by Debbie Lott, The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine, LLC, July, 2018